8.0/101,014 votes#1 - Trials
Season 10 Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/2008
After a young boy, Christopher Ryan, is caught driving a runaway van, Detective Elliot Stabler and Detective Benson take the seven year-old into questioning. When Christopher claims his foster parents, Gwen and Noah Sibert, bribe him in exchange for abusive medical testing, the detectives investigate his allegations.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Dick Wolf, Warren Leight, René Balcer
7.9/101,164 votes#2 - Confession
Season 10 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/2008
Teenage boy Eric Byers admits himself into the squad room, and warns the team about an unnatural desire towards his younger stepbrother, Cory Kelly. Detective Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson’s suspicions arise, and Eric admits to also looking at a website to try to curb his pedophilic urge. With no crime committed, the detectives decide to investigate this “self-help” website for pedophiles leading them to it’s creator, Jake Berlin. Eric’s rage induced stepfather is also questioned, and shortly after Eric is found missing. The detectives must race to place the clues together to find and stop Eric before any crime is committed.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: Judith McCreary
8.7/101,418 votes#3 - Swing
Season 10 Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/2008
Stabler is shocked when his daughter, Kathleen, becomes the suspect in an investigation to catch a trespasser. He seeks his estranged mother's help in dealing with his daughter's case.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
7.6/101,130 votes#4 - Lunacy
Season 10 Episode 4 - Aired 10/21/2008
The investigation of a famous dead astronaut found in Battery Park has hit a dead end, causing Stabler to ask for assistance from his old mentor, Dick Finley, a former colleague of the victim and an astronaut himself.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Daniel Truly
7.8/10881 votes#5 - Retro
Season 10 Episode 5 - Aired 10/28/2008
A baby with AIDS has Benson and Stabler asking for assistance from Warner as they investigate the case. They are pointed in the direction of a homeopathic doctor who has an questionable ethical past and who had prescribed the baby ineffective vitamins.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: N/A
8.1/101,219 votes#6 - Babes
Season 10 Episode 6 - Aired 11/11/2008
Stabler and Munch uncover a chastity club and a group of girls with a pregnancy pact at a high school where they came to investigate the death of a student.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Daniel Truly
8.2/101,160 votes#7 - Wildlife
Season 10 Episode 7 - Aired 11/18/2008
Stabler goes undercover to infiltrate a rare animal smuggling operation.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Dick Wolf, Warren Leight, René Balcer
8.7/101,337 votes#8 - Persona
Season 10 Episode 8 - Aired 11/25/2008
Benson finds herself going the extra mile to protect a woman abused by her spouse. The investigation turns up information regarding a long-forgotten case of 2nd degree murder and escape.
Director: Helen Shaver
Writer: N/A
8.0/10917 votes#9 - PTSD
Season 10 Episode 9 - Aired 12/2/2008
The death of a marine who was pregnant by a rapist puts the unit at odds with the Pentagon when they fight to keep the case, and Benson's flashbacks of her own assault may further impede the investigation.
Director: Eriq La Salle
Writer: Judith McCreary
8.1/101,053 votes#10 - Smut
Season 10 Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/2008
A beaten and raped woman who has no memory of what happened to her puts Benson and Stabler on the trail of a serial rapist, but when women refuse to testify Olivia will have to face how her assault has affected her job performance.
Director: Chris Eyre
Writer: N/A
8.4/101,112 votes#11 - Stranger
Season 10 Episode 11 - Aired 1/6/2009
When a girl who vanished four years ago reappears, she claims to have been imprisoned and sexually abused. Benson and Stabler look into the case and find themselves having to sort through what was fact and what the girl made up.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Dawn DeNoon
8.3/101,210 votes#12 - Hothouse
Season 10 Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/2009
When a teenager's body is uncovered in the Hudson River, the detectives search for the victim's identity which leads Benson to go undercover as a madam.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Charley Davis
8.1/101,019 votes#13 - Snatched
Season 10 Episode 13 - Aired 2/3/2009
The mother of a kidnapped young girl points the detectives towards her father, an ex-con, but it is soon discovered that the grandfather is a master thief and has many enemies. However, because of Alzheimer's, the grandfather can't remember much of his past.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Mick Betancourt
8.2/10971 votes#14 - Transitions
Season 10 Episode 14 - Aired 2/17/2009
The detectives have very little to work with after a man is found badly-beaten in a strip club's parking lot. Their questioning begins with the dancers until the victim's ex-wife and 13-year old transgender son become suspects.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Dick Wolf, Warren Leight, René Balcer
8.1/10825 votes#15 - Lead
Season 10 Episode 15 - Aired 3/10/2009
When a pediatrician convicted of abusing patients is found dead, Stabler and Benson investigate and soon find ADA Cabot has a reason for becoming involved in the case.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Jonathan Greene
8.5/101,265 votes#16 - Ballerina
Season 10 Episode 16 - Aired 3/17/2009
A single murder suddenly turns into a scene with three bodies, leaving Benson and Stabler to work with a strip club owner to find a murderer whose motive may be more about righteousness than perversity.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Daniel Truly
8.0/10810 votes#17 - Hell
Season 10 Episode 17 - Aired 3/31/2009
Detective Munch investigates the brutal rape and beating of a young mute girl, but things become tricky when her drawing of the devil who attacked her resembles a local priest who may not be practicing his beliefs according to Canon.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.4/101,095 votes#18 - Baggage
Season 10 Episode 18 - Aired 4/7/2009
A turf war ensues when Stabler and Tutuola link an artist's murder to a serial killer, and the detective assigned to that case focuses more on their involvement in an investigation he believes belongs solely to him than on identifying the killer.
Director: Christopher Zalla
Writer: Judith McCreary
7.8/10996 votes#19 - Selfish
Season 10 Episode 19 - Aired 4/28/2009
A grandmother reports that her 2 year old granddaughter has disappeared, but the Amber Alert fails to yield progress. The detectives then move their attention over to her young irresponsible mother as their prime suspect.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.2/10900 votes#20 - Crush
Season 10 Episode 20 - Aired 5/5/2009
A teenage girl who sent text messages containing nude pictures of herself is found beaten up. She next faces a harsh sentence from a judge after being arrested for producing and distributing child pornography.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Jonathan Greene
8.8/101,169 votes#21 - Liberties
Season 10 Episode 21 - Aired 5/19/2009
A favor for a judge who is hearing a harassment case sends Stabler and Benson to interview a death-row serial killer in order to determine the fate of his son.
Director: Juan José Campanella
Writer: N/A
8.8/101,478 votes#22 - Zebras
Season 10 Episode 22 - Aired 6/2/2009
A murder in Central Park that involves a tourist puts the SVU on high alert, but when the suspect they've brought in for questioning escapes, Munch has to reach out to an ex-wife in an effort to prevent another killing that's closer to home.
Director: Peter Leto
Writer: Daniel Truly
The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 10
Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 10 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 10!
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 10 Ratings Summary
"Trials" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 10. It scored 8/10 based on 1014 votes. Directed by David Platt and written by Dick Wolf, Warren Leight, René Balcer, it aired on 9/22/2008. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Confession".