‘Law & Order: SVU’: Corey Cott Talks Griffin’s Fate & Finale Choice

All of Law & Order: SVU Season 27, Griffin’s (Corey Cott) been stuck between his two bosses — Chief Kathryn Tynan (Noma Dumezweni), who put him on the squad and was his father’s partner, and Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), who, despite trust issues, has come to respect him and taught him what he needs to know about the job. The finale firmly puts him on one side … but it also puts his life on the line. TV Insider spoke with Cott about that and much more. Warning: Spoilers for the Law & Order: SVU Season 27 finale ahead!

The squad is faced with a tough case — they know their “Monster” (the episode’s title) from the start. Cops stop Caine, and while talking to him, end up searching his car and finding a boy in his trunk. However, there was a procedural error, and therefore all the evidence is thrown out. Caine walks free, and the squad must find another way to get him behind bars. They uncover that there are many more victims to his name, and during the final confrontation with him, Griffin is shot but continues to pursue him. He ends up with his gun to the killer’s head as Benson arrives on the scene, and Griffin doesn’t pull the trigger.

Griffin’s down a foot of intestines, but he’s going to be OK. Furthermore, thanks to him recording an earlier conversation with Tynan, the chief can’t take Benson’s badge like she wants, citing putting her team in danger. Benson’s not planning to use the recording, but if Tynan tries to ruin her career, the captain will do the same to her. Tynan walks away, and the season ends with the squad gathered around Griffin’s hospital bed.

Below, Corey Cott discusses Griffin’s fate and his hopes for him in Season 28. (Plus, read what showrunner Michele Fazekas had to say about the finale here.)

Griffin’s going to be OK. Let’s just start there. That’s the good news.

Corey Cott: [Celebrating] I agree. I totally agree.

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

But how is he feeling about his future at SVU after everything that happened? Can he even think about it at that point in the hospital bed or is it more just like, at least I’m alive?

The first thing he sees I think after he wakes up is the doctors and then Benson coming in. And you could argue that that is the moment where he’s finally not just the new guy anymore and this suspicious dog as he’s been called or a rat or the chief’s hound. He’s one of the guys, he’s one of the squad, and that he almost had to go through that as his — the way he was officially brought into the squad was by going through this really terrible thing. It was his initiation, I guess you could say. And so I don’t know, now that I’m thinking about it, it’s almost like when they walk in that room and welcome me as I’m waking up, it’s like, “Hey, you’re finally one of us now,” for many reasons. I’ve earned my stripes, I guess you could say.

So yeah, let’s just say when I read the finale, at first I was like, “Oh no, I get shot. No!” And then I was like, “Oh, yes, thankfully I’m alive. This is so great.” So, Corey, the actor, was so relieved and so excited. And it’s really cool that Benson calls me a hero and stands up for me in that moment. And we get the reveal of that I recorded the conversation with Tynan. And so it all culminates in this heroic scar that I’ve had to gain and we’ll see what happens going forward. But for now, I feel pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

If Benson hadn’t been there, would Griffin have shot Caine or would her influence on him have led to him stopping himself?

We talked a lot about that moment about what that look means. Our amazing director of the finale, Brenna Malloy, kept asking me, “I think you need to decide for yourself what that moment is.” And so for me, I looked at it as almost like when she comes in and I see her, I’m almost asking her, “Do I have permission to kill him?” And the way I interpreted it, and Mariska might say something different, but I think she was giving me permission not necessarily to kill him, but to do what I think is the right thing to do. And if you think about the episode, there’s a scene early on in the finale with Tynan where she asks me the same question. She was like, “What would you do for your captain? What would you do? What lengths would you go to to defend your partner?” Right or wrong isn’t the question, what would you do? Because that’s what Tynan had to do, or that’s what we were meant to believe she was in that position with my father. And so I’m put in that position immediately and I have to make that decision. And ultimately, I think Griff, whether it’s right or wrong, instinctually in that moment, made the decision not to do it as a way of — in the moment he felt like killing him would not be the right thing to do.

