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The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12

Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12!

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In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 1 - Locum
    8.6/10(1457 votes)

    #1 - Locum

    S12:E1

    Benson and Stabler are called to investigate when a little girl goes missing. They soon find out that the mother had another daughter who disappeared some years earlier and she becomes the focus of the investigation.

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  2. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 2 - Bullseye
    8.4/10(1205 votes)

    #2 - Bullseye

    S12:E2

    The brutal rape of a ten-year-old girl leaves her unable to recall her own name. Unfortunately, once Fin assists with the ID, the detectives find that she’s not the only one with memory impairment, and Dr. Huang is brought in to assess her home situation.

    Director:Peter Leto

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  3. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 3 - Behave
    9.0/10(1685 votes)

    #3 - Behave

    S12:E3

    A woman who has been raped multiple times is afraid to leave her house. The issue of unopened rape kits will see Detective Olivia Benson travel from New York City to Los Angeles.

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  4. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 4 - Merchandise
    8.4/10(1179 votes)

    #4 - Merchandise

    S12:E4

    A teenage girl’s death exposes a human trafficking ring and leads detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler to team up with an old friend at the U.S. Attorney’s office.

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  5. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 5 - Wet
    7.4/10(1133 votes)

    #5 - Wet

    S12:E5

    Detectives Benson and Stabler arrive on the scene where a woman is found dead in Bethesda Fountain. When her squeaky clean image doesn’t match up with her promiscuous actions on the night of her murder, ADA Mikka Von encourages the cops to dig deeper into her past.

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  6. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 6 - Branded
    8.4/10(1306 votes)

    #6 - Branded

    S12:E6

    Two men have been branded and sodomised by someone. Is there a connection between these men, and what nut case is on the loose?

    Director:Peter Leto

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  8. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 7 - Trophy
    8.1/10(1070 votes)

    #7 - Trophy

    S12:E7

    A rape and murder investigation puts the detectives lives at risk.

    Director:Donna Deitch
    Writer:Ken Storer

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  9. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 8 - Penetration
    7.9/10(936 votes)

    #8 - Penetration

    S12:E8

    Undercover FBI agent Dana Lewis returns to help the detectives with a case.

    Director:Peter Leto
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 9 - Gray
    7.9/10(908 votes)

    #9 - Gray

    S12:E9

    Stabler's participation in a Take Back the Night rally at Kathleen's campus results in an extra case for him and Benson when a student claims she was raped. Unfortunately, the case turns out to be a "he said-she said" type with little evidence. Enter Sonya Paxton, and it can only get more complicated.

    Director:Helen Shaver
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 10 - Rescue
    7.8/10(1073 votes)

    #10 - Rescue

    S12:E10

    With young Calvin in her care, Detective Benson continues the search for his drug-addict mother, Vivian, but Detective Stabler notices a strong bond forming between Benson and the boy. When Vivian’s name comes up during a rape investigation, Captain Cragen assigns Detectives Fin and Munch to the case instead. However, it will take more than Cragen’ s orders to keep Benson away.

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  12. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 11 - Pop
    8.0/10(900 votes)

    #11 - Pop

    S12:E11

    A young boy is found dead on a park carousel after being dropped off by his uncle Joe Gilbert. When Detectives Benson and Stabler learn that the boy was beaten to death they suspect that it could be the result of a bully at school. The investigation leads to an unsettling gambling ring. Detectives suspect that Gilbert's acquaintance, Joe Roberts is beating his wife Sandra and the case takes a horrifying turn.

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  13. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 12 - Possessed
    8.3/10(1198 votes)

    #12 - Possessed

    S12:E12

    A young man finds that his girlfriend Larissa Welsh has been attacked in her apartment with evidence that points to her buried past. Detectives Benson and Stabler go in search of her attacker and discover that an elderly man, Orville Underwood, may have been involved in traumatic events of Welsh’s past. For the detectives, solving the case comes down to who was in possession of the evidence.

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  14. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 13 - Mask
    8.5/10(1258 votes)

    #13 - Mask

    S12:E13

    Debbie Shields comes home to find her partner Ann Jackson being raped by a man wearing a haunting mask. Shields contacts Ann's father to notify him of her critical condition. As detectives Benson and Stabler interrogate Ann's father, Captain Jackson, his sordid past is revealed filled with sexual and alcohol addiction. Jackson's new role as a sex therapist is hindering the detectives from getting the information they need to solve the case and if Jackson won't comply, the detectives are going to have to get creative.

