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The Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3

Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3!

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 10 - Ridicule
    8.6/10(1392 votes)

    S3:E10

    What appears as a bizarre accidental death leads to a case involving a male stripper who claims that the deceased was one of three powerful women who raped him at a bachelorette party.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Judith McCreary

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  2. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 22 - Competence
    8.6/10(1358 votes)

    S3:E22

    A mentally challenged girl with Down's Syndrome is pregnant, and the question is, was she raped or did she consent and is she competent enough to keep her child?

    Director:Jud Taylor
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 21 - Denial
    8.5/10(1355 votes)

    S3:E21

    When a heroin junkie is found raped, Tutuola takes an interest in her, but he's not the only one. The case turns into a bizarre murder investigation when the finger of a small child is found in the victim's purse opening a can of worms that spans back thirteen years.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writer:Judith McCreary

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  4. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 11 - Monogamy
    8.4/10(1313 votes)

    S3:E11

    The pregnant wife of a psychiatrist is found in a parking garage, unconscious and bleeding from a gaping abdominal wound with her fetus missing. The investigation leads to infedility and uncertainty as to the paternity, adding fuel to the fire of an already agitated Stabler.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters

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  5. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 20 - Greed
    8.4/10(1231 votes)

    S3:E20

    Investigating the rape of the wife of a restaurateur during a robbery, leads the detectives to a similar assault, and to a locksmith.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Jonathan Greene, Robert F. Campbell

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  6. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 3 - Stolen
    8.3/10(1071 votes)

    S3:E3

    The kidnapping of an infant at a grocery store leads to an illegal adoption ring and the long lost closure of a case from 12 years prior of a murdered mother and missing baby which involved Capt. Cragen and his partner, the late Max Greevey.

    Director:James Quinn
    Writers:Jonathan Greene, Robert F. Campbell

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  7. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 18 - Guilt
    8.3/10(1047 votes)

    S3:E18

    When A.D.A. Cabot is faced with a reluctant teenage witness in a child molestation case, she goes above and beyond the normal scope of duty in her search for evidence to convict the serial abuser. But her passion supercedes her compliance with the law, jeopardizing not only her case, but the careers of all involved.

    Director:David Platt
    Writers:Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters

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  8. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 1 - Repression
    8.2/10(1358 votes)

    S3:E1

    An 18-year-old girl is aided by her therapist in recalling repressed memories of childhood molestation by her father and reports the incest to Benson and Stabler in hopes of sparing her younger sisters the same fate. She brings charges of rape against her father who winds up murdered when those charges are dismissed.

    Director:Henry J. Bronchtein
    Writer:Marilyn Osborn

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  9. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 2 - Wrath
    8.2/10(1347 votes)

    S3:E2

    The detectives investigate three murders that seemingly have no connection to each other, but each murder has ties to Benson's previous cases. As they join with the FBI to investigate, the detectives worry that Benson is the intended target.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Judith McCreary

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  10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 9 - Care
    8.2/10(1030 votes)

    S3:E9

    The battered body of a five-year-old girl in foster care is discovered and suspicion soon turns to members of the girl's foster family as well as to the girl's biological mother; who is the real guilty party and who is only a red herring?

    Director:Gloria Muzio
    Writers:Lisa Marie Petersen, Dawn DeNoon

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  11. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 15 - Execution
    8.2/10(958 votes)

    S3:E15

    Detective Stabler and Dr. Huang question a convicted serial killer on death row, hours before his execution, with the hope of solving an old murder case for the sake of the victim's parents. The investigation goes haywire with mixed results.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Judith McCreary

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  12. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 17 - Surveillance
    8.1/10(1241 votes)

    S3:E17

    An accomplished cellist is raped in her own apartment and the detectives are lead to a stalker who uses surveillance equipment and has been watching her every move.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writer:Jeff Eckerle

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  13. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 5 - Tangled
    8.0/10(1189 votes)

    S3:E5

    When arriving party guests find a prominent doctor beaten to death and his wife raped, the detectives have a parade of suspects and the realization that the wife was the intended victim.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writers:Lisa Marie Petersen, Dawn DeNoon

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  14. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 7 - Sacrifice
    8.0/10(1292 votes)

    S3:E7

    A man, who is shot and raped outside a gay bar, initially doesn't want to cooperate to find his shooter. When he finally does, the investigation leads to his family and turns his life upside down.

    Director:Lesli Linka Glatter
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 13 - Prodigy
    8.0/10(1223 votes)

    S3:E13

    Two people are found murdered in the park, including an animal rights activist who has been raped and then decapitated. Benson and Stabler must determine which of their two main suspects -- a sociopathic teenager and a recently paroled rapist -- is responsible for the murder.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writers:Lisa Marie Petersen, Dawn DeNoon

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  16. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 16 - Popular
    8.0/10(1198 votes)

    S3:E16

    Stabler's wife tells him that her friend, a high school nurse, treated a young girl for rape. Despite being advised not to find out further details, Stabler, with help from Benson, crack open the case to disturbing details.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 19 - Justice
    8.0/10(975 votes)

    S3:E19

    A rebellious 16-year-old teenager is raped and murdered; the case becomes complex when they learn that her stepfather is a judge with whom she has had major problems.

    Director:Juan José Campanella
    Writers:Lisa Marie Petersen, Dawn DeNoon

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  18. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 4 - Rooftop
    7.9/10(1057 votes)

    S3:E4

    When an HIV-positive male, with a record of assaulting underage girls, is discovered in a sexual clincher with a young woman on a rooftop, the detectives are determined to put him back inside. After a series of rapes and murders of young African-American women cannot be traced to him though, they begin to wonder if they've been looking at the wrong suspect.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 8 - Inheritance
    7.9/10(1192 votes)

    S3:E8

    A series of brutal rapes and attacks on Asian women lead the police to a suspect who was himself a product of rape - his father being a rapist who was convicted. The question is brought to court of whether his genetic make-up was responsible for the crimes.

    Director:Juan José Campanella
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 14 - Counterfeit
    7.9/10(1036 votes)

    S3:E14

    A woman is found raped and killed by her car. Then, a similar rape is committed and the victim says that a police officer raped her after pulling her over for a supposed driving violation. This leads police to look at one of their own, until they realize the suspect is not who they think he is.

    Director:Arthur W. Forney
    Writer:Amanda Green

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  21. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 6 - Redemption
    7.8/10(1043 votes)

    S3:E6

    A string of murders leads detectives to question an initial suspect, the Soho Strangler, but they realize he might have been the wrong person all along.

    Director:Ted Kotcheff
    Writer:Jeff Eckerle

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  22. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 23 - Silence
    7.8/10(1167 votes)

    S3:E23

    A murder in a church of a young cross-dresser leads Benson and Stabler to an alleged cover-up involving sexual child abuse by a priest.

    Director:Steve Shill
    Writer:Patrick Harbinson

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  23. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 12 - Protection
    7.5/10(930 votes)

    S3:E12

    A 6-year-old boy wounded in a shooting is brought to the ER but abandoned by his brother, who reported it, and their mother, who fears for her own life. The case leads the detectives to a woman who is on the run from an abusive drug-dealer boyfriend.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writers:Jonathan Greene, Robert F. Campbell

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Ridicule" is the best rated episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 3. It scored 8.6/10 from 1,392 votes. Directed by Constantine Makris and written by Judith McCreary, it aired on December 14, 2001.