The BEST episodes of Law & Order
Every episode of Law & Order ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order!
A blended police procedural and courtroom drama which employs a two-part approach: The first half of each episode focuses on NYPD homicide detectives investigating a crime—often derived from a real-life headline—and apprehending a suspect. The second half takes place in the courtroom, with the district attorney prosecuting the defendant.
#1 - Invaders
Season 16 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/2006
The family of a man who once turned his customers into the police is slain, and the ensuing fracas pits McCoy against a corrupt D.E.A. agent.
#2 - Aftershock
Season 6 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/22/1996
After Briscoe, Curtis, McCoy, and Kincaid witness the execution of a criminal they brought to justice, their unique reactions to the event culminate in personal tragedies for each of them.
#3 - American Dream
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1993
A skeleton unearthed at a building site resurrects one of Stone's old cases, and brings him face to face with the tenacious, brilliant culprit, who is seeking a new trial.
#4 - Monster
Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/20/1998
During the search for a pedophile who raped a 10-year-old, a snitch offers Briscoe a chance to avenge his daughter's death. Meanwhile, Van Buren learns that her job is in jeopardy; McCoy is ordered to appear before a disciplinary committee because of his conduct in a DUI case; and the increasingly political Schiff worries that the rape case may adversely impact his reelection bid.
#5 - Pro Se
Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/8/1996
The investigation into multiple homicides at a clothing store leads to the arrest of a schizophrenic who presents McCoy with a formidable opponent when he decides to represent himself.
#6 - Harm
Season 9 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/3/1999
Briscoe and Curtis investigate a possible homicide while probing the assault of a retired divorce attorney.
#7 - Caviar Emptor
Season 14 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/12/2004
When a caviar importer is murdered the day after his wedding to a much-younger woman, the large pool of suspects includes his new wife, his children, and his chief competitor, each of whom has a compelling motive for committing the crime.
#8 - Born Again
Season 12 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/6/2002
The investigation into the death of an 11-year-old girl uncovers the possible culpability of the child's mother and a rebirthing therapist.
#9 - Open Season
Season 13 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/20/2002
A defense attorney who managed the acquittal of the defendant in the attempted murder of a cop is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with police officers in the precinct of the injured officer, then to his brother, before they are led to a white supremacist who is part of a national network. McCoy is faced with the unlikely prospect that the defendant's attorney, his friend of 20 years and a friend of the slain lawyer, played a part in the murder of a Florida district attorney following the defendant's arrest. McCoy is able to make a deal that perserves the integrity of his adversary, but not without a cost.
#10 - Rage
Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/1/1995
A Wall Street broker accused of murdering his mentor uses the defense of "black rage" in court.
#11 - C.O.D.
Season 14 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/19/2004
Briscoe bids farewell to the 27 as the prosecution of two women for killing each other's husbands comes to a successful conclusion.
#12 - Couples
Season 13 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/21/2003
Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.
#14 - Double Blind
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/6/1996
The murder of a janitor in a university laboratory building leads back to a student employee whose participation in a drug study may have prompted the crime.
#15 - Appraisal
Season 22 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/11/2023
Cosgrove and Shaw suspect an art dealer was murdered but can't make an arrest until they locate her body. Price and Maroun must go to trial with a circumstantial case and a suspect with unlimited resources. The squad celebrates a birthday.
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#16 - Heart of Darkness
Season 16 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/18/2006
A journalist's suicide becomes suspect after Green and Fontana find evidence at the scene suggesting that it wasn't a suicide after all.
#17 - Chosen
Season 13 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/15/2003
The murder of a bookie with a high-class clientelle leads the detectives to arrest his partner. Charged with first-degree murder, his attorney puts forth an unusual defense strategy that turns the trial into a political statement.
#18 - Old Friends
Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/25/1994
A truck hits a pedestrian and the investigation reveals the victim's link to a baby-food company in which a new partner has connections to the Russian mob.
#19 - Hindsight
Season 16 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/10/2006
Fontana and Green are called in to investigate when Green's former replacement, Nick Falco, is suspected of murdering a young woman he had spent the night with.
#20 - Seed
Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/15/1995
A routine investigation into a woman's death leads Briscoe and Logan to a fertility doctor guilty of unethical practices, but who cannot apparently be touched because of confidentiality rules, and patient reluctance to talk.
#21 - Savages
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/18/1995
McCoy and Kincaid clash over the death penalty as McCoy prosecutes a man who murdered an undercover cop during a drug bust.
#22 - Punk
Season 9 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/25/1998
The murder of a corrections officer leads detectives to a women's prison where a guard was linked to an inmate Carmichael put away on drug charges and a confrontation with defense attorney Danielle Melnick.
#23 - Open Wounds
Season 22 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/18/2023
A senator is gunned down at his daughter's wedding. McCoy pushes for a severe sentence and squares up against a formidable DA -- his own daughter. Price aims to stay neutral but can't help but empathize with the defendant over a shared trauma.
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#24 - Showtime
Season 7 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/27/1997
The trial of Eddie Newman begins but the prosecution's chances of conviction are hampered by a "dream team" of defense attorneys, Gorton's personal pressures on Ross, the public questioning of the relationship between Curtis and Lisa Lundquist, and a surpise accusation.
#25 - Acid
Season 16 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/30/2005
After the daughter of one of Van Buren's college friends is found dead in her room, a suicide, Van Buren joins Green and Fontana in hunting down the man who burned her face with acid months earlier, ultimately leading to her suicide. Van Buren is unsucces
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