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The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Every episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent!

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The third installment of the “Law & Order” franchise takes viewers deep into the minds of its criminals while following the intense psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve its crimes.

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  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 17 - Vacancy
    10.0/10(2 votes)

    #1 - Vacancy

    S5:E17

    Goren and Eames investigate after a bridesmaid, Megan, is found dead in the cheap motel room she had been sharing with Alice, another bridesmaid at their friend Tory's wedding. The two detectives start with investigating Pete and Jayson, the two guys the women had met at Brasserie Nylorac, but soon realise that Alice's story has a lot of holes in it, and the presence of cigar smoke around Megan, a young woman who hated smoking, leads Goren and Eames to suspect that the killer had a personal connection to Megan. Their investigation soon leads them to a cab driver named Lester Summerhill, whom they soon realise is an actor preparing for the ultimate role.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 Episode 12 - Privilege
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Privilege

    S6:E12

    Goren and Eames uncover a deadly web of secrets when they investigate the murder of a prominent socialite's granddaughter.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Warren Leight, Siobhan Byrne O'Connor

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  3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 4 - But not Forgotten
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    #3 - But not Forgotten

    S3:E4

    When a bookkeeper goes missing, Goren and Eames are led back to the death of her brother, a hitman, two years earlier. An imprisoned mobster seems to be their best bet, but when another body turns up it takes the case to a whole new level.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Gerry Conway, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 10 - Enemy Within
    9.0/10(3 votes)

    #4 - Enemy Within

    S1:E10

    The death of an eccentric banker in his nintieth floor apartment leads the detectives to investigate his professional contacts and family members.

    Director:John David Coles
    Writers:David Black, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  5. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 13 - The Insider
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #5 - The Insider

    S1:E13

    When the father of a young woman who has been out all night clubbing is found dead in his boat house, Goren and Eames investigate the mysterious club owner only to realise that he is an undercover FBI agent and that the Bureau will not risk their undercover operation even to stop a killer.

    Director:Jan Egleson
    Writers:Elizabeth M. Cosin, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  6. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 15 - Semi-Professional
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #6 - Semi-Professional

    S1:E15

    The detectives investigate the murder of a judge's clerk, with their attention initially going to the judge himself, who had been having an affair with the young woman.

    Director:Gloria Muzio
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent

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  7. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 16 - Phantom
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #7 - Phantom

    S1:E16

    The detectives investigate a slain bank robber and check out his sister, who is involved with a bogus United Nations economist. As the detectives close in on the suspect, Goren learns the suspect wants his children's approval and must stop him before any more murders.

    Director:Juan José Campanella
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  8. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 Episode 7 - Tomorrow
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #8 - Tomorrow

    S2:E7

    The detectives investigate a triple murder, including the son and daughter of a wealthy businessman, that occurred in his apartment. After investigating the childrens' stepmother (his second wife), they turn to a pair of nannies, one of whom works for the family. However, the detectives must reach back to the nannies' history as children, and a television soap opera, in order to better understand the motives for the crime.

    Director:Don Scardino
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  9. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 Episode 8 - The Pilgrim
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #9 - The Pilgrim

    S2:E8

    The detectives are called to investigate the adult daughter of a retired officer which takes them to a case of terrorism involving someone she knew that includes a shipment of explosives.

    Director:Darnell Martin
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  10. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 Episode 18 - Legion
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #10 - Legion

    S2:E18

    When a father and son have their throats slit, the detectives discovers that a group of adolescent boys have disappeared from the same neighborhood. When the locals don't cooperate with the investigation, the cops think the boys are being used by someone operating a bicycle theft ring. The cops are led to a studio owner who brainwashes the boys to prove their worthiness.

    Directors:Steve Shill, Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Theresa Rebeck, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  11. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 Episode 21 - Graansha
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #11 - Graansha

    S2:E21

    Goren and Eames enter the closed world of a thieving Irish Traveller clan when they investigate the death of a Ann Lawson, a probation officer who was run over three times after meeting a friend at the bar. They soon learn that Ann, a probation officer, had been involved with Malcolm Bryce, the father of Paul, one of her charges. It appears as though Ann is also very close with the thieving Irish Travellers they are investigating, determined to save a young girl from their style of life.

    Director:Darnell Martin
    Writers:Joe Gannon, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  12. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 7 - In the Wee Small Hours (2)
    9.0/10(5 votes)

    #12 - In the Wee Small Hours (2)

    S5:E7

    The squad continues the investigation into the murder of a teenage girl visiting from Iowa. The detectives uncover the sordid family life of a local judge whose son is linked to the Iowa teenager and another victim. Goren and Logan discover that the judge is a formidable foe as they come under scrutiny.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Stephanie Sengupta

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  13. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 8 - Saving Face
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #13 - Saving Face

    S5:E8

    When the body of a young woman is found by two children behind a dumpster, Barek and Logan soon learn she had recently returned from Guatemala and was suspected by the other passengers of being a drug mule. Their investigation leads them to noted plastic surgeon Dr. Christine Ensel, who has made a name for herself in recent years performing surgeries in Guatemala on people who would not normally be able to afford plastic surgery, but as the investigation continues, Logan and Barek suspect that Dr. Ensel has a lot to hide.

