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The Best Episodes of Frontline

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

Best episode
S16E12 Busted: America's War on Marijuana
8.8184 votes
Worst episode
S43E11 The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump
1.910 votes
Top season
Season 4
8.5avg
Binge time
10d 6h
858 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Frontline Season 16 Episode 12 - Busted: America's War on Marijuana
    8.8/10(184 votes)

    S16:E12

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Frontline Season 32 Episode 9 - United States of Secrets (1)
    8.7/10(294 votes)

    S32:E9

    The history of the National Security Agency's unprecedented surveillance program is investigated.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Frontline Season 22 Episode 6 - From China With Love
    8.7/10(253 votes)

    S22:E6

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Frontline Season 14 Episode 13 - Angel on Death Row
    8.5/10(491 votes)

    S14:E13

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Frontline Season 3 Episode 18 - Memory of the Camps
    8.5/10(305 votes)

    S3:E18

    Forty years ago, Allied troops invaded Germany and liberated Nazi death camps. They found unspeakable horrors which still haunt the world's conscience. Frontline presents the world broadcast of a 1945 film made by British and American film crews who were with the troops liberating the camps. The film was directed in part by Alfred Hitchcock and is broadcast for the first time in its entirety on Frontline.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Colin Wills

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  6. Frontline Season 19 Episode 14 - Harvest of Fear
    9.6/10(21 votes)

    S19:E14

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Frontline

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  7. Frontline Season 3 Episode 9 - A Class Divided
    8.5/10(204 votes)

    S3:E9

    One day in 1968, Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination. This is the story of that lesson, its lasting impact on the children, and its enduring power 30 years later.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Frontline Season 12 Episode 10 - Tabloid Truth: the Michael Jackson Story
    8.9/10(48 votes)

    S12:E10

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Frontline Season 38 Episode 15 - Plastic Wars
    8.5/10(133 votes)

    S38:E15

    With the plastic industry expanding like never before, and the crisis of ocean pollution growing, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the fight over the future of plastics.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Frontline Season 26 Episode 5 - Growing Up Online
    8.5/10(119 votes)

    S26:E5

    What does it mean to be part of the first generation coming of age in the Internet era? This report received a 2009 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Program.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Frontline Season 32 Episode 10 - United States of Secrets (2)
    8.4/10(228 votes)

    S32:E10

    The role of Silicon Valley in the National Security Agency's surveillance program is explored.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Frontline Season 24 Episode 1 - The O.J. Verdict
    8.4/10(190 votes)

    S24:E1

    On October 3, 1995, an estimated 150 million people stopped what they were doing to witness the televised verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial. For more than a year, the O.J. saga transfixed the nation and dominated the public imagination. Ten years later, veteran FRONTLINE producer Ofra Bikel revisits the "perfect storm" that was the O.J. Simpson trial. Through extensive interviews with the defense, prosecution and journalists, FRONTLINE explores the verdict -- which, more than any other in recent history, measured the difference between being white and black in America.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Frontline Season 16 Episode 4 - Dreams of Tibet
    8.4/10(172 votes)

    S16:E4

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Frontline Season 24 Episode 7 - Country Boys: Part 3
    8.6/10(56 votes)

    S24:E7

    David Sutherland, acclaimed producer of The Farmer’s Wife, returns to rural America with Country Boys, an epic tale of two boys coming of age in eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian hills. Viewers meet Cody Perkins and Chris Johnson, classmates at an alternative high school who inhabit the same world yet are light years apart. Through intimate cinematography and extraordinary sound design that puts the viewer inside the skin of the story’s colorful and memorable characters, Country Boys traverses the emotional terrain of two boys who are about to become men, documenting their struggles to overcome hardship and poverty and find meaning in their lives.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Frontline Season 36 Episode 3 - Putin's Revenge (2)
    8.3/10(195 votes)

