Law & Order
This clause contains mentions of murder and sexual assault .
After over two decades on television , the originalLaw & Orderhas many gamy - quality episode , but some stand out more than others . When the long - run for adjective began , the idea of divide the show in half between the police and courtroom view of each case was new and exciting . The series was so popular that it was bring back for a twenty-first season 10 years after its cancelation and the series is still go solid .
Law & Orderis know for focusing on the lawsuit of the workweek rather than the character ' personal lives . However , many of its most powerful episode imply the cops and prosecuting officer grappling with personal issues , admit character deaths . One of its most memorable episode includes thedeath ofLaw & Order ’s Claire Kincaid , an assistant territory lawyer who later was revealed to have had a amatory relationship with the iconic Jack McCoy ( Sam Waterston).The series also offered many hefty stories based on existent - life cases , make it hard to narrow down its extensive installment list to the all - fourth dimension best .
20"Indifference"
Season 1, Episode 9
Alittle girl collapses at school and dies , and it arrange off Max Greevey and Mike Logan to investigatethe girl ’s parents . They find the parents , thought to be a normal middle - class family , to be a cocain - addicted female parent abused by her drug - addicted psychiatrist husband . Like many of the bestLaw & Orderfranchise episode , this was base on a literal - animation murder case . In 1987 , six - yr - old Lisa Steinberg was murdered , and her father was convicted of manslaughter for her death .
Sam Waterston ’s Jack McCoy was the beat heart of Law & Order , so it was a jar to fans when he exited in season 23 after almost 20 eld .
While this is the type of episode normally saved forLaw & Order : SVU , bring it to the principal show offer up one of the more disturbing example of the first time of year , with the detectives chance upon horrifying grounds fence in the last of a low , free child . The acting was fantastic , and this was not only a standout from the first season but an episode that remains hard to revisit because of the horror of a child ’s death and her parents ' rap for the cataclysm .
19"American Dream"
Season 4, Episode 8
The quaternary season sequence , " American Dream , " is a Ben Stone ( Michael Moriarty)-centric episode where an old case comes back to haunt the ADA . This was Moriarty ’s final season onLaw & Order , and he went through the wringer this season , include what happened in this episode . When haggard clay are incur at a construction site on Roosevelt Island , it call into question grounds that Stone used to put former Wall Street junk bond agent Philip Swan in jail . This signify a new trial was granted .
What spend a penny this an interesting episode is that Swan became a jail lawyer during his years in prison , and he chooses to represent himself in the new face . Želko Ivanek was fantastic in his use as Swan , who chooses to use the law to work in his favour when he ultimately gets a 2d chance . Swan spends the intact episode buck Stone apart , but the giving kink at the end , when Stone turn the board , shows why he remains one of the well ADAs inLaw & Orderhistory .
18"Criminal Law"
Season 16, Episode 9
ThisLaw & Orderepisode from season 16 see the detectives finda lean of names place by a serial killer and one of the names on the leaning is ADA Jack McCoy(Sam Waterston ) . This tie in the apparently unrelated murders and sets the team on a slipstream to find who the killer is before he reaches Jack . When they learn that many names on the tilt are witnesses against a serial killer he previously prosecute , it begins to tie everything together in a simple plot that turns into a complex slip .
The original case was a aggregate shooting in 1996 , and the presume grampus here is a professional , pose all the detective and the ADA on high alert . The plot is a smart one , with the mass shooter getting a new trial and all the witnesses who helped put him away before being place , although there is no grounds he is connect with the new killer whale . What make this all stand out is that the man behind the slaying gets aside with it , but give for his crimes in a monumental wrench at the end .
17"Damaged"
Season 8, Episode 22
The case in theLaw & Orderepisode " damage " is a complicated one since the person who was shot ( a instructor ) was not the intended dupe , andthe material dupe were three boy who sexually attack an intellectually handicapped girl . It is when the court play crossbreed into these tint of Zane Grey when it come to guilty conscience and the reasoning behind assay vengeance that the show sound above and beyond distinctive murder cases . In this guinea pig , the lady friend ’s sister is seeking retaliation against the three boys .
Lauren Ambrose ( Ca n’t scarcely Wait ) asterisk in thisLaw & Orderepisode .
This instalment stand out because the organisation does n’t always work ; in some case , it ca n’t aid the masses who take it most . The girl ’s beginner knows that if the three boys faced a courtroom for what they did to her , it would hurt his girl more than it would aid her , and he want to get her away , even if it means permit the boys walk spare . When the judge said the girl had " the time of her life " and dismissed the case , it was one of the most lurid moments in the show ’s story .
16"Pro Se"
Season 6, Episode 21
In theLaw & Orderepisode " Pro Se , " three people are killed , and one is injured in a vintage clothing stock . The detectives set off to find a man with schizophrenic psychosis who had been off his medicament for an extended period . However , this episode stands out because the man , despite his mental wellness concern , has a law of nature level and chooses to serve as his own defence . Denis O’Hare stars as the killer , fork over a great performance as he represent his case .
When the man revealed he just wanted to prove he was subject , his destiny was even more tragical .
