The BEST episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 13
Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 13, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 13!
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 - Hunting Ground
Season 13 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/22/2012
Detectives Benson and Amaro lead the search for a serial killer who is targeting young prostitutes.
#2 - Spiraling Down
Season 13 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/2011
A military colleague of Detective Amaro’s wife reports his 14-year-old daughter missing. The detectives find the girl working as a prostitute under a possessive pimp. They quickly set up a sting operation to entrap Johns on rape charges with a minor, and arrest aging pro quarterback Jake Stanton. Detective Benson and ADA Cabot seek to make an example out of the football legend, but the case is thrown into chaos with the return of defense attorney Bayard Ellis, who questions Stanton’s mental capacity after years of injuries on the field.
#3 - Blood Brothers
Season 13 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/2011
A 13-year-old girl won't reveal who got her pregnant, leading police to suspect she was raped. The suspects include the son of a noteworthy political couple, as well as the son of their housekeeper.
#4 - Double Strands
Season 13 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/2011
A family man is suspected of being a serial rapist in a string of assaults stretching across several states. Mounting evidence points to his guilt, but detectives research his past and begin to believe his pleas of innocence.
#5 - Official Story
Season 13 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/18/2012
Benson and Amaro must work around a resistant victim when the CEO of a military contractor is assaulted.
#6 - Russian Brides
Season 13 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/2011
When a young woman is found brutally murdered, the SVU detectives use her distinctive tattoos to identify her as a recently engaged Russian mail-order bride. Upon questioning her distraught fiancé, they learn that she was kidnapped and held for ransom the night of their engagement party. While the detectives follow the money to a deadly blackmail scam run by the Russian Mafia, Captain Cragen goes undercover as a sad and lonely suitor to lure out a killer.
#7 - Valentine's Day
Season 13 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/18/2012
A man witnesses his wife's rape and kidnapping while video chatting with her on his way home from a business trip. The abductors seek a ransom, and the case grows more complex as detectives probe deeper.
#8 - Rhodium Nights
Season 13 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/23/2012
In the 13th-season finale, an underage escort is murdered at an upper-crust bachelor party, and the detectives are cautioned to be discreet because of the names on the guest list. The investigation soon uncovers a feud between two escort companies. To be continued...
#9 - Father Dearest
Season 13 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/2/2012
Detectives search for a missing teenage girl who vanished while looking for her biological father, an anonymous sperm donor. A puzzling prime suspect who's targeted several young women soon emerges.
#10 - Lost Traveller
Season 13 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/2011
When a Romani boy vanishes on his way home from school, the Special Victims Unit must penetrate his insular community to find the unlikely abductors.
#11 - Personal Fouls
Season 13 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/28/2011
An ex-basketball player accuses his old coach of sexually abusing him as a child. Det. Nick Amaro transfers to the squad and helps with the case, which involves interviewing former players, one of whom is now famous. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh have cameos
#12 - Scorched Earth
Season 13 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/2011
A hotel maid accuses an Italian diplomat of rape, but then doubt arises about her believability. Meanwhile, Atlanta detective Amanda Rollins joins the squad as Detective Benson struggles to cope with the fall-out from the shooting in the precinct.
#13 - True Believers
Season 13 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/2011
The SVU team works together to investigate the case of a promising music student who was brutally raped at gunpoint.
#14 - Educated Guess
Season 13 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/2011
A patient in a mental hospital claims to have witnessed a sexual assault. However, although the supposed victim is a fellow patient who has a history of making rape allegations, she denies being assaulted this time.
#15 - Theatre Tricks
Season 13 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/11/2012
An actress in an interactive theater production is raped on stage, while the audience believes it to be part of the show. The SVU detectives hit a dead end in their investigation when they learn the show’s passionate director gave the audience, including the assailant, masks to wear during the performance. Detectives Rollins and Tutuola track down an obsessed fan of the young actress who recorded the assault while stalking her, which leads Detectives Benson and Amaro to a respected judge. With the judge’s reputation on the line, the SVU squad explores the underbelly of the New York theater world to uncover who really orchestrated the public attack.
#16 - Justice Denied
Season 13 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/11/2012
A closed rape case of Benson's is reopened because of it's similarities to a new case, and the possibility of wrongful imprisonment surfaces. As Benson's work is questioned, tension develops between her, ADA Haden and Bayard Ellis.
#17 - Missing Pieces
Season 13 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/19/2011
Detectives search for a missing baby on Halloween after a young mother from Buffalo tells them her car was stolen while her baby was still in it.
#18 - Learning Curve
Season 13 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/9/2012
Detectives investigate a string of hate crimes against gay men, and the victims include the new fiancé of Fin's son. A private-school teacher is then similarly brutalized, and the evidence in his case points to a possible cover-up.
#19 - Father's Shadow
Season 13 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/8/2012
An aspiring actress is found unconscious in Central Park with drugs in her system and evidence of sexual trauma. Detectives Benson and Amaro pay a visit to the reality show producer for whom she had auditioned just before the attack, and stop him from assaulting another actress on the casting couch. The detectives arrest the producer, but the situation turns dangerous when his distraught son takes drastic action in order to get his father out of jail. Meanwhile, Benson and Executive ADA David Haden grow closer.
#20 - Child's Welfare
Season 13 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/29/2012
Detective Benson calls on Bayard Ellis for legal help when her estranged brother, Simon Marsden gets caught in a child custody battle. Also, Detectives Tutuola and Rollins investigate why a newborn baby is abandoned near a hospital.
#21 - Street Revenge
Season 13 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/25/2012
A string of rapes in West Soho inspires a group of vigilantes to organize against both neighborhood crime and the NYPD. While Reporter Dennis Griscomb takes every opportunity to publicly criticize police efforts, the SVU squad struggles to find a lead in the case until one of the vigilantes is attacked. As the other detectives fight for control over the investigation and angry citizens, Amaro is distracted by the suspicion that his wife is seeing another man.
#22 - Strange Beauty
Season 13 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/16/2012
Police dive into an underground world of self-mutilation and ritual amputation while searching for a missing woman. When a cleanly severed leg is found, the detectives look for links between their current investigation and a possibly similar cold case.
#23 - Home Invasions
Season 13 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/15/2012
A gunman storms a family's home, killing the parents and leaving their teenage daughter in critical condition. When a hate crime investigation turns into a dead end, Benson and the SVU detectives struggle to find a motive for such violence. The clues lead to a surprising revelation about Detective Rollins, which threatens her future in the Special Victims Unit.