The fifth season of the police procedural drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on NBC on September 23, 2003 and concluded on May 18, 2004. The season consists of 25 episodes. This was the first season to include Diane Neal as Casey Novak and the last to include Stephanie March in a main cast role until the eleventh season. She would later return as a guest role in the sixth season. This season also contains the 100th episode of the series. This season aired alongside with season fourteen of Law & Order and season three of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
| Image | Character | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Elliot Stabler | Detective (Senior Officer) | Christopher Meloni |
|
Olivia Benson | Detective (Junior Officer) | Mariska Hargitay |
|
John Munch | Detective (Senior Officer) | Richard Belzer |
|
Alexandra Cabot (5.01-5.04) | Assistant District Attorney | Stephanie March |
|
Casey Novak (5.05-5.25) | Assistant District Attorney | Diane Neal |
|
Odafin "Fin" Tutuola | Detective (Junior Officer) | Ice-T |
|
George Huang | FBI Special Agent | B.D. Wong |
|
Donald Cragen | Captain (Commanding Officer) | Dann Florek |
Recurring/Guest Cast[]
| Image | Character | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Melinda Warner | Medical Examiner | Tamara Tunie |
 |
Arthur Branch | Manhattan, District Attorney | Fred Dalton Thompson |
List of Episodes[]
| Image | Episode # | Title | Production # | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5.01 (#92) | Tragedy | E4403 | 23 September 2003 |
|
5.02 (#93) | Manic | E4401 | 30 September 2003 |
|
5.03 (#94) | Mother | E4404 | 7 October 2003 |
|
5.04 (#95) | Loss | E4402 | 14 October 2003 |
|
5.05 (#96) | Serendipity | E4408 | 21 October 2003 |
|
5.06 (#97) | Coerced | E4409 | 28 October 2003 |
|
5.07 (#98) | Choice | E4411 | 4 November 2003 |
|
5.08 (#99) | Abomination | E4410 | 11 November 2003 |
|
5.09 (#100) | Control | E4413 | 18 November 2003 |
|
5.10 (#101) | Shaken | E4414 | 25 November 2003 |
|
5.11 (#102) | Escape | E4415 | 2 December 2003 |
|
5.12 (#103) | Brotherhood | E4412 | 6 January 2004 |
|
5.13 (#104) | Hate | E4416 | 13 January 2004 |
|
5.14 (#105) | Ritual | E4406 | 3 February 2004 |
|
5.15 (#106) | Families | E4419 | 10 February 2004 |
|
5.16 (#107) | Home | E4420 | 17 February 2004 |
|
5.17 (#108) | Mean | E4421 | 24 February 2004 |
|
5.18 (#109) | Careless | E4422 | 2 March 2004 |
|
5.19 (#110) | Sick | E4423 | 30 March 2004 |
|
5.20 (#111) | Lowdown | E4424 | 6 April 2004 |
|
5.21 (#112) | Criminal | E4425 | 20 April 2004 |
|
5.22 (#113) | Painless | E4426 | 27 April 2004 |
|
5.23 (#114) | Bound | E4427 | 4 May 2004 |
|
5.24 (#115) | Poison | E4428 | 11 May 2004 |
|
5.25 (#116) | Head | E4418 | 18 May 2004 |
| Previous season: Season 4 |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5 |
Next season: Season 6 |