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The Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 7

Every episode of Law & Order Season 7 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order Season 7!

Binge this in 17h 57m•Peaking at 8.4/10

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 7 Episode 17 - Showtime
    8.4/10(455 votes)

    S7:E17

    The trial of Eddie Newman begins but the prosecution's chances of conviction are hampered by a "dream team" of defense attorneys, Gorton's personal pressures on Ross, the public questioning of the relationship between Curtis and Lisa Lundquist, and a surprise accusation.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writers:René Balcer, Gardner Stern, Ed Zuckerman

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  2. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 5 - Corruption
    8.3/10(471 votes)

    S7:E5

    Curtis, angered by the attitude of an old colleague of Briscoe's, looks beyond the findings of an IAB investigation and turns up evidence of police corruption that puts the DA's office into competition with an ambitious judge and Briscoe under investigation for stealing evidence from a police lockup.

    Director:Matthew Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 19 - Double Down
    8.3/10(425 votes)

    S7:E19

    The cops' best hope of finding a kidnapped hired car driver alive is one of the armed robbers who grabbed him after a job, but the immunity deal he demands in return would effectively preclude his prosecution for the shooting death of an off-duty cop, placing McCoy in a difficult position as he seeks to placate the cops, who want the guy prosecuted, and the kidnapped man's wife, who wants every avenue of saving her husband explored.

    Director:Arthur W. Forney
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 23 - Terminal
    8.3/10(436 votes)

    S7:E23

    The cops uncover a man with a secret second life as they try to learn who opened fire on a group of people disembarking from a party cruise, but his guilt or innocence becomes almost a second thought as Schiff goes toe to toe with the governor and the States Attorney General over the decision to seek the death penalty.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:René Balcer, Ed Zuckerman

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  5. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 2 - I.D.
    8.2/10(499 votes)

    S7:E2

    The cops tackle identifying a corpse left in an elevator, and McCoy finds his prosecution of the suspect later hampered by a vindictive judge who resents Ross's in-court rebuke for sexual harassment.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Ed Zuckerman

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  6. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 18 - Mad Dog
    8.2/10(477 votes)

    S7:E18

    McCoy becomes obsessed with nailing a serial rapist recently released on parole and pushes the cops perilously close to harassment as he attempts to connect the man with a new rape and murder matching his previous M.O.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writer:René Balcer

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  7. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 20 - We Like Mike
    8.2/10(430 votes)

    S7:E20

    A young man who claims to have helped a murdered young man change a flat tire is first the cops' primary suspect, then the prosecutors' chief witness.

    Director:David Platt
    Writers:Gardner Stern, I.C. Rapoport

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  8. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 10 - Legacy
    8.1/10(453 votes)

    S7:E10

    The sidewalk shooting of a young husband uncovers the fact that his wife's first husband died in a inadequately investigated accident, and that they may have been having an affair before it happened.

    Director:Brian Mertes
    Writers:Jeremy R. Littman, Ed Zuckerman

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  9. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 13 - Matrimony
    8.1/10(434 votes)

    S7:E13

    The discovery of a would-be thief refocuses a murder investigation, leaving the prosecutors the task of making a conspiracy case against the deceased's attorney and the pretty young widow.

    Director:Lewis Gould
    Writers:Richard Sweren, Ed Zuckerman

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  10. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 16 - Turnaround
    8.1/10(445 votes)

    S7:E16

    Back in New York with their suspect, Briscoe and Curtis try to pin down his schedule on the night of the murder, but find instead that another man was in the area at the right time and more importantly, might have a motive for the crime. But after the issuance of a new arrest warrant, McCoy and Ross have to fly to LA to defend their warrant against attacks by the man's defense counsel, Ross's former husband Neal Gorton.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writers:René Balcer, Gardner Stern, Ed Zuckerman

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  11. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 12 - Barter
    8.0/10(405 votes)

    S7:E12

    An unpromising case of murder suddenly develops new leads when the cops explore the possibility that the victim was mistaken for someone else. McCoy walks a thin line in the matter of ethical conduct as he tries to make a case against a lendor who uses unscrupulous methods to collect the money owed to him.

