7.6/10363 votes#1 - Sweeps
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1993
A guest is murdered on-air on a controversial talk show. Meanwhile Logan and Briscoe have a new boss, Lt. Anita Van Buren, and Stone gets a new collague; the police and district attorney attempt to prosecute the show's abrasive host.
Director: James Frawley
Writer: N/A
7.6/10324 votes#2 - Volunteers
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1993
A disruptive, unbalanced homeless man is found severely beaten in an alley of the middle class neighborhood he calls home, leading Stone to try and prosecute one of the residents for premeditated murder.
Director: N/A
Writer: René Balcer
7.3/10310 votes#3 - Discord
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1993
A college student charges an admittedly promiscuous rock star with rape, but he claims the act was consensual.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
8.2/10345 votes#4 - Profile
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1993
Stone finds himself up against an ambitious black lawyer defending a white, racist serial killer.
Director: N/A
Writer: Gordon Rayfield
7.6/10323 votes#5 - Black Tie
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1993
The police suspect a cover up when they receive an anonymous tip that a wealthy man was murdered by his wife, who refuses to allow an autopsy after a physician declares that the death occurred from natural causes.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: Walon Green
7.6/10315 votes#6 - Pride and Joy
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 10/27/1993
A 17-year-old boy becomes the chief suspect in the murder of his father, raising questions of self-defense and abuse that the family does not want to face.
Director: Gilbert M. Shilton
Writer: N/A
7.4/10302 votes#7 - Apocrypha
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/3/1993
Stone and Kincaid try to prove that the young woman believed to have planted a bomb in a parking garage had been brainwashed and was acting under the direct orders of a charismatic cult leader.
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont
Writer: N/A
8.4/10344 votes#8 - American Dream
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1993
A skeleton unearthed at a building site resurrects one of Stone's old cases, and brings him face to face with the tenacious, brilliant culprit, who is seeking a new trial.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
7.9/10318 votes#9 - Born Bad
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/16/1993
A lawyer decides to defend her teenage client charged with murder as an adult with the claim that he's violent because of a genetic predisposition due to an extra Y chromosome.
Director: Fred Gerber
Writer: N/A
7.3/10278 votes#10 - The Pursuit of Happiness
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1993
A "green-card" bride from Russia is suspected of murdering her rich, but cold husband, who was threatening to divorce her just weeks before she would qualify to remain in this country.
Director: Dann Florek
Writer: Morgan Gendel
7.4/10300 votes#11 - Golden Years
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 1/5/1994
An emaciated elderly woman is found dead of an apparent heart attack and her granddaughter is charged with neglect and grave indifference to human life.
Director: Helaine Head
Writer: N/A
7.6/10302 votes#12 - Snatched
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1/12/1994
A millionaire friend of Schiff's won't cooperate with the police following his son's kidnapping.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: René Balcer, Walon Green
7.8/10312 votes#13 - Breeder
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 1/19/1994
While investigating a woman's claim that she passed out in a taxi and awoke to find her newborn missing, Briscoe and Logan uncover a scam involving private adoptions.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: René Balcer
8.1/10331 votes#14 - Censure
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/1994
A phone call threatening a woman's young daughter leads to a case that causes Kincaid to resign from Schiff's office because of an affair in her past.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
7.3/10291 votes#15 - Kids
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 2/9/1994
A 14-year-old's shooting death involves the son of a former police detective, who's also an old friend of Briscoe's.
Director: Don Scardino
Writer: N/A
7.7/10294 votes#16 - Big Bang
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 3/2/1994
A scientist becomes the chief suspect when his estranged wife, who's been delaying divorce proceedings, is the victim of a letter bomb.
Director: Dann Florek
Writer: N/A
8.2/10379 votes#17 - Mayhem
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 3/9/1994
During a 24-hour period, Briscoe and Logan have a heavy caseload that includes 5 unrelated murders and a domestic quarrel, which results in the maiming of the husband.
Director: N/A
Writer: René Balcer
7.1/10276 votes#18 - Wager
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 3/30/1994
Briscoe and Logan bet that the killing of a star athlete's father is linked to gambling debts and threats to the baseball player's family.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
7.9/10327 votes#19 - Sanctuary
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 4/13/1994
A black minister fans the flames of racial intolerance after a hit-and-run in Harlem claims the life of a 12-year-old and the Jewish driver isn't indicted.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: N/A
7.6/10302 votes#20 - Nurture
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 5/4/1994
Briscoe and Logan investigate the disappearance of a child from her abusive foster home and find her being held by a loving but disturbed woman who insists she has acted only for the child's own good.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
7.0/10290 votes#21 - Doubles
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 5/18/1994
An assailant breaks the wrist of a tennis player prior to a tournament, and a competitor is among the suspects.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: René Balcer
8.4/10357 votes#22 - Old Friends
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 5/25/1994
A truck hits a pedestrian and the investigation reveals the victim's link to a baby-food company in which a new partner has connections to the Russian mob.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 4
Every episode of Law & Order Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 4!
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 4 Ratings Summary
"Sweeps" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 4. It scored 7.6/10 based on 363 votes. Directed by James Frawley and written by N/A, it aired on 9/15/1993. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Volunteers".