The BEST episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 1

Every episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 1!

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: 11/25/2024Network: USA NetworkStatus: Ended
Seizure
star
7.88
200 votes

#1 - 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:AmazonApple TV
Badge
star
7.75
235 votes

#2 - 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:AmazonApple TV
Tuxedo Hill
star
7.74
234 votes

#3 - Tuxedo Hill

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/10/2002

When Goren and Eames investigate the murder of a man linked to a corporate finance officer, they uncover a stock manipulation scheme which enriched the corporate executives by defrauding investors.

Directors: Steve Shill
Writer: René Balcer
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Third Horseman
star
7.72
199 votes

#4 - 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:AmazonApple TV
Enemy Within
star
7.69
206 votes

#5 - Enemy Within

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/2001

The death of an eccentric banker in his nintieth floor apartment leads the detectives to investigate his professional contacts and family members.

Directors: John David Coles
Writer: David Black
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Jones
star
7.66
285 votes

#6 - Jones

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2001

The detectives become suspicious when an abusive lawyer's girlfriends keep turning up dead, but his wife stonewalls the investigation.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Maledictus
star
7.61
198 votes

#7 - Maledictus

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/21/2002

Goren and Eames investigate the murder of a Russian mob princess, initially believing she may have been slain in a revenge act against her father, but their attention later turns to a classmate who could be destroyed by the woman's upcoming tell-all book.

Directors: Frank Prinzi
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Smothered
star
7.60
325 votes

#8 - Smothered

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/2001

After the body of Lois Romney is found in a hotel room, Goren and Eames link her to Dale Van Acker, a junkie and the son of wealthy scion Priscilla Van Acker. Van Acker strongly disapproved of her son's pregnant fiancée, which leads Goren and Eames to suspect she may have wanted to get rid of the girl on a permanent basis.

Directors: Michael Fields
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Phantom
star
7.56
200 votes

#9 - Phantom

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/17/2002

The detectives investigate a slain bank robber and check out his sister, who is involved with a bogus United Nations economist. As the detectives close in on the suspect, Goren learns the suspect wants his children's approval and must stop him before any more murders.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Faithful
star
7.55
285 votes

#10 - The Faithful

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/2001

Goren and Eames investigate the death of church sexton Morris Abernathy but soon find their chief suspect, Kevin Donovan, dead in his apartment. After realising that someone performed last rites over Donovan's body, the police realise that a priest was involved in the murder, and are led to a priest who has been desperately trying to keep a twenty-year-old secret hidden. Goren risks the prosecution's case by protecting an innocent third party who could lose everything if their own secret comes out.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Art
star
7.54
365 votes

#11 - Art

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/7/2001

When a museum curator and an art authenticator are found dead in what was set up to look like a murder-suicide, Goren and Eames follow the clues and realise that the deaths are linked to the sale of numerous art forgeries. Their investigation hits a dead end when they're unable to locate the forger until Goren seeks the help of another forger.

Directors: David Platt
Watch Now:Apple TV
Yesterday
star
7.50
210 votes

#12 - Yesterday

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/14/2002

When the well-preserved body of a woman tortured and murdered twenty years earlier appears on the banks of the Bronx River, chemical residue on the body leads Goren and Eames to the basement of the house in which the body had originally been buried and to the junkie whose parents owned the home. When the junkie ends up murdered as well, their investigation focuses on his college classmate, a man with a history of drugging and sexually assaulting women.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Extra Man
star
7.43
274 votes

#13 - The Extra Man

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/28/2001

When a European con man is found beaten to death, the detectives look for the investors he swindled, learning quickly that the man also had relations with their wives.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Watch Now:Apple TV
One
star
7.41
405 votes

#14 - One

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/2001

Goren and Eames are called in when a jewelry heist leaves behind three bodies. After ruling out mafia involvement, they realise that the thefts are directly connected to recent credit card thefts and stolen identities. They're led to an extremely charismatic thief, and their only hope is convincing one of his partners to turn on him.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: René Balcer
Watch Now:Apple TV
Homo Homini Lupus
star
7.24
225 votes

#15 - Homo Homini Lupus

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/3/2002

When an business executive's wife and two daughters are kidnapped for a loanshark because the loan hasn't been paid off, Goren and Eames are frustrated by the man's lack of cooperation, which stymies them further when the man's released daughter proves to have been sexually assaulted.

Directors: David Platt
Writer: René Balcer
Watch Now:Apple TV
Faith
star
7.22
231 votes

#16 - Faith

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/28/2002

When a wealthy publisher is murdered to prevent him from exposing an elaborate confidence game that enveloped him, his company and one of his editors, Goren and Eames run their own con to extract a confession from the killer.

Directors: Ed Sherin
Watch Now:Apple TV
Crazy
star
7.11
235 votes

#17 - Crazy

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/2002

A psychiatrist who provides expert testimony at criminal trials lays down an insanity defense to hide his obsession for his younger girlfriend after revealing to her that he hired a corrupt detective to murder her brother-in-law at his son's Bar Mitzvah after alleged reports that her niece had been abused by him.

Directors: Steve Shill
Writer: René Balcer
Watch Now:Apple TV
Poison
star
7.08
252 votes

#18 - Poison

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/2001

The detectives investigate a murderer who poisons hospital victims with cyanide. They suspect a nurse whose profile is typical, but when they discover more murders away from the hospital they have to widen their search.

Directors: Gloria Muzio
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Insider
star
7.06
227 votes

#19 - The Insider

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/27/2002

When the father of a young woman who has been out all night clubbing is found dead in his boat house, Goren and Eames investigate the mysterious club owner only to realise that he is an undercover FBI agent and that the Bureau will not risk their undercover operation even to stop a killer.

Directors: Jan Egleson
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Good Doctor
star
7.03
251 votes

#20 - The Good Doctor

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/2001

A plastic surgeon reports his drug-abusing wife missing, and ends up being the prime suspect after detectives learn he had good reason to want her out of his life.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Pardoner's Tale
star
7.00
260 votes

#21 - The Pardoner's Tale

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2001

The deaths of a reporter and his fiancée, gunned down on orders, leads the detectives to investigate political bribery involving the governor's office, which Deakins isn't pleased with.

Directors: Steve Shill
Watch Now:Apple TV
Semi-Professional
star
6.95
233 votes

#22 - Semi-Professional

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/10/2002

The detectives investigate the murder of a judge's clerk, with their attention initially going to the judge himself, who had been having an affair with the young woman.

Directors: Gloria Muzio
Watch Now:Apple TV