    Director:Dan Karlok
    Writers:René Balcer, Eddie Feldmann

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  12. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 6 - Double Blind
    7.9/10(418 votes)

    S7:E6

    The murder of a janitor in a university laboratory building leads back to a student employee whose participation in a drug study may have prompted the crime.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writers:Jeremy R. Littman, William N. Fordes

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  13. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 15 - D-Girl
    7.9/10(453 votes)

    S7:E15

    A headless corpse fished out of the river sends Briscoe and Curtis out to Los Angeles to obtain a blood sample from their chief suspect while McCoy and Ross back in New York try to obtain a court order for the procedure.

    Directors:Constantine Makris, Edwin Sherin
    Writers:René Balcer, Gardner Stern, Ed Zuckerman

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  14. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 1 - Causa Mortis
    7.8/10(466 votes)

    S7:E1

    McCoy's new second chair, ADA Jamie Ross, is determined to prosecute as harshly as possible a carjacker who took the life of a teacher as she pleaded for her life on an audio tape discovered at the crime scene.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:René Balcer

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  15. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 4 - Survivor
    7.8/10(466 votes)

    S7:E4

    Briscoe and Curtis's investigation of the murder of a rare coin dealer nets them a millionaire as a suspect, but Ross has to play detective too as the DA's office tries to establish a provenance for the missing coin collection.

    Director:Vincent Misiano
    Writer:Barry M. Schkolnick

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  16. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 11 - Menace
    7.8/10(399 votes)

    S7:E11

    The detectives face a difficult struggle getting witnesses to a girl's apparent suicide to come forward while Ross tries to prove that a known bully is the one really responsible for her actions.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 7 - Deadbeat
    7.7/10(400 votes)

    S7:E7

    The murder of a deadbeat father whose son is dying of leukemia presents McCoy and Ross with a sympathetic suspect and a moral dilemma.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Ed Zuckerman, I.C. Rapoport

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  18. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 22 - Past Imperfect
    7.7/10(382 votes)

    S7:E22

    The cops have a definite clue when a bloodstain that's not the same as the victim reveals that the killer was a blood relative, and the prosecutors stumble when their chief suspect claims their chief witness is her lawyer, and his knowledge of the crime represents privileged communications.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writer:Janis Diamond

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  19. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 14 - Working Mom
    7.6/10(415 votes)

    S7:E14

    The murder of an ex-cop with a penchant for blackmail and illicit sex brings feminist lawyer Lanie Stieglitz into court against McCoy to defend a suburban wife and mother.

    Director:Jace Alexander
    Writers:Jeremy R. Littman, I.C. Rapoport

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  20. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 3 - Good Girl
    7.5/10(441 votes)

    S7:E3

    Briscoe and Curtis have to break the mutual alibi of two girlfriends as they try to find the killer of a young black man, whose angry parents pressure McCoy to indict a young woman who claims the victim had raped her.

    Director:Jace Alexander
    Writer:Jeremy R. Littman

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  21. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 21 - Passion
    7.3/10(356 votes)

    S7:E21

    Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of a pretty young book editor who was reputedly having an affair with one of her authors, and find themselves focusing on the author's long time companion, who steadfastly denies there was anything wrong with their relationship.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 8 - Family Business
    7.2/10(398 votes)

    S7:E8

    The murder of Richard Speigel, chief financial officer for an exclusive, family-owned department store goes from the sitting room to the bedroom and into the board room as suspicion shifts from co-workers to family members.

    Director:Lewis Gould
    Writers:Gardner Stern, Barry M. Schkolnick

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  23. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 9 - Entrapment
    7.0/10(370 votes)

    S7:E9

    The case against Huey Tate, a young man accused of shooting the well-known leader of the African-American Congress comes undone when the New York authorities learn that their chief witness was once an informant for the FBI, and is still under their protection.

    Director:Matthew Penn
    Writers:René Balcer, Richard Sweren

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Season 7 Ratings Summary

"Showtime" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order" season 7. It scored 8.4/10 based on 455 votes. Directed by Edwin Sherin and written by René Balcer, Gardner Stern, Ed Zuckerman, it aired on 3/27/1997. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Corruption".