L.A. Law backdrop
Drama•War & Politics

The Worst Episodes of L.A. Law

Every episode of L.A. Law ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of L.A. Law!

Binge this in 5d 11h•Peaking at 8.2/10

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of

Airs on
NBC
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons8

All12345678

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
    Click to reveal
    L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 7 - Helter Shelter
    5.7/10(37 votes)

    #1 - Helter Shelter

    S7:E7

    Brackman is distraught when the pocket watch he inherited from his father disappears; new associate Melina Paros joins the firm; Becker accepts an intricate assignment from Flicker, forcing him to deal with the manipulative wife of Flicker's silent partner; after Lincoln escapes from Benny and ends up at the pound, Markowitz takes extreme measures to get the dog released; Brackman gets a ghost writer for his autobiography; Taylor's pursuer sends her a gruesome gift, which only serves to alarm her further as she begins to suspect every man she encounters; Melman doesn't know how to handle Mullaney's new-found ardor; Paros prosecutes her final case for the State's Attorney's office as she attempts to prove that a woman may have abused her children.

    Director:Tom Moore
    Writers:John Masius, John Tinker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 10 - Spanky and the Art Gang
    6.0/10(37 votes)

    #2 - Spanky and the Art Gang

    S7:E10

    Becker and Morales successfully defend the dominatrix accused of Schuller's death; Rollins represents a developer who deliberately commissions an offensive sculpture for one of his buildings in retaliation against a City Hall ruling; Brackman is less than thrilled at the efforts of his ghost writer until a publisher decides to option the book; McKenzie goes to bat for Taylor when she's denied insurance coverage; Markowitz balks at preparing for the trial of the men who attacked him; Taylor gets a unwelcome late night visitor.

    Director:Elodie Keene
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 1 - L.A. Lawless
    6.1/10(55 votes)

    #3 - L.A. Lawless

    S7:E1

    McKenzie, Brackman restructures itself into a leaner, meaner firm with the arrival of new partner Daniel Morales and the departure of Grace, C.J. and Susan Bloom; after a harrowing encounter with a dissatisfied knife-throwing client, Becker swears off marital law and vows to make entertainment law his new specialty; Gwen begins her internship and expresses an interest in the widowed Daniel and his baby daughter; Zoey is released from the hospital, but not from the guilt surrounding the shooting; Becker represents an actor suing his amusement park employer for unlawful termination; as the 1992 Los Angeles riots erupt, Brackman is mistaken for a looter and arrested, while Markowitz sustains severe head trauma after being dragged from his car and beaten by an angry mob.

    Director:Rick Wallace
    Writers:John Masius, John Tinker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 3 - Zo Long
    6.1/10(38 votes)

    #4 - Zo Long

    S7:E3

    Brackman sees life's underbelly from behind bars; Jonathan gets in a mudslinging contest in the final days before the election, and makes comments about the attack on Markowitz that draws the anger of the other members of the firm; Mullaney prosecutes a child abuse case in which the opposing counsel is a nun; Zoey seeks a change of venue for her life and career; Kelsey finds it difficult to work at home while taking of her husband, who is increasingly frustrated by his disability.

    Director:Marisa Silver
    Writers:Anne Kenney, John Masius, John Tinker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 8 - Christmas Stalking
    6.1/10(38 votes)

    #5 - Christmas Stalking

    S7:E8

    Kelsey represents Markowitz in court and gets the charges suspended with Mullaney's support; suspecting that Morales may be her stalker, Taylor gives him the cold shoulder until Melman sets her straight; Paros wins her child abuse case with a little behind-the-scenes help from McKenzie; after Becker gives Flicker an ultimatum about Schuller, Flicker arranges for Becker to be carjacked and abandoned in the desert, where he comes to the rescue and offers Becker a ride home and a high-level job at the studio; a caring physician uncovers that the cause of Markowitz's strange behavior is a brain cyst that can be treated with medication, and he's released from the psych ward of the hospital; after Brackman coldly rebuffs the partners' gift of a new pocket watch, Lincoln finally offers up the original, to Brackman's joy and relief; Romney unsuccessfully pursues both Taylor and a job at the firm; Mullaney and Melman ride out a few rough patches on the road to parenthood.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Julie Martin, John Masius, John Tinker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 2 - Second Time Around
    6.2/10(42 votes)

    #6 - Second Time Around

    S7:E2

    Five months have passed since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and Brackman becomes his own worst enemy when he sues the city for false arrest on the charge of disturbing the peace; Jonathan begins to compromise his principles as he ramps up his bid for election; Mullaney accepts a position in the District Attorney's office; Markowitz is discharged from the hospital and begins the slow road to recovery; Becker is back from his trip around the world; when a dying man confesses to committing a murder for which Leland successfully prosecuted someone else thirty years earlier, Daniel agrees to represent the man Leland sent to jail in an attempt to win him a new trial; Zoey returns to work, and finds herself unhappy in her new assignment to the asset forfeiture division.

