We all knew the departures of beloved detectives Bobby Goren and Alexandra Eames were coming on "Criminal Intent," not to mention the morose Captain Ross. We just didn't know how.

But on last night's season debut (part one of a two-parter), we got one of those answers and also some hints at how some of the other departures will play out.

If you haven't watched yet, serious SPOILERS ahead.

The USA network announced earlier this month that "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" will do some major house cleaning for season nine, dumping the show's original stars Vincent D'Onofrio (Detective Goren) and Kathryn Erbe (Detective Eames), as well as Eric Bogosian (Captain Ross) and Julianne Nicholson (Detective Wheeler).

That's right. Every actor in the photo below is leaving except for Jeff Goldblum (far left).



Even more troubling, now there are reports that one of those characters will be written off in the most final of ways. According to Showbiz411, "L&O: CI" just taped an episode in which one of the departing characters is murdered.