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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!

Binge this in 54m•Peaking at 8.9/10

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 very lovely but damaged Army Nurse Colleen McMurphy. Many heroes,

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    China Beach Season 2 Episode 12 - Vets
    8.9/10(61 votes)

    #1 - Vets

    S2:E12

    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
    Writers:John Wells, John Sacret Young

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  2. China Beach Season 3 Episode 20 - F.N.G.
    8.9/10(57 votes)

    #2 - F.N.G.

    S3:E20

    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

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  3. China Beach Season 2 Episode 16 - The World (1)
    8.8/10(53 votes)

    #3 - The World (1)

    S2:E16

    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

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  4. China Beach Season 2 Episode 17 - The World (2)
    8.8/10(53 votes)

    #4 - The World (2)

    S2:E17

    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

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  5. China Beach Season 4 Episode 11 - 100 Klicks Out
    8.7/10(54 votes)

    #5 - 100 Klicks Out

    S4:E11

    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:Unknown

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  6. China Beach Season 4 Episode 16 - Hello, Goodbye (1)
    8.7/10(69 votes)

    #6 - Hello, Goodbye (1)

    S4:E16

    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

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of China Beach

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  7. China Beach Season 4 Episode 8 - One Small Step
    8.6/10(36 votes)

    #7 - One Small Step

    S4:E8

    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

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  8. China Beach Season 4 Episode 10 - I Could Have Danced All Night ... But Didn't
    8.6/10(48 votes)

    #8 - I Could Have Danced All Night ... But Didn't

    S4:E10

    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:Unknown

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  9. China Beach Season 3 Episode 9 - How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (1)
    8.5/10(48 votes)

    #9 - How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (1)

    S3:E9

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

    Director:Fred Gerber
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. China Beach Season 4 Episode 6 - Juice
    8.5/10(43 votes)

    #10 - Juice

    S4:E6

    In 1972, Dr. Richard and his nurse take a romantic trip to Florida, where they run across a hard-livng McMurphy working at an orange-juice factory.

    Director:John Sacret Young
    Writer:John Sacret Young

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  11. China Beach Season 4 Episode 7 - One Giant Leap
    8.5/10(41 votes)

    #11 - One Giant Leap

    S4:E7

    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.

    Directors:Michael Katleman, John Sacret Young, John Wells
    Writer:Josef Anderson

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  12. China Beach Season 2 Episode 2 - Lost and Found (2)
    8.4/10(55 votes)

    #12 - Lost and Found (2)

    S2:E2

    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
    Writers:John Sacret Young, William Broyles Jr.

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  13. China Beach Season 2 Episode 13 - Twilight
    8.4/10(49 votes)

    #13 - Twilight

    S2:E13

    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

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  14. China Beach Season 3 Episode 1 - The Unquiet Earth
    8.4/10(53 votes)

    #14 - The Unquiet Earth

    S3:E1

    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

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  15. China Beach Season 3 Episode 2 - Skin Deep
    8.4/10(43 votes)

    #15 - Skin Deep

    S3:E2

    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

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  16. China Beach Season 3 Episode 12 - Nightfall
    8.4/10(42 votes)

    #16 - Nightfall

    S3:E12

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Lydia Woodward

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  17. China Beach Season 3 Episode 17 - The Thanks of a Grateful Nation
    8.4/10(48 votes)

    #17 - The Thanks of a Grateful Nation

    S3:E17

    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

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  18. China Beach Season 4 Episode 14 - Rewind
    8.4/10(50 votes)

    #18 - Rewind

    S4:E14

    In 1985, Karen begins a videotape project interviewing China Beach veterans about their experiences in Vietnam and their memories of her natural mother.

    Director:Mimi Leder
    Writers:John Wells, Carol Flint

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  19. China Beach Season 2 Episode 5 - Women in White
    8.3/10(52 votes)

    #19 - Women in White

    S2:E5

    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

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  20. China Beach Season 2 Episode 7 - Tet '68
    8.3/10(54 votes)

    #20 - Tet '68

    S2:E7

    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

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  21. China Beach Season 3 Episode 13 - Souvenirs
    8.3/10(44 votes)

    #21 - Souvenirs

    S3:E13

    Dodger reaches the limit of his endurance and decides to leave Vietnam and faces a mountain of paperwork as he tries to get permission to take his Amerasian son home with him.

    Director:John Sacret Young
    Writer:John Sacret Young

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  22. China Beach Season 3 Episode 16 - Warriors
    8.3/10(40 votes)

    #22 - Warriors

    S3:E16

    McMurphy is in an emotional and ethical turmoil when she delivers Vinnie's buddy from death but he falls into a terminal coma; and Frankie finds herself in charge of a squad of grizzled grunts.

    Director:David Soul
    Writer:Neal Baer

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  23. China Beach Season 3 Episode 18 - Skylark
    8.3/10(46 votes)

    #23 - Skylark

    S3:E18

    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

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  24. China Beach Season 3 Episode 21 - The Gift
    8.3/10(45 votes)

    #24 - The Gift

    S3:E21

    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

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  25. China Beach Season 4 Episode 13 - Quest
    8.3/10(50 votes)

    #25 - Quest

    S4:E13

    In 1976, McMurphy helps KC re-enter the country and find her daughter before heading out to Montana to visit Dodger, who's coping with a disabled father and raising his son Archie alone.

    Director:John Sacret Young
    Writer:John Sacret Young

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Best Episodes Summary

"Vets" is the best rated episode of "China Beach". It scored 8.9/10 based on 61 votes. Directed by John Sacret Young and written by John Wells, John Sacret Young, it aired on 3/15/1989. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "F.N.G.".