Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Season 5 Poster

Season 5

Air Date:September 21, 2003
Episodes:25

Episodes

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E1 - Tragedy
Episode 1September 22, 2003

Tragedy

42m

A woman with a high-risk pregnancy disappears and her ex-boyfriend, who's the father, and engaged to the boss' daughter, is under suspicion. In a race against time to find her as her delivery date approaches, Benson and Stabler are faced with more than one suspect willing to take the fall for the crime.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E2 - Manic
Episode 2September 29, 2003

Manic

44m

Detectives enlist Dr. Huang's help as they investigate the deaths of two high-school basketball players gunned down while shooting hoops in the gymnasium and the connection to an illegal marketing campaign by a major pharmaceutical company.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E3 - Mother
Episode 3October 6, 2003

Mother

44m

A psychiatrist with unconventional methods is found sexually assaulted, unconscious and near death in a crack house. It's easier said than done to get her to cooperate with the investigation as they are hampered by doctor-patient confidentiality as she may have been attacked by one of her patients.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E4 - Loss
Episode 4October 13, 2003

Loss

44m

A female undercover agent for the DEA is raped and murdered, leading to a complicated investigation and the arrest of a suspect highly connected with a Colombian drug cartel. This is the toughest case of Cabot's career as she is faced with death threats on herself and her family along with pressure to yield the case to federal authorities.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E5 - Serendipity
Episode 5October 20, 2003

Serendipity

42m

A newborn baby is found dead in a gutter, sending the detectives on a hunt for the mother. She too turns up murdered, and the clues point to a serial child molester.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E6 - Coerced
Episode 6October 27, 2003

Coerced

44m

A schizophrenic homeless man kidnaps a boy he thinks is his son, murdering a man in the process. In resolving the case, with Dr. Huang's help, a private mental health facility is brought into question.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E7 - Choice
Episode 7November 3, 2003

Choice

43m

While patrolling, police stumble upon an attack in progress at Momma Sue’s restaurant on the pregnant owner. Her husband is arrested and then seeks to have her charged with neglect for drinking during her pregnancy. The detectives discover it's not the first time a child has been exposed to the devastating repercussions of her uncontrolled alcoholism.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E8 - Abomination
Episode 8November 10, 2003

Abomination

43m

Benson and Stabler have trouble identifying a male murder victim in his 20's found in a pile of sheets in the West Village; they later suspect an outspoken minister who was in the process of flooding the victim with hate mail and death threats. When the activist's alibi checks out, the detectives turn their attention to a professor who objects to the victim's thesis on the failure of sexual re-education groups.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E9 - Control
Episode 9November 17, 2003

Control

44m

A subway commuter is found castrated and bleeding profusely, leading the detectives to discover their "victim" may be the perpetrator in abducting women and forcing them to live in his dungeon for several years as his bride. As the detectives prepare to arrest their victim turned suspect, Benson arrives to find him murdered.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E10 - Shaken
Episode 10November 24, 2003

Shaken

44m

The discovery of a beaten infant leads detectives on a search for the attacker, who may be a pedophile. When the medical evidence shows the injuries were a result of shaken baby syndrome, their focus shifts to those closest to the child: her mother, the mother's boyfriend and the nannies.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E11 - Escape
Episode 11December 1, 2003

Escape

43m

When a convicted pedophile, desperate to prove his innocence before his terminally ill mother dies, escapes from a Virginia Correctional Facility and kidnaps his accuser to force him to recant his story, a Deputy Marshall teams up with Benson to track them down. Benson eventually finds herself in the middle of a hostage situation beginning to believe his story.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E12 - Brotherhood
Episode 12January 5, 2004

Brotherhood

44m

When the body of young man is found in a tank at a wastewater treatment plant, the medical examiner identifies a tattoo that says TE, the symbol for the fraternity Tau Omega. The investigation into the murder and sodomy of this local fraternity pledge master leads the detectives to his pornographic website featuring college girls at a local bar.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E13 - Hate
Episode 13January 12, 2004

Hate

43m

A young Arab woman is brutally raped and burned, and after identifying her, the detectives suspect her husband and mother-in-law. After a man accused of the murders of three Arabs, he claims that he was genetically and biologically predisposed to hatred and violence, but soon they uncover the real impetus to the slayings.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E14 - Ritual
Episode 14February 2, 2004

Ritual

42m

Two garbage collectors discover what they first think is a scene of animal sacrifice but is the body of a young boy who appears to be the victim of a ritualistic killing. The investigation leads to the discovery of international child slavery.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E15 - Families
Episode 15February 9, 2004

Families

43m

The investigation into the death of a pregnant high school student exposes a long-held family secret, which precipitates yet another violent death and eventually the destruction of two families.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E16 - Home
Episode 16February 16, 2004

Home

43m

A young, emaciated boy is found by neighbors scrounging for food; detectives suspect the boy is a victim of abuse and are reluctant to let him go home.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E17 - Mean
Episode 17February 23, 2004

Mean

43m

The conviction of a group of sociopathic high school bullies who turned on one of their own escalates into even more violence and death in their exclusive private school.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E18 - Careless
Episode 18March 1, 2004

Careless

41m

When a young foster child dies due to a religious ritual gone awry, the detectives unravel a mysterious pattern of violence, abuse and murder within one foster care family.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E19 - Sick
Episode 19March 29, 2004

Sick

43m

A wealthy toy mogul is the suspect of the sexual abuse of a child. His prosecution impeded by the child's parents who refuse to produce their child for questioning to avoid losing the millions paid through a non-disclosure agreement, and by the discovery that a second accusation was falsified in an attempt to extort a settlement.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E20 - Lowdown
Episode 20April 5, 2004

Lowdown

42m

Detectives try to decipher a motive for the strangulation of a Bronx assistant DA in an area where hookers stroll. When the death of the prosecutor looks staged using information gleaned from a co-worker's caseload, Novak endangers her career to obtain a confession.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E21 - Criminal
Episode 21April 19, 2004

Criminal

43m

When it becomes obvious that a forensics expert raped and murdered a student, the investigation focuses on a criminology professor Cragen arrested decades earlier for similar crimes, but is the professor a perpetrator or a victim?

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E22 - Painless
Episode 22April 26, 2004

Painless

43m

A woman claiming to have been the victim of rape commits suicide while she is still in the emergency room.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E23 - Bound
Episode 23May 3, 2004

Bound

42m

The death of a wealthy senior citizen leads to an investigation that uncovers a serial killer with childhood abandonment issues who targets the elderly.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E24 - Poison
Episode 24May 10, 2004

Poison

43m

A young girl is in a coma after ingesting detergent and her mother is suspected of poisoning her. A biased judge makes the case hard to prosecute which leads to an investigation into his past.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S5E25 - Head
Episode 25May 17, 2004

Head

44m

A boy is accused of being molested after his soccer game, but he doesn't admit to it. His principal and his soccer coach are the prime suspects.