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The Worst Episodes of Frontline

Every episode of Frontline ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Frontline!

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

Seasons45

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Frontline Season 43 Episode 11 - The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump
    1.9/10(10 votes)

    S43:E11

    Investigating the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In a historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Frontline Season 43 Episode 12 - The VP Choice: Vance vs. Walz
    1.9/10(10 votes)

    S43:E12

    Investigating the lives and views of J.D. Vance and Tim Walz as they run for vice president; those who know the candidates reveal the influences and ideas they'd bring to the White House.

    Director:Gabrielle Schonder
    Writers:Anya Bourg, James Jacoby

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  3. Frontline Season 45 Episode 3 - The Deal: Trump, Bukele & the Gangs of El Salvador
    1.9/10(10 votes)

    S45:E3

    An examination of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s deal with President Trump to imprison U.S. deportees, and what each leader stood to gain. FRONTLINE and the Salvadoran news outlet El Faro, now operating in exile, investigate Bukele’s tangled history with the gangs the U.S. says it is fighting.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Frontline Season 43 Episode 16 - Breakdown in Maine
    2.6/10(11 votes)

    S43:E16

    Investigating the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history and missed opportunities to prevent it. FRONTLINE, Portland Press Herald and Maine Public examine breakdowns with police, military and mental health care before the Lewiston shooting.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Frontline Season 40 Episode 17 - America After 9/11
    2.0/10(9 votes)

    S40:E17

    From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team, this documentary traces the U.S. response to the September 11 terrorist attacks and the devastating consequences that unfolded across three presidencies. This two-hour special offers an epic re-examination of the decisions that changed the world and transformed America.

    Director:Michael Kirk
    Writers:Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser

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  6. Frontline Season 40 Episode 21 - Shots Fired
    2.0/10(9 votes)

    S40:E21

    Amid record police shootings in Utah, an investigation into the use of deadly force in the state. With local journalism partner The Salt Lake Tribune, FRONTLINE examines police training, tactics and accountability, as well as racial disparities in the way force is used.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Frontline Season 41 Episode 9 - Facing Eviction
    2.0/10(9 votes)

    S41:E9

    Why have American families struggled to keep their homes during the COVID pandemic, despite a federal ban on evictions? With Retro Report, Frontline offers an intimate look at the United States’ affordable housing crisis through the eyes of tenants, landlords, judges and law enforcement.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Frontline Season 43 Episode 14 - American Voices 2024
    2.0/10(9 votes)

    S43:E14

    Following the changing views and experiences of Americans from the 2020 election to today; revisiting voters filmed four years ago, to see how their hopes and fears have changed amid another polarizing election season.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Frontline Season 45 Episode 4 - Caught in the Crackdown
    2.0/10(9 votes)

    S45:E4

    FRONTLINE and ProPublica trace the violence, protests and arrests stemming from federal immigration sweeps across the United States. The documentary examines the tactics, legal cases and impact — from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Frontline Season 45 Episode 2 - Crisis in Venezuela
    2.2/10(9 votes)

    S45:E2

    What’s next for Venezuela after the dramatic fall of Nicolás Maduro? In a documentary from the filmmakers behind "A Dangerous Assignment," FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigate the legacy of corruption in Venezuela, the challenges to democracy, the conflict with the U.S., and the fight over who will control the oil-rich country.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Frontline Season 39 Episode 6 - The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden
    4.8/10(35 votes)

    S39:E6

    In this 2-hour special from veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team, hear from friends, family, colleagues and adversaries about the challenges that shaped Trump and Biden’s lives and could inform how they confront the crises facing the nation at this pivotal juncture.

    Director:Michael Kirk
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Frontline Season 42 Episode 3 - Putin and the Presidents
    2.1/10(8 votes)

    S42:E3

    Vladimir Putin’s clashes with American presidents as he’s tried to rebuild the Russian empire. FRONTLINE traces the miscalculations and missteps of American presidents over five administrations, culminating in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Frontline Season 42 Episode 8 - Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court
    2.1/10(8 votes)

    S42:E8

    As controversy erupts around Clarence and Ginni Thomas, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of their path to power. This investigation from veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team traces how race, power and controversy collide in the rise of the Supreme Court justice and his wife and how the couple has reshaped American law and politics.

