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The Best Episodes of Spenser: For Hire

Every episode of Spenser: For Hire ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Spenser: For Hire!

Mystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator living in Boston, gets involved in a new murder mystery each...
Genres:DramaCrimeMystery
Network:ABC

Top Episode Ratings Summary

"Haunting" is the best rated episode of "Spenser: For Hire". It scored 8.4/10 based on 40 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 5/7/1988. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Trial and Error".

  • Haunting
    8.4/1040 votes
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    #1 - Haunting

    Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 5/7/1988

    Spenser investigates an old child kidnapping case when he tries to track down a teenage girl's biological parents.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Trial and Error
    8.2/1042 votes
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    #2 - Trial and Error

    Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 2/21/1987

    A pimp is wrongfully arrested for the murder of one of his girls. Spenser agonizes between pursuing the real murderer or letting the pimp take the rap.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Road Back
    8.2/1051 votes
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    #3 - The Road Back

    Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 3/21/1987

    Spenser loses all feeling in his right arm after he's shot while guarding a politician.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: N/A

  • The Heart of the Matter
    8.2/1040 votes
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    #4 - The Heart of the Matter

    Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/11/1987

    Lt. Quirk faces his mortality when he suffers a heart attack. Spenser and Hawk protect him from revenge-minded villains as he recovers.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: Norma Safford Vela

  • Song of Orpheus
    8.1/1040 votes
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    #5 - Song of Orpheus

    Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 5/9/1987

    A prison inmate with a grudge against Hawk hires outside muscle to rub him out.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: N/A

  • Consilum Abditum
    8.1/1038 votes
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    #6 - Consilum Abditum

    Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 11/15/1987

    Susan is in trouble when her claims of sexual harassment lead her college counselor to retaliate by hiring a hit man to keep her quiet. Spenser gets arrested for getting involved in a fight.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: N/A

  • Angel of Desolation
    8.0/1046 votes
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    #7 - Angel of Desolation

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/4/1986

    Spenser is hired by the fashion model wife of a rich bank owner who says her life is in danger. After multiple attempted murders and one successful murder, Spenser realizes that the wife is not the target. When the wife's past comes to light, the investigation takes a whole new direction.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Widow's Walk
    8.0/1048 votes
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    #8 - Widow's Walk

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 10/4/1986

    A small fishing family hires Spenser to investigate the death of their father. Spenser suspects a rival fishing family, the Almeidas.

    Director: William Wiard

    Writer: Juanita Bartlett

  • Home is the Hero
    8.0/1040 votes
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    #9 - Home is the Hero

    Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/22/1986

    Rita hires Spenser to investigate a troubled teenager, yet another 'Spenser helps a misguided youth' episode.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Personal Demons
    8.0/1040 votes
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    #10 - Personal Demons

    Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 2/7/1987

    Spenser and Rita go after a corrupt African.

    Director: Cliff Bole

    Writer: N/A

  • The Man Who Wasn't There
    8.0/1038 votes
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    #11 - The Man Who Wasn't There

    Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 5/2/1987

    Rita and her old college friends are reunited when a fictional person they created 20 years ago is found dead in his apartment.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Among Friends
    7.9/1044 votes
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    #12 - Among Friends

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 1/10/1987

    Hawk is the main suspect when Lt. Quirk is shot, due to a recent fracas between the two. Spenser suspects a new man in town, trying to take Hawk down to make a name for himself.

    Director: Cliff Bole

    Writer: N/A

  • My Enemy, My Friend
    7.9/1049 votes
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    #13 - My Enemy, My Friend

    Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 10/4/1987

    A streetwise young kid gets involved over his head in the underworld. Spenser and Hawk try to protect him from would-be killers.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon

  • A Madness Most Discreet
    7.8/1046 votes
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    #14 - A Madness Most Discreet

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/1986

    Spenser tries to protect a former Russian ballerina, when she hires him to help her find stolen papers, but he gets more than he bargained for once he discovers that she is a person of interest to dueling government agents employed by American and Russian forces.

    Director: Ray Austin

    Writer: N/A

  • Homecoming
    7.8/1047 votes
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    #15 - Homecoming

    Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1987

    A cop who helped send a gangster's son to prison years ago has been hiding, cause the gangster wants to get him. But now he wants to come home, so he and his father, asks Spenser to act as intermediary. While the gangster is unwilling to settle for nothing less than seeing him dead. Spenser tries to see what he can do. At the same time Spenser has to deal with Susan, who came back to town, and would like to see if they have a future, but this case is taking up all of his time.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: N/A

  • Child's Play
    7.8/1036 votes
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    #16 - Child's Play

    Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 12/20/1987

    A sniper takes some shots at Spenser and Susan, and a young boy ends up dead in the crossfire. Spenser sets out to determine why such a tragedy happened and track down the shooter.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Skeletons in the Closet
    7.8/1037 votes
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    #17 - Skeletons in the Closet

    Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 1/3/1988

    Spenser and Hawk find themselves on opposite sides of the same case. Spenser is hired to retrieve a stolen journal containing information damaging to a judge's career. Hawk is hired by the thief to extort money from the judge.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Watercolors
    7.8/1034 votes
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    #18 - Watercolors

    Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/19/1988

    Spenser protects a child artist after the child witnesses a mob execution while painting in the forest.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: N/A

  • Hawk's Eyes
    7.8/1038 votes
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    #19 - Hawk's Eyes

    Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/26/1988

    Spenser investigates the death of a friend apparently involved with white supremicists. Hawk is rendered blind by an explosion.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Choice
    7.7/1088 votes
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    #20 - The Choice

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1985

    A old man whom Spenser and Hawk knows is shot. They discover that the killer are a couple who comes from an affluent background, which they hide behind. It turns into a cat and mouse game for Spenser and Hawk, who are determined to take them down.

    Director: William Wiard

    Writer: N/A

  • One For My Daughter
    7.7/1038 votes
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    #21 - One For My Daughter

    Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 3/7/1987

    Spenser and Hawk protect a man who owes money to men of dubious ethics. When their client, Bo Braxton tries to blackmail his creditors, he and his alcoholic teenage daughter go on the run.

    Director: Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: N/A

  • On the Night he Was Betrayed
    7.7/1054 votes
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    #22 - On the Night he Was Betrayed

    Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 11/1/1987

    Spenser helps an old friend, an alcoholic priest who tries to help homeless teenagers, when he gets involved over his head.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Sleepless Dreams
    7.7/1035 votes
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    #23 - Sleepless Dreams

    Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 11/8/1987

    Spenser becomes obsessed with an apparently suicidal woman after a chance encounter on the street.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Gone Fishin'
    7.7/1038 votes
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    #24 - Gone Fishin'

    Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 12/6/1987

    Spenser's fishing trip is interrupted when he has to protect a young man who's not allowed to marry the girl he loves.

    Director: Bruce Bilson

    Writer: N/A

  • Promised Land
    7.6/10113 votes
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    #25 - Promised Land

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1985

    Spenser is hired to find the runaway wife of a wealthy businessman. Based on a story by Spenser novelist Robert B. Parker.

    Director: Lee H. Katzin

    Writer: N/A