    Director:Rick Wallace
    Writer:Gerry Conway

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  14. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 11 - Slither
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - Slither

    S5:E11

    After Russ Corbett and his wife are found in a seedy hotel room, Russ dead of an overdose, Eames and Goren follow the trail of evidence to Bernard Fremont, a professional partier. With his beautiful blonde companions, Fremont insinuates himself into the lives of couples who don't know the city very well, then robs them blind. While investigating Fremont's past in Asia, Goren realises that he is the mastermind that turned Nicole Wallace into a murderer, and his most successful pupil.

    Director:Bill L. Norton
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer

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  15. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 13 - Proud Flesh
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - Proud Flesh

    S5:E13

    Goren and Eames investigate after Trip Slaughter III, the eldest son of radio magnate Jonas Slaughter, is found dead covered in plastic latex. Initial evidence leads detectives directly to Jonas' Chinese wife Anna, but Goren and Eames realise that the evidence leading her way is a little too pat.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writer:Warren Leight

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  16. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 Episode 6 - Masquerade
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - Masquerade

    S6:E6

    Goren and Eames revisit the Oct. 31, 1992, murder of a young beauty queen after a man who's obsessed with her confesses to the crime.

    Director:Christine Moore
    Writer:Warren Leight

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  17. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 Episode 9 - Blasters
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - Blasters

    S6:E9

    The investigation into the beating death of a former child star takes an intriguing turn when Logan and Wheeler discover that the victim had ties to the Albanian mob.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Charlie Rubin

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  18. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 Episode 10 - Weeping Willow
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #18 - Weeping Willow

    S6:E10

    The kidnapping of a popular video blogger and her boyfriend--which is witnessed live on the Internet--seems suspicious to Logan and Wheeler.

    Director:Tom DiCillo
    Writers:Warren Leight, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  19. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 Episode 21 - Endgame
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #19 - Endgame

    S6:E21

    Goren and Eames find a scrapbook belonging to a serial killer on death row. It suggests that he may have had more victims than previously known.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Warren Leight, Julie Martin

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  20. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 7 Episode 1 - Amends
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - Amends

    S7:E1

    Eames re-opens the case into her husband's murder.

    Director:Jesús Salvador Treviño
    Writers:Warren Leight, Siobhan Byrne O'Connor, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  21. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 7 Episode 13 - Betrayed
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #21 - Betrayed

    S7:E13

    Captain Ross loses his objectivity, and jeopardizes the case, when an old flame becomes a suspect in the disappearance of her husband and his lover.

    Director:Michael Smith
    Writer:Diana Son

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  22. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 7 Episode 21 - Last Rites
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Last Rites

    S7:E21

    Logan jeopardizes his and Wheeler's careers when a priest convinces him to re-open a murder case that's over a decade old which involves a politically-aspiring ADA who will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

    Director:Tom DiCillo
    Writers:Warren Leight, Siobhan Byrne O'Connor, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  23. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 Episode 1 - Dead
    8.8/10(4 votes)

    #23 - Dead

    S2:E1

    The murder of a mortician and the discovery of corpses at a crematorium lead the detectives to a family man claiming to have a consulting business but suspected of being a contract killer with a penchant for perfection. Goren attempts to prove this by setting up a scheme that puts his "fear of making a mistake" in jeopardy.

    Director:Darnell Martin
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  24. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 Episode 12 - Suite Sorrow
    8.8/10(4 votes)

    #24 - Suite Sorrow

    S2:E12

    After the tyrannical owner of a Manhattan luxury hotel is found submerged in her bathtub, evidence seems increasingly to indicate that the woman's death was the work of her deeply frustrated, long-suffering daughter.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Warren Leight, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  25. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 4 - The Faithful
    8.7/10(3 votes)

    #25 - The Faithful

    S1:E4

    Goren and Eames investigate the death of church sexton Morris Abernathy but soon find their chief suspect, Kevin Donovan, dead in his apartment. After realising that someone performed last rites over Donovan's body, the police realise that a priest was involved in the murder, and are led to a priest who has been desperately trying to keep a twenty-year-old secret hidden. Goren risks the prosecution's case by protecting an innocent third party who could lose everything if their own secret comes out.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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Best Episodes Summary

"Vacancy" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent". It scored 10/10 based on 2 votes. Directed by Jean de Segonzac and written by Unknown, it aired on 4/16/2006. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Privilege".