Law & Order: Season 13

2002 · 24 episodes · ★ 7.6

What Season 13 of Law & Order

Season 13 keeps the show's formula. Each episode is split into two halves: homicide detectives follow the clues through the streets of New York until they arrest a suspect, and then Manhattan prosecutors build the case and take it to court. Detectives Briscoe and Green appear in several cases at once. The conflicts come from very different worlds: a high school where a teacher falls under suspicion, a famous defense attorney, a contractor with mob ties, or a stockbroker with a lot of friends. The season moves from case to case and rarely pauses to explore its main characters' personal lives.

24episodes

Oct 2, 2002aired

May 21, 2003latest episode

17.7 hrtotal runtime

Season 13 Episodes

13x01
13x01 American Jihad
Oct 2, 2002 · 45 min · ★ 7.2
An American Muslim becomes the prime suspect in a double murder after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.
Directing: Constantine Makris · Writing: Marc Guggenheim, Aaron Zelman · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Jason Butler Harner, Robin Mattson, Jason Kolotouros
13x02
13x02 Shangri-La
Oct 9, 2002 · 45 min · ★ 7.9
The murder of a female high school English teacher uncovers a love triangle that includes a female student and a male teacher, both of whom become suspects. The prosecutors have to deal with the student's multiple identities and refusal to live past adolescence.
Directed by Constantine Makris · Written by Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring J.K. Simmons, Leslie Hendrix, Connie Winston, Brian Hyman
13x03
13x03 True Crime
Oct 16, 2002 · 45 min · ★ 7.4
Investigating the death of a rock band singer who had large amounts of cocaine and heroin in her system, the detectives question a former boyfriend who was a disgruntled band mate of her late husband. The prosecuters are hampered by the actions of a retired detective, who worked a case with Briscoe several years back, turned writer whose unconventional research tactics makes him a suspect as well.
Directing: Martha Mitchell · Writing: Wendy Battles, Noah Baylin · Starring: Susan Blommaert, Josh Pais, Richard Bright, David W. Butler
13x04
13x04 Tragedy on Rye
Oct 30, 2002 · 44 min · ★ 7.6
A struggling actress is murdered in an apparent robbery-homicide where a video tape, made by a couple touring the city sold to a local news station, shows three suspects loading the stolen property into an SUV. They are charged with felony murder, a capital crime, and causes unrest with Southerlyn surrounding the death penalty.
Directed by David Platt · Written by William N. Fordes · Starring Tim Ransom, Brian Davies, David Lipman, Charlotte Colavin
13x05
13x05 The Ring
Nov 6, 2002 · 43 min · ★ 8.2
The discovery of a body in Hells Kitchen who had been wearing a $40,000 diamond ring leads the detectives back to the World Trade Center attacks as the victim had been reported to have died when Tower One collapsed. The ensuing investigation leads to a fiancee and a lover and the determination that the events of 9/11 may have been good timing to hide the fact that she was murdered the night before.
Directed by Richard Dobbs · Written by Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring Megan Byrne, Fran Lebowitz, Patrick Breen, Vince Pacimeo
13x06
13x06 Hitman
Nov 13, 2002 · 45 min · ★ 7.9
The execution style shooting of a city contractor leads Detectives Briscoe and Green to suspect a professional hitman. They first focus upon possible enemies of the victim, but end up suspecting the victim's wife and her boyfried of hiring the killer. However later discovered evidence leads McCoy and Southerlyn to a conspirator that no one had suspected.
Directing: Richard Dobbs · Writing: Eric Overmyer · Starring: David Lipman, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Shari Albert, Lou Bonacki
13x07
13x07 Open Season
Nov 20, 2002 · 45 min · ★ 8.1
A defense attorney who had just acquitted a cop killer is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with police officers in the precinct of the injured officer, then to his brother, before they are led to a white supremacist who is part of a national network. McCoy is faced with the unlikely prospect that the defendant's attorney, his friend of 20 years and a friend of the slain lawyer, played a part in the murder of a Florida district attorney following the defendant's arrest. McCoy is able to make a deal that perserves the integrity of his adversary, but not without a cost.
Directed by Matthew Penn · Written by Richard Sweren · Starring Tovah Feldshuh, David Rosenbaum, Michael Mulheren, Iris Little Thomas
13x08 Asterisk
Nov 27, 2002 · 44 min · ★ 6.9
A star baseball player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his limousine driver when it is discovered that the driver regularly supplied steroids to the sports icon. The subsequent investigation reveals blackmail as the underlying motive for the murder.
Directed by Steve Shill · Written by Terri Kopp · Starring Peter McRobbie, Karen Shallo, J.K. Simmons, Leslie Hendrix
13x09
13x09 The Wheel
Dec 11, 2002 · 43 min · ★ 7.0
The smoldering corpse of an Asian girl found outside the Chinese consul general's apartment leads the detectives to believe she had made a political statement. When forensics shows that she had been murdered beforehand, they find themselves in the middle of a religious conflict with the consul general their prime suspect and his attorney an old friend of District Attorney Branch.
Directed by Richard Dobbs · Written by Jill Goldsmith · Starring Chris Sarandon, Kate Rigg, Judy Kaye, Bob Sorenson
13x10 Mother's Day
