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The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5

Every episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5!

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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 5 Episode 1 - Grow
    8.5/10(454 votes)

    #1 - Grow

    S5:E1

    When city health inspector Larry Chapel is found dead in an elevator, a quick look into Chapel's home life introduces them to Chapel's recently widowed brother, Evan, and little girl Gwen. Goren isn't very surprised to learn that Nicole Wallace is Evan's fiancée and the future mother to his little girl, but Major Case soon realizes they're off the mark in who they believe the suspect is, and Goren's only hope is to get Nicole to help him trap the killer. Logan joins the Major Case squad, but isn't pleased with being relegated to the background while the other detectives solve the cases, and Deakins tries to find a partner for him.

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

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  2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 2 - Diamond Dogs
    8.0/10(372 votes)

    #2 - Diamond Dogs

    S5:E2

    Logan and his new partner, Barek, investigate a series of robberies in mom-and-pop jewelry stores that are escalating in the level of violence. After a home investigation leads them to a young junkie, Barek and Logan are soon led to a mother-and-son team of criminals. They soon realise that the mother is the one pulling all the strings. Logan is uncomfortable when Barek uses his past to get through to their suspect.

    Director:Norberto Barba
    Writer:Charlie Rubin

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  3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 3 - Prisoner
    8.0/10(397 votes)

    #3 - Prisoner

    S5:E3

    Prison warden William Hendry is found brutalised after he goes to drop off a large ransom payment for his wife, kidnapped years earlier by an escaped convict. Eames and Goren track down Jenny Hendry, living happily under a new name, and begin to realise that Hendry isn't the squeaky clean martyr that he's been portrayed as for years, especially once they discover that Jenny's supposed 'kidnapper' was originally hired by the warden to kill his wife.

    Director:Rick Wallace
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 4 - Unchained
    7.7/10(326 votes)

    #4 - Unchained

    S5:E4

    When a cop's son is murdered by the mob, Logan and Barek realise that young Joe Long was killed by mistake, and their investigation leads them to two rival mafia families, but it isn't long before Logan begins to believe that the true criminals aren't the mobsters, but the cops on their payroll. As their investigation narrows down to one main officer, Barek and Logan are faced with the difficult task of having to force the man's daughter to turn against him to get what they want. When the officer and his lawyer bring Logan's stormy history into play, even Deakins takes pause with his decision to have Logan on his force.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Stephanie Sengupta

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  5. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 5 - Acts of Contrition
    8.2/10(407 votes)

    #5 - Acts of Contrition

    S5:E5

    After the murder of a nun in the Church, Goren and Eames investigate and realise that someone has tried to cover up part of the crime. Their investigation leads them to a young man named Eddie Roberts, who in turn inadvertently leads them to his older half-brother, Jimmy Jones, who was assaulted in a baseball field seventeen years earlier and left with debilitating injuries. Goren and Eames soon realise that the key to the nun's murder is the young woman who watched Jimmy's attack, and the only way they can get Eddie to take responsibility for his crime is to find this missing witness.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writer:Warren Leight

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  6. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 6 - In the Wee Small Hours (1)
    8.6/10(496 votes)

    #6 - In the Wee Small Hours (1)

    S5:E6

    Detectives Eames, Goren, Barek, and Logan must solve a case that involves a teenage girl missing in New York City. While Barek and Logan search around for another missing girl, Eames and Goren work to uncover a mystery with a judge and his son.

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

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  7. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 7 - In the Wee Small Hours (2)
    8.7/10(441 votes)

    #7 - 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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  8. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 8 - Saving Face
    7.6/10(327 votes)

    #8 - 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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  9. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 9 - Scared Crazy
    7.5/10(362 votes)

    #9 - Scared Crazy

    S5:E9

    After Aidan Grant, an employee for a local computer company, is found dead, Goren and Eames investigate, initially believing that Grant was murdered because of a business deal gone wrong involving biometrics, lip-reading, the company Ubicool and the military, but their investigations lead them to a young man named Robbie who worked in the office opposite Ubicool. Goren soon realises that Robbie isn't fully in control of his actions and suspects his therapist, Dr. Pynchon, of wrong-doing, but Carver wants them to get the answers from Robbie no matter what they need to do.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Diana Son

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  10. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 10 - Dollhouse
    7.6/10(334 votes)

    #10 - Dollhouse

    S5:E10

    After Joseph Sabo is found lying dead in the street, Barek and Logan investigate who was nearby that night that may have had a motive. They are soon led to Danielle Quinn, who had been blackmailing six different men claiming they fathered her child, asking for money. The detectives realise she was the one who killed Sabo, but when none of her victims will testify against her for fear of their wives finding out what they've done, Barek and Logan hit a dead end.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 11 - Slither
    8.1/10(405 votes)

    #11 - 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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  12. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 12 - Watch
    7.6/10(352 votes)

    #12 - Watch

    S5:E12

    Logan and Barek investigate after a body is found in the ocean, having fallen from an airline wheelwell. They soon discover that she is just one in a long line of prostitutes to be beaten and murdered. Their investigation leads them to a nervous airline employee, but they just don't feel he has the courage or the violent nature to commit these crimes on his own. A family connection leads them to a second suspect, with a history of both being abused and being the abuser.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writer:Charlie Rubin

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  13. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 13 - Proud Flesh
    7.9/10(372 votes)

    #13 - 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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  14. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 14 - Wasichu
    7.7/10(309 votes)

    #14 - Wasichu

    S5:E14

    Logan and Barek investigate after secret service agent Paula Kendall is found dead in her home. Suspicion initially turns to the husband after detectives realize that it took him eleven minutes after a first failed attempt to get in touch with 911, and their investigation leads them to her husband's role in a proposed Indian casino. Logan and Barek are especially interested when it turns out that the 'witness' Paula was supposed to be meeting that night had ties to a local politician, Peter Bellingham, who also had ties to Kendall's husband.

