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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!

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Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Frontline Season 29 Episode 7 - Post Mortem
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Post Mortem

    S29:E7

    A collaboration with NPR and ProPublica reveals how dysfunction, low standards, and lax oversight impacts investigations into sudden or suspicious deaths.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Frontline Season 35 Episode 20 - North Korea's Deadly Dictator
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - North Korea's Deadly Dictator

    S35:E20

    Who killed Kim Jong-un’s half brother, Kim Jong-nam? What does the murder reveal about the North Korean leader and his regime? As nuclear tensions grow, Frontline examines claims that Kim Jong-un ordered the assassination of his half brother, and sheds light on his broader intentions.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Frontline Season 43 Episode 3 - Children of Ukraine
    6.0/10(4 votes)

    #3 - Children of Ukraine

    S43:E3

    FRONTLINE examines how thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken and held in Russian-controlled territory since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The documentary follows Ukrainian families searching for their missing children, organizations investigating the alleged abductions and Ukrainian teenagers who escaped and say they were subjected to Russian propaganda.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Frontline Season 37 Episode 8 - The Facebook Dilemma (1)
    5.7/10(3 votes)

    #4 - The Facebook Dilemma (1)

    S37:E8

    Facebook’s promise was to create a more open and connected world. Frontline finds that multiple warnings about the platform’s negative impact on privacy and democracy were eclipsed by Facebook’s relentless pursuit of growth.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Frontline Season 37 Episode 9 - The Facebook Dilemma (2)
    5.7/10(3 votes)

    #5 - The Facebook Dilemma (2)

    S37:E9

    A series of mounting crises at Facebook, from the company’s failure to protect users’ data, to the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation, have raised the question: How has Facebook’s historic success brought about real-world harm? Frontline traces a series of warnings to the company as it grew into a global empire.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Frontline Season 33 Episode 1 - Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA
    5.5/10(2 votes)

    #6 - Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA

    S33:E1

    FRONTLINE investigates how the NRA uses its unrivaled political power to stop gun regulation in America. With first-hand accounts of school killings in Newtown and Columbine, and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, "Gunned Down" examines why, despite the national trauma over gun violence, Washington hasn't acted.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Frontline

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  7. Frontline Season 33 Episode 10 - Rape on the Night Shift
    5.5/10(2 votes)

    #7 - Rape on the Night Shift

    S33:E10

    A joint investigation into the sexual abuse of immigrant women who clean the malls where you shop, the banks where you do business and the offices where you work.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Frontline Season 33 Episode 11 - Growing Up Trans
    5.5/10(2 votes)

    #8 - Growing Up Trans

    S33:E11

    Just a generation ago, it was adults, not kids, who changed genders. But today, many children are transitioning, too — with new medical options, and at younger and younger ages. In Growing Up Trans, FRONTLINE takes viewers on an intimate and eye-opening journey inside the struggles and choices facing transgender kids and their families.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Frontline Season 33 Episode 12 - Escaping ISIS
    5.3/10(3 votes)

    #9 - Escaping ISIS

    S33:E12

    Using undercover footage, FRONTLINE presents the gripping, first-hand accounts of women who escaped the brutal reign of ISIS — and follows an underground network that’s helping them escape.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Frontline Season 37 Episode 21 - Sex Trafficking in America
    5.3/10(3 votes)

    #10 - Sex Trafficking in America

    S37:E21

    Sex Trafficking in America tells the unimaginable stories of young women coerced into prostitution – and follows one police unit that’s committed to rooting out sexual exploitation.

    Director:Jezza Neumann
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Frontline Season 41 Episode 11 - Afghanistan Undercover
    5.0/10(4 votes)

    #11 - Afghanistan Undercover

    S41:E11

    An undercover investigation into the Taliban’s crackdown on women in Afghanistan. Frontline correspondent Ramita Navai finds women who are being punished by the regime and confronts Taliban officials.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Frontline Season 43 Episode 10 - South Korea's Adoption Reckoning
    5.0/10(5 votes)

    #12 - South Korea's Adoption Reckoning

    S43:E10

    FRONTLINE and The Associated Press examine allegations of fraud and abuse in South Korea's historic foreign adoption boom. The documentary investigates cases of falsified records and identities among the adoptions of 200,000 children to the U.S. and other countries over decades.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Frontline Season 44 Episode 4 - Alaska's Vanishing Native Villages
    4.6/10(5 votes)

    #13 - Alaska's Vanishing Native Villages

    S44:E4

    A look inside Alaska Native villages fighting for survival against climate change. With the Howard Center at ASU, FRONTLINE examines why communities are relocating and why they're struggling to preserve their traditions.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Frontline Season 37 Episode 18 - The Last Survivors
    4.3/10(3 votes)

    #14 - The Last Survivors

    S37:E18

    As young children, they lived through the Holocaust. More than seventy years after World War II, some of the last remaining survivors recount their memories and the lingering trauma. FRONTLINE offers a haunting look at how disturbing childhood experiences and unimaginable loss have affected the daily lives and relationships of some of the Holocaust’s youngest victims – from survivor’s guilt, to crises of faith and second-generation trauma.

