- 8.4/1040 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.2/1042 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.2/1051 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.2/1040 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.1/1040 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.1/1038 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.0/1046 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.0/1048 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.0/1040 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.0/1040 votesLoading...
#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
- 8.0/1038 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.9/1044 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.9/1049 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.8/1046 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.8/1047 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.8/1036 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.8/1037 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.8/1034 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.8/1038 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.7/1088 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.7/1038 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.7/1054 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.7/1035 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.7/1038 votesLoading...
#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
- 7.6/10113 votesLoading...
#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
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".