The BEST episodes of Law & Order season 20

Every episode of Law & Order season 20, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order season 20!

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.

Last Updated: 11/17/2024Network: NBCStatus: Continuing
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Rubber Room
star
7.73
293 votes

#1 - Rubber Room

Season 20 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/24/2010

Lupo and Bernard race against time to find a student posting internet blogs threatening to blow up a school.

Directors: René Balcer
Writer: René Balcer
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Blackmail
star
7.61
206 votes

#2 - Blackmail

Season 20 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/15/2010

A freelance journalist is murdered. The detectives find a connection between her and a talk show host who has had a series of workplace affairs.

Directors: Mark Levin
Watch Now:Apple TV
For the Defense
star
7.52
204 votes

#3 - For the Defense

Season 20 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/2009

A case that begins as a search for a missing witness spirals into a murder conspiracy with ADA Connie Rubirosa caught in the middle.

Directors: William Klayer
Watch Now:Apple TV
Immortal
star
7.52
127 votes

#4 - Immortal

Season 20 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/17/2010

A fatal stabbing leads to the discovery that a bio-research firm has been exploiting the cells of an African American man who died 50 years ago for medical research, but has never compensated his dirt-poor descendants.

Directors: Jim McKay (II)
Watch Now:Apple TV
Boy on Fire
star
7.51
172 votes

#5 - Boy on Fire

Season 20 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/1/2010

When detectives come upon the burning body, a sixteen-year-old charter school student from a bad neighborhood, they begin to question his young mentee Moses, who was the last person to see him alive.

Directors: Rose Troche
Watch Now:Apple TV
Shotgun
star
7.49
180 votes

#6 - Shotgun

Season 20 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/20/2009

When an elderly man defends his shop from an armed robbery, the police suspect that this incident could have been an inside job. After further investigation, the detectives discover that the mugging might have been a scare tactic for a shakedown.

Directors: Roger Young
Watch Now:Apple TV
Just a Girl in the World
star
7.46
231 votes

#7 - Just a Girl in the World

Season 20 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2009

A crime scene investigator is murdered in her apartment. Her fiance is suspected, but then a journalist is attacked and DNA is found at the scene that links this crime to the murder.

Directors: M. T. Adler
Watch Now:Apple TV
Doped
star
7.45
196 votes

#8 - Doped

Season 20 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/6/2009

A deadly drunk-driving car accident brings Detectives to the scene when a suspicious nasal spray is found. After the medical examiner realizes the nasal spray is a powerful anesthetic that could easily disorient its user, the detectives become suspicious of the victim's boss, Zach Marshall.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Reality Bites
star
7.43
199 votes

#9 - Reality Bites

Season 20 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/2009

A mother of ten adopted special needs children is murdered. The day after her murder, her husband appears on reality TV.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Taxman Cometh
star
7.42
221 votes

#10 - The Taxman Cometh

Season 20 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/10/2010

Detectives uncover a possible conspiracy to kill off wealthy cancer patients in the calendar year 2010 so that their inheritors don't have to pay an Estate Tax, but legal roadblocks make the case difficult to prosecute.

Directors: Fred Berner
Watch Now:Apple TV
Crashers
star
7.42
193 votes

#11 - Crashers

Season 20 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/3/2010

The body of a model is found burning in an alley, Detectives search for her killer.

Directors: Darnell Martin
Watch Now:Apple TV
Memo from the Dark Side
star
7.42
285 votes

#12 - Memo from the Dark Side

Season 20 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/2009

The body of a young war veteran is found in a parking garage and the murder is connected to a law professor who used to work for the Department of Justice.

Directors: Fred Berner
Watch Now:Apple TV
Love Eternal
star
7.42
169 votes

#13 - Love Eternal

Season 20 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/2010

A reality TV crew finds a dead body locked in a dog cage.

Directors: William Klayer
Writer: Ed Zuckerman
Watch Now:Apple TV
Fed
star
7.41
215 votes

#14 - Fed

Season 20 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/11/2009

A community organizer who was working on voter registration is found dead with the word "FED" written on his chest. The detectives initially suspect an anti-government motive for the murder, but the case gets more complicated when they learn that the victim was secretly gathering incriminating information about the organization he worked for.

Directors: Alex Chapple
Watch Now:Apple TV
Human Flesh Search Engine
star
7.40
194 votes

#15 - Human Flesh Search Engine

Season 20 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/2009

Bernard becomes the target of a dangerous website that is partly responsible for a homicide the detectives are investigating

Directors: Darnell Martin
Watch Now:Apple TV
Great Satan
star
7.39
203 votes

#16 - Great Satan

Season 20 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2009

The police investigate when an aspiring musician is found dead. A bag of cash leads them to multiple suspects.

Directors: Michael Dinner
Watch Now:Apple TV
Boy Gone Astray
star
7.37
192 votes

#17 - Boy Gone Astray

Season 20 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/2009

When a young woman is found dead in her apartment, a few tell-tale signs quickly lead Detectives to believe that the killer was not after her wealth.

Directors: Rose Troche
Watch Now:Apple TV
Steel-Eyed Death
star
7.31
188 votes

#18 - Steel-Eyed Death

Season 20 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/1/2010

When a family of four is found murdered in their home, police discover that the deaths may be related to the deceased teenage daughters troubled friend, Bonnie.

Directors: Michael Pressman
Watch Now:Apple TV
Four Cops Shot
star
7.28
229 votes

#19 - Four Cops Shot

Season 20 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/22/2010

The debate rages over how to treat an informant who shot and killed four police officers. However, did one of the officers try to put undue pressure on him to help catch a dangerous criminal?

Directors: Jim McKay (II)
Watch Now:Apple TV
Dignity
star
7.25
158 votes

#20 - Dignity

Season 20 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/23/2009

A doctor who performs late-term abortions is murdered in church. The case falls apart when Rubirosa is touched by an abortion nurse's testimony.

Directors: Jim McKay (II)
Watch Now:Apple TV
Innocence
star
7.14
200 votes

#21 - Innocence

Season 20 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/15/2010

A man is convicted of a hate crime for allegedly killing a gay man, but a group called the Innocence Coalition is determined to clear his name.

Directors: Fred Berner
Watch Now:Apple TV
Brazil
star
7.14
227 votes

#22 - Brazil

Season 20 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/29/2010

When an environmental scientist, Dr. Oscar Silva, is poisoned during a global warming symposium, Detectives initially suspect competitors from Dr. Silva's field of study. It is soon discovered that Dr. Silva is involved in a messy custody battle with his wife’s ex-husband, Phillip Shoemaker. The focus of the investigation quickly shifts to the victim’s family.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Watch Now:Apple TV
Brilliant Disguise
star
7.09
205 votes

#23 - Brilliant Disguise

Season 20 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/8/2010

A young woman is found murdered in a hotel and the evidence leads to a medical student.

Directors: Alex Chapple
Watch Now:Apple TV