7.9/10352 votes#1 - Second Opinion
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/1994
A woman's death exposes an unorthodox method of treating cancer that Executive Assistant DA McCoy intends to prove is negligent homicide.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
8.1/10359 votes#2 - Coma
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/28/1994
A comedy-club owner comes under suspicion for having shot his wife, now comatose with a bullet in her head, after it's discovered he was abusive and she was about to divorce him.
Director: Jace Alexander
Writer: N/A
7.5/10317 votes#3 - Blue Bamboo
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/1994
The killing of a Japanese nightclub owner who was visiting New York leads to the arrest of a singer who once worked for the deceased, and whose lawyer uses the ""battered-woman syndrome"" as a defense.
Director: Don Scardino, René Balcer
Writer: René Balcer, Morgan Gendel
7.5/10341 votes#4 - Family Values
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/1994
After it's determined that a wealthy woman did not commit suicide but was murdered, the detectives question both her first and second husbands and her teenage daughter.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
8.2/10368 votes#5 - White Rabbit
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/19/1994
A routine investigation uncovers evidence that leads Briscoe and Logan to a long-time fugitive, a radical Vietnam War opponent on the run since a 1971 burglary that left a policeman dead.
Director: Steven Robman
Writer: Morgan Gendel
8.0/10337 votes#6 - Competence
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1994
When Lt. Van Buren is the victim of an attempted holdup by two teens, she fires her gun and kills one of them, and the detectives are faced with the fact that she shot an unarmed child in the back.
Director: Fred Gerber
Writer: Mark B. Perry
7.7/10310 votes#7 - Precious
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1994
When Briscoe and Logan suspect that a missing infant may have been murdered by her parents rather than kidnapped, they uncover a terrible family secret which hides a mentally ill serial killer.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
7.8/10332 votes#8 - Virtue
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/23/1994
McCoy uses a charge of ""larceny by extortion"" against a councilman, whose former colleague claims he demanded sex in exchange for a law-firm partnership.
Director: Martha Mitchell
Writer: Mark B. Perry
7.4/10298 votes#9 - Scoundrels
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1994
Among the suspects in a lawyer's murder are a swindler, who conned a woman out of her family fortune, and the woman's once-wealthy son.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/10344 votes#10 - House Counsel
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 1/4/1995
The killing of a man who had served as a juror in a mob trial leads to a battle of wills between McCoy and his long-time friend, the suspect's attorney.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/10303 votes#11 - Guardian
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 1/11/1995
After the body of a young female junkie is identified as the daughter of a wealthy family, Briscoe and Logan try to find out who left her to die in the yard of a day-care center.
Director: Christopher Misiano
Writer: N/A
7.8/10312 votes#12 - Progeny
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 1/25/1995
The investigation into the killing of an abortion clinic doctor leads to an activist group led by a former priest.
Director: Don Scardino
Writer: Morgan Gendel
8.0/10352 votes#13 - Rage
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 2/1/1995
A Wall Street broker accused of murdering his mentor uses the defense of ""black rage"" in court.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: N/A
7.8/10334 votes#14 - Performance
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 2/8/1995
Briscoe and Logan set out to identify the apparent victim in a snuff film, but find her alive and really the victim of a points-for-sex club at her prestigious high school.
Director: Martha Mitchell
Writer: N/A
7.6/10460 votes#15 - Seed
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 2/15/1995
A routine investigation into a woman's death leads Briscoe and Logan to a fertility doctor guilty of unethical practices, but who cannot apparently be touched because of confidentiality rules, and patient reluctance to talk.
Director: Don Scardino
Writer: N/A
7.5/10303 votes#16 - Wannabe
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 3/15/1995
The shooting of a board member of an exclusive private school leads to a blue-collar family and a classist system.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10299 votes#17 - Act of God
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 3/22/1995
A bomb at a construction site kills a 12-year-old boy, and the suspects include the bankrupt contractor and a jealous husband.
Director: Constantine Makris
Writer: N/A
7.7/10289 votes#18 - Privileged
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 4/5/1995
The investigation into a double murder leads to a young alcoholic whose family once lived in the victims' house and who had admitted to his AA group that he's had nightmares about killings.
Director: Vincent Misiano
Writer: N/A
8.1/10307 votes#19 - Cruel and Unusual
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 4/19/1995
The death of an autistic youth in custody reveals a multitude of unusual and possibly illegal therapies being used, but also parents reluctant to pursue a prosecution.
Director: Matthew Penn
Writer: N/A
8.2/10307 votes#20 - Bad Faith
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 4/26/1995
Logan relives unhappy childhood memories when a friend is found dead, a presumed suicide, until the investigation reveals recent contact with a former priest, with a history of pedophilia.
Director: Dann Florek
Writer: René Balcer
7.7/10295 votes#21 - Purple Heart
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 5/3/1995
The investigation into a taxi driver's murder involves a loan shark, a forged check, a missing plumber and the victim's wife.
Director: Arthur W. Forney
Writer: Morgan Gendel
7.9/10317 votes#22 - Switch
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/1995
Suspects in a psychiatrist's murder include the victim's ex-husband, a patient suffering from multiple-personality disorder and her obstructive father.
Director: Christopher Misiano
Writer: Jeremy R. Littman, Sibyl Gardner
7.7/10333 votes#23 - Pride
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 5/24/1995
A gay city councilman is murdered and the trail leads to a bigoted rival politician and a male prostitute.
Director: Edwin Sherin
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 5
Every episode of Law & Order Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 5!
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 5 Ratings Summary
"Second Opinion" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 5. It scored 7.9/10 based on 352 votes. Directed by Edwin Sherin and written by N/A, it aired on 9/21/1994. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Coma".