8.2/101,867 votes#1 - Payback
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1999
Detectives Stabler and Benson investigate the murder and dismemberment of a taxi driver; the team discovers that he may have been a vicious Serbian war criminal living in the United States under a false identity.
Director: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: Dick Wolf
8.0/101,481 votes#2 - A Single Life
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1999
Benson and Stabler run into multiple dead ends while investigating the case of a woman who plummeted six stories to her death clad only in a slip.
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Writer: Miriam Kazdin
7.7/101,273 votes#3 - ...Or Just Look Like One
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1999
When a teen model is murdered and another is left for dead at a hospital emergency room, the team uncovers an insidious drug and sex conspiracy in the world of high fashion. Benson and Stabler enter into a modeling underworld of thoughtless parents, drug-dealing doctors and a trendy agency executive.
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writer: Michael R. Perry
8.1/101,355 votes#4 - Hysteria
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1999
When a young African-American woman is found dead, she is initially believed to be a prostitute and the latest in a long line of victims, but when looking into her home life Benson and Stabler realize that she does not fit the pattern, and may not be connected to the other deaths after all, but the other deaths have a connection no one anticipated.
Director: Richard Dobbs
Writer: Dawn DeNoon, Lisa Marie Petersen
7.7/101,302 votes#5 - Wanderlust
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/1999
When a world-traveling author is found dead in a room he rented from an alcoholic woman and her precocious 14-year-old daughter, the detectives are shocked to discover who the murderer is.
Director: David Hugh Jones
Writer: Wendy West
7.8/101,271 votes#6 - Sophomore Jinx
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/25/1999
A female student at an upper-class university is raped and murdered, and two of the college’s basketball stars are suspected. However, the college blocks their investigation at every turn because they are not willing to risk the negative publicity that the investigation could bring to the school and the upcoming championship.
Director: Clark Johnson
Writer: John Chambers
8.3/101,316 votes#7 - Uncivilized
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/1999
When a young boy is found raped and murdered in a field, suspicion leads detectives to a recently paroled child molester who lives in the neighborhood.. Although they both hate what the man has done in the past, it is soon obvious to the detectives that the teenagers who initially steered them in the man's direction are hiding secrets of their own.
Director: Michael Fields
Writer: N/A
8.2/101,269 votes#8 - Stalked
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1999
When an assistant district attorney is found raped and murdered in Central Park, the Special Victims Unit learn that she’d been stalked by a real estate agent whom she’d convicted of date rape. Benson lets her emotions get the best of her as she takes it upon herself to bring the suspected rapist to justice. Stabler tries to get the man's business partner to help him, but Benson may be the one who ends up needing help.
Director: Peter Medak
Writer: Roger Garrett
7.5/101,105 votes#9 - Stocks & Bondage
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1999
An investment analyst is found hanged in her bedroom, and the Special Victims Unit explores her sordid sexual past to uncover her murderer’s identity. The team uncovers the world of bondage and sado-masochism where they first investigate the woman's colleagues but are soon on the trail of a host of individuals involved in the world of whips and chains.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: Michael R. Perry
8.2/101,077 votes#10 - Closure
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/7/2000
When a woman is raped, she turns to the Special Victims Unit for help, but lack of evidence prevents them from apprehending the criminal. When the detectives revisit the case a few months later, they find the woman even less willing to talk about what happened, as she claims she has moved on. Things turn sticky when Benson and Cassidy spend the night together.
Director: Stephen Wertimer
Writer: Wendy West
7.8/10990 votes#11 - Bad Blood
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/14/2000
A moral coalition leader’s gay son is found murdered on the roof of his apartment building. Initially, Benson and Stabler investigate his father, a Conservative well-known for his homophobic viewpoints, but once they start looking into the young man's living arrangements they realize the person they're looking for may be closer than they think. Munch tries to help Benson find the man who raped her mother, and could potentially be her father.
Director: Michael Fields
Writer: Dawn DeNoon, Lisa Marie Petersen
7.2/101,220 votes#12 - Russian Love Poem
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/21/2000
When a multi-millionaire is found strangled in his home, Benson and Stabler turn their suspicion to his long list of lovers, which includes both men and women. Detectives discover he was involved with a group of beautiful Russian women that came to the U.S. to take advantage of wealthy Americans.
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writer: Eva Nagorski
8.0/101,206 votes#13 - Disrobed
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 2/4/2000
A judge who fought for the rights of abused women is found shot in his car under sordid circumstances, and the detectives uncover a case of corruption that leads to the state parole board. The team soon turns their eye to a battered wife with a secret.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Janet Tamaro
8.1/101,221 votes#14 - Limitations
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/11/2000
At the request of a victim, the police commissioner comes to Cragen with a special request -- close the five-year-old case of a serial rapist before the statute of limitations expires. The detectives finally get a lead but the investigation is hindered by one of the victims.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: Michael R. Perry
7.7/101,161 votes#15 - Entitled (I)
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/18/2000
After a salesman is murdered, the detectives turn their attention to the youngest daughter of a well-known family with some deep connections. But as they join forces with the officers from the two-seven, they realize that their case is connected with a long-unsolved case that Briscoe once handled years ago with his former partner Mike Logan. The crossover continues in Law & Order S10E14 Entitled (II).
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
8.3/101,181 votes#16 - The Third Guy
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/25/2000
An elderly woman is found tied up and sexually assaulted in her apartment, and suspicion is initially on the young men that had broken into her home and robbed her, but once the detectives are surprised to learn that the rape was committed after the robbery – by someone else.
Director: Jud Taylor
Writer: N/A
7.7/10957 votes#17 - Misleader
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 3/31/2000
The pregnant daughter-in-law of a Christian College president is murdered in her hotel room, and the detectives discover that the man had been involved in some very unholy activities.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/101,167 votes#18 - Chat Room
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/14/2000
When a teenage girl comes into the squad room to tell the detectives that she was raped by a man she met on the Internet, the investigation leads the Special Victims Unit to a network of pedophiles and child pornographers.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/101,018 votes#19 - Contact
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 4/28/2000
After seven young women in a six month time span are raped by a flash and dash assailant on the city subways, the brass calls in a psychiatrist to help the team get into the head of the perp. When he is caught, he possesses the driver's license of a new victim who could put him away.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: N/A
8.4/101,240 votes#20 - Remorse
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/5/2000
A female television news reporter decides to go public with her story when she attacked and raped by two men, but the decision proves to be fatal.
Director: N/A
Writer: Michael R. Perry
8.6/101,232 votes#21 - Nocturne
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/2000
After a pharmacy turns over some disturbing photos of a young boy, a beloved neighborhood piano teacher is suspected of being a sexual predator who takes advantage of his innocent young students.
Director: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: Wendy West
8.4/101,261 votes#22 - Slaves
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/21/2000
A Romanian immigrant is being held as a psychological prisoner by her abusive employer and his wife, who is also traumatized by years of abuse and is willing to commit murder to protect her husband. A forensic psychologist analyzes the team, and presents disturbing findings to Cragen, suggesting that one of the detectives be removed from the team.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 1
Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 1!
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members...
Genres:CrimeDramaMystery
Network:NBC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Payback" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 1. It scored 8.2/10 based on 1867 votes. Directed by Jean de Segonzac and written by Dick Wolf, it aired on 9/20/1999. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "A Single Life".