8.0/10842 votes#1 - Tragedy
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2003
A woman with a high-risk pregnancy disappears and her ex-boyfriend, who's the father, and engaged to the boss' daughter, is under suspicion. In a race against time to find her as her delivery date approaches, Benson and Stabler are faced with more than one suspect willing to take the fall for the crime.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Amanda Green
8.0/101,064 votes#2 - Manic
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/2003
Detectives enlist Dr. Huang's help as they investigate the deaths of two high-school basketball players gunned down while shooting hoops in the gymnasium and the connection to an illegal marketing campaign by a major pharmaceutical company.
Director: Guy Norman Bee
Writer: Patrick Harbinson
8.2/101,057 votes#3 - Mother
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/2003
A psychiatrist with unconventional methods is found sexually assaulted, unconscious and near death in a crack house. It's easier said than done to get her to cooperate with the investigation as they are hampered by doctor-patient confidentiality as she may have been attacked by one of her patients.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Writer: N/A
9.0/101,378 votes#4 - Loss
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/2003
A female undercover agent for the DEA is raped and murdered, leading to a complicated investigation and the arrest of a suspect highly connected with a Colombian drug cartel. This is the toughest case of Cabot's career as she is faced with death threats on herself and her family along with pressure to yield the case to federal authorities.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.2/10816 votes#5 - Serendipity
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2003
A newborn baby is found dead in a gutter, sending the detectives on a hunt for the mother. She too turns up murdered, and the clues point to a serial child molester.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.6/101,020 votes#6 - Coerced
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/28/2003
A schizophrenic homeless man kidnaps a boy he thinks is his son, murdering a man in the process. In resolving the case, with Dr. Huang's help, a private mental health facility is brought into question.
Director: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: N/A
7.6/101,094 votes#7 - Choice
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/2003
While patrolling, police stumble upon an attack in progress at Momma Sue’s restaurant on the pregnant owner. Her husband is arrested and then seeks to have her charged with neglect for drinking during her pregnancy. The detectives discover it's not the first time a child has been exposed to the devastating repercussions of her uncontrolled alcoholism.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Patrick Harbinson
8.0/10865 votes#8 - Abomination
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/2003
Benson and Stabler have trouble identifying a male murder victim in his 20's found in a pile of sheets in the West Village; they later suspect an outspoken minister who was in the process of flooding the victim with hate mail and death threats. When the activist's alibi checks out, the detectives turn their attention to a professor who objects to the victim's thesis on the failure of sexual re-education groups.
Director: Alex Zakrzewski
Writer: N/A
8.3/101,138 votes#9 - Control
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/2003
A subway commuter is found castrated and bleeding profusely, leading the detectives to discover their "victim" may be the perpetrator in abducting women and forcing them to live in his dungeon for several years as his bride. As the detectives prepare to arrest their victim turned suspect, Benson arrives to find him murdered.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Writer: Neal Baer
8.1/10865 votes#10 - Shaken
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/25/2003
The discovery of a beaten infant leads detectives on a search for the attacker, who may be a pedophile. When the medical evidence shows the injuries were a result of shaken baby syndrome, their focus shifts to those closest to the child: her mother, the mother's boyfriend and the nannies.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: Amanda Green
8.5/101,089 votes#11 - Escape
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/2/2003
When a convicted pedophile, desperate to prove his innocence before his terminally ill mother dies, escapes from a Virginia Correctional Facility and kidnaps his accuser to force him to recant his story, a Deputy Marshall teams up with Benson to track them down. Benson eventually finds herself in the middle of a hostage situation beginning to believe his story.
Director: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: Barbie Kligman
8.1/10839 votes#12 - Brotherhood
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 1/6/2004
When the body of young man is found in a tank at a wastewater treatment plant, the medical examiner identifies a tattoo that says TE, the symbol for the fraternity Tau Omega. The investigation into the murder and sodomy of this local fraternity pledge master leads the detectives to his pornographic website featuring college girls at a local bar.
Director: Jean de Segonzac
Writer: N/A
7.9/10748 votes#13 - Hate
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 1/13/2004
A young Arab woman is brutally raped and burned, and after identifying her, the detectives suspect her husband and mother-in-law. After a man accused of the murders of three Arabs, he claims that he was genetically and biologically predisposed to hatred and violence, but soon they uncover the real impetus to the slayings.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.3/101,055 votes#14 - Ritual
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/2004
Two garbage collectors discover what they first think is a scene of animal sacrifice but is the body of a young boy who appears to be the victim of a ritualistic killing. The investigation leads to the discovery of international child slavery.
Director: Ed Bianchi
Writer: N/A
8.6/101,195 votes#15 - Families
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/2004
The investigation into the death of a pregnant high school student exposes a long-held family secret, which precipitates yet another violent death and eventually the destruction of two families.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.3/10842 votes#16 - Home
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 2/17/2004
A young, emaciated boy is found by neighbors scrounging for food; detectives suspect the boy is a victim of abuse and are reluctant to let him go home.
Director: Rick Wallace
Writer: Amanda Green
8.7/101,085 votes#17 - Mean
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 2/24/2004
The conviction of a group of sociopathic high school bullies who turned on one of their own escalates into even more violence and death in their exclusive private school.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.0/10758 votes#18 - Careless
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 3/2/2004
When a young foster child dies due to a religious ritual gone awry, the detectives unravel a mysterious pattern of violence, abuse and murder within one foster care family.
Director: Steve Shill
Writer: Patrick Harbinson
8.2/101,087 votes#19 - Sick
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 3/30/2004
A wealthy toy mogul is the suspect of the sexual abuse of a child. His prosecution impeded by the child's parents who refuse to produce their child for questioning to avoid losing the millions paid through a non-disclosure agreement, and by the discovery that a second accusation was falsified in an attempt to extort a settlement.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.2/10766 votes#20 - Lowdown
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 4/6/2004
Detectives try to decipher a motive for the strangulation of a Bronx assistant DA in an area where hookers stroll. When the death of the prosecutor looks staged using information gleaned from a co-worker's caseload, Novak endangers her career to obtain a confession.
Director: Jud Taylor
Writer: N/A
8.1/10755 votes#21 - Criminal
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 4/20/2004
When it becomes obvious that a forensics expert raped and murdered a student, the investigation focuses on a criminology professor Cragen arrested decades earlier for similar crimes, but is the professor a perpetrator or a victim?
Director: Alex Zakrzewski
Writer: Jose Molina
8.2/101,031 votes#22 - Painless
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 4/27/2004
A woman claiming to have been the victim of rape commits suicide while she is still in the emergency room.
Director: Juan José Campanella
Writer: N/A
8.1/10972 votes#23 - Bound
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 5/4/2004
The death of a wealthy senior citizen leads to an investigation that uncovers a serial killer with childhood abandonment issues who targets the elderly.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: Barbie Kligman
8.7/10938 votes#24 - Poison
Season 5 Episode 24 - Aired 5/11/2004
A young girl is in a coma after ingesting detergent and her mother is suspected of poisoning her. A biased judge makes the case hard to prosecute which leads to an investigation into his past.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.0/10958 votes#25 - Head
Season 5 Episode 25 - Aired 5/18/2004
A boy is accused of being molested after his soccer game, but he doesn't admit to it. His principal and his soccer coach are the prime suspects.
Director: Juan José Campanella
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5
Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5!
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 5 Ratings Summary
"Tragedy" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 5. It scored 8/10 based on 842 votes. Directed by David Platt and written by Amanda Green, it aired on 9/23/2003. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Manic".