Law & Order SVU: The 10 Creepiest Episodes Ever

Law & Order: SVU has been around for more than 20 years. It has shocked, thrilled, and left viewers in tatters with some of the most gripping drama ever seen on television. While most of the cast has changed over the years with the exception of Ice-T and Mariska Hargitay, the show continues to get to chug along like an unstoppable force. The show is now the second longest-running Prime Time TV show in US history. It’s only bested by The Simpsons.

With that in mind, there were episodes that certainly crawled under the skin of its viewers. Here are the 10 Creepiest Episodes ever on Law and Order: SVU.

10 DEMONS

This episode which guest-starred Robert Patrick as a recently released rapist, claims that he is now on the straight and narrow. Elliot Stabler goes undercover pretending to be a fellow rapist who raped his step-daughter and catch him in the act. The episode is revealing as Stabler has to not just confront a rapist in front of him but actually go to a very dark place that he is mentally not ready for.

Christopher Meloni excels in this episode as a man who is now worried that he might have just become the demons that he has been chasing his whole career.

9 STRANGER

This episode could easily have been ripped from the deadlines. A young woman, Heather Hollander, who has been missing for 4 years, has returned home. While it’s discovered she was held captive, she is not actually who she says is. It’s later revealed that she is an imposter. The shock ending is that the real Heather was killed by her own sister.

The episode is memorable as it really delves deep into the heart of what people are willing to do to cover up the sins of the past. The main cast is memorable as this story is more of an ensemble piece than a singular performance. While the ending is shocking, the exploitation of the young girls is gruesome, to say the least.

8 MOTHER

The story is fraught with the Oedipus complex. A psychiatrist is found beaten in a crack house and it’s later revealed that one of her patients might have put her there. The twist is the psychiatrist is using controversial methods to reform rapists by making them believe she’s their mother. One patient is actually in love with her. The patient’s sister is eventually revealed to be the one to have beaten the psychiatrist wanting to protect her mother.

The shocking conclusion is that the sister is actually his mother and hid this fact to protect him. Alfred Kinsey certainly would have been interested in having these characters on his couch.

7 HATE

One of the more interesting episodes of Law and Order: SVU with the murder of an Arab-American woman and it’s believed that her husband and mother-in-law committed the crime because of her love affair with a Jew. The killer is revealed to be a young man who is an outright racist and more importantly, believes that all Arabs are terrorists and should be kicked out of America.

The episode was released in 2004 and it’s actually more reflective of the harsh political environment that exists today. The creep factor in the episode is on display when it’s revealed that the killer’s racism rose not from 9/11 but because his father left his mother for an Arab woman.

6 OBSCENE

The episode is stunning, to say the least. What happens when a young teenager can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy? The result is rape. The story deals with a young TV starlet (played by Maggie Grace) who is raped in her trailer as young men broke in to steal her panties. This was the result of a creepy radio-show host played by Lewis Black putting a challenge on his show.

The rapist is the child of a conservative critic who believes that Grace’s show is polluting the minds of the youth. A stunning episode as both the victim confronts her rapist and for a change, her rapist realizes the pain he caused.

5 HAUNTED

This episode is dominated by Ice-T’s character, Odafin Tutola who has to make up for something that he missed. The episode begins when he gets involved in a corner store robbery, which Tutola foils. While he is shot in the process, he recovers only to find out that a grieving mother from his past says he didn’t find her daughter.

Tutola has to look into his past in Narcotics and tracks down the girl who was a junkie and an informant. It turns out she died but gave birth to a child before she died. The episode is satisfying but terrifying.

4 RAW

This episode deals with a school shooting and one of the victims is a young African-American boy whose parents were white and adopted him. Their investigation as to who killed the boy leads to a white power organization. Marcia Gay Harden stars as an undercover FBI agent who has infiltrated the organization. Her reveal comes when the boy of the man who’s being targeted tries to kill Stabler.

At the same time, it’s revealed that the boy was murdered because his parents took a life insurance policy on his life. The episode is creepy because of using a young boy as an asset to get rich quick.

3 OUTSIDER

It’s always been said that comedians make the best dramatic actors. Kal Penn stars in this episode as a crazed person who beats and rapes his victims. Penn masterfully is able to showcase his dramatic ability as a man who was disowned by his family. Adam Beach also stars in this episode as a man tracking down a serial killer who matches Penn’s MO. He joins forces with Ice-T’s Tutola to get the person responsible.

Law and Order: SVU has always played on its detectives playing off each other and Beach and Ice-T make a great pair in this episode. It also proves why the show has lasted this long.

2 MONOGAMY

If there was one actor who defined physical comedy on TV during the 70s and 80s, it was John Ritter.  He was fantastic on Three’s Company and starred in other sitcoms throughout the years. His turn as a psychiatrist who practically almost murdered his own wife and even ripped the child from her womb. Ritter is riveting in this episode as he is able to portray the character’s calm rage with an inert disconnect.

What is shocking is that he murdered the child believing that it was the product of his wife having an affair. It turns out that he essentially murdered his own child.

1 CONSCIENCE

Perhaps, one of the more chilling episodes as a young child murders another. Detectives initially believe that a child molester committed the crime but it turns out that his next-door neighbor committed it. He has the police believe that it was an accident and has his case thrown to family court. Detectives realize that they were manipulated when the boy has a history of disturbing behavior.

Kyle MacLachlan, who plays the father of the murdered child, kills the boy in a rage. He is acquitted by the court due to his believed mental state. He reveals his crime and shows his own twisted by saying that he did a service to society as the boy would have killed again.

About The Author