Entertainment

The 20 Best Episodes Of 'Law & Order SVU' From The Last Two Decades

by Mishal Ali Zafar

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

With its Season 21 premiere, Law & Order SVU is officially the longest running drama on TV. For 20 years, the show has entertained viewers with the stories of a heroic New York City sex crimes unit, many of which were ripped straight from the headlines. I’ve been a fan since the very first season, and while it may be hard to pick a favorite, I think these are some of the best Law & Order SVU episodes ever.

Full disclosure: I was and always will be an Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) shipper. Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing Olivia in her new role as captain with Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) still by her side, and I think Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) are amazing. But the chemistry, friendship, and trust between Stabler and Benson is incomparable, so you might see a hefty amount of episodes on this list from those early SVU days.

With over 400 episodes to choose from — all of which you can stream on Hulu — narrowing down the best isn’t an easy task. But as a fan, I’ve dedicated 20 years of my life to this elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit, and these are my favorite stories. Dun dun…

1. “Nocturne”

In the penultimate episode of Season 1, “Nocturne,” Benson and Stabler investigate a piano teacher who sexually abuses his young male students. After one of his students, now an adult, testifies against him, the man is convicted and sent to jail. But later, the SVU team discovers that the student has been molesting children himself, and his story exposes how and why some monsters become who they are.

Hulu/NBC

2. “Pixies”

Years before the Larry Nassar allegations came to light, SVU aired an episode eerily similar to the case. In Season 2, Episode 9, titled “Pixies,” a young gymnast is found murdered, and when the SVU team begins investigating, they uncover a pattern of abuse within the gymnastics community. While the murderer is revealed to be a gymnast herself, the episode exposes the often controlling relationships young athletes have with their older male coaches.

Hulu/NBC

3. "Inheritance"

One thing SVU does brilliantly is make you question why rapist and molesters do what they do. In Season 3, Episode 8, titled “Inheritance,” the team investigates a string of rapes in the Asian community. When the perpetrator turns out to be the son of a rapist, it poses the question of whether or not criminal behavior is passed down genetically. The episode is particularly compelling because Olivia's’ biological father was a rapist, and she questions her own violent inclinations as a cop.

Hulu/NBC

4. "Waste"

In Season 4, Episode 8, “Waste,” a coma patient is found to be pregnant, and Benson and Stabler are called into investigate. After interrogating a group of suspects, the detectives discover that she was impregnated by a doctor who was conducting stem cell research to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease for his billionaire patron.

Hulu/NBC

5. "Mean"

Season 5, Episode 17 is SVU’s answer to Mean Girls. In “Mean,” when a popular young teen is found murdered, Benson and Stabler are called in to investigate. They uncover a dangerously toxic school environment, which includes vicious cliques and dangerous secrets. The students in these cliques are hardly remorseful, making for a thrilling episode that will take you back to high school.

Hulu/NBC

6. "Pure"

Comedy legend Martin Short guest stars as psychic Sebastian Ballentine in Season 6, Episode 18. Titled “Pure,” the episode is centered around the kidnapping and rape of an 18-year-old woman. As the SVU team begins their investigation, Ballentine comes in to offer his psychic advice, claiming he can feel where she is. Of course, Stabler doesn’t believe him for a moment, and when Ballentine’s hints prove to be correct, he becomes the prime suspect. And that’s just the beginning of this winding, sordid, amazing episode.

Hulu/NBC

7. "Venom"

Season 7, Episode 18, titled “Venom,” features award-winning rapper and actor Ludacris as Fin’s nephew, Darius. When Fin’s son Ken (Ernest Waddell) is picked up by police for searching for a corpse, he confesses he heard someone talking about murdering a woman. Through a DNA test, Darius is charged for the crime, but in the end, it turns out someone else from Fin’s extended family is the real killer.

8. "911"

Season 7, Episode 3, “911,” tells the story of a little girl who calls 911 and claims to be locked in a room. Olivia discovers the girl might be a victim of child pornography, and the SVU crew uses every clue they can to track her down and save her. For her brilliant performance in this episode, Hargitay received the 2006 Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Hulu/NBC

9. "Raw"

Season 7, Episode 6, “Raw,” uncovers a ring of Neo Nazis after a six-year-old boy is killed in a school shooting. During their investigation, the SVU team, including psychologist Dr. George Huang (BD Wong) manage to find and take a down a child molester, and eventually find the Neo Nazi group responsible for the school shooting. Later, it is revealed that the dead boy’s adoptive parents paid the group to kill him so they could cash in on his life insurance policy.

