8.2/1041 votes#1 - 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
8.2/1034 votes#2 - 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
7.8/1035 votes#3 - Dear China Beach
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1989
Dodger is left with an Amerasian baby that is supposedly his son; McMurphy makes a poor patient when she comes down with dysentery; and Holly badgers everyone into answering the letters sent by seventh-graders from Colorado.
Director: Michael Ray Rhodes
Writer: John Wells
7.8/1031 votes#4 - Who's Happy Now?
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1989
Dr. Richard worries over a craniotomy that has permanently altered a patient's mental capacity; Lila faces an inspection that will determine if she gets a key promotion; Sarge Pepper asks for some advice about courting Lila and K.C. finds herself in a very awkward position when a senior officer goes AWOL on her permanently.
Director: Fred Gerber
Writer: Lydia Woodward
7.6/1033 votes#5 - Independence Day
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1989
China Beach celebrates a soggy Independence Day with Boonie and Holly trying to keep everyone's spirits up, McMurphy dealing with a love struck private as she tries to sort out her feelings for Dr. Bernard, Lila and the Sarge discussing the future and Beckett and K.C. quarreling over registering the dead to vote.
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: N/A
7.8/1035 votes#6 - Ghosts
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/1989
K.C. avoids dealing with unpleasant memories of her father stirred up by a trunk of his belongings; Dr. Richard faces his ex-wife's remarriage with a ""black wedding""; Beckett ends his relationship with Mai; and McMurphy learns more about Dr. Bernard's life.
Director: Michael Fresco
Writer: Toni Graphia
7.8/1031 votes#7 - With a Little Help From My Friends
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/1989
Holly is shaken when it appears that Hang is connected to the VC and has been using their friendship to gain information; Frankie is seriously injured by a booby trap; and McMurphy aids Dr. Bernard at a civilian clinic.
Director: Michael Toshiyuki Uno
Writer: Carol Flint, Josef Anderson
7.9/1031 votes#8 - China Men
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1989
Dodger and Hyers square off after a battlefield incident; McMurphy spends an uncomfortable evening with Dr. Bernard's sophisticated civilian friends; and Boonie gets a surprise from the sexy Asian singer all the men in camp are longing for.
Director: N/A
Writer: Josef Anderson
8.3/1038 votes#9 - 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
7.4/1033 votes#10 - How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (2)
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/1989
The wounded Cambodian POW befriended by McMurphy is taken away by the South Vietnamese for interrogation as the photographer Cat pursues the story of his defection and a new commander arrives to take over the base, leaving Lila and K.C. unsure of their positions.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1033 votes#11 - Magic
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 1/3/1990
McMurphy finds herself caught up in a triangle affair with Dr. Bernard and Vinnie; Holly tells Boonie how she feels about him; and Lila copes with the disappointment of losing command of China Beach to Otis.
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: John Wells
8.2/1031 votes#12 - 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
7.9/1033 votes#13 - Souvenirs
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 1/17/1990
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
7.9/1037 votes#14 - Holly's Choice
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 1/30/1990
Holly has had an abortion and as her friends at China Beach try to deal with it, the circumstances that led up to it are gradually revealed.
Director: N/A
Writer: Carol Flint
7.7/1034 votes#15 - The Rumor of Peace
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 2/7/1990
China Beach reacts to the rumors of peace floated by Beckett and Frankie during their pirate radio broadcast.
Director: N/A
Writer: Josef Anderson
7.9/1032 votes#16 - Warriors
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 2/14/1990
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
8.2/1039 votes#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
8.2/1037 votes#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
7.7/1036 votes#19 - Phoenix
Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/21/1990
K.C. finds herself in the middle of a C.I.A. assassination plot, and dependent on McMurphy to vouch for her innocence.
Director: Mimi Leder
Writer: Toni Graphia
8.7/1048 votes#20 - 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
8.1/1034 votes#21 - 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
7.5/1031 votes#22 - Strange Brew
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 4/30/1990
With everyone else away for a distant USO show, K.C. and McMurphy indulge in an alcoholic binge that takes them to a dreamy landscape where a Native American guide tries to help them heal past and present wounds.
Director: Michael Fresco
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of China Beach Season 3
Every episode of China Beach Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of China Beach Season 3!
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
Season 3 Ratings Summary
"The Unquiet Earth" is the best rated episode of "China Beach" season 3. It scored 8.2/10 based on 41 votes. Directed by Michael Ray Rhodes and written by Alan Brennert, it aired on 9/20/1989. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Skin Deep".