Law & Order's Mariska Hargitay Gifted Fans With A Season 17 Co-Star Reunion

Fans recently got to see longtime "Law & Order" lead Mariska Hargitay reunite with a former "Special Victims Unit" actor whose run was cut short when his character died in the final episode of Season 17.

Hargitay shared a short vertical phone video of their reunion to her Instagram account. She opens this clip by telling viewers that she has a present for them while she's on vacation. Her present turns out to be Andy Karl, who plays Mike Dodds in Season 17 of "Law & Order: SVU," sitting next to her at what appears to be a European café. Once Hargitay reveals Karl on camera, he feigns surprise before introducing himself as Sergeant Dodds.

When Dodds joins "SVU" a few episodes into Season 17, he works directly under Hargitay's Olivia Benson. At that point in time she's just attained the rank of Lieutenant, necessitating a new Sergeant. Ultimately, Dodds is shot and killed just as he's about to retire from the Special Victims Unit in the Season 17 finale. That episode premiered in 2016 and capped off a run of 15 episodes in total. Their relatively short time working together, then, seems to have nevertheless resulted in a friendship between Hargitay and Karl that has since manifested in her posting a reunion to Instagram for fans of their characters' pairing to enjoy.

In response to Mariska Hargitay's Instagram video of her reunion with Andy Karl, plenty of commenters shared their thoughts on Dodds' character, his death, and how it affected them.

"One of the saddest tv deaths ever," wrote user loverlyjen in a comment that received more than 760 likes. Meanwhile, user ittsmaartaa_ recounted how Dodds dying made her cry and amassed more than 630 likes in total. Based on these numbers, a sizable number of "Law & Order" fans seem to have responded similarly to Dodds' final moments.

"A death that felt like it was a family member," wrote user spacefso in one among many other such comments.

Fans have wanted to see more of Dodds in "Law & Order: SVU" since he died off in 2015, so it's unsurprising that Hargitay's video and the numerous responses to it are inspiring these sorts of reactions. While Andy Karl will almost assuredly never return to "Law & Order," fans can take solace in the fact that he and Hargitay are thriving in a way their characters ultimately could not.