Why Casey Novak Had to Leave Law & Order: SVU, Explained
The character was suddenly written off the show after 4 consecutive seasons, and many fans wish she’d never left.
It’s fair to say NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been handling its audiences’ interest quite well, having already expanded its police procedural universe to 26 seasons.
The latest instalment is yet to run until May and will likely be followed by more seasons in the future, so the series might already be up to enriching its story with more new and compelling characters.
However, throughout the years SVU has seen many of those come and go, sometimes even without a proper goodbye, like Diane Neal’s Casey Novak.
Her storyline eventually went completely down the drain and, according to many fans, Casey is one of few beloved characters who should’ve stayed longer.
The Reason Why Casey Novak Is No Longer in SVU, Explained
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It was Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s season 5 when Diane Neal came on board for the show to replace Stephanie March’s Alex Cabot as Casey Novak.
The character took on the role of SVU’s Assistant District Attorney, though she didn’t feel like she belonged to the place at first. Casey could be seen dealing emotionally with the most complicated cases, yet she eventually went on to become one of SVU’s most brilliant prosecutors.
However, these complications soon had their toll on Casey who went through several assaults during her time at the position, but still believed nothing could be more important than the truth itself.
In SVU’s season 9, Casey is seen violating due process while she was working on her last case about the sexual assault of two young girls; she later on is fired from SVU and has her license suspended for three years.
Despite that, Diane Neal reprised her role in seasons 12 and 13, but only appearing as a guest.
What Fans Think About Casey Novak’s Dismissal in SVU
Even though Neal’s Casey Novak was one of the longest-staying ADA in the series, many fans wished she had been in there for even longer.
“She [is] still my favorite ADA! I was so mad when they fired her. SVU was a lot different back then, like the original L&O there was very little or no backstory on the main characters’ personal lives, it was sort of the signature of the show”, one Redditor lamented.
“She gets a lot of hate on here and I don’t get why. She was my favorite ADA. I liked how she was a bit spunky and less tightly laced than Cabot (although I loved her too)”, Redditor MamaGRN agreed.
