7.6/10373 votes#1 - Skin Deep
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/1992
When a sleazy photographer is murdered, his models appear to be the most likely suspects.
Director: Daniel Sackheim
Writer: Gordon Rayfield
7.5/10317 votes#2 - Conspiracy
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/1992
The assassination of an African-American leader leads to the arrest of a man whose ex-wife was suspected of having an affair with the victim.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: René Balcer
7.3/10314 votes#3 - Forgiveness
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/1992
A priest-turned-lawyer uses race and class as the basis for his defense of a young Mexican man who murdered his wealthy girlfriend after she broke up with him.
Director: Bill D'Elia
Writer: N/A
7.8/10321 votes#4 - The Corporate Veil
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/1992
A teenager's fatal heart attack is traced to fraud and greed on the part of the manufacturer of his pacemaker and their supplier.
Director: Don Scardino
Writer: N/A
7.7/10319 votes#5 - Wedded Bliss
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/1992
The discovery of a young woman's body in the river leads to an investigation of illegal sweatshops and the enslavement of young immigrants.
Director: Vern Gillum
Writer: N/A
8.3/10387 votes#6 - Helpless
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/1992
Dr. Olivet accuses her gynecologist of rape, but Stone finds his case in trouble when he discovers that Olivet tape-recorded the crime.
Director: James Frawley
Writer: Christine Roum
7.7/10324 votes#7 - Self Defense
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/1992
Cerreta and Stone find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when a storeowner kills two robbers and then claims self-defense as a justification.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: René Balcer, Hall Powell
8.4/10398 votes#8 - Prince of Darkness
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/1992
Cerreta poses as a weapons dealer to help Stone build a case against a Columbian hit man, but the deal takes an unexpected turn, resulting in bloodshed.
Director: Gilbert M. Shilton
Writer: N/A
7.9/10390 votes#9 - Point of View
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/1992
Logan gets a new partner and Stone faces an old friend from law school as they investigate a woman's claim of self-defense in the shooting death of a small time hood.
Director: Gilbert Moses
Writer: René Balcer, Walon Green
7.7/10334 votes#10 - Consultation
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 12/9/1992
An engineer and a tribal chief become the chief suspects in the death of a Nigerian woman who died while smuggling heroin internally.
Director: James Hayman
Writer: Matt Kiene
7.6/10327 votes#11 - Extended Family
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 1/6/1993
The apparent abduction of a little girl by her natural mother becomes complicated by charges of sexual molestation.
Director: Charles Correll
Writer: N/A
7.6/10307 votes#12 - Right To Counsel
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/1993
After Stone accepts a plea bargain from the much younger and poorer lover of a wealthy older woman found murdered in her apartment, he begins to have doubts that he has sent the right man to prison, especially as he learns more about the attorney who handled the woman's estate.
Director: James Frawley
Writer: N/A
7.7/10326 votes#13 - Night And Fog
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 2/3/1993
The confession of an elderly man that he assisted his wife in committing suicide doesn't fully satisfy Stone when rumors surface that the man was once a Nazi collaborator.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: René Balcer
7.5/10329 votes#14 - Promises To Keep
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 2/10/1993
The investigation into the murder of a young physician leads to the discovery of an unorthodox and illegal relationship between her fiance and his psychiatrist.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
7.7/10332 votes#15 - Mother Love
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 2/24/1993
The absence of a murder weapon complicates the investigation into the murder of a drug addict who stole from her family to support her habit.
Director: Daniel Sackheim
Writer: N/A
7.8/10302 votes#16 - Jurisdiction
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 3/3/1993
Stone battles the Brooklyn DA's office over prosecutorial jurisdiction in the case of a mentally handicapped man who confesses to the stabbing deaths of two women.
Director: Bruce Seth Green
Writer: René Balcer, Walon Green
7.8/10339 votes#17 - Conduct Unbecoming
Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 3/10/1993
Stone and the police battle the closed ranks of the Navy to investigate the death of a female Naval officer during a party in a Manhattan hotel.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: René Balcer, Walon Green
7.8/10331 votes#18 - Animal Instinct
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/17/1993
The initial investigation into the death of a research scientist leads to an animal-rights group until evidence surfaces that her husband's affair with a coworker may point to a possible motive for the murder.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
7.4/10317 votes#19 - Virus
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 4/21/1993
While investigating several deaths at a diabetes clinic, Briscoe and Logan discover that teenage computer hackers may have tampered with the clinic's medical database.
Director: Steven Robman
Writer: René Balcer
7.2/10287 votes#20 - Securitate
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 5/5/1993
When a Romanian immigrant kills, his lawyer announces he will plead his client "not guilty due to cultural insanity" claiming the man had been conditioned to violence in his homeland.
Director: James Hayman
Writer: Matt Kiene, Joe Reinkemeyer
8.1/10362 votes#21 - Manhood
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/1993
The statement of a drug dealer who survived a shoot-out that killed a cop leads Logan and Briscoe to suspect that the cop died because he was gay and his fellow officers were reluctant to back him up.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
7.3/10310 votes#22 - Benevolence
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 5/19/1993
Logan and Briscoe begin their investigation into the death of a hearing-impaired young woman by questioning her two most recent boyfriends.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: René Balcer
The Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 3
Every episode of Law & Order Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 3!
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 3 Ratings Summary
"Skin Deep" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 3. It scored 7.6/10 based on 373 votes. Directed by Daniel Sackheim and written by Gordon Rayfield, it aired on 9/23/1992. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Conspiracy".