    Director:Michael Kirk
    Writers:Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser

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  14. Frontline Season 42 Episode 21 - The Discord Leaks
    2.1/10(8 votes)

    S42:E21

    How a young Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked classified documents onto the Discord chat platform. With The Washington Post, FRONTLINE examines Jack Teixeira’s alleged leak of national security secrets, why he wasn’t stopped, and the role of platforms like Discord.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Frontline Season 42 Episode 22 - Netanyahu, America & the Road to War in Gaza / Failure at the Fence
    2.1/10(8 votes)

    S42:E22

    Part 1: As the war in Gaza continues with devastating consequences, a major 90-minute documentary offers a sweeping examination of the critical moments and missteps that led to this crisis over the course of the past three decades, and the pivotal role of a central player: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Part 2: How Hamas was able to breach Israel’s vaunted security barrier on Oct. 7, 2023. This special collaboration stems from a Washington Post reconstruction, now deepened with additional on-the-ground reporting and riveting interviews that present a remarkable picture of how, as The Post reporters show, Hamas was planning the attack in plain sight, and Israel was blinded to its own vulnerabilities.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Frontline Season 44 Episode 6 - Hurricane Helene's Deadly Warning
    4.7/10(28 votes)

    S44:E6

    A look into how Hurricane Helene became an ominous warning about America's lack of preparedness, and how and why the U.S. is more vulnerable than ever to climate change-related storms.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Frontline Season 16 Episode 3 - Behind the Mask: the IRA and Sinn Fein
    4.5/10(21 votes)

    S16:E3

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Frontline Season 44 Episode 11 - Born Poor
    4.8/10(27 votes)

    S44:E11

    An indelible look at the realities of growing up poor in America. Filmed over 14 years with kids from three families, from adolescents to adults with kids of their own, navigating an economy with more obstacles than opportunities.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Frontline Season 44 Episode 1 - Trump's Comeback
    4.8/10(25 votes)

    S44:E1

    FRONTLINE traces Donald Trump's return to the presidency, overcoming unprecedented obstacles and opposition. With insider interviews, the documentary examines defining moments over his life and career, his 2020 election loss, felony convictions and his historic comeback.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Frontline Season 42 Episode 12 - Inside the Iranian Uprising
    5.6/10(81 votes)

    S42:E12

    With a trove of gripping footage filmed by protestors, this documentary goes inside the uprising that rocked Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody — and sheds new light on a regime under unprecedented pressure. Last fall, anti-government protests swept across Iran after the death in police custody of a young woman, Mahsa Zhina Amini, who was accused of not adhering to the Islamic regime’s strict dress code. In the crackdown on protests that followed, human rights groups estimate that more than 500 Iranians have been killed, including 72 children. In a country where journalists are tightly controlled, young Iranians have been filming the uprising themselves and posting the videos online. For more than six months, FRONTLINE has been gathering and reviewing over 100 hours of this footage, cross-checking it with testimony from eyewitnesses and protestors, and following activists and exiles who have been gathering evidence of human rights violations.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Frontline Season 44 Episode 16 - Status: Venezuelan/Surviving CECOT
    5.1/10(30 votes)

    S44:E16

    FRONTLINE and ProPublica tell the story of one Venezuelan family in Florida trying to stay together — and stay in the U.S. legally — as they navigate the shifting legal immigration landscape under the Trump administration’s policies. Also in this hour, the stories of men sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Frontline Season 41 Episode 8 - Police on Trial
    4.2/10(14 votes)

    S41:E8

    With Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from the Star Tribune, this documentary investigates the Minneapolis police, from the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests, to the trial of Derek Chauvin, to the struggle for accountability.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Frontline Season 43 Episode 13 - A Year of War: Israelis and Palestinians
    3.2/10(8 votes)

    S43:E13

    The horrifying accounts of living through the Hamas attack and the war in Gaza; stories from the people directly impacted on both sides of the conflict.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Frontline Season 41 Episode 6 - The Power of Big Oil: Doubt (2)
    4.8/10(18 votes)

    S41:E6

    FRONTLINE examines the fossil fuel industry’s history of casting doubt and delaying action on climate change. Part Two of this three-part series explores the industry’s efforts to stall climate policy, even as evidence about climate change grew more certain in the new millennium.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Frontline Season 37 Episode 22 - Flint's Deadly Water
    2.5/10(6 votes)

    S37:E22

    Five years after the start of Flint’s water crisis, FRONTLINE exposes its hidden toll. Our two-year investigation traces how a public health disaster that’s become known for the lead poisoning of thousands of children also spawned one of the largest outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in U.S. history.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump" is the worst rated episode of Frontline. It scored 1.9/10 from 10 votes. Written and directed by Unknown, it aired on September 24, 2024.

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