The BEST episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 18

Every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 18, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 18!

Delves into the dark side of the NYC underworld as the detectives investigate and prosecute various sexually oriented crimes, including rape, pedophilia, domestic violence, and the abuses of children, the disabled, and elderly victims of non-sexual crimes who require specialist handling, all while trying to balance the effects of the investigation on their own lives as they try not to let the dark side of these crimes affect them.

Last Updated: 5/16/2024Network: NBCStatus: Continuing
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Motherly Love
star
7.88
1043 votes

#1 - Motherly Love

Season 18 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/8/2017

In the series 400th episode, a teenaged boy uses a rifle to stop an assault on his mother, but soon learns the target was someone he knows.

Directors: Mariska Hargitay
Watch Now:Amazon
Sanctuary (2)
star
7.85
875 votes

#2 - Sanctuary (2)

Season 18 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/24/2017

In the conclusion of the season finale, the unexpected release of a suspect in a hate crime case leaves Benson and Barba caught between two families seeking justice for their loved ones. As public protests escalate to violence, Benson goes to desperate lengths to make an arrest.

Directors: Michael Pressman
Watch Now:Amazon
Next Chapter
star
7.83
1035 votes

#3 - Next Chapter

Season 18 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/4/2017

The SVU team investigates a woman has been sexually assaulted by a masked man, but she believes the rapist is the same man who went to jail for stalking her. Meanwhile, Tucker contemplates retirement and a future with Benson.

Directors: Fred Berner
Know It All
star
7.81
1005 votes

#4 - Know It All

Season 18 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/5/2017

A man under investigation for rape and murder threatens to expose the secrets of those working the case.

Directors: Jonathan Herron
Real Fake News
star
7.75
951 votes

#5 - Real Fake News

Season 18 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/3/2017

A congressman falsely accused of soliciting underage girls asks SVU to debunk the rumor, but the investigation leads to a real sex trafficking ring. Meanwhile, Benson and Rollins become the targets of a salacious website.

Directors: Martha Mitchell
Writer: Ed Zuckerman
Making a Rapist
star
7.73
1062 votes

#6 - Making a Rapist

Season 18 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/28/2016

Newly tested DNA evidence leads to the exoneration of a prisoner who served 16 years for a rape conviction. However, he's investigated again one day later in the wake of a shocking new crime.

Directors: Michael Pressman
Writer: Kevin Fox
The Newsroom
star
7.71
934 votes

#7 - The Newsroom

Season 18 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/26/2017

Benson and Barba ask witnesses to put their jobs on the line after a news anchor makes an on-air disclosure of rape against her boss.

Directors: Jono Oliver
Broken Rhymes
star
7.71
958 votes

#8 - Broken Rhymes

Season 18 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/9/2016

A record label CEO and his protégé are questioned for their involvement in the assault of a transgender student.

Directors: Adam Bernstein
Great Expectations
star
7.70
952 votes

#9 - Great Expectations

Season 18 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/15/2017

The SVU investigates the players of a top youth hockey team after a vicious locker room hazing.

Directors: Martha Mitchell
American Dream (1)
star
7.69
907 votes

#10 - American Dream (1)

Season 18 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/24/2017

In part one of the season finale, a hate crime against a Muslim family results in the death of their daughter. When a crucial witness in the case is deported, Barba is forced to drop the charges against a suspect, and tensions rise between communities on opposing sides of the case.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Chasing Theo
star
7.69
968 votes

#11 - Chasing Theo

Season 18 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/11/2017

A 6 year-old boy disappears from his bed in the midst of a wild, drug-fueled party thrown by his mother. With a child's life on the line, the case causes Benson to scrutinize her own role as a mother.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Rape Interrupted
star
7.68
970 votes

#12 - Rape Interrupted

Season 18 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/2016

A sergeant makes Benson choose between loyalty and duty when his son is accused of rape.

Directors: Michael Pressman
Decline and Fall
star
7.67
911 votes

#13 - Decline and Fall

Season 18 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/18/2017

The powerful family of a retail empire closes ranks when a bartender accuses one of their own of rape.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Spellbound
star
7.65
903 votes

#14 - Spellbound

Season 18 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/10/2017

The SVU investigates a charismatic spiritual healer when a client claims he incapacitated and assaulted her using hypnosis.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Terrorized
star
7.65
1194 votes

#15 - Terrorized

Season 18 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/2016

A young boy is found wandering alone in Central Park and the search for his parents leads to startling evidence of a planned mass casualty event in the city. As the SVU works with the joint-terrorism task force to find the suspects and the motive, Lt. Benson must also convince Barba to address allegations of rape and torture the boy's mother discloses.

Directors: Alik Sakharov
Heightened Emotions
star
7.65
976 votes

#16 - Heightened Emotions

Season 18 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/2016

A sexually assaulted athlete's double life could destroy her Olympic career and ruin the case against her attacker; Rollins sister is released from prison on parole.

Directors: Alex Chapple
No Surrender
star
7.64
1002 votes

#17 - No Surrender

Season 18 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/22/2017

Fin revisits his military roots when a fellow Army Ranger struggles to recover from a sexual assault.

Net Worth
star
7.63
997 votes

#18 - Net Worth

Season 18 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/29/2017

A top-level investment banker accuses her billionaire client of rape.

Directors: Alex Chapple
Imposter
star
7.59
1052 votes

#19 - Imposter

Season 18 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/2016

When a man uses a false identity to lure a vulnerable married woman to bed, Barba thinks the evidence amounts to rape.

Directors: Jean de Segonzac
Genes
star
7.58
995 votes

#20 - Genes

Season 18 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/22/2017

An investigation hits a nerve with Benson when a suspect claims his genetics causes him to commit rape.

Directors: Michael Pressman
Conversion
star
7.54
890 votes

#21 - Conversion

Season 18 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/17/2017

When a young woman is raped by a member of her church group, Barba must argue that the First Amendment doesn't entitle a person to break the law.

Directors: Alex Chapple