The 30 Best Law & Order Episodes From the Franchise

No one tells “Law & Order” jokes better than comedian John Mulaney. He calls the franchise’s beloved homicide detectives the “murder police” and waxes nostalgic about the wonder that was Jerry Orbach. The Tony-winning actor played NYPD Detective Lennie Briscoe for 12 years until he died in 2004 at age 69.

Like Mulaney, a lot of TV lovers are obsessed with “Law & Order.” It’s a trusty and oftentimes predictable crime procedural to cherish and watch during endless small-screen marathons for hours on end. The Dick Wolf original aired for 20 seasons beginning in 1990 and launched seven spinoffs, some of which, like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” have gone on to become huge successes. In its 22nd season, “SVU” is TV’s longest-running primetime drama. Its own spinoff, “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” marking Christopher Meloni’s return as Detective Elliot Stabler, premieres on Thursday.

In honor of all things “Law & Order,” here are the 30 best episodes from “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” in descending order. Cue the show’s signature sound effect.

• 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' Season 5, Episode 20 -- 'To the Bone'

  

  Director: Jean de Segonzac
  Aired: May 7, 2006

  Whoopi Goldberg guest stars as a criminal mastermind in this installment that begins with a series of home-invasion murders investigated by detectives Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth). Logan ends up shooting a Black suspect — the episode aired in 2006, but concerns over racial bias in policing continue today — and has to defend himself.

• 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' Season 2, Episode 23 -- 'A Person of Interest'

  

  Director: Frank Prinzi
  Aired: May 18, 2003

  Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) tones down his odd speaking style long enough to investigate a nurse’s murder that might involve anthrax. On the path to the truth, Goren goes up against an old criminal nemesis (guest star Olivia d’Abo). But thankfully, his partner Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe) keeps him focused.

• 'Law & Order' Season 14, Episode 24 -- 'C.O.D.'

  

  Director: Matthew Penn
  Aired: May 19, 2004

  For fans of the late, great Orbach, this is the bittersweet installment in which his wisecracking character, Detective Lennie Briscoe, retires from the force. But before he goes, Briscoe and his partner Detective Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin) solve a deliveryman’s murder.

• 'Law & Order' Season 7, Episode 14 -- 'Working Mom'

  

  Director: Jace Alexander
  Aired: Feb. 26, 1997

  Felicity Huffman guest stars as wife, mother and prostitute Hillary Colson. Colson enters detectives Lennie Briscoe (Orbach) and Rey Curtis’ (Benjamin Bratt) orbit when a former police officer, who was blackmailing her, turns up dead. Late acting legend Elaine Stritch enjoys a guest turn as Colson’s lawyer.

• 'Law & Order' Season 19, Episode 3 -- 'Lost Boys'

  

  Director: Christopher Zalla
  Aired: Nov. 19, 2008

  The murder of a 17-year-old boy takes detectives Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) into the complicated world of a polygamous Mormon cult leader. Sadly, it’s a cult that includes child brides and spousal abuse, and a wife who wants to escape. Colm Meaney guest stars.

• 'Law & Order' Season 20, Episode 8 -- 'Doped'

  

  Director: Mario Van Peebles
  Aired: Nov. 6, 2009

  At first, the police think they’re dealing with a deadly car crash involving a drunk driver. But as detectives Kevin Bernard (Anderson) and Cyrus Lupo (Sisto) dig deeper, they uncover a whistleblower case in which the allegedly intoxicated motorist was about to expose her Big Pharma employer.

• 'Law & Order' Season 9, Episode 16 -- 'Harm'

  

  Director: Richard Dobbs
  Aired: March 3, 1999

  A patient dies under suspicious circumstances and a handful of greedy doctors are to blame. But what is even better about this Season 9 installment is the chemistry between the castmates. Orbach and Bratt fight crime, S. Epatha Merkerson bosses them around, Sam Waterston and Angie Harmon prosecute, and Steven Hill bosses them around. That’s pretty darn perfect.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 9, Episode 4 -- 'Savant'

  

  Director: Kate Woods
  Aired: Oct. 16, 2007

  An intellectually disabled young girl (guest star Paulina Gerzon) is the only witness to her mother’s brutal murder. Can Katie help detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) solve the case or are they asking for too much from her?

