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The Worst Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit!

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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 of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Episode 14 - Frequency
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Frequency

    S27:E14

    A family discovers a young boy in grave danger when their baby monitor picks up a rogue frequency. Griffin goes to extremes to find the boy's location. Rollins finds herself alone with a predator.

    Director:Brenna Malloy
    Writer:Brant Englestein

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  2. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 20 Episode 15 - Brothel
    3.0/10(3 votes)

    #2 - Brothel

    S20:E15

    Benson and the team investigate the death of a prostitute at a brothel. They wonder if there was foul play or if this could be a case of a junkie who relapsed, turned to tricking, got depressed and committed suicide.

    Director:Michael Pressman
    Writers:Julie Martin, Ryan Causey

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  3. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 20 Episode 14 - Part 33
    4.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Part 33

    S20:E14

    As Stone prosecutes the case of a woman who killed her abusive husband, Benson and her squad wrestle with the duty of testifying against her.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writer:Michael S. Chernuchin

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  4. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 11 Episode 13 - P.C.
    4.5/10(4 votes)

    #4 - P.C.

    S11:E13

    Detectives Olivia Benson and Eliot Stabler find a woman bleeding from the neck and nearly dead. The woman dies before they reach the hospital, and soon the investigation leads them to the frontman of the death metal band Vampyre Sacrifyce. He bites girls, steals blood from the local blood bank and sings about violence to women all in the name of his strange, vampiric lifestyle. The singer claims he was nowhere near the scene of the crime, and soon a lesbian rights group led by Babs Duffy gets involved, claiming the victim's death was a result of police neglect. However, when more women from Babs's group are attacked, it becomes clear that the victim's case wasn't an isolated incident and that someone out there has a larger plan to bring the group down.

    Director:Juan José Campanella
    Writer:Daniel Truly

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  5. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 Episode 6 - True Believers
    5.0/10(6 votes)

    #5 - True Believers

    S13:E6

    The SVU team works together to investigate the case of a promising music student who was brutally raped at gunpoint.

    Director:Courtney Hunt
    Writer:Robin Veith

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  6. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 19 - Bombshell
    5.1/10(7 votes)

    #6 - Bombshell

    S12:E19

    A grifter named Cassandra strikes swinging men who frequent sex clubs.

    Director:Patrick Creadon
    Writer:Daniel Truly

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  7. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 4 Episode 4 - Lust
    5.2/10(11 votes)

    #7 - Lust

    S4:E4

    A public health doctor, the wife of a retired attorney, who tracked HIV cases is found murdered and raped in Central Park. Her work involved contacting sexual partners of HIV patients which gives the detectives a long list of suspects and the detectives try to link threatening phone calls to the crime. The discovery of a second body in Central Park with the same signature shifts the focus to a possible serial killer.

    Director:Michael Fields
    Writer:Amanda Green

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  8. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 6 Episode 15 - Hooked
    5.3/10(8 votes)

    #8 - Hooked

    S6:E15

    When the body of a teenager is found with her older cousin's I.D., Benson and Stabler investigate only to learn that that the teen had been part of a group who had 'hooked up' online. As their investigation intensified, they realised that the victim was the object of an older man's obsession, but before they can arrest him he also turns up dead.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 Episode 22 - Strange Beauty
    5.5/10(7 votes)

    #9 - Strange Beauty

    S13:E22

    The investigation of the homicide of a young woman who recently had her leg amputated sends SVU into the strange culture of body modification.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writers:Robin Veith, Peter Blauner

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  10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 18 Episode 8 - Chasing Theo
    5.7/10(6 votes)

    #10 - Chasing Theo

    S18:E8

    A 6 year-old boy disappears from his bed in the midst of a wild, drug-fueled party thrown by his mother. With a child's life on the line, the case causes Benson to scrutinize her own role as a mother.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Julie Martin, Robert Brooks Cohen

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  11. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 13 - Duty to Hope
    5.7/10(3 votes)

    #11 - Duty to Hope

    S25:E13

    The SVU searches for a pattern assailant before his crimes escalate to murder. Fin must contend with a suspect's aggrieved son. Carisi is pressured to close the case quickly to ease public concern.