    Director:Elodie Keene
    Writer:Paul Manning

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 BEST Episodes of L.A. Law

    READ
  7. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 4 - Foreign Co-Respondent
    6.3/10(41 votes)

    #7 - Foreign Co-Respondent

    S8:E4

    McKenzie urges Eli to join the firm and his restricted men's club; a couple move to sue their travel agent for a nightmare trip; a Chinese financier faces murder charges for the death of an illegal immigrant.

    Director:Mark Tinker
    Writers:Julie Martin, William M. Finkelstein, Paul Manning

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. L.A. Law Season 6 Episode 5 - Monkey on My Back Lot
    6.4/10(37 votes)

    #8 - Monkey on My Back Lot

    S6:E5

    A tenant at a housing project where guns have been banned sues for the right to defend himself; a recovering addict faces reproductive restrictions; McKenzie arbitrates a divorce between two animal trainers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 5 - My Friend Flicker
    6.4/10(44 votes)

    #9 - My Friend Flicker

    S7:E5

    Melman resigns as office manager and returns to working for Becker; McKenzie represents a friend in a reverse discrimination case; Markowitz struggles to overcome his fear of identifying his attackers; Melman asks Mullaney to father her child; Brackman begins his memoirs; studio mogul Ben Flicker takes Becker under his wing after Becker devises a creative financial approach to settling Flicker's daughter's divorce; Taylor's anonymous admirer continues to send her presents; Markowitz buys a gun for protection.

    Director:Jeffrey D. Brown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 6 - Love on the Rox
    6.4/10(36 votes)

    #10 - Love on the Rox

    S7:E6

    Kelsey represents a man who wants to prevent his ex-wife from implanting the frozen embryos that they created during their marriage; Taylor stumbles in her first unsupervised appearance in court opposite Romney, but manages to get back on track with McKenzie's help; Rollins gets a surprise when he finally meets the landlord of the South Central apartment he rented to establish residency during the campaign; Mullaney agrees to father Melman's child; another present that's accompanied by a creepy note and a man who's watching her in the courtroom leads Taylor to suspect that she's being stalked; Markowitz confides to Benny that he damaged the house by firing his gun and then lied to Kelsey about the incident.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Theresa Rebeck

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 9 - Rhyme and Punishment
    6.4/10(39 votes)

    #11 - Rhyme and Punishment

    S8:E9

    Mamie Van Doren is a guest at the firm's Christmas party; the son of an aging comic believes his father is being exploited by a mistress; Roxanne asks Mullaney to surrender parental rights.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Julie Martin, William M. Finkelstein

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 18 - Dead Issue
    6.4/10(35 votes)

    #12 - Dead Issue

    S8:E18

    Markowitz reluctantly takes a court case of a libel suit involving an investigative reporter being sued by a former a nuclear physicist who was accused of conducting radiation experiments on unwitting subjects in the 1950s. Meanwhile, Kelsey handles a divorce case between a woman and her husband, a Grateful Dead fanatic. Also, Becker gets involved with D.A. Belinda Fox, who is determined to prosecute his client for pandering.

    Director:Mark Tinker
    Writer:William M. Finkelstein

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 13 - Hello and Goodbye
    6.5/10(34 votes)

    #13 - Hello and Goodbye

    S7:E13

    A widow charges a news photographer with encouraging her late husband's suicide; Mullaney maintains a vigil by his father's hospital bed; and authorities are summoned to locate baby Lucy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Paul Manning

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 11 - McKenzie, Brackman, Barnum & Bailey
    6.5/10(38 votes)

    #14 - McKenzie, Brackman, Barnum & Bailey

    S8:E11

    A ballerina sues a dance company for breach of contract; an aging juggler accuses his protégé of stealing his act; and Benny dances around a commitment to Rosalie.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 12 - Cold Cuts
    6.5/10(44 votes)

    #15 - Cold Cuts

    S8:E12

    Two mountaineers face charges after resorting to cannibalism; a mathematician adds up the consequences of divorce; and Denise lands in the middle of a father-son feud.

    Director:Elodie Keene
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, Paul Manning

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 17 - Silence is Golden
    6.5/10(37 votes)

    #16 - Silence is Golden

    S8:E17

    Becker and Mullaney suspect, but cannot prove, that Flannigan committed a felony in settling a civil damages suit in a child molestation case; Rollins successfully pleads with an over-controlling father to drop a law suit against his fashion model daughter; Flannigan wins the undying gratitude of the Brackmans when he uses his influence to get their son accepted into a prestigious prep school.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Julie Martin, Paul Haggis

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. L.A. Law Season 6 Episode 14 - Diet, Diet, My Darling
    6.6/10(40 votes)

    #17 - Diet, Diet, My Darling

    S6:E14

    Flanagan brings suit against her father; McKenzie arbitrates a dispute between a cookbook author and her student; Rollins' dad comes to him for help.