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 8, Episode 22 -- 'Screwed'

  

  Director: Arthur W. Forney
  Aired: May 22, 2007

  Detective Chester Lake (Adam Beach) joins the SVU team in time to help solve a case against an accused rapist (guest star Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges). But the trial spirals out of control when detectives Elliot Stabler (Meloni), Olivia Benson (Hargitay), John Munch (Richard Belzer) and Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) are thrust into the spotlight and onto the witness stand.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 7, Episode 3 -- '911'

  

  Director: Ted Kotcheff
  Aired: Oct. 4, 2005

  The SVU team fights against the clock to find a 9-year-old girl who has called emergency dispatchers to say she has been kidnapped. Actress Chandra Wilson filmed this episode just before she landed a role on “Grey’s Anatomy,” which debuted by the time the episode aired. Zabryna Guevara also guest stars.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 7, Episode 1 -- 'Demons'

  

  Director: David Platt
  Aired: Sept. 20, 2005

  Robert Patrick plays Ray, a convicted rapist on parole. When a teenage girl is sexually assaulted in Ray’s neighborhood, he is the first suspect police question. But is he guilty? Detective Elliot Stabler (Meloni) goes undercover to uncover the truth. Jim Moody also guest stars.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 14, Episode 16 -- 'Funny Valentine'

  

  Director: Jean de Segonzac
  Aired: Feb. 27, 2013

  Four years after R&B singer Chris Brown physically assaulted his then-girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, “SVU” producers decided to fictionalize and explore the headline-grabbing incident. The end result isn’t groundbreaking, but it does take an honest look at how some abuse victims protect their abusers.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 5, Episode 19 -- 'Sick'

  

  Director: David Platt
  Aired: March 30, 2004

  A preteen posts menacing messages in an online chatroom, catching the attention of authorities. Investigators learn the boy has been sexually molested by his father’s boss, a Michael Jackson-type portrayed by Will Keenan. Actor Shane Haboucha, who bears an uncomfortable resemblance to Jackson accuser James Safechuck when he was a kid, guest stars as the preteen.

• 'Law & Order' Season 12, Episode 9 -- '3 Dawg Night'

  

  Director: Stephen Wertimer
  Aired: Nov. 28, 2001

  One of the best things about the “Law & Order” franchise is revisiting old episodes featuring actors before they became stars. For instance, this installment centering on a nightclub shooting includes guest star turns from a young Idris Elba (before HBO’s “The Wire”) and Kerry Washington (long before ABC’s “Scandal”).

• 'Law & Order' Season 13, Episode 23 -- 'Couples'

  

  Director: David Platt
  Aired: May 21, 2003

  Domestic disputes take centerfield in this jampacked 300th episode that has detectives Ed Green (Martin) and Lennie Briscoe (Orbach) investigating three murders and a kidnapping all in one day. As it turns out, one of the murders is connected to a decades-old homicide.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 5, Episode 20 -- 'Lowdown'

  

  Director: Jud Taylor
  Aired: April 6, 2004

  Despite Detective Fin Tutuola’s (Ice-T) awkward description of closeted Black men on “the downlow,” the show manages to tackle a real issue within the African American community that causes heartbreak and STD-related health problems. Michael Beach guest stars.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 9, Episode 8 -- 'Fight'

  

  Director: Juan Jose Campanella
  Aired: Nov. 20, 2007

  Washington D.C. native Anwan Glover excited his hometown fans when he announced he’d be guest starring on “SVU.” But when his character died prematurely in a death-by-trash-compactor accident, it felt like his cheering section got cheated. Glover plays a gang leader who frames two brothers trying to carve out a better life.

• 'Law & Order' Season 3, Episode 4 -- 'The Corporate Veil'

  

  Director: Don Scardino
  Aired: Oct. 14, 1992

  A medical supplier is criminally charged after his pacemakers kill several patients. This includes a teenage boy who has a heart attack and dies while driving, causing him to plow through a city park. By episode’s end, it’s not clear if prosecutors Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) are victorious, but it’s implied.

• 'Law & Order' Season 6, Episode 21 -- 'Pro Se'

  

  Director: Lewis Gould
  Aired: May 8, 1996

  Denis O’Hare mesmerizes as James Smith, a homeless schizophrenic man accused of murder, who chooses to defend himself in court. Smith is accused of killing three people at a vintage clothing store. At first, Detective Rey Curtis (Bratt) suspects a Black high school student named Jerome (Sean Ellis) and even harasses him during questioning. But the student is innocent and identifies Smith, who was just outside the store.

• 'Law & Order' Season 1, Episode 21 -- 'Sonata for Solo Organ'

  

  Director: Fred Gerber
  Aired: April 2, 1991

  Mounted officers find a guy lying on a park bench and think he’s been mugged. They help him up and discover he’s bleeding. Turns out someone stole his kidney and sewed him back up. At the hospital, Detective Mike Logan (Noth) says, “Talk about getting your pocket picked, huh?” And then the title song plays. Classic.

