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The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1

Every episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1!

Binge this in 16h 8m•Peaking at 8.6/10

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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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 20 - Badge
    8.6/10(552 votes)

    S1:E20

    When the murder of a city auditor and his family seems too perfect, Goren and Eames turn their attention towards law enforcement personnel after learning that the auditor was investigating a number of former cops upon suspicion of double-dipping.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 14 - Homo Homini Lupis
    8.4/10(492 votes)

    S1:E14

    When an business executive's wife and two daughters are kidnapped for a loanshark because the loan hasn't been paid off, Goren and Eames are frustrated by the man's lack of cooperation, which stymies them further when the man's released daughter proves to have been sexually assaulted.

    Director:David Platt
    Writers:Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 1 - One
    8.3/10(803 votes)

    S1:E1

    Goren and Eames are called in when a jewelry heist leaves behind three bodies. After ruling out mafia involvement, they realise that the thefts are directly connected to recent credit card thefts and stolen identities. They're led to an extremely charismatic thief, and their only hope is convincing one of his partners to turn on him.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 7 - Poison
    8.3/10(537 votes)

    S1:E7

    The detectives investigate a murderer who poisons hospital victims with cyanide. They suspect a nurse whose profile is typical, but when they discover more murders away from the hospital they have to widen their search.

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

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  5. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 16 - Phantom
    8.3/10(544 votes)

    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
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  6. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 5 - Jones
    8.2/10(572 votes)

    S1:E5

    The detectives become suspicious when an abusive lawyer's girlfriends keep turning up dead, but his wife stonewalls the investigation.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  7. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 9 - The Good Doctor
    8.2/10(536 votes)

    S1:E9

    A plastic surgeon reports his drug-abusing wife missing, and ends up being the prime suspect after detectives learn he had good reason to want her out of his life.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Dick Wolf, René Balcer, Geoffrey Neigher

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  8. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 15 - Semi-Professional
    8.2/10(476 votes)

    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
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  9. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 17 - Seizure
    8.2/10(468 votes)

    S1:E17

    When the body of a bisexual young woman is found slain, Goren and Eames note the similarities between her death and a number of murders committed by a convicted serial killer, turning their attention to a human-behavior researcher.

    Director:Michael Fields
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta

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  10. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 22 - Tuxedo Hill
    8.2/10(481 votes)

    S1:E22

    When Goren and Eames investigate the murder of a man linked to a corporate finance officer, they uncover a stock manipulation scheme which enriched the corporate executives by defrauding investors.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  11. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 21 - Faith
    8.1/10(493 votes)

    S1:E21

    When a wealthy publisher is murdered to prevent him from exposing an elaborate confidence game that enveloped him, his company and one of his editors, Goren and Eames run their own con to extract a confession from the killer.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  12. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 2 - Art
    8.0/10(620 votes)

    S1:E2

    When a museum curator and an art authenticator are found dead in what was set up to look like a murder-suicide, Goren and Eames follow the clues and realise that the deaths are linked to the sale of numerous art forgeries. Their investigation hits a dead end when they're unable to locate the forger until Goren seeks the help of another forger.

    Director:David Platt
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Elizabeth M. Cosin, René Balcer

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  13. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 6 - The Extra Man
    8.0/10(517 votes)

    S1:E6

    When a European con man is found beaten to death, the detectives look for the investors he swindled, learning quickly that the man also had relations with their wives.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Marlane Meyer, René Balcer

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  14. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 3 - Smothered
    7.9/10(535 votes)

    S1:E3

    After the body of Lois Romney is found in a hotel room, Goren and Eames link her to Dale Van Acker, a junkie and the son of wealthy scion Priscilla Van Acker. Van Acker strongly disapproved of her son's pregnant fiancée, which leads Goren and Eames to suspect she may have wanted to get rid of the girl on a permanent basis.

    Director:Michael Fields
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Marlane Meyer, René Balcer

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  15. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 4 - The Faithful
    7.9/10(512 votes)

    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, René Balcer, Stephanie Sengupta

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  16. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 12 - Crazy
    7.9/10(503 votes)

    S1:E12

    A psychiatrist who provides expert testimony at criminal trials lays down an insanity defense to hide his obsession for his younger girlfriend after revealing to her that he hired a corrupt detective to murder her brother-in-law at his son's Bar Mitzvah after alleged reports that her niece had been abused by him.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  17. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 10 - Enemy Within
    7.8/10(470 votes)

    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:Dick Wolf, David Black, René Balcer

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  18. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 13 - The Insider
    7.8/10(438 votes)

    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:Dick Wolf, Elizabeth M. Cosin, René Balcer

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  19. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 18 - Yesterday
    7.8/10(453 votes)

    S1:E18

    When the well-preserved body of a woman tortured and murdered twenty years earlier appears on the banks of the Bronx River, chemical residue on the body leads Goren and Eames to the basement of the house in which the body had originally been buried and to the junkie whose parents owned the home. When the junkie ends up murdered as well, their investigation focuses on his college classmate, a man with a history of drugging and sexually assaulting women.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  20. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 19 - Maledictus
    7.8/10(446 votes)

    S1:E19

    Goren and Eames investigate the murder of a Russian mob princess, initially believing she may have been slain in a revenge act against her father, but their attention later turns to a classmate who could be destroyed by the woman's upcoming tell-all book.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writer:Dick Wolf

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  21. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 8 - The Pardoner's Tale
    7.7/10(455 votes)

    S1:E8

    The deaths of a reporter and his fiancée, gunned down on orders, leads the detectives to investigate political bribery involving the governor's office, which Deakins isn't pleased with.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Theresa Rebeck, René Balcer

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  22. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 1 Episode 11 - The Third Horseman
    7.6/10(468 votes)

    S1:E11

    The killing of an abortion doctor who was shot in his own apartment sends the detectives on a search for the sniper before someone else becomes the next victim. Carver worries that the case will end up being all about abortion rights.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Badge" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" season 1. It scored 8.6/10 based on 552 votes. Directed by Constantine Makris and written by Dick Wolf, it aired on 4/28/2002. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Homo Homini Lupis".