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The Best Episodes of Frontline Season 38

Every episode of Frontline Season 38 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Frontline Season 38!

The Best Episodes of Frontline Season 38

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...
  1. Background image for The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
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    #1 - The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

    S38:E1

    A year after the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, FRONTLINE investigates the rise of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. In a two-hour documentary, Martin Smith — who has covered the Middle East for FRONTLINE for 20 years — examines the crown prince's vision for the future of Saudi Arabia, his handling of dissent and his ties to Khashoggi's killing.

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  2. Background image for On The President's Orders
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    #2 - On The President's Orders

    S38:E2

    A searing, on-the-ground look at President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly campaign against suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines, "On the President's Orders" is told with unprecedented access to the police themselves. It offers a gripping, visually stunning window into the war on drugs — those carrying it out, and those most impacted by it.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Zero Tolerance
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    #3 - Zero Tolerance

    S38:E3

    How Trump turned immigration into a powerful political weapon that fueled division. Inside the effort by three insurgents to tap into populist anger, transform the GOP, and crack down on immigration.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Fire in Paradise
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    #4 - Fire in Paradise

    S38:E4

    A year after the devastating Camp Fire, FRONTLINE examines who’s to blame and why it was so catastrophic. With accounts from survivors and first responders, the documentary tells the inside story of the most destructive fire in California's history, its causes and the impact of climate change.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for In the Age of AI
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    #5 - In the Age of AI

    S38:E5

    From fears about work and privacy to a rivalry between the U.S. and China, FRONTLINE explores the promise and perils of AI. The documentary traces a new industrial revolution that will reshape and disrupt our lives, our jobs and our world, and allow the emergence of the surveillance society.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Kids Caught in the Crackdown/  Iraq's Secret Sex Trade
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    #6 - Kids Caught in the Crackdown/ Iraq's Secret Sex Trade

    S38:E6

    In an investigation with The Associated Press, FRONTLINE examines the widespread consequences — and business — of the mass confinement of migrant children. The documentary details the traumatic stories of migrant children detained under President Trump’s immigration policies. Also in this two-part hour, a report on the sexual exploitation of women and girls in Iraq.

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  8. Background image for For Sama
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    #7 - For Sama

    S38:E7

    In a time of conflict and darkness in her home in Aleppo, Syria, one young woman kept her camera rolling — while falling in love, getting married, having a baby and saying goodbye as her city crumbled. The award-winning documentary unfolds as a love letter from filmmaker and young mother Waad al-Kateab to her daughter — Sama.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for Targeting El Paso
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    #8 - Targeting El Paso

    S38:E8

    FRONTLINE investigates how El Paso, Texas became the Trump administration’s immigration testing ground, and then the target of a white supremacist. Interviews with current and former officials, Border Patrol agents, advocates and migrants tell the inside story from the epicenter of the border crisis.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump (1)
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    #9 - America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump (1)

    S38:E9

    A two-part investigation into America’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. Part One of the documentary traces how Barack Obama’s promise of unity collapsed as increasing racial, cultural and political divisions laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump (2)
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    #10 - America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump (2)

    S38:E10

    A two-part investigation into America’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. Part Two of the documentary examines how Donald Trump’s campaign exploited the country’s divisions and how his presidency has unleashed anger on both sides of the divide.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Taliban Country/The Luanda Leaks
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    #11 - Taliban Country/The Luanda Leaks

    S38:E11

    FRONTLINE reporter Najibullah Quraishi goes on a dangerous journey into both Taliban- and ISIS-held territory amid efforts to end nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan. Also in this two-part hour, an investigation with the ICIJ into how Isabel dos Santos became Africa’s richest woman.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Battle for Hong Kong
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    #12 - Battle for Hong Kong

    S38:E12

    FRONTLINE goes inside the battle for Hong Kong, following protesters through the most intense clashes over several months of pro-democracy protests. The film examines their struggle against what they say is growing influence from the communist government of mainland China.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos
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    #13 - Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos

    S38:E13

    FRONTLINE examines Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ascent to power and the global impact of the empire he built. The film also investigates the darker side of the company’s rapid growth, and the challenge of trying to rein in the power of the richest man in the world.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for NRA Under Fire
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    #14 - NRA Under Fire

    S38:E14

    Once an unrivaled political power, the NRA is facing challenges from all sides. FRONTLINE examines how the NRA aligned with President Trump and his base, and finds itself under attack ahead of the 2020 election.

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  16. Background image for Plastic Wars
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    #15 - Plastic Wars

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for China Undercover
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    #16 - China Undercover

    S38:E16

    With undercover footage and firsthand accounts from survivors of China's detention camps, FRONTLINE investigates the Communist regime’s mass imprisonment of Muslims, and its use of sophisticated surveillance technology against the Uyghur community.

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    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Coronavirus Pandemic
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    #17 - Coronavirus Pandemic

    S38:E17

    How did the U.S. become the country with the worst known coronavirus outbreak in the world? FRONTLINE investigates the American response to COVID-19 — from Washington State to Washington, D.C. — and examines what happens when politics and science collide.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Inside Italy's COVID War
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    #18 - Inside Italy's COVID War

    S38:E18

    FRONTLINE goes inside a hospital battling the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy, as doctors are forced to make life and death decisions. An intimate, exclusive story that follows one besieged ER doctor, her staff and the patients suffering from COVID-19, from the darkest days to the signs of hope.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for The Virus: What Went Wrong?
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    #19 - The Virus: What Went Wrong?

    S38:E19

    As COVID-19 spread from Asia to the Middle East to Europe, why was the U.S. caught so unprepared? Despite repeated warnings of a potent contagion headed our way, America’s leaders failed to prepare and protect us. Why and who is accountable?

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Opioids, Inc.
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    #20 - Opioids, Inc.

    S38:E20

    The story of a drug company that pushed opioids by bribing doctors and committing insurance fraud. With the Financial Times, FRONTLINE investigates how Insys Therapeutics profited from a fentanyl-based painkiller 50 times stronger than heroin.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Once Upon A Time In Iraq
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    #21 - Once Upon A Time In Iraq

    S38:E21

    This is the story of the Iraq war, told by Iraqis who lived through it. They share their personal accounts and lasting memories of life under Saddam Hussein, the U.S.-led invasion of their country and the 17 years of chaos that followed — from the sectarian violence to the rise and brutal reign of ISIS.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Season 38 Ratings Summary

"The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia" is the best rated episode of "Frontline" season 38. It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Linda Hirsch, Martin Smith, it aired on 10/1/2019. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "On The President's Orders".