    Director:Christopher Swartout
    Writer:Diana Son

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  15. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 15 - Wrongful Life
    7.8/10(357 votes)

    #15 - Wrongful Life

    S5:E15

    Goren and Eames investigate the death of Eric Newsome, an urban explorer who was found in a water tower. During their investigation, they learn that Eric had been looking into the files of Dr. Everett Janns, an OB/GYN who had examined his sister Nikki's boyfriend Drew's mother years earlier when she had been carrying his sister Lisa. Lisa Ramsey was born with spina bifida, and Victoria Carson was suing her primary OB/GYN, Dr. Dominic McKenna, with a wrongful life suit, charging that he did not perform the necessary tests needed to establish whether or not her child had spina bifida, which would have influenced whether or not she had an abortion.

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

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  16. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 16 - Dramma Giocoso
    7.7/10(335 votes)

    #16 - Dramma Giocoso

    S5:E16

    Logan and Barek investigate after the body of eighteen-year-old violinist Laura Booth is found stuffed in a shaft, her fingers covered with cocaine and resin. Although initially they believe her death may be connected to the cocaine that some of the crew were transporting, they're soon turned on to a romantic relationship between the maestro, Julian Reinhardt, and the victim's mother, Gillian Booth. Once teethmarks are found on Reinhardt's back that belong to Laura, Logan and Barek think they may have a slam dunk on their hands until Gillian weds her daughter's supposed killer.

    Director:John David Coles
    Writer:Stephanie Sengupta

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  17. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 17 - Vacancy
    8.0/10(354 votes)

    #17 - 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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  18. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 18 - The Healer
    8.0/10(356 votes)

    #18 - The Healer

    S5:E18

    Barek and Logan investigate when the deaths of two young girls seem to be connected to a voodoo-practicing nurse. Things turn interesting when it seems the young woman has placed a voodoo curse on Logan.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writers:Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer

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  19. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 19 - Cruise To Nowhere
    8.2/10(399 votes)

    #19 - Cruise To Nowhere

    S5:E19

    Goren and Eames investigate when a respected professional is found murdered in the East River, his death presumably connected to a series of gambling losses.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Warren Leight

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  20. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 20 - To the Bone
    8.5/10(429 votes)

    #20 - To the Bone

    S5:E20

    Logan and Barek investigate a series of home invasions that result in grisly murders and their search leads them to local foster mother Chesley Watkins who had a series of young men going in and out of her home throughout the years. One of the young men involved in the home invasions was one of her boys, and while trailing the young man, Logan shoots a suspect who was brandishing a weapon at himself and Barek. When the suspect turns out to be a cop, Logan finds himself in the hot seat, and Barek sticks up for her partner, knowing that the truth is on their side. The investigation leads to Watkins as a suspect, and Logan is forced to deal with memories from his own past as Watkins plays on the weaknesses she sees.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Charlie Rubin

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  21. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 21 - On Fire
    8.0/10(411 votes)

    #21 - On Fire

    S5:E21

    Goren and Eames investigate a fire at St. Gerald's which led to the death of a Church employee and soon realize that an arsonist around town is targeting churches. Throughout their investigation, they realize that St. Gerald's was the arsonist's primary target, and clues lead them to Justin Reid, who had donated $100,000 to rebuild the Church, his step-mother Regina, whom they soon learn had seduced Justin when he was only a teen, and his half-brother Glynn, who works for a clean-up crew that had worked at all the churches that were burned down shortly after they were renovated. Deakins comes under fire when an e-mail surfaces that insinuates he got Martinez (from <a href="http://www.tv.com/law-and-order-criminal-intent/to-the-bone/episode/730599/summary.html">To the Bone</a>) to lie about the Logan shooting by getting him a promotion. The e-mail is soon traced back to former cop Frank Adair (from Season 4, Ep. 22 - My Good Name), who is doing time for murder.

    Director:Frank Prinzi
    Writer:Diana Son

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  22. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 5 Episode 22 - The Good
    7.9/10(304 votes)

    #22 - The Good

    S5:E22

    Logan and Barek investigate a troubled young man named Kevin Colemar after his parents are found murdered in their suburban home. Kevin initially believes that drug dealers named Big Lennie and Ray-Ray may have done the murders, but Carson Laird, a Nassau cop, soon tricks Kevin, who cannot remember the night in question, into confessing to the murder. It all seems cut and dried, but Logan and Barek just can't shake the feeling that the kid is innocent. Deakins spends his last two weeks on the job preparing for his future.

    Director:Christopher Swartout
    Writer:Gerry Conway

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"Grow" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" season 5. It scored 8.5/10 based on 454 votes. Directed by Frank Prinzi and written by Marlane Gomard Meyer, Marlane Meyer, Dick Wolf, René Balcer, it aired on 9/25/2005. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Diamond Dogs".