9.1/10878 votesLoading...#1 - Aftershock
Season 6 Episode 23 - Aired 5/22/1996
After Briscoe, Curtis, McCoy, and Kincaid witness the execution of a criminal they brought to justice, their unique reactions to the event culminate in personal tragedies for each of them.
Director: Martha Mitchell
Writer: N/A
8.8/10533 votesLoading...#2 - Pro Se
Season 6 Episode 21 - Aired 5/8/1996
The investigation into multiple homicides at a clothing store leads to the arrest of a schizophrenic who presents McCoy with a formidable opponent when he decides to represent himself.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.8/10465 votesLoading...#3 - Invaders
Season 16 Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/2006
The family of a man who once turned his customers into the police is slain, and the ensuing fracas pits McCoy against a corrupt D.E.A. agent.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: N/A
8.7/10443 votesLoading...#4 - Couples
Season 13 Episode 23 - Aired 5/21/2003
Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.6/10377 votesLoading...#5 - Refuge (Part II)
Season 9 Episode 24 - Aired 5/26/1999
McCoy and Carmichael risk violating the civil liberties of witnesses when they are forced to jail them in order to safely continue their investigation.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.6/10473 votesLoading...#6 - Bodies
Season 14 Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/2003
While investigating the death of a teenaged girl, the detectives stumble on a pattern of crimes that indicate they are after a serial killer. The suspect, however, puts the prosecutors through an ethical ringer when he discloses his attorney's knowledge of the victims and their whereabouts.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.6/10414 votesLoading...#7 - Identity
Season 14 Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/2003
When a man is found murdered shortly after depositing almost $400,000 in his savings account, the investigation into the source of funds reveals that the victim ran an identity theft scam which left an elderly man homeless and impoverished.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
8.6/10450 votesLoading...#8 - Rubber Room
Season 20 Episode 23 - Aired 5/24/2010
Detectives search for an anonymous blogger who has posted plans to blow up a school. Lt. Van Buren struggles to keep her personal issues private.
Director: René Balcer
Writer: N/A
8.5/10367 votesLoading...#9 - Refuge
Season 9 Episode 23 - Aired 5/26/1999
A shootout between a motorist and the police leads to the discovery of a gruesome Russian mob killing --- and a traumatized boy who was an eyewitness to the murder.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.4/10549 votesLoading...#10 - Indifference
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/27/1990
During the investigation into the death of a little girl in a respectable, middle-class family, Greevey and Logan uncover a myriad of family secrets involving abuse, molestation, and murder.
Director: N/A
Writer: Robert Palm
8.4/10394 votesLoading...#11 - Prince of Darkness
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/1992
Cerreta poses as a weapons dealer to help Stone build a case against a Columbian hit man, but the deal takes an unexpected turn, resulting in bloodshed.
Director: Gilbert M. Shilton
Writer: N/A
8.4/10344 votesLoading...#12 - American Dream
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1993
A skeleton unearthed at a building site resurrects one of Stone's old cases, and brings him face to face with the tenacious, brilliant culprit, who is seeking a new trial.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.4/10357 votesLoading...#13 - Old Friends
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 5/25/1994
A truck hits a pedestrian and the investigation reveals the victim's link to a baby-food company in which a new partner has connections to the Russian mob.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.4/10350 votesLoading...#14 - Showtime
Season 7 Episode 17 - Aired 3/27/1997
The trial of Eddie Newman begins but the prosecution's chances of conviction are hampered by a "dream team" of defense attorneys, Gorton's personal pressures on Ross, the public questioning of the relationship between Curtis and Lisa Lundquist, and a surprise accusation.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: René Balcer, Ed Zuckerman, Gardner Stern
8.4/10331 votesLoading...#15 - Red Ball
Season 16 Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/2005
A young girl is abducted in broad daylight, and the only link to the girl is an ex-convict who wants a deal before he's willing to talk.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: Dick Wolf, David Wilcox
8.4/10320 votesLoading...#16 - Criminal Law
Season 16 Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/2005
The deaths of three women with the same name lead Fontana and Green to the nine-year-old conviction of Leland Barnes, who had shot and killed his wife in an office full of people. With two of the three witnesses against him dead and Jack McCoy on the hit list, the detectives struggle to determine how Barnes, who has been in prison the entire time, got someone on the outside to kill the only people who could keep him in jail. The investigation leads them to Leland's two sons, with surprising results.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: David Wilcox
8.4/10307 votesLoading...#17 - By Perjury
Season 19 Episode 9 - Aired 1/14/2009
The murder of the plaintiff in a high-profile lawsuit against a major airline leads detectives to a defense attorney (Dallas Roberts) who is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure his big payday.
Director: Darnell Martin
Writer: N/A
8.4/10270 votesLoading...#18 - Last Dance
Season 23 Episode 5 - Aired 2/22/2024
When a woman is found murdered in Central Park, evidence points to two frequent park-goers: a street vendor and a tech billionaire. In the face of extreme political pressure, McCoy takes drastic action to make the case.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.3/10383 votesLoading...#19 - Helpless
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/1992
Dr. Olivet accuses her gynecologist of rape, but Stone finds his case in trouble when he discovers that Olivet tape-recorded the crime.
Director: James Frawley
Writer: Christine Roum
8.3/10364 votesLoading...#20 - Corruption
Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 10/30/1996
Curtis, angered by the attitude of an old colleague of Briscoe's, looks beyond the findings of an IAB investigation and turns up evidence of police corruption that puts the DA's office into competition with an ambitious judge and Briscoe under investigation for stealing evidence from a police lockup.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: N/A
8.3/10333 votesLoading...#21 - Double Down
Season 7 Episode 19 - Aired 4/16/1997
The cops' best hope of finding a kidnapped hired car driver alive is one of the armed robbers who grabbed him after a job, but the immunity deal he demands in return would effectively preclude his prosecution for the shooting death of an off-duty cop, placing McCoy in a difficult position as he seeks to placate the cops, who want the guy prosecuted, and the kidnapped man's wife, who wants every avenue of saving her husband explored.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: Shimon Wincelberg
8.3/10344 votesLoading...#22 - Terminal
Season 7 Episode 23 - Aired 5/21/1997
The cops uncover a man with a secret second life as they try to learn who opened fire on a group of people disembarking from a party cruise, but his guilt or innocence becomes almost a second thought as Schiff goes toe to toe with the governor and the States Attorney General over the decision to seek the death penalty.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.3/10410 votesLoading...#23 - Blood
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 11/19/1997
The paternity of a black baby given up for adoption by a white mother might provide a clue to her murderer but it also unearths some long buried family secrets.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
8.3/10454 votesLoading...#24 - Killerz
Season 10 Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1999
Briscoe and Green believe a 10-year-old is responsible for a child's death, and McCoy wants her isolated to stop any future fatalities.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.3/10355 votesLoading...#25 - Open Season
Season 13 Episode 7 - Aired 11/20/2002
A defense attorney who had just acquitted a cop killer is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with police officers in the precinct of the injured officer, then to his brother, before they are led to a white supremacist who is part of a national network. McCoy is faced with the unlikely prospect that the defendant's attorney, his friend of 20 years and a friend of the slain lawyer, played a part in the murder of a Florida district attorney following the defendant's arrest. McCoy is able to make a deal that perserves the integrity of his adversary, but not without a cost.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Law & Order
Every episode of Law & Order ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Law & Order!
In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into...
Genres:CrimeDrama
Network:NBC
Best Episodes Summary
"Aftershock" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order". It scored 9.1/10 based on 878 votes. Directed by Martha Mitchell and written by N/A, it aired on 5/22/1996. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "Pro Se".