On IMDb, the highest rated episodes of "Law & Order" Season 3 are "Helpless" and "Prince of Darkness," both rated 8.3 out of 10, though "Prince of Darkness" has inspired more fan ratings.
"Prince of Darkness" is the eighth episode of Season 3 and it marks one of the last Paul Sorvino appearances. Cerreta and Mike Logan (Chris Noth) are investigating the murder of a Colombian businessman, eventually suspecting a Cartel assassin is the one who pulled the trigger. The detectives make a fairly quick arrest, but need to set up an undercover black market gun buy when they are told they don't have enough evidence. It's during this deal that Cerreta is shot twice.
To make matters worse, Cerreta later agrees to let Stone make a deal with his shooter, lowering his charge in order to get testimony against the murderer in the Cartel investigation. The deal doesn't matter as the assassin is later shot outside of the courthouse, as the Cartel attempts to clean house.
It's a dark episode with no happy ending, but the cast knocks it out of the park, especially Sorvino. The episode marks the second to last appearance by Sorvino as Cerreta explains he's transferring to a different precinct for a desk job. In the next episode, "Point of View," Briscoe is introduced as his replacement, and he had a slightly longer run, appearing on the show until 2004, when Orbach sadly passed away.
