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The Best Episodes of China Beach

Every episode of China Beach ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of China Beach!

Dateline: November 1967. Within klicks of Danang, Vietnam, sits a U.S. Army base, bar and hospital on China Beach filled with wounded soldiers and one...
Genres:DramaWar & Politics
Network:ABC

Best Episodes Summary

"F.N.G." is the best rated episode of "China Beach". It scored 8.7/10 based on 48 votes. Directed by John Sacret Young and written by Carol Flint, it aired on 4/16/1990. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Vets".

  • F.N.G.
    8.7/1048 votes
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    #1 - F.N.G.

    Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 4/16/1990

    In November 1966, fairly new guys Colleen McMurphy and Dr. Richard find themselves learning the ropes when they arrive at China Beach.

    Director: John Sacret Young

    Writer: Carol Flint

  • Vets
    8.6/1046 votes
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    #2 - Vets

    Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 3/15/1989

    The accounts of life in Vietnam by real vets are intercut with scenes from old episodes showing how closely the show has mirrored reality.

    Director: John Sacret Young

    Writer: John Sacret Young, John Wells

  • 100 Klicks Out
    8.6/1044 votes
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    #3 - 100 Klicks Out

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 6/11/1991

    The imminent fall of Saigon reunites KC with her daughter as she struggles to get the little girl out of Vietnam and safely to America and a waiting Boonie. In the 1980s, a cynical McMurphy tries to prevent further child abuse in New Mexico.

    Director: Mimi Leder

    Writer: N/A

  • Hello, Goodbye (1)
    8.6/1056 votes
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    #4 - Hello, Goodbye (1)

    Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 7/22/1991

    McMurphy agrees to attend a China Beach reunion planned by Boonie and recalls her last day in Vietnam, and travels to Washington DC with the others to visit the Vietnam Memorial. Karen comes to terms with the ghost of her absent mother, KC.

    Director: John Sacret Young

    Writer: John Wells

  • The World (1)
    8.5/1044 votes
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    #5 - The World (1)

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 4/26/1989

    Wayloo Marie prepares to return the world and a new job at BBC news. She's unexpectedly joined by McMurphy, who's returning to her unsettled family in Kansas following her father's heart attack.

    Director: John Wells

    Writer: John Sacret Young

  • The World (2)
    8.5/1043 votes
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    #6 - The World (2)

    Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 5/3/1989

    McMurphy reassesses her life as she tries to decide whether or not to return to Vietnam following her father's death.

    Director: John Wells

    Writer: John Sacret Young

  • How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (1)
    8.3/1038 votes
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    #7 - How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (1)

    Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1989

    Beckett and a civilian photographer temporarily join Dodger's patrol; McMurphy gets to know a wounded POW.

    Director: Fred Gerber

    Writer: N/A

  • One Small Step
    8.3/1028 votes
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    #8 - One Small Step

    Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 12/1/1990

    Suddenly back home and missing one leg, Boonie begins a slow and painful re-entry into civilian life with the comfort of a loving nurse.

    Director: Steve Dubin

    Writer: John Wells

  • Waiting for Beckett
    8.2/1049 votes
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    #9 - Waiting for Beckett

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 5/18/1988

    Cherry is taken in by a deserter who claims to know her brother, and who is pursued by a determined office from the CID. Laurette and Boonie try to help a stressed out Beckett get some sleep.

    Director: Kevin Hooks

    Writer: N/A

  • Lost and Found (2)
    8.2/1042 votes
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    #10 - Lost and Found (2)

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 12/7/1988

    Wayloo Marie becomes a casualty as she shoots her assignment. Frankie Bunsen arrives for temporary duty. McMurphy finds a badly injured Dodger.

    Director: John Sacret Young

    Writer: William Broyles Jr., John Sacret Young

  • Women in White
    8.2/1042 votes
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    #11 - Women in White

    Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 1/4/1989

    McMurphy fights jealousy, envy and fear when a confident woman doctor comes in from the States and takes over Dr. Richard and Dodger's case. Wayloo Marie tries to win a position as a armed forces tv reporter with a report on the war from a woman's point of view. Frankie debuts as a disk jockey

    Director: Sharron Miller

    Writer: Patricia Green

  • Tet '68
    8.2/1044 votes
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    #12 - Tet '68

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 1/25/1989

    Wayloo Marie tries to keep reporting, McMurphy and KC are trapped in an officer's restroom, Beckett is held prisoner by Mai's brother and Dr. Richard and the wounded Dodger prepare to defend the hospital during the fierce fighting of the 1968 Tet offensive. Cherry comforts another Red Cross volunteer at a firebase.

    Director: Steve Dubin

    Writer: John Wells

  • Twilight
    8.2/1040 votes
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    #13 - Twilight

    Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 3/22/1989

    Wayloo Marie's digging results in a medal ceremony for Boonie and an unwelcome investigation into his lost jungle patrol. McMurphy sees Dodger again as he prepares to go back into action. Frankie befriends a captured deserter.

