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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!

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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 custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Law & Order Season 13 Episode 1 - American Jihad
    7.2/10(8 votes)

    #1 - American Jihad

    S13:E1

    An American Muslim becomes the prime suspect in a double murder after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Marc Guggenheim, Aaron Zelman

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  2. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 2 - Shangri-La
    7.7/10(7 votes)

    #2 - Shangri-La

    S13:E2

    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:Michael S. Chernuchin

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  3. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 3 - True Crime
    7.3/10(7 votes)

    #3 - True Crime

    S13:E3

    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
    Writers:Wendy Battles, Noah Baylin

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  4. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 4 - Tragedy on Rye
    7.6/10(7 votes)

    #4 - Tragedy on Rye

    S13:E4

    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:William N. Fordes

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  5. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 5 - The Ring
    8.3/10(7 votes)

    #5 - The Ring

    S13:E5

    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:Richard Dobbs
    Writer:Michael S. Chernuchin

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  6. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 6 - Hitman
    7.9/10(7 votes)

    #6 - Hitman

    S13:E6

    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:Richard Dobbs
    Writer:Eric Overmyer

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  7. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 7 - Open Season
    8.0/10(7 votes)

    #7 - Open Season

    S13:E7

    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:Richard Sweren

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  8. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 8 - Asterisk
    6.7/10(6 votes)

    #8 - Asterisk

    S13:E8

    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:Terri Kopp

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  9. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 9 - The Wheel
    7.0/10(6 votes)

    #9 - The Wheel

    S13:E9

    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:Richard Dobbs
    Writer:Jill Goldsmith

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  10. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 10 - Mother's Day
    6.9/10(7 votes)

    #10 - Mother's Day

    S13:E10

    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:Janis Diamond

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  11. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 11 - Chosen
    7.4/10(7 votes)

    #11 - Chosen

    S13:E11

    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:Michael S. Chernuchin

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  12. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 12 - Under God
    6.9/10(7 votes)

    #12 - Under God

    S13:E12

    A dead teenager's father and a vigilante priest are suspects in the killing of a drug dealer.

    Director:Gloria Muzio
    Writers:Marc Guggenheim, Noah Baylin

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  13. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 13 - Absentia
    8.0/10(7 votes)

    #13 - Absentia

    S13:E13

    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.

    Directors:Darnell Martin, Martha Mitchell
    Writer:Eric Overmyer

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  14. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 14 - Star Crossed
    7.6/10(7 votes)

    #14 - Star Crossed

    S13:E14

    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:Richard Sweren

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  15. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 15 - Bitch
    8.0/10(7 votes)

    #15 - Bitch

    S13:E15

    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
    Writers:Michael S. Chernuchin, Roz Weinman

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  16. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 16 - Suicide Box
    7.4/10(7 votes)

    #16 - Suicide Box

    S13:E16

    A media-savvy attorney defends a black teenager accused of shooting an off-duty policy officer.

    Director:Matthew Penn
    Writer:Aaron Zelman

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  17. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 17 - Genius
    7.9/10(7 votes)

    #17 - Genius

    S13:E17

    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:William N. Fordes

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  18. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 18 - Maritime
    7.0/10(7 votes)

    #18 - Maritime

    S13:E18

    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:Wendy Battles

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  19. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 19 - Seer
    7.2/10(6 votes)

    #19 - Seer

    S13:E19

    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:James Quinn
    Writer:Jill Goldsmith

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  20. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 20 - Kid Pro Quo
    7.3/10(7 votes)

    #20 - Kid Pro Quo

    S13:E20

    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

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  21. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 21 - House Calls
    7.3/10(6 votes)

    #21 - House Calls

    S13:E21

    The suspicious death of a Russian model leads the detectives to suspect medical malpractice.

    Director:Jace Alexander
    Writer:Janis Diamond

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  22. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 22 - Sheltered
    8.4/10(8 votes)

    #22 - Sheltered

    S13:E22

    It's a race against time as the detectives go on the hunt for a sniper whose victims are shot in broad daylight.

    Director:Richard Dobbs
    Writer:Terri Kopp

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  23. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 23 - Couples
    8.6/10(8 votes)

    #23 - Couples

    S13:E23

    Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.

    Director:David Platt
    Writer:Lorenzo Carcaterra

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  24. Law & Order Season 13 Episode 24 - Smoke
    8.0/10(6 votes)

    #24 - Smoke

    S13:E24

    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:Unknown

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Season 13 Ratings Summary

"American Jihad" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 13. It scored 7.2/10 based on 8 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".