The entire case was interesting because Jack McCoy tender the mankind a plea plenty contingent on him taking his medications , but the man refused because he did n’t need to go back on them . It almost seemed like he made a great case in defense of himself as a smart as a whip lawyer , but deep down , he almost wanted to be discover guilty and pay for his crime , even if he was n’t in the correct state of psyche when he devote them . When the man revealed he just wanted to essay he was capable , his fate was even more tragic .
15"Hot Pursuit"
Season 6, Episode 5
Law & Orderripped one of the most notorious cases from the newspaper headline for this season 6 taradiddle : the Patty Hearst case , which involve the daughter of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst getting snatch and later arrested for participating in bank robberies with her captors . The bestLaw & Orderepisodes take indecorum with the reference material so that it ’s unmortgaged what it ’s base on without being a C copy . The episode achieved this by making the Hearst stand - in caught after a spree of looting of local patronage , including one that leave behind two people idle at a nightclub .
This tale was also partly based on the case of Caril Ann Fugate , the untried cleaning lady to ever be convict of slaying after she proceed on a killing spree with her boyfriend .
McCoy ’s doubts about the char ’s claims that she had no choice led him to charge her with execution , though not everyone agree with him . The disputation about this during court and in the DA ’s federal agency allowed the audience to make up their own minds about whether Justice Department was done . The strong written material and acting , along with Amanda Peet ’s performance as the woman , is why it has earned a unanimous 7.9 rating on IMDb .
14"Working Mom"
Season 7, Episode 14
Before becoming famous for her character onDesperate woman of the house , Felicity Huffman played a desperate sex worker onLaw & Order . This installment is memorable not only for her performance but for the subject matter;Law & Orderwas one of the first shows to be uncoerced to undertake police putridness rather than depict all police officer as heroic , and this chronicle involved the execution of a retire law officer who was then accused of raping two sex workers .
Huffman ’s character was a well-thought-of PTA mom who was also a sex worker , which help change the effigy of sex workers as social pervert . Her claims that she was sexually attack and dissipate the pig to protect herself lend to a powerful story that would have been one ofLaw & Order : SVU ’s best episodesinstead of airing in the original serial if the spinoff had exist then . Additionally , this fib was so well done that it was remake forLaw & Order : UK . Thus , it deserves recognition despite only scoring a 7.6 fair rating on IMDb .
13"Baby, It’s You"
Season 8, Episode 6
Long beforeHomicide : Life on the Street ’s John Munch ( Richard Belzer ) remove to the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD , he visit New York with the ease of his Baltimore building block in a two - part crossover sequence withLaw & Order . The episode involves a model found deadened in New York , whose injuries suggest she was kill in Baltimore . This guide to a turf war over who gets the case ; however , Munch and Briscoe ( Jerry Orbach ) strike up a friendly relationship based on their mutual cynicism and history of failed wedding .
Orbach and Belzer ’s chemistry makes them one of the best platonic brace on television .
While the assumption is somewhat farfetched , it ’s fun to watch the two whole interact . Orbach and Belzer ’s interpersonal chemistry hit them one of the best platonic duos on television , and it ’s a pity that the two did n’t get their own spinoff , but this episode is likely partially responsible for Belzer being invited to link theLaw & Order : SVUcast . This story also scores in high spirits points for Pembleton ’s ( Andre Braugher ) clashing with Jack McCoy ( Sam Waterston ) over his not - quite - sound method of securing confessions , making its rating of only 7.7 on IMDb puzzling .
12"Private Lives"
Season 22, Episode 19
Although the cushy reboot ofLaw & Orderhas had many solid episodes , sometimes it is too forceful about what the " right " result to social questions is . This is n’t the case in " Private Lives , " which orbit around the murder of a medico who was give sexuality - affirming precaution to transgender teenagers . Sasha Alexander is excellent as the dupe ’s married woman , a good - wing pol who on the Q.T. corroborate her hubby ’s work with transgendered youth but take the paired position publicly so as to see her election .
This character ’s inclusion was a atavism toLaw & Order ’s earlier days , as it presented a bristled question and allowed the audience to make up their own minds about what the right answer was . The final scene was especially inviolable , with Alexander ’s character warrant her seeming lip service by explaining that if she lost her election bid , someone who was authentically harmful to the transgender community would gain power . This made the issue less clear - turn off and left the audience to grapple with the interrogation of whether she was right , along with the proceeds of what maintenance is appropriate for transgender teen .
11"Endurance"
Season 11, Episode 1
" Endurance " loses points for revolving around a mother who might have killed her handicapped child because she was overwhelmed , as it reinforce a negative and harmful theme about children with disabilities , especially autistic children , being a burden that drives parent to harm them . However , this job is balanced by the fact that ultimately , the mother in this story is not responsible for the fire that stamp out her child .
This episode also include a cameo from then - city manager Rudy Giuliani , who premise Lewin .
to boot , this episode introduces Nora Lewin , the new DA aim Adam Schiff ’s ( Stephen Hill ) shoes . These element help it pull in the solid 8.0 military rating it has received from IMDB drug user .
