The BEST episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit!
Delves into the dark side of the NYC underworld as the detectives investigate and prosecute various sexually oriented crimes, including rape, pedophilia, domestic violence, and the abuses of children, the disabled, and elderly victims of non-sexual crimes who require specialist handling, all while trying to balance the effects of the investigation on their own lives as they try not to let the dark side of these crimes affect them.
#1 - Above Suspicion
Season 14 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/26/2012
Delia continues cleaning house, leaving a wake of accusations, frame-ups, and murders for SVU to work through as they continue their search for evidence to prove Donald Crages is being framed. Tension is high; everyone is on edge and defensive, even paranoid, and wondering who's next?
#2 - Girl Dishonored
Season 14 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/24/2013
As the SVU detectives investigate the alleged rape of a sorority pledge, drunken students, and conflicting accounts complicate matters.
#3 - Townhouse Incident
Season 17 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/13/2016
Benson is taken hostage when she tries to stop a home invasion.
#4 - Her Negotiation
Season 14 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/22/2013
The detectives uncover a shocking theory as they work to learn the identity of a man Rollins arrested for exposing himself in the park; Detective Benson finds herself in mortal danger.
#5 - Daydream Believer (3)
Season 16 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/29/2015
Benson and Voight lead their teams in the investigation of a rape/murder case that is frighteningly similar to a case from New York a decade ago. When forced to release their main suspect, the Chicago PD joins the SV Unit in New York in pursuit of Yates. (We Called Her Jellybean (1) aired on Chicago Fire, season 3, episode 21. The Number of Rats (2) aired on Chicago P.D., season 2, episode 20.)
#6 - Guilt
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/29/2002
When A.D.A. Cabot is faced with a reluctant witness in a child molestation case, she goes above and beyond the normal scope of duty in her search for evidence to convict the serial abuser. But her passion supercedes her compliance with the law as she misrepresents herself to Benson and Stabler to bring them into an illegal search of the traumatised boy's home -- jeopardising not only her case, but the careers of all involved. SVU Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly is faced with the frustrating task of bringing Cabot in line to preserve the integrity of the Special Victims Unit.
#7 - Manhattan Transfer (1)
Season 17 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/2/2016
A sexual exploitation case involving Catholic schoolgirls results in surprising charges against people in esteemed leadership positions, including judges, lawmakers, lawyers and cops.
#8 - Devil's Dissections (1)
Season 17 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2015
The squad revisit a crime scene where bodies were buried by a serial killer. Rollins tries to get a confession, but the killer reveals shocking new info instead.
#9 - Intersecting Lives (1)
Season 17 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/18/2016
A corrections officer is arrested for sexually assaulting female inmates in and out of prison, and the union that supports him targets Barba and the SVU.
#10 - Frequency
Season 27 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/5/2026
A family discovers a young boy in grave danger when their baby monitor picks up a rogue frequency; Griffin goes to extremes to find the boy's location; Rollins finds herself alone with a predator.
#11 - Heartfelt Passages (2)
Season 17 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/25/2016
When the investigation of Corrections Officer Gary Munson deepens, he and his union take drastic actions that threaten the lives of ADA Barba and the SVU squad.
#12 - 911
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/2005
Benson is on her way out for the evening when a call comes in from a little girl who says she's all alone. While trying to draw the girl out, Benson is drawn deeper into the little girl's life, and although the other officers begin to suspect the whole thing may be some sick joke, Benson is convinced that the little girl is the real deal. By talking to Maria, Benson is able to ferret enough information from her so that they have a place to start, but Maria's captor has an affinity for electronics and has done everything he can to make sure that no one can find the little girl he bought and paid for.
#13 - Paternity
Season 9 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/27/2007
When the paternity of a missing young boy is placed into question, Stabler wonders if he really is the father of Kathy's child. Later, Stabler faces the possibility of losing not only his partner but also Kathy and the baby when she and Benson are in an accident.
#14 - Criminal Pathology (2)
Season 17 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/23/2015
The SVU is called to a familiar crime scene – the beach where serial killer Gregory Yates buried his many victims. When another body washes ashore, Detective Rollins tries to coax him into confessing, but the surprising information he provides sends shockwaves through the police department. As the case goes to court, Barba faces off against two hotshot defense attorneys in a trial that leads to blackmail, an incriminating confession, a new victim and a fugitive suspect.
