The First 48

The Best Episodes of The First 48

Genres:DocumentaryDramaCrime
Network:A&E

Every episode of The First 48 ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The First 48!

The First 48 follows detectives from around the country during these first critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect. Gritty and...
Episodes
549
Avg. Rating
NaN
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
7.8
8.0
7.9
8.0
7.4
8.3
7.8
7.9
7.7
7.2
7.9
8.2

Filter By Season25

  1. 9.8/10(12 votes)

    #1 - Safe House

    Loading...
    S14:E1

    Dallas homicide detectives discover nearly $1 million in the home of a man who was shot on his front porch; two violent suspects are tracked.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  2. 9.4/10(45 votes)

    #2 - Unspeakable Part 2

    Loading...
    S17:E28

    Tulsa Ok. Detective Jason White continues to investigate Courtney Palmers disappearance. The missing persons case turns into a detective's worst nightmare

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  3. 9.0/10(9 votes)

    #3 - Wild Ride

    Loading...
    S13:E5

    Cleveland homicide detectives follow a bizarre trail of evidence in the case of a father of five who was stabbed over 50 times.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  4. 9.0/10(23 votes)

    #4 - Mother of Two

    Loading...
    S15:E22

    When a young mother is found naked and strangled in her car, Tulsa Detective John Brown uncovers a dark obsession that may have turned deadly.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  5. 9.0/10(11 votes)

    #5 - Bullets Have No Names

    Loading...
    S16:E14

    A retired pre-school teacher is killed and detectives rely on a witness to crack the case.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  6. 8.9/10(16 votes)

    #6 - Crossfire / School Ties

    Loading...
    S4:E8

    In Miami, Detectives Emiliano Tamayo and Ervens Ford find a young woman shot dead in a convenience store. The store's surveillance footage reveals she may have been an innocent victim. Another man was the target. They need to find him before it's too late. Across town, fellow Miami Detectives Fernando Bosch and Rick Martinez are investigating the murder of a man shot dead on the street in the middle of the day. The victim's girlfriend was there and may know the identity of the killer.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The First 48

    READ
  8. 8.9/10(18 votes)

    #7 - Gone

    Loading...
    S8:E1

    Detectives are called to the scene at an apartment, blood covers the apartment. There is no possible way the victim survived this brutal attack. No body is found at the scene and detectives start the search for the killer...and their victim.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  9. 8.9/10(12 votes)

    #8 - Last Words; Nowhere to Hide

    Loading...
    S11:E33

    In Birmingham, a 49-year-old man is beaten and shot in the middle of a housing complex in broad daylight. In a community where no one wants to be seen as "snitching," finding someone to come forward with information will be Detective Chris Anderson's biggest challenge. Then, in DeKalb County, lead detective Chris Franklin investigates the murder of an 18-year-old male, gunned down in an apartment complex. The case takes a turn when Franklin learns the killer's intended target was actually the victim's friend.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  10. 8.8/10(10 votes)

    #9 - Down in Overtown/Breaking Point

    Loading...
    S12:E8

    In Miami, a young father is gunned down after a night of gambling. Detective Emiliano Tamayo has to figure out who would have killed him over twenty dollars. Then in Dallas, a child's birthday party turns deadly. The investigation becomes even more urgent when Detective Leo Gonzalez discovers the killer may be on the way to Mexico.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  11. 8.8/10(31 votes)

    #10 - Dark Waters

    Loading...
    S14:E18

    New Orleans Detective Ryan Vaught takes on his most challenging case yet when a young married couple goes missing and one of them is found floating in a river, drowned to death.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  12. 8.8/10(17 votes)

    #11 - Triggered

    Loading...
    S19:E12

    Detective Ronnie Leatherman returns to Tulsa homicide to investigate the death of a man who crashed his car in a shopping center.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  13. 8.7/10(44 votes)

    #12 - Buried Secrets

    Loading...
    S18:E6

    In Mobile, Alabama, a 68-year-old woman goes missing after checking into a casino where she had lost millions.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  14. 8.7/10(34 votes)

