7.5/10112 votes#1 - The Killer
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/23/1988
When an IMF team leader is assassinated, Jim Phelps comes out of retirement and assembles a new team to bring the killer to justice.
Director: Cliff Bole
Writer: Arthur Weiss
7.2/1075 votes#2 - The System
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/30/1988
The team must force a mobster to turn evidence against his partner and mentor.
Director: Cliff Bole
Writer: Robert Hamner
7.2/1072 votes#3 - Holograms
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/1988
The IMF must lure a canny drug lord on to U.S. territory so he can be arrested for his crimes.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: N/A
7.2/1071 votes#4 - The Condemned
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/20/1988
The team must free a falsely-condemned prisoner - former IMF techno-genius Barney Collier.
Director: Cliff Bole
Writer: N/A
7.6/1073 votes#5 - The Legacy
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/26/1988
When the sons of four Nazis come together to recover a fortune in gold and create the Fourth Reich, the team must infiltrate the group and locate the gold.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Allan Balter
7.1/1061 votes#6 - The Wall
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 12/11/1988
A East German doctor makes money by tricking political refugees into paying to use his escape route, and kidnaps a diplomat's daughter to prevent the reunification which would make his services obsolete. The IMF must rescue the girl, who is trapped on a life support machine with time running out.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1057 votes#7 - The Cattle King
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/18/1988
The IMF teams up with Australian aborigines to bring down a superstitious cattle king and arms dealer.
Director: Michael Vejar
Writer: N/A
8.0/1066 votes#8 - The Pawn
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 1/15/1989
When a Russian scientist and chess player decides to defect, Nicholas must take his place under the watchful eyes of the KGB while the rest of the team gets the scientist and his daughter out of the country.
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Writer: N/A
7.2/1063 votes#9 - The Haunting
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 1/28/1989
When a rich young sociopath kills a Middle Eastern princess and her father threatens war, the IMF must bring him to justice.
Director: Michael Vejar
Writer: N/A
7.0/1055 votes#10 - The Lions
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 2/4/1989
A king's son returns to his Asian country to take the test that will confirm him as the king, but his uncle, a rabid anti-American, has rigged it so that he can fail, so the IMF must rig it back.
Director: Rob Stewart
Writer: N/A
6.4/1054 votes#11 - The Greek
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 2/11/1989
Jim and Grant must get close to a Greek billionnaire who runs a black market drug ring, and turn his partners against him.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1060 votes#12 - The Fortune
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 2/18/1989
A team member is killed on solo assignment against the wife of a mentally-weak exiled dictator, and the others resolve to bring them both to justice.
Director: Rod Hardy
Writer: N/A
6.9/1055 votes#13 - The Fixer
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 2/25/1989
A Washington journalist uses his connections to gain information to blackmail politicians, posing a threat to the U.S.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1052 votes#14 - Spy
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 3/18/1989
An ex-MI6 agent sells lethal chemical weapons and the IMF must team up with a Russian spy whose people also want to eliminate the threat.
Director: Rob Stewart
Writer: N/A
7.8/1055 votes#15 - The Devils
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 3/25/1989
A rash of insanity among diplomats requires Jim to go undercover as...the Devil, to get the goods on a British lord in charge of a Satanic cult.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.8/1053 votes#16 - The Plague
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 4/8/1989
An industrial spy prepares to sell a vial of bacteria, unaware of how virulent it is if accidentally released.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1053 votes#17 - Reprisal
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 4/15/1989
A deranged ex-IMFer targets retired IMF agents, killing them and framing Jim Phelps for the crimes. The IMF gives Jim only a little time to prove his innocence before they must turn him over to the authorities.
Director: Rob Stewart
Writer: N/A
7.1/1057 votes#18 - Submarine
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/29/1989
A retired admiral prepares to sell a computer virus that can sink any naval vessel, but the plan goes awry when he destroys the computer ""cure"" before the IMF can get it. Now they must force the admiral to reveal the ""cure.""
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1055 votes#19 - Bayou
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 5/6/1989
The IMF must use voodoo rituals to break up a white slavery ring run by a sadistic Louisiana bar owner and millionnaire.
Director: Don Chaffey
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Mission: Impossible Season 1
Every episode of Mission: Impossible Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Mission: Impossible Season 1!
Mission: Impossible is an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force....
Genres:DramaAction & AdventureCrime
Network:ABC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"The Killer" is the best rated episode of "Mission: Impossible" season 1. It scored 7.5/10 based on 112 votes. Directed by Cliff Bole and written by Arthur Weiss, it aired on 10/23/1988. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "The System".