Law & Order: Season 5
Season 5 of Law & Order, comprising twenty‑three episodes, continues the series’ overarching saga by presenting cases that are drawn from contemporary headlines. Each episode follows the established two‑part structure: first, detectives conduct a police investigation into serious and often deadly crimes, gathering and weighing evidence; second, the district attorney’s office moves the case through the courtroom, conf
Season 5 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Law & Order is a crime‑drama series that splits each episode between police investigation and courtroom prosecution.
- The show’s format focuses on crimes ripped from the headlines, emphasizing serious and often deadly offenses.
- Episodes are structured to weigh evidence collected by detectives before it is presented in court.
- Season 5 continues this established pattern across twenty‑three episodes, extending the series’ overarching narrative.
Season overview
Season 5 of Law & Order, comprising twenty‑three episodes, continues the series’ overarching saga by presenting cases that are drawn from contemporary headlines. Each episode follows the established two‑part structure: first, detectives conduct a police investigation into serious and often deadly crimes, gathering and weighing evidence; second, the district attorney’s office moves the case through the courtroom, confronting legal challenges and moral dilemmas. The season maintains the show’s crime‑drama tone and TV‑14 rating, emphasizing the procedural tension between law‑enforcement and legal prosecution. By adhering to the series’ hallmark of reflecting real‑world criminal events, Season 5 reinforces the ongoing narrative of how truth and justice intersect within the American legal system.
Episode Guide
Season 5 Progress Shield
Second Opinion
Sep 21, 1994 · 47 min
A woman's death exposes an unorthodox method of treating cancer that Executive Assistant DA McCoy intends to prove is negligent homicide.
Coma
Sep 28, 1994 · 47 min
A comedy-club owner comes under suspicion for having shot his wife, now comatose with a bullet in her head, after it's discovered he was abusive and she was about to divorce him.
Blue Bamboo
Oct 5, 1994 · 47 min
The killing of a Japanese nightclub owner who was visiting New York leads to the arrest of a singer who once worked for the deceased, and whose lawyer uses the ""battered-woman syn
Family Values
Oct 12, 1994 · 47 min
After it's determined that a wealthy woman did not commit suicide but was murdered, the detectives question both her first and second husbands and her teenage daughter.
White Rabbit
Oct 19, 1994 · 47 min
A routine investigation uncovers evidence that leads Briscoe and Logan to a long-time fugitive, a radical Vietnam War opponent on the run since a 1971 burglary that left a policema
Competence
Nov 2, 1994 · 47 min
When Lt. Van Buren is the victim of an attempted holdup by two teens, she fires her gun and kills one of them, and the detectives are faced with the fact that she shot an unarmed c
Precious
Nov 9, 1994 · 47 min
When Briscoe and Logan suspect that a missing infant may have been murdered by her parents rather than kidnapped, they uncover a terrible family secret which hides a mentally ill s
Virtue
Nov 23, 1994 · 47 min
McCoy uses a charge of ""larceny by extortion"" against a councilman, whose former colleague claims he demanded sex in exchange for a law-firm partnership.
Scoundrels
Nov 30, 1994 · 47 min
Among the suspects in a lawyer's murder are a swindler, who conned a woman out of her family fortune, and the woman's once-wealthy son.
House Counsel
Jan 4, 1995 · 47 min
The killing of a man who had served as a juror in a mob trial leads to a battle of wills between McCoy and his long-time friend, the suspect's attorney.
Guardian
Jan 11, 1995 · 47 min
After the body of a young female junkie is identified as the daughter of a wealthy family, Briscoe and Logan try to find out who left her to die in the yard of a day-care center.
Progeny
Jan 25, 1995 · 47 min
The investigation into the killing of an abortion clinic doctor leads to an activist group led by a former priest.
Rage
Feb 1, 1995 · 48 min
A Wall Street broker accused of murdering his mentor uses the defense of ""black rage"" in court.
Performance
Feb 8, 1995 · 47 min
Briscoe and Logan set out to identify the apparent victim in a snuff film, but find her alive and really the victim of a points-for-sex club at her prestigious high school.
Seed
Feb 15, 1995 · 47 min
A routine investigation into a woman's death leads Briscoe and Logan to a fertility doctor guilty of unethical practices, but who cannot apparently be touched because of confidenti
Wannabe
Mar 15, 1995 · 47 min
The shooting of a board member of an exclusive private school leads to a blue-collar family and a classist system.
Act of God
Mar 22, 1995 · 47 min
A bomb at a construction site kills a 12-year-old boy, and the suspects include the bankrupt contractor and a jealous husband.
Privileged
Apr 5, 1995 · 47 min
The investigation into a double murder leads to a young alcoholic whose family once lived in the victims' house and who had admitted to his AA group that he's had nightmares about
Cruel and Unusual
Apr 19, 1995 · 48 min
The death of an autistic youth in custody reveals a multitude of unusual and possibly illegal therapies being used, but also parents reluctant to pursue a prosecution.
Bad Faith
Apr 26, 1995 · 47 min
Logan relives unhappy childhood memories when a friend is found dead, a presumed suicide, until the investigation reveals recent contact with a former priest, with a history of ped
Purple Heart
May 3, 1995 · 48 min
The investigation into a taxi driver's murder involves a loan shark, a forged check, a missing plumber and the victim's wife.
Switch
May 17, 1995 · 48 min
Suspects in a psychiatrist's murder include the victim's ex-husband, a patient suffering from multiple-personality disorder and her obstructive father.
Pride
May 24, 1995 · 47 min
A gay city councilman is murdered and the trail leads to a bigoted rival politician and a male prostitute.