• 'Law & Order' Season 18, Episode 15 -- 'Bogeyman'

  

  Director: Tim Hunter
  Aired: April 30, 2008

  The show’s writers’ room takes a swing at Scientology with this storyline. An author is found dead from an apparent suicide, but she didn’t actually kill herself. Soon detectives Cyrus Lupo (Sisto) and Kevin Bernard (Anderson) take a closer look at the victim’s hubby and his cult-like religion.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 6, Episode 4 -- 'Scavenger'

  

  Director: Daniel Sackheim
  Aired: Oct. 9, 2004

  A serial killer taunts the SVU team by strategically placing clues all over the city leading to the whereabouts of his possible victim, whom he’s abducted. The hunt begins when a jogger finds an abandoned baby in the park. There’s a note on the baby that says the killer has kidnapped his mother.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 4, Episode 10 -- 'Resilience'

  

  Director: Joyce Chopra
  Aired: Dec. 6, 2002

  Easily one of the darkest and saddest in “SVU” history, this episode begins with a teenage girl preparing to commit suicide by leaping off a subway platform. Jackie (Rachael Bella) is stopped, and when she is examined at the hospital, doctors and nurses find evidence of rape and bruises on her body from restraints. Detectives later learn her mom and dad are involved.

• 'Law & Order' Season 15, Episode 15 -- 'Obsession'

  

  Director: Constantine Makris
  Aired: Feb. 9, 2005

  While investigating the homicide of a controversial political TV pundit, detectives Ed Green (Martin) and Joe Fontana (the late Dennis Farina) arrest a woman who claims she planned the murder with the pundit’s widow, Miranda (Paula Devicq). The murderer says she is the wife’s lover, but the wife says the woman is an obsessed stalker who’s lying.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims' Unit Season 2, Episode 19 -- 'Parasites'

  

  Director: David Platt
  Aired: April 27, 2001

  The skeletal remains of an Eastern European immigrant are uncovered and police investigators question her twin sister. The sister, who was estranged from the victim, tells detectives Olivia Benson (Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Meloni) that the victim used wealthy men for their money. But Benson and Stabler aren’t buying it.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 1, Episode 20 -- 'Remorse'

  

  Director: Alexander Cassini
  Aired: May 5, 2000

  Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) takes the lead on a rape case that takes months to solve. During that time, he bonds with the victim who also happens to be a well-known TV journalist (guest star Jennifer Esposito). Munch finds one of the two rapists, but after the perpetrator clams up, he doggedly works to find the second.

• 'Law & Order' Season 14, Episode 23 -- 'Caviar Emptor'

  

  Director: Richard Dobbs
  Aired: May 12, 2004

  A wealthy Persian businessman is smothered to death and police suspect greed as the motive. They investigate the victim’s new young bride, Yasmin (Marjan Neshat), his daughter Roya (Sakina Jaffrey) and her husband Asher (Maz Jobrani). But an unexpected confession at the end of the episode turns Jack’s (Waterston) case against Roya on its head.

• 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 5, Episode 9 -- 'Control'

  

  Director: Ted Kotcheff
  Aired: Nov. 18, 2003

  A castrated man is found in a train station and investigators suspect an insane homeless man. But detectives Elliot Stabler (Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Hargitay) learn the castrated man is a serial rapist who held women hostage in his sex dungeon. Police arrest the mother (guest star Jacqueline Bisset) of one of his victims when the man is later murdered.

• 'Law & Order' Season 9, Episode 10 -- 'Hate'

  

  Director: Constantine Makris
  Aired: Jan. 6, 1999

  A high school girl is brutally beaten to death and all signs point to a group of white supremacists as the murderers. Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy (Waterston) builds a case against the teens who committed the homicide and the adult who influenced them through hateful rhetoric. Elsewhere, Detective Lennie Briscoe (Orbach) feels a sense of relief when his daughter’s murderer dies of a drug overdose.

• 'Law & Order' Season 6, Episode 23 -- 'Aftershock'

  

  Director: Martha Mitchell
  Aired: May 22, 1996

  This is that tearjerker installment that always seems to catch “L&O” fans by surprise when it airs during holiday marathons. Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) tragically dies in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. And a young Jennifer Garner guest stars as a grad student who hooks up with a very married Detective Rey Curtis (Bratt).

Read More About:

• Christopher Meloni,
• Law And Order,
• Law and Order: SVU,
• Mariska Hargitay

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