8.4/1021 votes#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/3/1996
After hibernating for 15,000 years, a malevolent virus is released from an ancient tomb in Costa Rica. A top team of specialists is assembled to research it. Infection causes blood-red eyes, a high fever and superhuman strength, and an exceptional interest in deadly diseases.
Director: Bradford May
Writer: N/A
- 8.6/1024 votes
#2 - The Silent Tower
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/10/1996
Dr. Cassian, the new team leader, sends the biocrisis team to investigate a Chicago high-rise. A mysterious rash of suicides caused by hallucinations has led to 79 deaths in the two years since its opening.
Director: Michael Lange
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1021 votes
#3 - St. Michael's Nightmare
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/17/1996
The team travels to Philadelphia to search for the cause of violence and death that have occurred the last two years during the Festival of St. Michael, a celebration of good's victory over evil.
Director: Scott Brazil
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/1014 votes
#4 - Arms of Fire
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 9/24/1996
Cassian's biocrisis team investigates two cases of spontaneous human combustion at a poor urban high school. The team traces the cause to an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company.
Director: Michael Katleman
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1019 votes
#5 - Night Flight
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/1/1996
During the flight back from a small island country, Marcase, Shiroma and Hailey must fight an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever. Faced with a 5-hour flight, they must find a cure in time to land.
Director: Jesús Salvador Treviño
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
- 8.0/1017 votes
#6 - Lethal Injection
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/15/1996
A sinister government black-project uses death row inmates as guinea pigs to make contact with the afterlife. It nearly costs Marcase his life, and Cassian must find a way to shut it down.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1019 votes
#7 - Touch of the Dead
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/29/1996
Cassian is infected with a bacteria that will kill him in 48 hours. While searching for an antidote, the team uncovers a government conspiracy.
Director: Oscar L. Costo
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/1024 votes
#8 - Hall of the Serpent
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/1996
Cassian's niece falls under the spell of a self-proclaimed healer who claims to be able to cure deadly diseases. He appears to heal people-until they defy him. The team infiltrates his compound in Mexico to rescue Cassian's niece, who has been diagnosed with leukemia.
Director: Michael Lange
Writer: N/A
- 9.0/1044 votes
#9 - Blood Covenant
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/1996
A doctor, angry with the US government for the death of his wife and for abandoning him in Zaire threatens to infect Orlando's main blood supply with malaria unless a billion dollars is deposited to a Swiss bank account.
Director: Oscar L. Costo
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/1022 votes
#10 - Faces in the Night
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/26/1996
When Dr. Shiroma is abducted by a serial killer who only kills his victims during the full moon, the team races to discover the killer's identity before she becomes his next victim.
Director: Scott Brazil
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
- 8.3/1020 votes
#11 - Midnight of the Carrier
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/7/1997
The team removes a capsule from the head of an old man. This leads to the shocking discovery of white supremacists in the CIA and occultism in the Third Reich. During the operation, security is compromised, and the team fights to save the old man's life and to protect the contents of the capsule from someone who wants it at any cost.
Director: Janet Greek
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
- 7.0/1012 votes
#12 - Critical Mass
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/28/1997
Dr. Brian Taft, a neuropathologist, is enlisted by Cassian to help investigate the death of a LA fireman. After being exposed to a meteorite, the fireman grew fatal brain tumors and developed homicidal madness. Cassian fears the same may be happening to anyone exposed to this meteorite, including the scientists examining it.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
- 6.4/109 votes
#13 - Death Song
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 2/4/1997
Several recovering Hodgkin's patient's bones are suddenly breaking into multiples fractures. Cassian and Taft investigate the gruesome deaths. Hailey becomes involed with a famous singer who faces the same fate.
Director: Michael Miller
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/109 votes
#14 - The Last Endless Summer
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/11/1997
When several surfers come down with a fatal but undetectable disease that causes organ failure overnight, Cassian's team is called in to assist. A medical student, with a promising future, is also aflicted.
Director: Stephen L. Posey
Writer: N/A
- 6.1/109 votes
#15 - The Last Five Pounds are the Hardest
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/18/1997
Several people across the US are found dead or in a coma. The only connection is Metabathin, a diet pill. While Taft's investigation can find nothing wrong with Metabathin, Cassian's team uncovers a stock manipulation scheme when someone from the company leaks information that causes the public to panic.
Director: Michael Miller
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
- 6.2/1012 votes
#16 - Elegy For a Dream
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 4/29/1997
Taft's football-playing nephew falls victim to a flesh-eating bacterium that may cause him to lose his arm. Contaminated tattoo ink is spreading the bacterium around Chicago.
Director: Nancy Malone
Writer: Michael Gleason
- 6.4/109 votes
#17 - A Secret in the Neighborhood
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 5/6/1997
When a boy collapses at an amusement park with burns in his mouth and throat, chemical weapons are suspected. The team suspects a government installation has a hazardous chemical leak.
Director: Michael Miller
Writer: N/A
- 6.6/1010 votes
#18 - Wild Fire
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 5/13/1997
A drug-resistant Cholera breaks out in Detroit. Tainted pearls smuggled from the South Pacific are the source of contamination. Cassian's team rushes to develop a cure before it spreads to other cities. Hailey finds painful memories when he returns to his home town.
Director: Stephen L. Posey
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/108 votes
#19 - On Wings of Angels
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 5/20/1997
A secret project goes wrong when a prison escapee, who was exposed to a deadly experimental drug, kidnaps Taft and orders him to save his life or die.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Burning Zone Season 1
Every episode of The Burning Zone Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Burning Zone Season 1!
The Burning Zone is a television drama broadcast on the UPN network as part of its 1996–97 lineup. It ran for 19 episodes. The series...
Genre:Drama
Network:UPN
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "The Burning Zone" season 1. It scored 8.4/10 based on 21 votes. Directed by Bradford May and written by N/A, it aired on 9/3/1996. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "The Silent Tower".