'SVU' Says Goodbye To Belzer's Det. John Munch

After 15 seasons on SVU, and 21 years of existence, Detective John Munch is retiring from law enforcement. The beloved Richard Belzer is stepping down from playing his fan favorite police officer, at least as a series regular, and the show is throwing him a goodbye party on the upcoming episode of Law & Order: SVU.

In the upcoming episode Wonderland Story, the SVU team is throwing a huge retirement party for their friend Sgt. John Munch, who has been a regular on the show since it began.

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Belzer actually played the character of John Munch in the show Homicide: Life On The Street before Law & Order: SVU even existed.

The retirement party sees all the familiar faces, including members of SVU who left the team years ago, like detective Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters).

While Belzer is leaving the show as a series regular, it has been confirmed that he will come back occasionally as a recurring character.

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Wonderland Story isn't all happiness and goodbyes. The focus of the episode is actually on a young woman who is the victim of a sexual assault, and it's up to Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to solve the case.

Check out the clips for a tough scene involving the victim, and a glimpse at Munch's goodbye party.

Law & Order: SVU's Wonderland Story episode airs tonight, Wednesday, October 16 at 9 p.m. on NBC.