The BEST episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Every episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent!

Law & Order: Criminal Intent takes viewers into the minds of its criminals while following the psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve the crimes.

Last Updated: 5/20/2023Network:USA Network
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A Person of Interest
star
8.27
162 votes

#1 - A Person of Interest

Season 2 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/18/2003

Goren and Eames investigate the murder of a former nurse and discover a possible anthrax terrorist plot. The case takes a turn for the worse when Goren is blamed for driving a suspect to commit suicide. Now disgraced, Goren learns that a cunning adversary from his past may be involved.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Writer: René Balcer
In the Wee Small Hours (1)
star
8.26
186 votes

#2 - In the Wee Small Hours (1)

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/6/2005

Detectives Eames, Goren, Barek, and Logan must solve a case that involves a teenage girl missing in New York City. While Barek and Logan search around for another missing girl, Eames and Goren work to uncover a mystery with a judge and his son.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Frame
star
8.15
224 votes

#3 - Frame

Season 7 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/24/2008

Bobby is visited by the past when he finds a picture at his mother's grave indicating an old nemesis has returned, and the case only gets more complex when his brother and a mentor reappear.

Directors: Norberto Barba
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Zoonotic
star
8.09
161 votes

#4 - Zoonotic

Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/18/2003

The investigation into the murder of a crooked cop leads to a preening veterinarian and his friend, an obsessive doctor whose ex-girlfriends who have all been infected with a rare disease.

Directors: Don Scardino
In the Wee Small Hours (2)
star
8.04
91 votes

#5 - In the Wee Small Hours (2)

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/2005

The squad continues the investigation into the murder of a teenage girl visiting from Iowa. The detectives uncover the sordid family life of a local judge whose son is linked to the Iowa teenager and another victim. Goren and Logan discover that the judge is a formidable foe as they come under scrutiny.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Watch Now:Amazon
Seizure
star
7.99
175 votes

#6 - Seizure

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/31/2002

When the body of a bisexual young woman is found slain, Goren and Eames note the similarities between her death and a number of murders committed by a convicted serial killer, turning their attention to a human-behavior researcher.

Directors: Michael Fields
Writer: Hall Powell
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Trophy Wine
star
7.94
262 votes

#7 - Trophy Wine

Season 10 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/5/2011

A wine importer's death on the heels of an exclusive wine tasting is investigated. The detectives focus on the workings of a high-end auction house, while the man's wife and a grifter couple also become suspects.

Directors: Michael Smith
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
D.A.W.
star
7.94
158 votes

#8 - D.A.W.

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/16/2004

The investigation into the death of a woman searching for the whereabouts of her late mother's antique ring leads Goren and Eames to a physician serial killer who has cleverly concealed the murder of over two hundred of his patients.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Writer: René Balcer
Stray
star
7.90
173 votes

#9 - Stray

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/2003

Tracking a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, Goren deduces that one of his suspects has an injured foot. It isn't long before Goren and Bishop realise that the pair, who have already killed nine people including two undercover cops, are not the typical Bonnie and Clyde -- the female partner is obviously the one in control.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Cold Comfort
star
7.88
167 votes

#10 - Cold Comfort

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/30/2003

When a woman suing her brother over the disposition of their father's remains is found murdered, Goren and Eames discover a concealed parentage and a man willing to go to any extremes to ensure his legacy.

Suite Sorrow
star
7.87
175 votes

#11 - Suite Sorrow

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/2/2003

When the wealthy and matronly owner is found naked and murdered with injections of botox in the bathtub, detectives Goren and Eames focus on the victim's unstable adult daughter who resented her mother's meddling in her love life

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
See Me
star
7.86
176 votes

#12 - See Me

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/9/2003

Detectives Goren and Eames come to believe a doctor conducted shameful experiments on the residents of a halfway house.

Directors: Steve Shill
Writer: Jim Sterling
Watch Now:Amazon
Slither
star
7.84
227 votes

#13 - Slither

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/15/2006

After Russ Corbett and his wife are found in a seedy hotel room, Russ dead of an overdose, Eames and Goren follow the trail of evidence to Bernard Fremont, a professional partier. With his beautiful blonde companions, Fremont insinuates himself into the lives of couples who don't know the city very well, then robs them blind. While investigating Fremont's past in Asia, Goren realises that he is the mastermind that turned Nicole Wallace into a murderer, and his most successful pupil.