    Director:Norberto Barba
    Writers:Julie Martin, David Graziano

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  12. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5 Episode 25 - Head
    5.8/10(10 votes)

    #12 - Head

    S5:E25

    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
    Writers:Dawn DeNoon, Lisa Marie Petersen

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  13. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 Episode 15 - Hunting Ground
    5.8/10(6 votes)

    #13 - Hunting Ground

    S13:E15

    Detectives Benson and Amaro lead the search for a serial killer who is targeting young prostitutes.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Warren Leight

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  14. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 14 Episode 12 - Criminal Hatred
    5.8/10(6 votes)

    #14 - Criminal Hatred

    S14:E12

    The detectives go under cover to arrest a man who brutally attacks other men; a deceptively tough defense attorney complicates ADA Barba's case.

    Director:Adam Bernstein
    Writer:Ed Zuckerman

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  15. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 16 Episode 14 - Intimidation Game
    5.8/10(10 votes)

    #15 - Intimidation Game

    S16:E14

    A female videogame developer is harassed and threatened by a group of misogynistic cyber terrorists.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 9 Episode 8 - Fight
    5.9/10(8 votes)

    #16 - Fight

    S9:E8

    Detectives find themselves embroiled in the world of ultimate fighting after a young girl's death.

    Director:Juan José Campanella
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 Episode 3 - Blood Brothers
    5.9/10(8 votes)

    #17 - Blood Brothers

    S13:E3

    A pregnant thirteen-year-old girl from Washington Heights claims that the son of an ambassador raped her, but the accused goes missing before SVU can question him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Julie Martin, Warren Leight

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  18. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 18 Episode 4 - Heightened Emotions
    5.9/10(5 votes)

    #18 - Heightened Emotions

    S18:E4

    A sexually assaulted athlete's double life could destroy her Olympic career and ruin the case against her attacker; Rollins sister is released from prison on parole.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writers:Julie Martin, Céline C. Robinson

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  19. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 6 Episode 2 - Debt
    6.0/10(10 votes)

    #19 - Debt

    S6:E2

    As Benson and Stabler investigate the disappearance of a mother and her teenaged daughter, they uncover a conspiracy between a corrupt immigration attorney and gangsters running a prostitution ring that is staffed by women they have smuggled into the country and imprisoned as sex slaves.

    Director:David Platt
    Writer:Amanda Green

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  20. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 7 Episode 22 - Influence
    6.0/10(7 votes)

    #20 - Influence

    S7:E22

    After Jamie Hoskins falsely accuses two classmates of rape after a consensual act then hits nine pedestrians during an attempted suicide, medical tests reveal she has been taking medication for bipolar disorder and stopped her pills a week earlier. Jamie is charged with murder and released on her own recognizance after she agrees to take her medication, but after rock star Derek Lord, who is well known for his negative views on psychiatry, gets involved and begins spearheading her defense, Jamie again stops taking her medication. Novak is sympathetic to Jamie, but Jamie's insistence on following Derek Lord's advice leaves Novak with no choice but to take the case to trial.

    Director:Norberto Barba
    Writer:Ian Biederman

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  21. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 16 - Spectacle
    6.0/10(7 votes)

    #21 - Spectacle

    S12:E16

    After the sexual assault of a young woman is videotaped and featured on a campus-wide intranet feed, detectives Elliot Stabler and Odafin "Fin" Tutuola go in search of the victim and her attacker. As they delve into the investigation, it becomes clear that the perpetrator created a spectacle to draw attention to his own issues.

    Director:Peter Leto
    Writer:Chris Brancato

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  22. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 19 Episode 18 - Service
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Service

    S19:E18

    The SVU must break through military red tape when a soldier is suspected of sexual assault.

    Director:Fred Berner
    Writers:Lawrence Kaplow, Céline C. Robinson

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  23. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 20 Episode 20 - The Good Girl
    6.0/10(2 votes)

    #23 - The Good Girl

    S20:E20

    Benson and the team work to uncover a pregnant teenager's secret when she refuses to name the baby's father.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Brianna Yellen, Lawrence Kaplow

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  24. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 20 Episode 22 - Diss
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - Diss

    S20:E22

    When a pop star is assaulted in her home, the SVU investigates the public feud between her rapper husband and a competing recording artist; Fin's family ties to a suspect take him off the case.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writers:Michael S. Chernuchin, Allison Intrieri

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  25. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 2 - Truth Embargo
    6.0/10(4 votes)

    #25 - Truth Embargo

    S25:E2

    As Benson teams up with the FBI on an unsolved case, Fin and Velasco investigate a flash mob robbery that lead to a sexual assault.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Frequency" is the worst rated episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Brenna Malloy and written by Brant Englestein, it aired on 3/5/2026. This episode scored 3.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Brothel".