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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!

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...

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  1. 8.2/10(333 votes)

    #1 - Bad Faith

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    S5:E20

    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.

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    Director:Dann Florek
  2. 8.1/10(384 votes)

    #2 - Coma

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    S5:E2

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  3. 8.1/10(397 votes)

    #3 - White Rabbit

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    S5:E5

    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.

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  4. 8.1/10(369 votes)

    #4 - House Counsel

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    S5:E10

    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.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  5. 8.1/10(330 votes)

    #5 - Cruel and Unusual

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    S5:E19

    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.

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    Director:Matthew Penn
    Writer:N/A
  6. 8.0/10(375 votes)

    #6 - Rage

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    S5:E13

    A Wall Street broker accused of murdering his mentor uses the defense of ""black rage"" in court.

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    Writer:N/A
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  8. 7.9/10(379 votes)

    #7 - Second Opinion

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    S5:E1

    A woman's death exposes an unorthodox method of treating cancer that Executive Assistant DA McCoy intends to prove is negligent homicide.

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    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:N/A
  9. 7.9/10(363 votes)

    #8 - Competence

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    S5:E6

    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.

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    Director:Fred Gerber
  10. 7.8/10(355 votes)

    #9 - Virtue

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    S5:E8

    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.

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  11. 7.8/10(335 votes)

    #10 - Progeny

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    S5:E12

    The investigation into the killing of an abortion clinic doctor leads to an activist group led by a former priest.

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  12. 7.8/10(356 votes)

    #11 - Performance

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    S5:E14

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  13. 7.8/10(338 votes)

    #12 - Switch

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    S5:E22

    Suspects in a psychiatrist's murder include the victim's ex-husband, a patient suffering from multiple-personality disorder and her obstructive father.

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  14. 7.7/10(311 votes)

    #13 - Privileged

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    S5:E18

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  15. 7.7/10(315 votes)

    #14 - Purple Heart

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    S5:E21

    The investigation into a taxi driver's murder involves a loan shark, a forged check, a missing plumber and the victim's wife.

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  16. 7.7/10(351 votes)

    #15 - Pride

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    S5:E23

    A gay city councilman is murdered and the trail leads to a bigoted rival politician and a male prostitute.

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    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:N/A
  17. 7.6/10(336 votes)

    #16 - Precious

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    S5:E7

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  18. 7.6/10(489 votes)

    #17 - Seed

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    S5:E15

    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.

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    Director:Don Scardino
    Writer:N/A
  19. 7.6/10(320 votes)

    #18 - Act of God

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    S5:E17

    A bomb at a construction site kills a 12-year-old boy, and the suspects include the bankrupt contractor and a jealous husband.

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    Writer:N/A
  20. 7.5/10(339 votes)

    #19 - Blue Bamboo

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    S5:E3

    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.

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  21. 7.5/10(364 votes)

    #20 - Family Values

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    S5:E4

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  22. 7.4/10(321 votes)

    #21 - Scoundrels

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    S5:E9

    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.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  23. 7.4/10(325 votes)

    #22 - Guardian

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    S5:E11

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  24. 7.4/10(324 votes)

    #23 - Wannabe

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    S5:E16

    The shooting of a board member of an exclusive private school leads to a blue-collar family and a classist system.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A

Season 5 Ratings Summary

"Bad Faith" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 5. It scored 8.2/10 based on 333 votes. Directed by Dann Florek and written by René Balcer, it aired on 4/26/1995. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Coma".