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The Best Episodes of Spenser: For Hire Season 1

Every episode of Spenser: For Hire Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Spenser: For Hire Season 1!

Binge this in 22h 15m•Peaking at 8.1/10

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 episode.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 18 - Angel of Desolation
    8.1/10(58 votes)

    S1:E18

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 14 - A Madness Most Discreet
    7.9/10(60 votes)

    S1:E14

    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:Unknown

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  3. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 19 - She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
    7.7/10(54 votes)

    S1:E19

    Detective Belson's ex-partner is murdered during his daughter's wedding reception. The dead cop is suspected of being involved in criminal activities, so Lt. Quirk asks Spenser to investigate the dead man and find out if Belson is dirty, too.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 22 - Hell Hath No Fury
    7.7/10(54 votes)

    S1:E22

    Partnering with an attractive TV news reporter, Spenser investigates the reason a newly constructed building collapsed, killing a boy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 3 - The Choice
    7.6/10(114 votes)

    S1:E3

    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:Unknown

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  6. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 8 - Autumn Thieves
    7.6/10(70 votes)

    S1:E8

    Spenser stumbles onto a ring of thieves while investigating a relic stolen from a museum.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 10 - Resurrection
    7.6/10(64 votes)

    S1:E10

    Spenser investigates a crooked vice cop involved in the mugging of one of Susan's friends.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 21 - Rage
    7.6/10(57 votes)

    S1:E21

    Spenser locates a runaway, and saves her from a psychotic man—but the man escapes.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 1 - Promised Land
    7.5/10(153 votes)

    S1:E1

    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:Unknown

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  10. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 9 - Blood Money
    7.5/10(60 votes)

    S1:E9

    The wife of a kidnapped oil tycoon hires Spenser to deliver $1 million in ransom money to a ring of terrorists while police have the drop-off area surrounded.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 15 - Brother to Dragons
    7.5/10(58 votes)

    S1:E15

    Spenser is going skiing with Susan, but when he picks her up at Smithfield High School where she works, he finds out one of her students died of a heroin overdose. Spenser gets hired by the superintendent and goes undercover as a teacher at her school to find out where the drugs are coming from. He obviously gets into it with the dealers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 20 - At the River's Edge
    7.5/10(58 votes)

    S1:E20

    Spenser witnesses an ex-convict murder a 19 year-old girl, then kill himself. The girl's wealthy younger sister hires Spenser to find out why her sister was killed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 11 - Internal Affairs
    7.4/10(63 votes)

    S1:E11

    Marital infidelity and suspected involvement in a gambling ring lead to Lt. Quirk's suspension. Belson is shot during a raid. Spenser works to clear Quirk's name and catch Belson's would-be killer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 13 - A Day's Wages
    7.4/10(57 votes)

    S1:E13

    A young ex-con named Louis Harper steals from his boss, John Brady. Brady hires Spenser to prove it and Harper hires Hawk to protect him from leg-breakers. Spenser and Hawk team up to solve Louis' murder.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 2 - No Room at the Inn
    7.3/10(122 votes)

    S1:E2

    Spenser's apartment burns down, but he's allowed to move into an old fire station as thanks for saving a firefighter's life. Meanwhile, Spenser and Hawk are hired to protect the life of grand jury witness. When it starts to look like someone on the inside might be trying to have the witness killed, and that the witness may not be who she says she is, things get convoluted.

    Director:Lee H. Katzin
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 5 - Original Sin
    7.3/10(88 votes)

    S1:E5

    Spenser investigates the apparent suicide of a young nun, and stumbles onto a corrupt landlord.

    Director:Harvey Hart
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 6 - Discord in A Minor
    7.3/10(80 votes)

    S1:E6

    Spenser's been hired by a conductor to find his daughter who ran away with her boyfriend. When he finds them, she tells him that her father has been molesting her. Spenser then tells her father what she said which he denies. After Spenser leaves, he calls Hawk, who once did a job for him, to do something for him.

    Directors:Don Chaffey, Harvey Hart
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 17 - In a Safe Place
    7.2/10(55 votes)

    S1:E17

    Spenser searches for the father of an undocumented boy killed by an unhinged unemployed man. The trail leads Spenser into a conspiracy involving the exploitation of undocumented workers on the waterfront.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 7 - The Killer Within
    7.1/10(72 votes)

    S1:E7

    Spenser is hired to protect a woman's identical twin sister from assassins, only to discover his employer suffers from a split personality.

    Director:Don Chaffey
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 12 - Death By Design
    7.1/10(55 votes)

    S1:E12

    Spenser and Hawk blame themselves for failing to protect their respective clients from the clutches of the underworld, and vow to settle the score with a big-time racketeer and his henchmen.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 16 - When Silence Speaks
    6.9/10(54 votes)

    S1:E16

    A deaf woman hires Spenser to find a man she had been corresponding with who had gone missing. As Spenser investigates, he realizes that the missing man is somehow involved with a gang of thieves who are trying to kill Spenser in revenge for busting up their diamond heist.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Spenser: For Hire Season 1 Episode 4 - Children of a Tempest Storm
    6.7/10(90 votes)

    S1:E4

    Spenser kills a would-be thief in the course of thwarting a robbery. He and Susan take in the man's two children while investigating his past. Susan discovers she's pregnant.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Angel of Desolation" is the best rated episode of "Spenser: For Hire" season 1. It scored 8.1/10 based on 58 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 3/4/1986. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "A Madness Most Discreet".