    Director:Arthur Cary
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Frontline Season 42 Episode 4 - Age of Easy Money
    4.3/10(6 votes)

    #15 - Age of Easy Money

    S42:E4

    The role of the Federal Reserve’s “easy money” policies in the current economic uncertainty. From the Great Recession to the rise in inflation, FRONTLINE examines the ongoing fragility of the financial system and the widening gap between Wall St. and Main St.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Frontline Season 41 Episode 10 - Ukraine: Life Under Russia's Attack
    4.2/10(6 votes)

    #16 - Ukraine: Life Under Russia's Attack

    S41:E10

    A dramatic and intimate look inside the Russian assault on Kharkiv. Frontline follows displaced families trying to survive underground, civilians caught in the fight and first responders risking their lives amid the shelling of Ukraine’s second largest city.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Frontline Season 37 Episode 3 - Our Man in Tehran (1)
    4.0/10(3 votes)

    #17 - Our Man in Tehran (1)

    S37:E3

    Thomas Erdbrink shares a rare journey into a private Iran often at odds with its conservative clerics and leaders. The series offers surprising encounters inside the closed society of Iran, as Erdbrink gets Iranians to reveal the intricacies of their private worlds and the challenges of living under theocratic leaders.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Frontline Season 37 Episode 4 - Our Man in Tehran (2)
    4.0/10(3 votes)

    #18 - Our Man in Tehran (2)

    S37:E4

    Thomas Erdbrink shares a rare journey into a private Iran often at odds with its conservative clerics and leaders. The series offers surprising encounters inside the closed society of Iran, as Erdbrink gets Iranians to reveal the intricacies of their private worlds and the challenges of living under theocratic leaders.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Frontline Season 37 Episode 5 - Left Behind America
    4.0/10(3 votes)

    #19 - Left Behind America

    S37:E5

    Intimate stories of one Rust Belt city’s struggle to recover in the post-recession economy. FRONTLINE and ProPublica report on the economic and social forces shaping Dayton, Ohio, a once-booming city where nearly 35 percent of people now live in poverty.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Frontline Season 37 Episode 7 - The Pension Gamble
    4.0/10(4 votes)

    #20 - The Pension Gamble

    S37:E7

    FRONTLINE investigates the role of state governments and Wall Street in driving America’s public pensions into a multi-trillion-dollar hole. Marcela Gaviria, Martin Smith, and Nick Verbitsky go inside the volatile fight over pensions playing out in Kentucky, and examine the broader consequences for teachers, police, firefighters and other public employees everywhere.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Frontline Season 43 Episode 15 - China, the U.S. & the Rise of Xi Jinping
    4.0/10(7 votes)

    #21 - China, the U.S. & the Rise of Xi Jinping

    S43:E15

    FRONTLINE examines the rise of Xi Jinping, his vision for China and the global implications.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Frontline Season 44 Episode 7 - Syria's Detainee Files
    4.0/10(6 votes)

    #22 - Syria's Detainee Files

    S44:E7

    FRONTLINE investigates the Assad regime’s arrest, torture and execution of detainees during the Syrian war. Former prisoners, guards, soldiers and intelligence officials shed new light on atrocities carried out during Bashar al-Assad’s reign.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Frontline Season 44 Episode 8 - Syria After Assad
    4.0/10(6 votes)

    #23 - Syria After Assad

    S44:E8

    FRONTLINE examines Syria’s uncertain future under jihadist-turned-statesman Ahmad al-Sharaa. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, correspondent Martin Smith travels the country tracing al-Sharaa’s rise to power and the emerging threats to the country’s stability.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Frontline Season 42 Episode 2 - Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus (2)
    3.8/10(6 votes)

    #24 - Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus (2)

    S42:E2

    FRONTLINE and Forbidden Stories investigate the powerful spyware Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. Part two of a joint investigation into the hacking tool used to spy on journalists, activists, the fiancée of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and others.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Frontline Season 43 Episode 17 - Maui's Deadly Firestorm
    3.7/10(7 votes)

    #25 - Maui's Deadly Firestorm

    S43:E17

    FRONTLINE investigates the deadliest American wildfire in a century, and the missed warnings that made it so unstoppable. The documentary examines the fire's causes, the chaotic response, and how changes to the climate and landscape have made Maui increasingly vulnerable to fires.

    Director:Xinyan Yu
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Post Mortem" is the best rated episode of "Frontline". It scored 8/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/1/2011. This episode scored 2.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "North Korea's Deadly Dictator".