The Real Reason You Won't See Dylan McDermott on 'Law & Order: Organized Crime' Anymore

In Season 21, Chris Meloni made his long-awaited return to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but his warm welcome was short-lived. Upon his return to New York, Elliot’s wife, Kathy Stabler, was the victim of a fatal explosion — and in the series spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime, Richard Wheatley (played by Dylan McDermott) became the prime suspect.

Further investigation revealed that it was Richard’s wife, Angela Wheatley, who put the hit out on Kathy. However, Elliot and Richard’s beef didn’t end there.

In Season 2 of Organized Crime, Stabler was hot on the drug kingpin’s heels, though their ongoing feud seemingly came to an end in Episode 14. Now fans are wondering: Is Dylan McDermott leaving Law & Order: Organized Crime? Here’s what we know.

Dylan’s character went out with a bang in “Wheatley Is to Stabler…”, which aired on March 3. In the episode, Richard hijacked New York City’s power grid and took the city hostage. Although Elliot was able to save the day, Richard managed to elude him. His remains were never found, leading viewers to believe that the criminal is still at large.

Richard’s open-ended exit from the series suggests that he and Elliot will meet again. But we probably won’t find out what happened to the Organized Crime bad guy anytime soon, as the actor has confirmed that he's leaving the show.

Following Dylan's exit, Chris Meloni spoke with Entertainment Tonight, who he said he'll miss Dylan dearly. “He was good in front of the camera. He was great when it was off. [He has a] cheeky sensibility and good sense of humor. . . So, I wish him the best,” he shared.

While Organized Crime viewers may have seen the last of Richard for now, we won’t have to wait long before Dylan is back on the small screen. He recently joined the cast of FBI: Most Wanted as Julian McMahon's replacement.

In January of 2022, showrunners announced that Dylan was cast to replace Julian McMahon in FBI: Most Wanted. The Jess Lacroix actor confirmed that his split from the show was amicable. According to Julian, he left the show to explore other creative pursuits. Now, showrunners are counting on Dylan to fill the void.

In FBI: Most Wanted, the American Horror Story actor stars as Remy Scott. For Dylan, the role was a much-needed change of pace. In a CBS press junket on April 6, Dylan said, “I knew instinctively that I had played some questionable people along the way and now it’s time to play someone good again. Remy Scott is that character.”

“Now they’re going to see me in a completely different light, going from Richard Wheatley to Remy Scott, two wildly different people with wildly different agendas in life,” he added.

You can see Dylan on new episodes of FBI: Most Wanted starting on Tuesday, April 12 at 10 p.m. EST on CBS.