And I think that says a lot about who he is, who he is this guy, who he is as a subordinate to the captain, but also their relationship. I mean, you think about the arc of their relationship from our first scene in Episode 2 to now and the trust that we’ve gained with each other, it’s been such a cool thing to play and I’m just really excited for — the audience has been really suspicious of Griff this whole season as they should be. You never really knew where his allegiances were and there were signs along the way, but you just didn’t know. And I think now it’s in cement that he’s one of the good guys and he’s going to do what’s best for the squad, what’s best for the victims, and what’s best for justice.

So, how does Griffin feel about having chosen Benson side against Tynan? Because also off of what you just said, I was thinking about the difference between the two is Benson lets to make that choice whereas Tynan was trying to make the choice for him.

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Tynan has a reputation to protect. I would say in good faith and Noma and I talked about this a lot, I don’t think that’s all their relationship was. I don’t think she was just keeping him at bay his entire life in order to protect her reputation. I think she genuinely cared about him and cared about Jimmy, but it’s complicated because if this certain information gets out, everyone is compromised and most importantly her. And so there’s suddenly just a lack of trust that Griff has for her as anyone would. He doesn’t know who to believe.

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And so I think in this moment, the only person that’s been consistent and honest with him is Benson. I mean, she’s been frankly just a hardass with him the entire season from the first episode and has made him earn his time there and earned his reputation by constantly requiring him to do the right thing, constantly teaching him and never ever — and also seeing his potential, making him aspire to be greater, challenging him. And so when you put those things together, it’s kind of almost a no-brainer for who he’s going to choose and who he’s going to put his allegiance with.

So given where things are left, does it feel like it’s over with Tynan or do you think Griffin thinks that she could have something else up her sleeve, go after him and/or Benson in some other way? Because then there is as you brought up the history between Griffin and Tynan.

I can only guess what the future holds with them. There’s so many ways that I could go if I was one of the writers. And so I’m excited to get back and work with them and see what they’re thinking. There’s a case to be said that maybe Benson and the squad uses it as leverage over her so they keep her in that position and she owes them a huge favor or maybe there’s a case to be said where she’s out because she’s compromised and there’s no place for that in NYPD and in the Special Victims Unit and in the chief of police position should be a person of integrity. So I don’t know, from a Corey standpoint, I hope that Noma stays in some capacity because she’s so fantastic to work with and she’s so wonderful and alive and we just got along so well. And so I hope that we get to explore more of that relationship. But who’s to say? We’re going to have to find out in Season 28, I wish I had any clue, but I don’t. I’m just guessing right now.

Outside of the Tynan stuff, what are your hopes for Griffin going forward?

I think we saw Griff pursue justice with his muscles this year because that’s all he’s ever known is to force things. You just go get the bad guy. You just go get the bad guy, get justice, the end. And as we’ve learned, it’s way more complicated than that. And there are way more dynamics and it’s not black and white and there are so many protocols and psychology is a big thing. So I would love to see Griff learn and be challenged, how to deal with all of these victims and these perps with a bit more complex, I guess, psychology and see how he can sympathize and maybe expand his arsenal of emotion, I guess. I think he’s, rightfully so, just pretty green when it comes to — I mean, he’s grown a lot this season — sympathizing with these people and understanding their side of things. And so I’m really excited to see that.

I’m also excited to see maybe a bit more of his vulnerable side. He wears a shield. He has a lot of armor and he’s had to protect himself a lot throughout his life. So, I wonder what else is underneath there, what else he’s got going on. And that’s the beauty of doing a show like this is that you just, episode to episode, you trust the writers and trust their trajectory for the characters and the arcs. I had such a blast doing it this season. I can only trust it’s going to be even better. But ultimately I feel secure knowing that like, alright, I’ve earned my stripes, paid my dues, I got my literal and figurative, proverbial scar, emotional scar and physical scars. So now let’s move forward knowing that there’s no hidden agendas anymore. I’m here to serve and protect.

Who do you want to see Griffin working with more?

I got to work with Kevin [Kane] a lot this year, which was so awesome. I would love to keep working with him. And man, I don’t know. I think it’d be cool for Curry [Aimé Donna Kelly] and Griff to have a bit more of a rapport. We were kind of at odds a lot this season. Towards the end, she kind of came to my defense and helped me find the information about my dad. But I think that would be cool to see how we would jive. I got some Ice time. I think if I had to say one person, it’d probably be Curry.

Law & Order: SVU, Season 28 Premiere, Fall 2026, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC

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