    Director: Michael Fresco

    Writer: Lydia Woodward

  • The Unquiet Earth
    8.2/1041 votes
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    #14 - The Unquiet Earth

    Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1989

    McMurphy and K.C. are kidnapped by the Viet Cong and taken underground into a warren of tunnels, where their captors expect McMurphy to operate on their wounded leader.

    Director: Michael Ray Rhodes

    Writer: Alan Brennert

  • Skin Deep
    8.2/1034 votes
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    #15 - Skin Deep

    Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1989

    McMurphy uses a little guilt and a little blackmail to get a reluctant K.C. to visit a wounded soldier whose face has been badly disfigured. Holly, the new doughnut dolly, challenges the nurses on behalf of the Red Cross Volunteers to compete in a Miss China Beach beauty pageant. Frankie is assigned to the motor pool and runs into Sarge Pepper, who's not very eager to have her there.

    Director: Mimi Leder

    Writer: Carol Flint

  • Nightfall
    8.2/1031 votes
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    #16 - Nightfall

    Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1/10/1990

    K.C. feels responsible for the death of a Vietnamese prostitute she sent out and takes things into her own hands when Otis refuses to investigate the matter.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Lydia Woodward

  • The Thanks of a Grateful Nation
    8.2/1039 votes
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    #17 - The Thanks of a Grateful Nation

    Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 2/28/1990

    Dodger tries to reintegrate his life as a civilian but finds himself drifting as he tries to make sense of his experiences in Vietnam.

    Director: Mimi Leder

    Writer: John Wells

  • Skylark
    8.2/1037 votes
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    #18 - Skylark

    Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/14/1990

    A pair of ballroom dancers bring a note of grace and harmony to the uneasy relationship between McMurphy and Dr. Richard while completing a mysterious mission of their own.

    Director: Fred Gerber

    Writer: Lydia Woodward

  • One Giant Leap
    8.2/1032 votes
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    #19 - One Giant Leap

    Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/17/1990

    In 1969, China Beach watches from afar as the first men land on the moon. McMurphy simmers jealously as Dr. Richard falls for a new nurse. Beckett entertains a group of USO singers in his G.R.U. hut. A disturbed Boonie meets with a tragic accident.

    Director: John Sacret Young, Michael Katleman, John Wells

    Writer: Josef Anderson

  • Lost and Found (1)
    8.1/1040 votes
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    #20 - Lost and Found (1)

    Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 11/30/1988

    Lila takes over command of China Beach and orders KC off the base. McMurphy finally lets herself admit how much she cares for Natch when she receives some disturbing news about him. Wayloo Marie Holmes, former Saigon weather girl, arrives at China Beach to handle her first journalism assignment, extolling the recreational facilities at the base.

    Director: John Sacret Young

    Writer: William Broyles Jr., John Sacret Young

  • X-Mas Chnbch VN '67
    8.1/1043 votes
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    #21 - X-Mas Chnbch VN '67

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 12/21/1988

    Christmas '67 brings a steady supply of casualties and a crazed Santa to China Beach.

    Director: Mimi Leder

    Writer: John Wells

  • Cherry
    8.1/1042 votes
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    #22 - Cherry

    Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 2/1/1989

    Wayloo Marie becomes intimidated by the war as its reality sinks in following Cherry's death. McMurphy tries to fight the bureaucracy to keep Dodger from going to Japan for more medical help. KC fights her heroin habit as she tries to locate Cherry's brother and prepares to accompany her body home to Iowa for burial.

    Director: Mimi Leder

    Writer: N/A

  • The Gift
    8.1/1034 votes
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    #23 - The Gift

    Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 4/23/1990

    McMurphy finds herself under suspicion when a wounded G.I. she doesn't remember names her as his beneficiary. Lila has mixed feelings about an old friend who now outranks her and has arrived at China Beach to do a recruiting film about Army nurses.

    Director: Michael Katleman

    Writer: Josef Anderson

  • I Could Have Danced All Night ... But Didn't
    8.1/1035 votes
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    #24 - I Could Have Danced All Night ... But Didn't

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 6/4/1991

    McMurphy meets a sympathetic drummer at a 1983 wedding and recalls the 1969 wedding of Lila and Sarge Pepper, as well as the end of her relationship with Dr. Richard.

    Director: Michael Fresco

    Writer: N/A

  • China Beach (1)
    8.0/1057 votes
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    #25 - China Beach (1)

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 4/26/1988

    It's November 1967 and nurse Colleen McMurphy faces the last week of her tour of duty in Vietnam, dealing as usual with the dying boys, primitive conditions, and the sexual pressure from pilot Natch Austin. USO singers Georgia Lee and Laurette Barber arrive to entertain the troops in the base's new R&R center. Brand new Red Cross volunteer Cherry White also arrives, determined to find her brother, a marine no one can locate.

    Director: Rod Holcomb

    Writer: William Broyles Jr., John Sacret Young