    S36:E3

    FRONTLINE tells the inside story of how Vladimir Putin came to see the United States as an enemy — and why he decided to target an American election.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Frontline Season 26 Episode 6 - A Dangerous Business Revisited
    8.4/10(101 votes)

    S26:E6

    Five years ago, FRONTLINE and The New York Times joined forces to investigate death and dismemberment in one of America's most dangerous industries -- the iron pipe foundry business. One company stood out, the McWane Corporation. It had more health and safety violations than all of its competitors combined, and there were a number of environmental violations as well. In the five years since our original broadcast, federal prosecutors obtained indictments against and juries convicted the company in five cases in four states. Today McWane says it has made a dramatic turnaround and that worker safety and environmental protection are now high priorities. FRONTLINE revisits its original broadcast with correspondent Lowell Bergman who then reports on what has changed at McWane and whether the company has become a less dangerous business.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Frontline Season 32 Episode 13 - Losing Iraq
    8.3/10(155 votes)

    S32:E13

    In a special developing report, FRONTLINE examines the unfolding chaos in Iraq and how the U.S. is being pulled back into the conflict. Drawing on interviews with policymakers and military leaders, the investigative team behind The Lost Year in Iraq, The Torture Question, Endgame and Bush’s War traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current violence — exploring how Iraq itself is coming undone, how we got here, what went wrong and what happens next.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Frontline Season 16 Episode 5 - A Whale of a Business
    8.4/10(86 votes)

    S16:E5

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Frontline Season 40 Episode 12 - The Jihadist
    8.3/10(142 votes)

    S40:E12

    A powerful Syrian militant called a terrorist by the U.S. seeks a new relationship with the West. In his first interview with a Western journalist, former Al Qaeda commander Abu Mohammad al-Jolani says his fight is with Syrian President Assad, not the U.S.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Frontline Season 28 Episode 14 - The Confessions
    8.4/10(66 votes)

    S28:E14

    Why would four innocent men confess to a brutal crime they didn't commit? FRONTLINE producer Ofra Bikel (Innocence Lost, An Ordinary Crime) investigates the conviction of four Navy sailors for the rape and murder of a Norfolk, Virginia, woman in 1997.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Frontline Season 33 Episode 8 - Secrets, Politics and Torture
    8.4/10(61 votes)

    S33:E8

    From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk (United States of Secrets, Losing Iraq, Bush’s War, The Torture Question) comes the dramatic story of the fight over the CIA’s controversial interrogation methods, widely criticized as torture. Based on recently declassified documents and interviews with key political leaders and CIA insiders, the film investigates what the CIA did — and whether it worked.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Frontline Season 21 Episode 3 - The Man Who Knew
    9.1/10(19 votes)

    S21:E3

    When the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, among the thousands killed was the one man who may have known more about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda than any other person in America: John O'Neill.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Frontline Season 22 Episode 16 - The Plea
    8.3/10(86 votes)

    S22:E16

    Nearly 95 percent of all cases resulting in felony convictions never reach a jury. They are settled through plea bargains in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. But what are the implications of a system that relies on pleas to expedite justice?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Frontline Season 30 Episode 7 - The Interrupters
    8.3/10(81 votes)

    S30:E7

    The Interrupters presents unforgettable profiles in courage, as three former street criminals in Chicago place themselves in the line of fire to protect their communities. The two-hour film follows the lives of these “Violence Interrupters,” who include the charismatic daughter of one of the city’s most notorious former gang leaders, the son of a murdered father, and a man haunted by a killing he committed as a teenager. As they intervene in disputes to prevent violence, they reveal their own inspired journeys of struggle and redemption.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Frontline Season 17 Episode 10 - The Triumph of Evil
    9.0/10(20 votes)

    S17:E10

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Busted: America's War on Marijuana" is the best rated episode of Frontline. It scored 8.8/10 from 184 votes. Written and directed by Unknown, it aired on April 28, 1998. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "United States of Secrets (1)".

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