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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!

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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 Worst Episode
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    Law & Order Season 18 Episode 3 - Misbegotten
    5.4/10(8 votes)

    #1 - Misbegotten

    S18:E3

    The explosion of a package including scientific research injures a pregnant security guard, leading to the investigation of the scientist's experiments.

    Director:Michael W. Watkins
    Writers:Stephanie Sengupta, David Wilcox

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  2. Law & Order Season 20 Episode 19 - Crashers
    5.5/10(8 votes)

    #2 - Crashers

    S20:E19

    When the body of a model is found burning in an alley, Detectives Lupo and Bernard search for her killer.

    Director:Darnell Martin
    Writers:Julie Martin, Richard Sweren, Christopher Ambrose

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  3. Law & Order Season 8 Episode 13 - Castoff
    5.8/10(11 votes)

    #3 - Castoff

    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.

    Director:Gloria Muzio
    Writers:David Black, Harold Schechter

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  4. Law & Order Season 19 Episode 12 - Illegitimate
    5.8/10(9 votes)

    #4 - Illegitimate

    S19:E12

    An NYPD officer kills a troubled fellow officer who took hostages at gunpoint; detectives Lupo and Bernard find valuable stolen documents and a dead body at the man's apartment.

    Director:Joshua Marston
    Writers:Stephanie Sengupta, Keith Eisner

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  5. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 8 - Family Business
    5.9/10(9 votes)

    #5 - Family Business

    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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  6. Law & Order Season 17 Episode 8 - Release
    5.9/10(10 votes)

    #6 - Release

    S17:E8

    After Hudson Moore is found bludgeoned in the back of the Babes Being Bad bus, suspicion initially truns to the company's creator, Chris Drake, until video footage leads detectives to a young woman who was with Moore the night that he died. After concentrating their investigation on the young woman, the reasons behind Moore's murder soon become apparent, and McCoy and Rubirosa struggle to prosecute a man who, while not directly responsible for the murder, may have been responsible for the incidents that led up to it.

    Director:Michael Pressman
    Writers:Nicholas Wootton, Rick Eid

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  7. Law & Order Season 6 Episode 17 - Deceit
    6.0/10(9 votes)

    #7 - Deceit

    S6:E17

    When a young attorney is murdered shortly after he decides to file a sexual harassment claim against his employer, Briscoe and Curtis quickly discover that the alleged harasser and his wife each have an excellent motive for murder.

    Director:Vincent Misiano
    Writers:René Balcer, Eddie Feldmann

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  8. Law & Order Season 17 Episode 2 - Avatar
    6.0/10(8 votes)

    #8 - Avatar

    S17:E2

    Green and Cassady investigate after the photograph of a dead woman is found on a popular website, B-Frendz.com. Their investigation leads them to a mentally disturbed young man whom the teenage daughter of the victim claims kidnapped and raped her, but his lawyer offers up an even greater incentive -- the supposed kidnapping victim, Molly Preston.

    Director:Vincent Misiano
    Writer:David Slack

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  9. Law & Order Season 20 Episode 9 - For the Defense
    6.0/10(7 votes)

    #9 - For the Defense

    S20:E9

    A case that begins as a search for a missing witness spirals into a murder conspiracy with ADA Connie Rubirosa caught in the middle.

    Director:William Klayer
    Writers:Ed Zuckerman, Luke Schelhaas

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  10. Law & Order Season 6 Episode 20 - Girlfriends
    6.1/10(9 votes)

    #10 - Girlfriends

    S6:E20

    After a college co-ed's body is found, the detectives look for a campus rapist, but the medical examiner's report puts them on a different path, one involving prostitution.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 14 - Working Mom
    6.1/10(9 votes)

    #11 - Working Mom

    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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  12. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 15 - D-Girl
    6.1/10(9 votes)

    #12 - D-Girl

    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, Ed Zuckerman, Gardner Stern

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  13. Law & Order Season 8 Episode 2 - Denial
    6.1/10(10 votes)

    #13 - Denial

    S8:E2

    Bloody sheets and an apparently stolen credit card lead Briscoe and Curtis to a pair of college age lovers who present McCoy and Ross with a united front of denial that one of them killed their newborn son and disposed of the body.