Hulu/NBC

10. "Recall"

In Season 8, Episode 3, titled “Recall,” a woman accuses a lawyer of raping her, but the SVU team can’t find enough evidence to make the charges stick. Later, another woman comes forward, and tells the team that she was raped by the same man many years ago. She brings them the clothes she was wearing when he raped her, and when the DNA matches him, the team proceeds to take him down.

Hulu/NBC

11. "Undercover"

Olivia goes undercover as an inmate at a female correctional facility in Season 9, Episode 15, “Undercover.” On her mission to expose a prison guard who’s been raping inmates and their family members, Olivia comes close to being raped herself. This is one of those episodes that exposes Olivia’s vulnerable side, but then shows the immense strength, courage, and conviction she has to continue doing such a difficult job.

Hulu/NBC

12. "Authority"

Starring one of my favorite actors and comedians of all time, Season 9, Episode 17, “Authority” features Robin Williams as a brilliant engineer who plays cruel psychological games with his victims. After winning his case in court, he eventually kidnaps Olivia, and tortures her on an electric chair while Stabler tries to save her. This role earned Williams a 2008 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Hulu/NBC

13. "Wildlife"

Season 10, Episode 7, titled “Wildlife,” is the closest fans got to seeing Benson and Stabler hook up. After a woman is mauled by a tiger in the park, Stabler goes undercover in an animal smuggling ring, and when Liv shows up to help him, she has to act like his escort to keep the ruse going. Not only was it fun to see the two together in their skivvies, the whole wild animal storyline was thrilling to watch.

Hulu/NBC

14. "Zebras"

The final episode of Season 10, “Zebras,” features guest stars Carol Kane, Judith Light, and Nick Stahl, and is centered around a case in which a CSU error allows a dangerous serial killer to go free. It turns out that the CSU tech, Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher), is connected to some of the crimes, and has been purposely destroying and faking evidence. He nearly kills Stabler, but not before Benson swoops in to save the day.

Hulu/NBC

15. "Behave"

Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Season 12, Episode 3, “Behave,” tells the story of a woman who says she’s been raped by the same man for 15 years. Upon investigation, the SVU team finds the woman’s rapist is a serial offender who’s been sexually assaulting women all over the country for nearly 20 years. But during their investigation, they also discover how thousands of rape kits routinely go unexamined.

Hulu/NBC

16. "Secrets Exhumed"

Season 14, Episode 14, "Secrets Exhumed,” is a jaw-dropping episode that uncovers one of the SVU team’s allies as a murderer. When FBI Agent Dana Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden) tries a little too hard to get a serial rapist to confess to a decades old murder, detectives become suspicious. With the help of Nick Amaro (Danny Pino), Benson figures out that Lewis is the real killer, and exposes her for killing the woman because she was pregnant with her ex’s baby.

Hulu/NBC

17. "December Solstice"

Marcia Cross and Robert Vaughn guest star as a married couple in Season 16, Episode 16, “December Solstice.” Vaughn plays a wealthy elderly man whose daughters come to the SVU with allegations that his younger wife, played by Cross, is raping him. They claim she’s doing it to get pregnant so she can receive more shares of his assets. As the team investigates, they uncover an unbelievably sordid scheme.

Hulu/NBC

18. “Patrimonial Burden”

In Season 17, Episode 6, titled “Patrimonial Burden,” a religious TV family is caught up in a scandal when their 13-year-old daughter turns up pregnant and refuses to disclose her rapist’s identity. Among the prime suspects are her father and brother, but when Benson and the team begin to investigate, they discover that the family’s Pastor/Lawyer is the real perpetrator

Hulu/NBC

19. "Mama"

Elderly rape is rarely talked about, which is why “Mama,” (Season 19, Episode 22) is one of my favorite episodes of SVU. In it, an elderly Alzheimer’s patient indicates she may have been raped, but because of her condition, it becomes difficult for the SVU team to figure out exactly what happened to her and when. Eventually, a young man is exposed as a serial rapist who targets nursing homes and is arrested. But during their investigation, the team comes across one of the woman’s old love interests, who then reconnects with her in the sweetest way.

Hulu/NBC

20. “Zero Tolerance”

One of the most compelling and relevant episodes of Season 20 was “Zero Tolerance,” as it addressed the inhumane conditions children are kept in at the U.S. - Mexico border. In the episode, a 10-year-old girl is separated from her mother at the border and put into a sex-trafficing ring in New York City. While they try to bring down the culprit, Benson and Rollins do whatever they can to reunite the girl with her mother.

With Season 21 finally here, you can expect to see plenty more noteworthy SVU episodes ahead. Hopefully, at some point, Stabler will be back, and bring fans like me more reasons to swoon.

New episodes of Law & Order SVU air Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Hulu/NBC
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