    Director:Donna Deitch
    Writer:Speed Weed

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  15. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 14 - Dirty
    7.3/10(1079 votes)

    #14 - Dirty

    S12:E14

    Detective Saliyah "Sunny" Qadri goes in search of Brooklyn District Attorney Page Ferguson, who she fears may be in danger. Qadri finds Ferguson just in time to witness her fall from the top of a parking garage. When Benson arrives, she discovers that the crime scene has been tampered with. Benson turns to an old friend, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson for help. As the investigation progresses, Benson begins to question Ferguson’s suspicious past and Qadri’s involvement in the case.

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  16. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 15 - Flight
    7.7/10(879 votes)

    #15 - Flight

    S12:E15

    When it is discovered that a teenage girl is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to sexual abuse, all leads point to billionaire Jordan Kress. As Detectives Benson and Stabler continue to investigate, Kress involves his lawyer, Dwight Stanitch, who throws the whole case awry.

    Director:Alex Chapple
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 16 - Spectacle
    8.1/10(1066 votes)

    #16 - Spectacle

    S12:E16

    After the sexual assault of a young woman is videotaped and featured on a campus-wide intranet feed, detectives Elliot Stabler and Odafin "Fin" Tutuola go in search of the victim and her attacker. As they delve into the investigation, it becomes clear that the perpetrator created a spectacle to draw attention to his own issues.

    Director:Peter Leto

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  18. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 17 - Pursuit
    7.9/10(854 votes)

    #17 - Pursuit

    S12:E17

    The TV host of a show that spotlights predators receives threats to her safety, and this reawakens her hunt for her sister's abductor. An ADA with connections to the TV host then assists detectives in their investigation.

    Director:Unknown

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  19. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 18 - Bully
    7.9/10(1073 votes)

    #18 - Bully

    S12:E18

    An art patron finds a body, and when detectives question the murdered woman's good friend and associates, they uncover an antagonistic work environment filled with grown-up bullies.

    Director:Helen Shaver
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 19 - Bombshell
    7.7/10(995 votes)

    #19 - Bombshell

    S12:E19

    A grifter named Cassandra strikes swinging men who frequent sex clubs.

    Director:Unknown

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  21. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 20 - Totem
    8.5/10(1252 votes)

    #20 - Totem

    S12:E20

    When a young girl is found dead with a doll that is believed to have been left as a totem, detectives Benson and Stabler team up with Captain Jackson, a psychologist who assisted them with a recent case, to investigate her murder. Jackson joins the detectives as they retrace the girl’s last steps and go to meet with her piano teacher June Frye. Jackson’s skills prove to be invaluable in deciphering the meaning of the totem and ultimately finding her killer.

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  22. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 21 - Reparations
    8.1/10(866 votes)

    #21 - Reparations

    S12:E21

    Two high-powered attorneys face each other across the aisle when Casey Novak returns to the team, and Joe Dekker takes a leave of absence from his Los Angeles duties after his cousin is charged with rape. Dekker's unwavering belief in his cousin's innocence, and a court disturbance make Novak and Benson take another look at the evidence, which leads them to someone playing a very long game in the name of hatred.

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  23. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 22 - Bang
    7.9/10(1019 votes)

    #22 - Bang

    S12:E22

    When an abandoned baby is found on playground, Detectives Benson and Stabler go in search of the child’s caregiver. Upon meeting the nanny and her boyfriend, Ken Turner, they soon realize that he is also engaged to the baby’s adoptive mother, Dede Aston. As the detectives dig deeper into Turner’s malevolent past, they realize that the law may be on his side.

    Director:Peter Leto
    Writer:Speed Weed

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  24. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 23 - Delinquent
    8.5/10(1248 votes)

    #23 - Delinquent

    S12:E23

    When a young woman finds a teenage boy asleep and naked in her bedroom, his mother, Bree Walsh, is quick to defend him. While Detective Benson and Detective Stabler try to figure out what truly happened, they also have to manage the sneaky teenager and his naive mother. As the detectives dig deeper, they discover how deceptive appearances can be.

    Director:Holly Dale

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  25. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 24 - Smoked
    8.5/10(1317 votes)

    #24 - Smoked

    S12:E24

    When a woman is murdered during an afternoon shopping trip with her daughter, Detectives Benson and Stabler are called in because she was scheduled to testify in their high-profile rape case. As the detectives continue to investigate the correlation between the murder and their case, they discover unlikely friendships that will lead them to the truth.

    Director:Helen Shaver

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Season 12 Ratings Summary

"Locum" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 12. It scored 8.6/10 based on 1457 votes. Directed by Arthur W. Forney and written by Dawn DeNoon, it aired on 9/22/2010. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Bullseye".