    Directors:Christopher Misiano, David Shore
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Law & Order Season 19 Episode 22 - The Drowned and the Saved
    6.1/10(8 votes)

    #14 - The Drowned and the Saved

    S19:E22

    A prominent charity executive is murdered and claims of stalking and blackmail surface during the investigation.

    Director:Fred Berner
    Writers:Dick Wolf, Gina Gionfriddo, René Balcer, Richard Sweren

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  15. Law & Order Season 5 Episode 23 - Pride
    6.2/10(10 votes)

    #15 - Pride

    S5:E23

    A gay city councilman is murdered and the trail leads to a bigoted rival politician and a male prostitute.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writers:Ed Zuckerman, Gene Ritchings

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  16. Law & Order Season 7 Episode 13 - Matrimony
    6.2/10(9 votes)

    #16 - Matrimony

    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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  17. Law & Order Season 2 Episode 7 - In Memory Of
    6.3/10(12 votes)

    #17 - In Memory Of

    S2:E7

    The renovation of a brownstone uncovers the remains of a boy who disappeared 31 years earlier, reviving a wrenching and long-suppressed memory in his childhood friend and neighbor.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Law & Order Season 4 Episode 7 - Apocrypha
    6.3/10(12 votes)

    #18 - Apocrypha

    S4:E7

    Stone and Kincaid try to prove that the young woman believed to have planted a bomb in a parking garage had been brainwashed and was acting under the direct orders of a charismatic cult leader.

    Director:Gabrielle Beaumont
    Writer:Michael S. Chernuchin

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  19. Law & Order Season 18 Episode 12 - Submission
    6.3/10(9 votes)

    #19 - Submission

    S18:E12

    When the police shut down a dog-fighting ring, the investigation becomes a murder case after a woman's finger is found inside one of the dogs; things get more complicated as the case deepens, and the interest of a pushy reporter is sparked.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writer:Ed Zuckerman

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  20. Law & Order Season 18 Episode 18 - Excalibur
    6.3/10(9 votes)

    #20 - Excalibur

    S18:E18

    A jeweler's murder may have ties to a prostitution ring, and once the case goes to trial, D.A. McCoy's job is on the line as favors are called in.

    Director:Jim McKay
    Writers:René Balcer, Ed Zuckerman

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  21. Law & Order Season 20 Episode 7 - Boy Gone Astray
    6.3/10(7 votes)

    #21 - Boy Gone Astray

    S20:E7

    When a young woman is found dead in her apartment, a few tell-tale signs quickly lead Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard to believe that the killer was not after her wealth.

    Director:Rose Troche
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Law & Order Season 11 Episode 10 - Whose Monkey is it Anyway?
    6.4/10(9 votes)

    #22 - Whose Monkey is it Anyway?

    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.

    Director:Vincent Misiano
    Writer:William M. Finkelstein

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  23. Law & Order Season 14 Episode 16 - Can I Get a Witness?
    6.4/10(5 votes)

    #23 - Can I Get a Witness?

    S14:E16

    McCoy faces an uphill battle in proving that witnesses to the murder of a drug mule were bribed, intimidated, and eventually murdered on the orders of the drug dealer accused of the crime.

    Director:Don Scardino
    Writer:Aaron Zelman

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  24. Law & Order Season 16 Episode 4 - Age of Innocence
    6.4/10(7 votes)

    #24 - Age of Innocence

    S16:E4

    The bombing death of a husband set to remove the feeding tube of his wife, who's in a persistent vegetative state, focuses the investigation on the protesters.

    Director:David Platt
    Writer:Davey Holmes

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  25. Law & Order Season 20 Episode 4 - Reality Bites
    6.4/10(5 votes)

    #25 - Reality Bites

    S20:E4

    A mother of ten adopted special needs children is murdered. The day after her murder, her husband appears on reality TV.

    Director:Constantine Makris
    Writers:Ed Zuckerman, Luke Schelhaas

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Misbegotten" is the worst rated episode of "Law & Order". It scored 5.4/10 based on 8 votes. Directed by Michael W. Watkins and written by Stephanie Sengupta, David Wilcox, it aired on 1/9/2008. This episode scored 0.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Crashers".