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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!

Binge this in 16h 36m•Peaking at 8.6/10

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 3 Episode 1 - Repression
    8.2/10(1281 votes)

    #1 - Repression

    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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  2. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 2 - Wrath
    8.3/10(1270 votes)

    #2 - Wrath

    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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  3. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 3 - Stolen
    8.3/10(988 votes)

    #3 - Stolen

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 4 - Rooftop
    8.0/10(983 votes)

    #4 - Rooftop

    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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  5. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 5 - Tangled
    8.1/10(1120 votes)

    #5 - Tangled

    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
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 6 - Redemption
    7.8/10(975 votes)

    #6 - Redemption

    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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  7. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 7 - Sacrifice
    8.1/10(1217 votes)

    #7 - Sacrifice

    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
    Writers:Samantha Corbin-Miller, Javier Grillo-Marxuach

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  8. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 8 - Inheritance
    8.0/10(1125 votes)

    #8 - Inheritance

    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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  9. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 9 - Care
    8.2/10(960 votes)

    #9 - Care

    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
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 10 - Ridicule
    8.6/10(1320 votes)

    #10 - Ridicule

    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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  11. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 11 - Monogamy
    8.4/10(1239 votes)

    #11 - Monogamy

    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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  12. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 12 - Protection
    7.5/10(859 votes)

    #12 - Protection

    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
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 13 - Prodigy
    8.1/10(1157 votes)

    #13 - Prodigy

    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
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 14 - Counterfeit
    7.9/10(970 votes)

    #14 - Counterfeit

    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:Unknown

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  15. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 15 - Execution
    8.2/10(890 votes)

    #15 - Execution

    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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  16. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 16 - Popular
    8.0/10(1135 votes)

    #16 - Popular

    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 17 - Surveillance
    8.2/10(1174 votes)

    #17 - Surveillance

    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:Unknown

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  18. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 18 - Guilt
    8.3/10(978 votes)

    #18 - Guilt

    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
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 19 - Justice
    8.0/10(907 votes)

    #19 - Justice

    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
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 20 - Greed
    8.4/10(1160 votes)

    #20 - Greed

    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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  21. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 21 - Denial
    8.6/10(1280 votes)

    #21 - Denial

    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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  22. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 22 - Competence
    8.6/10(1275 votes)

    #22 - Competence

    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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  23. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 Episode 23 - Silence
    7.9/10(1105 votes)

    #23 - Silence

    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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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Repression" is the best rated episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 3. It scored 8.2/10 based on 1281 votes. Directed by Henry J. Bronchtein and written by Marilyn Osborn, it aired on 9/28/2001. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Wrath".