Directors: Bill L. Norton
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Cherry Red
star
7.83
197 votes

#14 - Cherry Red

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/27/2003

The detectives try to figure out a mystery after an old woman dies in a fire. The mystery gets deeper when a young woman who is left some of the old woman estate is killed. The case takes them to a state public administrator who has invented a form of grave-robbing. The detective suspects the administrator has a weakness for valuable cars, but to make his case work, he has to exploit his quarry's personal relationships.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Writer: Jim Sterling
Dollhouse
star
7.83
197 votes

#15 - Dollhouse

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/8/2006

After Joseph Sabo is found lying dead in the street, Barek and Logan investigate who was nearby that night that may have had a motive. They are soon led to Danielle Quinn, who had been blackmailing six different men claiming they fathered her child, asking for money. The detectives realise she was the one who killed Sabo, but when none of her victims will testify against her for fear of their wives finding out what they've done, Barek and Logan hit a dead end.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Last Street in Manhattan
star
7.83
330 votes

#16 - The Last Street in Manhattan

Season 10 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/22/2011

When a Wall St. giant is murdered, everyone stands to make a killing. Can Goren and Eames solve the case?

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: Rick Eid
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Identity Crisis
star
7.82
178 votes

#17 - Identity Crisis

Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/3/2009

A man's murder puts Goren and Eames on the trail of an upper echelon businessman whose secrets have taken over his life and put him on the run.

Directors: Michael Smith
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Inert Dwarf
star
7.82
116 votes

#18 - Inert Dwarf

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/21/2004

A world-renowned physicist resorts to murder to avoid being humiliated by his failure to prove a controversial theory of quantum physics that he has spent his career espousing.

Directors: Alex Chapple
Saving Face
star
7.81
170 votes

#19 - Saving Face

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/27/2005

When the body of a young woman is found by two children behind a dumpster, Barek and Logan soon learn she had recently returned from Guatemala and was suspected by the other passengers of being a drug mule. Their investigation leads them to noted plastic surgeon Dr. Christine Ensel, who has made a name for herself in recent years performing surgeries in Guatemala on people who would not normally be able to afford plastic surgery, but as the investigation continues, Logan and Barek suspect that Dr. Ensel has a lot to hide.

Directors: Rick Wallace
Writer: Gerry Conway
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Passion
star
7.81
198 votes

#20 - Passion

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 7/12/2009

Egocentric poet Jacob Garrety would do anything to keep his poetry journal, The Village Quarterly, afloat. When foundation president Don McCallum shows up and announces he is cutting funding to the journal, Jacob appeals to assistant and lover Lauren to use her sexuality to change Don’s mind. Though reluctant, she agrees. While Jacob enjoys the advances of arts patron Sandra Dunbar at a poetry reading, Lauren carries out Jacob’s wish, and winds up dead on the street. Detectives Nichols and Wheeler discover the deadly passion that exists behind the arts.

Directors: Jonathan Herron
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Badge
star
7.80
214 votes

#21 - Badge

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/28/2002

When the murder of a city auditor and his family seems too perfect, Goren and Eames turn their attention towards law enforcement personnel after learning that the auditor was investigating a number of former cops upon suspicion of double-dipping.

Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
Legion
star
7.80
215 votes

#22 - Legion

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/6/2003

When a father and son have their throats slit, the detectives discovers that a group of adolescent boys have disappeared from the same neighborhood. When the locals don't cooperate with the investigation, the cops think the boys are being used by someone operating a bicycle theft ring. The cops are led to a studio owner who brainwashes the boys to prove their worthiness.

The Saint
star
7.80
158 votes

#23 - The Saint

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/14/2004

A man commits fraud, forgery, and murder to discredit the organization that took advantage of his mentally ill mother, impoverished his family, and ruined his childhood.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Watch Now:iTunes
Lady's Man
star
7.79
194 votes

#24 - Lady's Man

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/28/2009

Goren and Eames investigate the killing of a man who became famous for dodging a murder conviction because of a mishandled trial. The man spun his notoriety into a TV show but turned up dead on his birthday.

Directors: Ken Girotti
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes
The Third Horseman
star
7.79
178 votes

#25 - The Third Horseman

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/6/2002

The killing of an abortion doctor who was shot in his own apartment sends the detectives on a search for the sniper before someone else becomes the next victim. Carver worries that the case will end up being all about abortion rights.

Writer: René Balcer
Watch Now:AmazoniTunes

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