Jan 8, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 7.0
The hit-and-run death of a popular high-school student leaves the detectives suspecting the girl's father was the real target. When evidence reveals that the death was possibly a random killing, they are able to track down their suspect to his apartment. However things get complicated when their killer is murdered, and the person who committed the crime happens to be the victim's mother.
Directing: Jace Alexander · Writing: Janis Diamond · Starring: Lynn Cohen, Leslie Hendrix, Helmar Augustus Cooper, Don Billett
13x11 Chosen
Jan 15, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 7.5
The murder of a bookie with a high-class clientelle leads the detectives to arrest his partner. Charged with first-degree murder, his attorney puts forth an unusual defense strategy that turns the trial into a political statement.
Directed by Edwin Sherin · Written by Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring Barbara Spiegel, Andrea Navedo, John Cariani, Ross Bickell
13x12
13x12 Under God
Feb 5, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 7.0
A dead teenager's father and a vigilante priest are suspects in the killing of a drug dealer.
Directing: Gloria Muzio · Writing: Marc Guggenheim, Noah Baylin · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Maggie Burke, Dick Latessa, Joe Gonzalez
13x13
13x13 Absentia
Feb 12, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 8.0
When the witness in a jewelry store robbery-homicide fails to appear in court, McCoy suspects foul play until he discovers that the man is a fugitive in a 20-year-old murder case.
Directed by Darnell Martin, Martha Mitchell · Written by Eric Overmyer · Starring David Chandler, Cameron Monaghan, Jordan Charney, Norma Fire
13x14
13x14 Star Crossed
Feb 19, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 7.6
The bludgeoning of a luxury sports car dealer leads the detectives to a mentally challenged man and his girlfriend who is extremely attractive and whose expensive tastes leads her to be equally manipulative.
Directing: David Platt · Writing: Richard Sweren · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Jason Kolotouros, Merwin Goldsmith, Leslie Hendrix
13x15
13x15 Bitch
Feb 26, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 8.0
The death of a stockbroker leads the detectives to his girlfriend whose mother is a cosmetics mogul who has a long standing friendship with Branch, and will stop at nothing to protect her corporate image by using hormone replacement therapy withdrawal as the basis for her defense.
Directed by Constantine Makris · Written by Michael S. Chernuchin, Roz Weinman · Starring Carolyn McCormick, Maria Tucci, J.K. Simmons, Shaun Powell
13x16
13x16 Suicide Box
Mar 26, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 7.5
A media-savvy attorney defends a black teenager accused of shooting an off-duty policy officer.
Directed by Matthew Penn · Written by Aaron Zelman · Starring Pippa Pearthree, Doug Stender, Leslie Hendrix, Andrea Navedo
13x17
13x17 Genius
Apr 2, 2003 · 44 min · ★ 7.9
Investigating the murder of a cab driver, the detectives come to suspect a famous author and his protege, a former child prodigy.
Directing: Jace Alexander · Writing: William N. Fordes · Starring: J.K. Simmons, Bryan Hearne, David Rosenbaum, Lauren Klein
13x18
13x18 Maritime
Apr 17, 2003 · 44 min · ★ 7.1
A missing football player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a woman whose body is discovered floating in the East River.
Directed by Gloria Muzio · Written by Wendy Battles · Starring J.K. Simmons, Jerry D. O'Donnell, Leslie Hendrix, Megan Byrne
13x19
13x19 Seer
Apr 23, 2003 · 43 min · ★ 7.3
The prime suspect in the murder of a woman outside a sex club claims to have merely witnessed the crime via a psychic vision.
Directed by James Quinn · Written by Jill Goldsmith · Starring J.K. Simmons, Merwin Goldsmith, Leslie Hendrix, Richard Hirschfeld
13x20 Kid Pro Quo
Apr 30, 2003 · 43 min · ★ 7.4
The murder of an admissions director of a private school leads the detectives to investigate a pair of angry parents whose children were denied admission, but then set their sights on the headmaster when they discover that the victim was about to go public with the denied admissions.
Directed by David Platt · Written by Eric Overmyer · Starring Jeffrey DeMunn, Leslie Hendrix, David Lipman, Megan Byrne
13x21
13x21 House Calls
May 7, 2003 · 43 min · ★ 7.4
The suspicious death of a Russian model leads the detectives to suspect medical malpractice.
Directed by Jace Alexander · Written by Janis Diamond · Starring Michael Boatman, Leslie Hendrix, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Iris Little Thomas
13x22 Sheltered
May 14, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 8.3
It's a race against time as the detectives go on the hunt for a sniper whose victims are shot in broad daylight.
Directed by Richard Dobbs · Written by Terri Kopp · Starring Carolyn McCormick, Tim Miller, Lynn Cohen, William H. Burns
13x23
13x23 Couples
May 21, 2003 · 42 min · ★ 8.7
Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.
Directing: David Platt · Writing: Lorenzo Carcaterra · Starring: Michael Mazzeo, Leslie Hendrix, Andrea Navedo, Fran Lebowitz
13x24
13x24 Smoke Season Finale
May 21, 2003 · 45 min · ★ 8.0
Briscoe and Green are assigned to a case involving an eccentric comedian who may have killed his young son by dangling him off a ledge.
Directed by Constantine Makris · Written by Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring Larry Miller, Ned Eisenberg, Leslie Hendrix, David Lipman