    Director:Michael Fresco
    Writers:Alan Brennert, Judith Feldman, Anne Kenney, Sarah Woodside Gallagher

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. L.A. Law Season 6 Episode 1 - Something Old, Something Nude
    6.7/10(47 votes)

    #18 - Something Old, Something Nude

    S6:E1

    Facing financial woes, the firm is forced to share office space with an entertainment lawyer; Van Owen's high-profile client is charged with murdering her abusive husband.

    Director:Rick Wallace
    Writer:Patricia Green

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. L.A. Law Season 6 Episode 13 - Steal It Again, Sam
    6.7/10(43 votes)

    #19 - Steal It Again, Sam

    S6:E13

    Sifuentes visits the firm and finds that his failed relationship with Van Owen demands his attention; Kittredge takes on a legal dispute involving a perfume queen and her protégé.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 11 - Bare Witness
    6.7/10(36 votes)

    #20 - Bare Witness

    S7:E11

    Taylor is haunted by nightmares of Salerno; Brackman represents the owner of a gentleman's club charged with indecency by the city; Markowitz comes through on the stand against his attackers at the preliminary hearing; Salerno tricks an unwitting Stulwicz into aiding her campaign of terror against Taylor; Beatrice Schuller gains control of World Wide Studios, tap dances all over Flicker, and makes Becker an offer he can't refuse.

    Director:Oz Scott
    Writer:Julie Martin

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 12 - Parent Trap
    6.7/10(40 votes)

    #21 - Parent Trap

    S7:E12

    Rollins represents a man whose drunk driving caused the accident that left his pregnant girlfriend in a coma, and who is now suing to keep her on life support until his unborn child can reach full term; Salerno discovers that Morales's gangbanger client has literally left him holding the smoking gun, and leaks the information to the district attorney's office, leading Morales to be jailed for contempt of court when he refuses to admit that he has the weapon that will convict his client; Mullaney's chain smoking, hard-drinking father comes for a visit bearing bad news; Markowitz tells Mullaney to offer his attackers a plea agreement to end the case, but Kelsey intends to press on by filing a civil suit for loss of consortium; posing as the babysitter, Salerno kidnaps Lucy Morales.

    Director:Steven Robman
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. L.A. Law Season 7 Episode 16 - Cold Shower
    6.7/10(34 votes)

    #22 - Cold Shower

    S7:E16

    Taylor knows just what to say when Markowitz has a problem with a client who demands that the I.R.S. treat her with respect before she'll agree to settle her $800,000 debt; Mullaney's personal life affects his decision about whether a teenager who shot the classmate who bullied him should be prosecuted as a juvenile or as an adult; Rollins defends a man who claims that he was seduced and entrapped into selling stolen art work by an undercover cop; Mullaney and Melman part company when he realizes that he can't handle being either a husband or a father.

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writer:Anne Kenney

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 1 - Book of Renovation, Chapter 1
    6.7/10(43 votes)

    #23 - Book of Renovation, Chapter 1

    S8:E1

    The partners begin to interview candidates for a new associate at the firm which is under interior renovation. Meanwhile, Stuart Markowitz's cousin Eli Levinson arrives in town from New York to defend Sandy Morris, the mentally ill son of some old friends who's accused of murdering a social worker. Eli's former secretary, Denise Iannello, arrives and asks Eli to give her a job as his secretary again. Kelsey represents another attorney suing her own firm for sexual discrimination. Also, Becker finds the new associate candidate, Jane Halliday, a Christian fundamentalist, irresistible, while Kelsey is wary about Halliday's presence.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. L.A. Law Season 8 Episode 13 - Age of Insolence
    6.7/10(37 votes)

    #24 - Age of Insolence

    S8:E13

    Kelsey represents a woman being sued for the custody of her adopted daughter by the girl's biological father, who's heavily influenced by a psychologist with her own unresolved adoption issues; Halliday defends a client with heightened sensibilities against the impolite palaver of the woman's coworker and an impish Becker; the partners resentfully capitulate when Rollins gives them an ultimatum about a partnership offer.

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writer:Theresa Rebeck

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. L.A. Law Season 6 Episode 7 - Lose the Boss
    6.8/10(45 votes)

    #25 - Lose the Boss

    S6:E7

    Brackman's former sister-in-law sues to get the school board to pay for her disabled son's private education; Bloom defends an overweight man accused of assaulting a refreshment-stand owner; an overworked Gwen fights Becker's hypocrisy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Worst Episodes Summary

"Helter Shelter" is the worst rated episode of "L.A. Law". It scored 5.7/10 based on 37 votes. Directed by Tom Moore and written by John Masius, John Tinker, it aired on 12/10/1992. This episode scored 0.3 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Spanky and the Art Gang".