7.7/10346 votes#1 - American Jihad
Season 13 Episode 1 - Aired 10/2/2002
An American Muslim becomes the prime suspect in a double murder after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: Marc Guggenheim, Aaron Zelman
8.2/10382 votes#2 - Shangri-La
Season 13 Episode 2 - Aired 10/9/2002
The murder of a female high school English teacher uncovers a love triangle that includes a female student and a male teacher, both of whom become suspects. The prosecutors have to deal with the student's multiple identities and refusal to live past adolescence.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
7.5/10300 votes#3 - True Crime
Season 13 Episode 3 - Aired 10/16/2002
Investigating the death of a rock band singer who had large amounts of cocaine and heroin in her system, the detectives question a former boyfriend who was a disgruntled band mate of her late husband. The prosecuters are hampered by the actions of a retired detective, who worked a case with Briscoe several years back, turned writer whose unconventional research tactics makes him a suspect as well.
Director: Martha Mitchell
Writer: N/A
7.8/10310 votes#4 - Tragedy on Rye
Season 13 Episode 4 - Aired 10/30/2002
A struggling actress is murdered in an apparent robbery-homicide where a video tape, made by a couple touring the city sold to a local news station, shows three suspects loading the stolen property into an SUV. They are charged with felony murder, a capital crime, and causes unrest with Southerlyn surrounding the death penalty.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.1/10361 votes#5 - The Ring
Season 13 Episode 5 - Aired 11/6/2002
The discovery of a body in Hells Kitchen who had been wearing a $40,000 diamond ring leads the detectives back to the World Trade Center attacks as the victim had been reported to have died when Tower One collapsed. The ensuing investigation leads to a fiancee and a lover and the determination that the events of 9/11 may have been good timing to hide the fact that she was murdered the night before.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10314 votes#6 - Hitman
Season 13 Episode 6 - Aired 11/13/2002
The execution style shooting of a city contractor leads Detectives Briscoe and Green to suspect a professional hitman. They first focus upon possible enemies of the victim, but end up suspecting the victim's wife and her boyfried of hiring the killer. However later discovered evidence leads McCoy and Southerlyn to a conspirator that no one had suspected.
Director: N/A
Writer: Eric Overmyer
8.3/10355 votes#7 - Open Season
Season 13 Episode 7 - Aired 11/20/2002
A defense attorney who had just acquitted a cop killer is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with police officers in the precinct of the injured officer, then to his brother, before they are led to a white supremacist who is part of a national network. McCoy is faced with the unlikely prospect that the defendant's attorney, his friend of 20 years and a friend of the slain lawyer, played a part in the murder of a Florida district attorney following the defendant's arrest. McCoy is able to make a deal that perserves the integrity of his adversary, but not without a cost.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: N/A
7.3/10296 votes#8 - Asterisk
Season 13 Episode 8 - Aired 11/27/2002
A star baseball player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his limousine driver when it is discovered that the driver regularly supplied steroids to the sports icon. The subsequent investigation reveals blackmail as the underlying motive for the murder.
Director: Steve Shill
Writer: N/A
7.2/10281 votes#9 - The Wheel
Season 13 Episode 9 - Aired 12/11/2002
The smoldering corpse of an Asian girl found outside the Chinese consul general's apartment leads the detectives to believe she had made a political statement. When forensics shows that she had been murdered beforehand, they find themselves in the middle of a religious conflict with the consul general their prime suspect and his attorney an old friend of District Attorney Branch.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/10288 votes#10 - Mother's Day
Season 13 Episode 10 - Aired 1/8/2003
The hit-and-run death of a popular high-school student leaves the detectives suspecting the girl's father was the real target. When evidence reveals that the death was possibly a random killing, they are able to track down their suspect to his apartment. However things get complicated when their killer is murdered, and the person who committed the crime happens to be the victim's mother.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
7.8/10322 votes#11 - Chosen
Season 13 Episode 11 - Aired 1/15/2003
The murder of a bookie with a high-class clientelle leads the detectives to arrest his partner. Charged with first-degree murder, his attorney puts forth an unusual defense strategy that turns the trial into a political statement.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
7.5/10298 votes#12 - Under God
Season 13 Episode 12 - Aired 2/5/2003
A dead teenager's father and a vigilante priest are suspects in the killing of a drug dealer.
Director: Gloria Muzio
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
7.8/10322 votes#13 - Absentia
Season 13 Episode 13 - Aired 2/12/2003
When the witness in a jewelry store robbery-homicide fails to appear in court, McCoy suspects foul play until he discovers that the man is a fugitive in a 20-year-old murder case.
Director: Martha Mitchell
Writer: Eric Overmyer
7.8/10320 votes#14 - Star Crossed
Season 13 Episode 14 - Aired 2/19/2003
The bludgeoning of a luxury sports car dealer leads the detectives to a mentally challenged man and his girlfriend who is extremely attractive and whose expensive tastes leads her to be equally manipulative.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
7.5/10316 votes#15 - Bitch
Season 13 Episode 15 - Aired 2/26/2003
The death of a stockbroker leads the detectives to his girlfriend whose mother is a cosmetics mogul who has a long standing friendship with Branch, and will stop at nothing to protect her corporate image by using hormone replacement therapy withdrawal as the basis for her defense.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
7.6/10342 votes#16 - Suicide Box
Season 13 Episode 16 - Aired 3/26/2003
A media-savvy attorney defends a black teenager accused of shooting an off-duty policy officer.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: Aaron Zelman
7.5/10317 votes#17 - Genius
Season 13 Episode 17 - Aired 4/2/2003
Investigating the murder of a cab driver, the detectives come to suspect a famous author and his protege, a former child prodigy.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
7.2/10286 votes#18 - Maritime
Season 13 Episode 18 - Aired 4/17/2003
A missing football player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a woman whose body is discovered floating in the East River.
Director: Gloria Muzio
Writer: N/A
7.4/10298 votes#19 - Seer
Season 13 Episode 19 - Aired 4/23/2003
The prime suspect in the murder of a woman outside a sex club claims to have merely witnessed the crime via a psychic vision.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/10295 votes#20 - Kid Pro Quo
Season 13 Episode 20 - Aired 4/30/2003
The murder of an admissions director of a private school leads the detectives to investigate a pair of angry parents whose children were denied admission, but then set their sights on the headmaster when they discover that the victim was about to go public with the denied admissions.
Director: David Platt
Writer: Eric Overmyer
7.6/10293 votes#21 - House Calls
Season 13 Episode 21 - Aired 5/7/2003
The suspicious death of a Russian model leads the detectives to suspect medical malpractice.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
8.2/10398 votes#22 - Sheltered
Season 13 Episode 22 - Aired 5/14/2003
It's a race against time as the detectives go on the hunt for a sniper whose victims are shot in broad daylight.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/10443 votes#23 - Couples
Season 13 Episode 23 - Aired 5/21/2003
Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.
Director: David Platt
Writer: N/A
8.0/10312 votes#24 - Smoke
Season 13 Episode 24 - Aired 5/21/2003
Briscoe and Green are assigned to a case involving an eccentric comedian who may have killed his young son by dangling him off a ledge.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 13
Every episode of Law & Order Season 13 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 13!
In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into...
Genres:CrimeDrama
Network:NBC
Season 13 Ratings Summary
"American Jihad" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 13. It scored 7.7/10 based on 346 votes. Directed by Constantine Makris and written by Marc Guggenheim, Aaron Zelman, it aired on 10/2/2002. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Shangri-La".