Law & Order: Season 13
Season 13 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Law & Order Season 12.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 13 Progress Shield
American Jihad
Oct 2, 2002 · 45 min
An American Muslim becomes the prime suspect in a double murder after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.
Shangri-La
Oct 9, 2002 · 45 min
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
True Crime
Oct 16, 2002 · 45 min
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
Tragedy on Rye
Oct 30, 2002 · 44 min
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 th
The Ring
Nov 6, 2002 · 43 min
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
Hitman
Nov 13, 2002 · 45 min
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
Open Season
Nov 20, 2002 · 45 min
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 offic
Asterisk
Nov 27, 2002 · 44 min
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 sub
The Wheel
Dec 11, 2002 · 43 min
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
Mother's Day
Jan 8, 2003 · 45 min
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 r
Chosen
Jan 15, 2003 · 45 min
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 strateg
Under God
Feb 5, 2003 · 45 min
A dead teenager's father and a vigilante priest are suspects in the killing of a drug dealer.
Absentia
Feb 12, 2003 · 45 min
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.
Star Crossed
Feb 19, 2003 · 45 min
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
Bitch
Feb 26, 2003 · 45 min
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 prot
Suicide Box
Mar 26, 2003 · 45 min
A media-savvy attorney defends a black teenager accused of shooting an off-duty policy officer.
Genius
Apr 2, 2003 · 44 min
Investigating the murder of a cab driver, the detectives come to suspect a famous author and his protege, a former child prodigy.
Maritime
Apr 17, 2003 · 44 min
A missing football player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a woman whose body is discovered floating in the East River.
Seer
Apr 23, 2003 · 43 min
The prime suspect in the murder of a woman outside a sex club claims to have merely witnessed the crime via a psychic vision.
Kid Pro Quo
Apr 30, 2003 · 43 min
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
House Calls
May 7, 2003 · 43 min
The suspicious death of a Russian model leads the detectives to suspect medical malpractice.
Sheltered
May 14, 2003 · 45 min
It's a race against time as the detectives go on the hunt for a sniper whose victims are shot in broad daylight.
Couples
May 21, 2003 · 42 min
Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.
Smoke
May 21, 2003 · 45 min
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.