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The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3

Every episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3!

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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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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 1 - Undaunted Mettle
    8.0/10(414 votes)

    #1 - Undaunted Mettle

    S3:E1

    A very pregnant Eames reveals that she has offered to be a surrogate mother and carry her sister's child; a famous architect's promiscuity becomes the key to solving the murder of a promising young designer who was his closest competitor for a prestigious commission.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 2 - Gemini
    7.6/10(360 votes)

    #2 - Gemini

    S3:E2

    When a schizophrenic obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and the cult of the blond and the blue-eyed commits a series of murders to eradicate those he feels are responsible for promoting the homogenization of appearance rampant in society, Goren and Eames suspect that a person close to the man may have taken advantage of his illness and his crimes to commit extortion.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer, Jim Sterling

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  3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 3 - The Gift
    7.6/10(360 votes)

    #3 - The Gift

    S3:E3

    Santeria cultists kill the son of a women that believed from them she had psychic powers.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer, Marlene Meyer

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  4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 4 - But not Forgotten
    8.4/10(422 votes)

    #4 - 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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  5. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 5 - Pravda
    7.8/10(400 votes)

    #5 - Pravda

    S3:E5

    Goren gets an interim partner when Eames goes on maternity leave, and focuses his investigation of a murder on a star reporter whose past contains a history of plagarism.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writers:Warren Leight, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  6. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 6 - Stray
    8.1/10(421 votes)

    #6 - Stray

    S3:E6

    Tracking a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, Goren deduces that one of his suspects has an injured foot. It isn't long before Goren and Bishop realise that the pair, who have already killed nine people including two undercover cops, are not the typical Bonnie and Clyde -- the female partner is obviously the one in control.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Elizabeth Benjamin, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  7. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 7 - A Murderer Among Us
    8.1/10(422 votes)

    #7 - A Murderer Among Us

    S3:E7

    The detectives try to link the suicide of an Argentine immigrant to her husband who has a history of violence. While the subsequent investigation is not successful, they discover his hatred might be linked to a string of unsolved murders with the same MO.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer, Diana Son

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  8. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 8 - Sound Bodies
    8.2/10(441 votes)

    #8 - Sound Bodies

    S3:E8

    Goren and Bishop pursue a teenage Svengali who convinces three impressionable young girls to commit multiple homicides in the cause of a twisted philosophy.

    Directors:Jean de Segonzac, Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  9. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 9 - Happy Family
    7.9/10(395 votes)

    #9 - Happy Family

    S3:E9

    The bludgeoning of a rich family patriarch has the detectives investigating several suspects, each with their own motives: his estranged wife whom he was about to divorce, a male friend of hers who was a parolee, their childrens' nanny, the victim's brother in law who is a doctor, even the oldest son. Goren and Carver call the family of suspects together to sort it all out... in family court.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  10. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 10 - F.P.S.
    7.6/10(366 votes)

    #10 - F.P.S.

    S3:E10

    Goren reaches into his own experience working with a partner to solve the murder of a gamer who appears to be connected to a network of thieves using spyware to commit fraud. Eames gives birth.

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

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  11. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 11 - Mad Hops
    7.5/10(368 votes)

    #11 - Mad Hops

    S3:E11

    The murder of a private investigator, who was tracking down the whereabouts of a prominent high school basketball player, has the detectives searching the local courts to discover a link to gamblers and college recruiters until they learn that several other prominent players were transferred to the same school - one with a championship tradition.

    Director:Christopher Swartout
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer, Jim Sterling

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  12. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 12 - Unrequited
    7.7/10(380 votes)

    #12 - Unrequited

    S3:E12

    Goren and Eames uncover how a rich woman's unrequited lust for fame and a professional fundraiser's desperation to pay off a loan shark may have contributed to the murders of the woman's husband and the fundraiser's mother.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  13. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 13 - Pas de Deux
    7.9/10(384 votes)

    #13 - Pas de Deux

    S3:E13

    A terminally ill bank robber angered by the ravages of his illness exerts what little control he has left in life by manipulating the unwitting accomplices he enlists to assist him with committing his final robberies, forcing Goren and Eames into a race against time to foil his plan for a suicide-by-cop that will take both his life and that of his latest accomplice.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Warren Leight, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  14. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 14 - Mis-Labeled
    8.0/10(391 votes)

    #14 - Mis-Labeled

    S3:E14

    Goren and Eames stumble upon a web of corporate corruption involving fraud, bribery, identity theft, and a conspiracy to sell lethally-contaminated blood products as they investigate the murder of a pharmaceutical salesman.

    Director:Joyce Chopra
    Writers:Elizabeth Benjamin, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  15. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 15 - Shrink-Wrapped
    8.1/10(422 votes)

    #15 - Shrink-Wrapped

    S3:E15

    The daughter of narcissistic psychotherapists takes desperate measures to exact her revenge for years of their abuse and neglect, leading to tragedy for a young man caught in the web of her parents' promiscuity, mind games and competitiveness.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer, Diana Son

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  16. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 16 - The Saint
    8.1/10(427 votes)

    #16 - The Saint

    S3:E16

    A man commits fraud, forgery, and murder to discredit the organization that took advantage of his mentally ill mother, impoverished his family, and ruined his childhood.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  17. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 17 - Conscience
    8.0/10(364 votes)

    #17 - Conscience

    S3:E17

    A neurologist who believes that she can communicate with a woman in a persistent vegetative state is murdered by a family member who fears that the doctor will uncover the multi-million dollar motive which led to the woman's disability.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writers:Gerry Conway, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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  18. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 18 - Ill-Bred
    7.5/10(347 votes)

    #18 - Ill-Bred

    S3:E18

    A stable worker resorts to heroin smuggling, deception, extortion, and murder to finance the purchase of the farm and foundation stallion that will provide a leg up on the horse set social ladder.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Dick Wolf, René Balcer, Jim Sterling

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  19. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 19 - Fico Di Capo
    7.9/10(345 votes)

    #19 - Fico Di Capo

    S3:E19

    After a protected witness is shot dead in a restaurant, Goren and Eames find themselves on the trail of a trio of young mobsters. They finally figure out that a young man named Chops is the key, but can't find anyone willing to turn on him. Goren seeks the help of a fig-loving don dying of cancer to trap Chops.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  20. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 20 - D.A.W.
    8.2/10(381 votes)

    #20 - D.A.W.

    S3:E20

    The investigation into the death of a woman searching for the whereabouts of her late mother's antique ring leads Goren and Eames to a physician serial killer who has cleverly concealed the murder of over two hundred of his patients.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer

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  21. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 3 Episode 21 - Consumed
    8.3/10(363 votes)

    #21 - Consumed

    S3:E21

    A police officer is framed for a triple homicide by a greedy woman who takes advantage of his sleepwalking and is enmeshed in a bitter divorce settlement and out for revenge.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Warren Leight, Dick Wolf, René Balcer

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Undaunted Mettle" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" season 3. It scored 8/10 based on 414 votes. Directed by Steve Shill and written by Dick Wolf, Stephanie Sengupta, René Balcer, it aired on 9/28/2003. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "Gemini".