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The Worst Episodes of Law & Order

Every episode of Law & Order ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Law & Order!

The Worst Episodes of Law & Order

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. 6.1/10(498 votes)

    #1 - Free Speech

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    S21:E5

    Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the murder of a congressional candidate. ADAs Price and Maroun contend with an extremist plot hellbent on thwarting the candidate's agenda by any means necessary.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  2. 6.3/10(330 votes)

    #2 - Black and Blue

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    S21:E10

    The murder of an off-duty NYPD detective threatens to tear the city apart; Cosgrove mourns the loss of a friend and asks Capt. Benson for help solving the case; McCoy and Price disagree on how to prosecute the culprit.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  3. 6.3/10(315 votes)

    #3 - Folk Hero

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    S24:E16

    When a murder suspect becomes an underground hero, Brady seeks help from a former colleague to track down a culprit who seems to be in multiple locations. Baxter, Price and Maroun disagree on the best way forward when public interest heightens.

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  4. 6.5/10(511 votes)

    #4 - Impossible Dream

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    S21:E2

    The COO of a major tech company is found murdered in Central Park. Price and Maroun work to untangle a web of deceit to expose a cunning narcissist.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  5. 6.6/10(1.0k votes)

    #5 - The Right Thing

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    S21:E1

    Newly acquainted partners Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the murder of a notorious entertainer. A dispute over throwing out a confession creates a rift in the DA's office.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  6. 6.6/10(352 votes)

    #6 - Legacy

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    S21:E7

    Bernard and Cosgrove are confronted with several suspects in the shooting of a headmaster at an elite private school. A teenager's life hangs in the balance as Price and Maroun debate who's more culpable - the shooter or the enabler.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
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  8. 6.7/10(405 votes)

    #7 - Freedom of Expression

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    S23:E1

    In the wake of a murder on campus, the line between free speech and hate speech at a university is examined.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  9. 6.7/10(160 votes)

    #8 - A Perfect Family

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    S24:E17

    When a student is thrown to her death, Riley zeros in on a family secret to piece together her last moments. Price and Maroun must rely on the eyewitness account of a young child to determine if an unlikely suspect should be charged with murder.

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  10. 6.7/10(155 votes)

    #9 - Inherent Bias

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    S24:E18

    A rising basketball star is shot dead, leaving the squad in a desperate scramble for leads. When the capture of a suspect doesn't go as planned, Shaw and Riley each take a firm stand on what they believe they witnessed.

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  11. 6.8/10(288 votes)

    #10 - The Great Pretender

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    S21:E9

    Bernard and Cosgrove must sift through fact and fiction to find the killer of a young Manhattan socialite. The murder trial takes a turn that becomes personal for Price and puts Maroun in a compromising situation.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  12. 6.8/10(265 votes)

    #11 - Private Lives

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    S22:E19

    Cosgrove and Shaw investigate the murder of a family physician whose outspoken politician wife suspects she was the intended target. Price and Maroun's case hangs in the balance when the defense calls one of the doctor's young patients to testify as a witness.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  13. 6.9/10(262 votes)

    #12 - The Fire This Time

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    S12:E8

    When a building is set ablaze, a girl must be identified despite her fatal burns. Through further investigation, it turns out that an extreme environmentalist group struck the match...

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    Director:David Platt
  14. 6.9/10(278 votes)

    #13 - Severance

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    S21:E8

    When the CFO of a Fortune 500 company is found strangled in her home, Bernard and Cosgrove work to connect multiple dead ends to find her killer. The prosecution is faced with an uphill battle as McCoy and Price butt heads over a choice that could cost them the case.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  15. 7.0/10(314 votes)

    #14 - Doubles

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    S4:E21

    An assailant breaks the wrist of a tennis player prior to a tournament, and a competitor is among the suspects.

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    Director:Edwin Sherin
  16. 7.0/10(310 votes)

    #15 - Entrapment

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    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.

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    Director:Matthew Penn
    Writer:N/A
  17. 7.0/10(290 votes)

    #16 - Whose Monkey is it Anyway?

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    S11:E10

    The death of a lab technician and the abduction of 17 infected monkeys lead to a trial involving the treatment of research animals.

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  18. 7.0/10(279 votes)

    #17 - Formerly Famous

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    S12:E6

    The shooting death of a former singer's wife leads the detectives to investigate his manager and sons after his explanation of the events surrounding her death have no credibility.

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    Director:N/A
  19. 7.0/10(228 votes)

    #18 - Foul Play

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    S12:E21

    The investigation into the death of a private investigator uncovers corruption, deceit, and immigration fraud in a Youth Baseball League whose manager will go to any lengths to win.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  20. 7.0/10(276 votes)

    #19 - Melting Pot

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    S17:E15

    After an actress is found dead in her apartment, Green and Cassady attempt to prove that her death was not a suicide.

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    Writer:N/A
  21. 7.0/10(363 votes)

    #20 - Wicked Game

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    S21:E6

    When a young man is found dead of an apparent overdose, Dixon fiercely pursues a homicide investigation as an old unsolved case comes back to haunt her. Price and Maroun risk putting a witness in harm's way to expose their suspect.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  22. 7.1/10(305 votes)

    #21 - Wager

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    S4:E18

    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.

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    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:N/A
  23. 7.1/10(345 votes)

    #22 - Castoff

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    S8:E13

    The street murder of a woman who worked with underprivileged kids takes a turn towards the bizarre when the detectives uncover she had a predilection for kinky sex, and that one of her current partners appears to be a serial killer, who offers an overexposure to television violence as his defense during his trial.

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    Director:Gloria Muzio
  24. 7.1/10(296 votes)

    #23 - Untitled

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    S10:E20

    A wealthy woman, who is a patron of the arts, is found dead in her apartment and the ensuing investigation leads to a suspect whose violence was spurred by a painting similar to the crime scene.

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    Writer:N/A
  25. 7.1/10(273 votes)

    #24 - Soldier of Fortune

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    S12:E4

    The daring daylight kidnapping of a diamond dealer which results in two murders at the scene uncovers an international dynasty of diamond sales and its links to a foreign civil war.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  26. 7.1/10(241 votes)

    #25 - Equal Rights

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    S12:E18

    A stock analyst's murder leads the detectives to a corporation whose stock had fallen ... and plenty of suspects in the investors.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A

Worst Episodes Summary

"Free Speech" is the worst rated episode of "Law & Order". It scored 6.1/10 based on 498 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 4/7/2022. This episode scored 0.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Black and Blue".