#15 - Unholiest Alliance (2)
Season 17 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/23/2016
When one of their own is implicated in a cover-up, the SVU struggles to unravel a sex trafficking operation deeply-rooted in government offices, the police department, and the Catholic Church.
#16 - Gone
Season 7 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/28/2006
Doug Waverly and Nick Pratt are charged with rape and murder in the disappearance of Canadian student Jennifer Durning after Nick's cousin, Jason King, claims that while he had consensual sex with her that night the other two raped her. A stray pubic hair leads Novak to Keith Willis, a drunk who was paid off by the boys to get Jennifer out of the hotel and who later saw the boys kidnap her, but Willis exactly fit to be a witness as his mind has gone after years of alcohol abuse. Jason King disappears. Although they are able to find a bug in Donnelly's office, they are not able to prove that it was placed there by Pratt or Waverly. Judge Donnelly is forced to dismiss the case against the two boys since there is no case without Jason's testimony.
#17 - Monster
Season 27 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/14/2026
A procedural mistake made during the rescue of a kidnapped boy causes the case to collapse in court. As Griffin gets closer to the truth about Tynan, he finds himself in grave danger.
#18 - Pretend
Season 8 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/15/2007
The team investigates the death of a partially clothed teenage boy wearing a leather mask. The detectives discover that the victim's best friend (Michael Welch) is the killer and has a video, showing that the boy's death was the result of a backyard wrestling match gone wrong.
#19 - End Game
Season 20 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/16/2019
When a teenager is found dead in the Hudson River, Lt. Benson suspects Rob Miller is behind the mysterious death but can’t prove it. Despite having only circumstantial evidence, ADA Stone takes the case to court before Miller can destroy more lives.
#20 - Transgender Bridge
Season 17 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/30/2015
15 year-old Avery Parker walks home from school through Fort Tryon Park when she's surrounded by a group of rowdy boys. Taunts and jokes intensify to pushing and shoving, leaving Avery in the hospital and three assailants under arrest. When the DA's office decides to try one of the culprits, 15 year-old Darius McCrae, as an adult, the SVU squad agonizes over whether the punishment fits the crime, and must deal with the pain of both families involved.
#21 - Fallacy
Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/18/2003
Benson and Stabler try to prove self-defense when a rape victim kills her attacker. Events take an unusual turn when they find out that the victim is a pre-operative transsexual.
#22 - Scavenger
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/2004
The entire squad races against the clock to solve the puzzles and uncover the clues scattered throughout the city by a serial killer who is taunting them to find him and the next victims on his list.
#23 - Chicago Crossover (2)
Season 16 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/2014
Sergeant Hank Voight and Detectives Erin Lindsay and Jay Halstead track a child pornography victim to his last-known whereabouts in New York City, where Sergeant Benson and the SVU squad get a new lead – evidence of a livestreamed pornography “club” that caters to its subscriber’s shocking requests. When Lindsay discovers someone from her past is involved, she hopes it will help lead them to the site’s ringleader, but tensions between Voight and Benson could threaten the case. (Nobody Touches Anything (1) aired on Chicago Fire, season 3, episode 7. They’ll Have to Go Through Me (3) aired on Chicago P.D., season 2, episode 7.)
#24 - Institutional Fail
Season 17 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/7/2015
A starving toddler found wandering the streets alone leads detectives to the home of Manuela Ozuna and another child in grave condition. The police question Department of Child Services caseworker Keith Musio, whose vague and backdated reports on the family suggest he hadn't checked on the children in months. When the overworked Keith accuses his supervisor, Janette Grayson, of orchestrating the false reports, Chief Dodds promises to conduct an internal investigation. But when neglect leads to death, Barba takes matters into his own hands and arrests them for manslaughter. Meanwhile, Dodds indicates some changes coming to Benson's squad.
#25 - Care
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/2001
The battered body of a five-year-old girl in foster care is discovered, and suspicion soon turns to the girl's foster brother, who is into violent video games and doesn't seem quite right in the head. The investigation turns to the girl's biological mother as well as to her foster mother and grandmother as the team tries to figure out who is the real guilty party, and who is only a red herring.