    #13 - Young Guns

    Loading...
    S18:E15

    When an innocent bystander protecting a young woman is gunned down, detectives scramble to learn who fired the fatal shots before anyone else gets hurt.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  15. 8.7/10(41 votes)

    #14 - Chain of Death

    Loading...
    S19:E1

    A young mother and her best friend gunned down in broad daylight sets off a chain of events that Tulsa Homicide never could have imagined.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  16. 8.6/10(26 votes)

    #15 - Blame Game; Chasing Shadows

    Loading...
    S8:E9

    Two brothers are suspects in the murder of 30-year-old man, in what looks like a robbery gone wrong. Detectives try to get the brothers to turn on each other to see who the killer is. A man is found gunned down in a local parking lot. The clues are few and far between. Detectives get the break they need when the run across surveillance footage.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  17. 8.6/10(14 votes)

    #16 - Without a Trace; Street Justice

    Loading...
    S11:E27

    No description available

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  18. 8.6/10(12 votes)

    #17 - Killer Connection; Bloody Birthday

    Loading...
    S13:E34

    Dallas detectives hope that video footage can identify the person who murdered a young father; a Cleveland mother of six is shot and killed on her birthday.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  19. 8.6/10(9 votes)

    #18 - Cold Embrace

    Loading...
    S14:E3

    In Cleveland, after a man is found dead in his car, the autopsy reveals he was strangled to death. Detectives Nate Sowa and Ray Diaz take the case and uncover a relationship that could lead them to their killer. But with Sowa's retirement right around the corner, can he solve the murder before the case goes cold?

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  20. 8.5/10(16 votes)

    #19 - The Wrong Man / Five Points Payback

    Loading...
    S4:E10

    On a rain-soaked Memphis morning, Sgts. Tony Mullins and Mitch Oliver respond to a drive-by shooting, and learn that the victim is an innocent bystander. The man who says he was the intended target lead Mullins and Oliver on a manhunt for two brothers alleged to be the driver and the shooter. And in Dallas, when a man is shot to death in a van, Det. Dale Lundberg must untangle a web of conflicting stories about the man's identity to try to find his killer.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  21. 8.5/10(25 votes)

    #20 - Motel Massacre / Pure Innocent

    Loading...
    S4:E13

    A Memphis motel turns into a war zone when a gunfight leaves two men dead and another critically injured. Sgt. WD Merritt and the homicide team spring into action to find their shooter. In Kansas City, homicide Det. Everett Babcock leads the investigation into the shooting death of a two-year-old baby. To Babcock's surprise, an eight-year-old witness leads police on a nationwide manhunt.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  22. 8.5/10(51 votes)

    #21 - Out of the Past; Fued

    Loading...
    S8:E6

    A man is gunned down in front of his wife and children. Detectives look for clues to determine if the murder has a deeper meaning or if it was a robbery gone wrong. A young man is killed in the middle of the day in the prime of his life, in a hail of gunfire. In order to track this killer the surviving victim must be located to get details of the shootout and why it happened.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  23. 8.5/10(24 votes)

    #22 - Schoolyard Revenge

    Loading...
    S10:E18

    A fight between two teenagers leads to the murder of a 29-year-old man and his paralyzed mother.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  24. 8.5/10(11 votes)

    #23 - Love Her Madly; Off Track

    Loading...
    S11:E36

    In Miami, the Homicide Unit responds to a scene to find the 911 caller covered in blood and a 35-year-old woman brutally stabbed. And in DeKalb County, Det. Joe Renaud and his team are working the shooting murder of a 22-year-old man.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  25. 8.5/10(13 votes)

    #24 - Bad Attitude/Collateral Damage

    Loading...
    S12:E11

    Mike Smith and Walley Everett investigate the murder of a 23-year-old mother found burned in the backyard of an abandoned house.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  26. 8.5/10(12 votes)

    #25 - Murder in Treme

    Loading...
    S14:E15

    In New Orleans, when a woman is slashed to death, the investigation into her murder leads Detectives Chuck Ward and Rob Barrere to a house of horrors, and they discover the killer may be someone they least expected.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A

Best Episodes Summary

"Safe House" is the best rated episode of "The First 48". It scored 9.8/10 based on 12 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 6/19/2014. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Unspeakable Part 2".