DocumentaryDramaCrime2004–A&E

The Best Episodes of The First 48

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

Best episode
S17E28 Unspeakable Part 2
9.449 votes
Worst episode
S11E12 Insider; Paradise Lost; Bad Debt
3.234 votes
Top season
Season 4
8.3avg
Binge time
17d 6h
608 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons30

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The First 48 Season 17 Episode 28 - Unspeakable Part 2
    9.4/10(49 votes)

    S17:E28

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The First 48 Season 18 Episode 6 - Buried Secrets
    8.7/10(46 votes)

    S18:E6

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The First 48 Season 19 Episode 1 - Chain of Death
    8.7/10(46 votes)

    S19:E1

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The First 48 Season 14 Episode 18 - Dark Waters
    8.8/10(33 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The First 48 Season 15 Episode 22 - Mother of Two
    8.9/10(26 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The First 48 Season 8 Episode 6 - Out of the Past; Fued
    8.6/10(60 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The First 48

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  7. The First 48 Season 4 Episode 8 - Crossfire / School Ties
    9.1/10(18 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The First 48 Season 18 Episode 15 - Young Guns
    8.7/10(35 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The First 48 Season 4 Episode 13 - Motel Massacre / Pure Innocent
    8.7/10(28 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The First 48 Season 14 Episode 1 - Safe House
    9.0/10(15 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The First 48 Season 8 Episode 1 - Gone
    8.8/10(19 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The First 48 Season 8 Episode 9 - Blame Game; Chasing Shadows
    8.6/10(28 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The First 48 Season 7 Episode 1 - Inked in Blood
    8.5/10(31 votes)

    S7:E1

    In Memphis, Sergeant Connie Justice investigates the murder of a 32-year-old tattoo artist shot to death during a robbery. The victim’s husband, who survived the robbery, only knows the suspects’ nicknames. Armed with stencils of tattoos the customers received before the robbery, Justice must identify and track down the multiple suspects.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The First 48 Season 19 Episode 12 - Triggered
    8.7/10(18 votes)

    S19:E12

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. The First 48 Season 2 Episode 11 - Fallen / Texas Burning
    8.4/10(38 votes)

    S2:E11

    Detectives Randy Loboda and Phil Harding find two bodies, burned up, in the opposite side of town on the same night. Loboda's investigation leads to a motel where they find a bloody room, the possible murder scene, while Harding learns the two victims may have been killed by the same killer; Sergeant Joe Schillaci finds a man's body, a victim of an apparent suicide, but his investigation takes a twist when he discovers signs of a struggle. Schillaci soon learns the man was seen with a mysterious woman only hours before his death, but the woman has disappeared. She may be the killer or yet another victim.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The First 48 Season 10 Episode 18 - Schoolyard Revenge
    8.5/10(26 votes)

    S10:E18

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The First 48 Season 11 Episode 33 - Last Words; Nowhere to Hide
    8.9/10(12 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The First 48 Season 4 Episode 10 - The Wrong Man / Five Points Payback
    8.6/10(19 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. The First 48 Season 7 Episode 29 - After the First 48: Murder on the Interstate / At Close Range
    8.4/10(30 votes)

    S7:E29

    UPDATE: Follow this case through the justice system. We have already seen the bodies discovered and the arrests made. Now we get to see the court process and the verdicts handed down.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The First 48 Season 13 Episode 5 - Wild Ride
    9.0/10(9 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The First 48 Season 2 Episode 2 - Murder on the Interstate/House of Santeria
    8.5/10(19 votes)

    S2:E2

    Homicide Sergeant Joe Schillaci and his squad must solve a murder of an innocent college student during a hectic Memorial Day weekend; Sergeant Carlos De Los Santos and his team tackle the murder of a doctor found hogtied in his house and learn that the key to the case may lie with the voodoo-like Santeria shrines found at the crime scene.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The First 48 Season 5 Episode 1 - Fatal Pickup / Bad Neighbor
    8.4/10(25 votes)

    S5:E1

    In Detroit, a double shooting in a vacant lot leads Lieutenant John Morell and Sergeant LaNesha Jones to an unlikely suspect—a 61 year old man. And in Dallas, Detective Eddie Ibarra must unravel the complex life of a victim riddled with bullets and dumped in a downtown park.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. The First 48 Season 7 Episode 4 - Unnecessary Roughness / Stolen Life
    8.5/10(18 votes)

    S7:E4

    Gunfire rings out leaving a teenager dead, ironically during a Children's Peace Bowl for street violence. With little to go on detectives need a witness to come forward. A popular basketball coach is gunned down, detectives are left scratching their heads. Leads are few and far between, can detectives find their killer?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The First 48 Season 11 Episode 27 - Without a Trace; Street Justice
    8.6/10(14 votes)

    S11:E27

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The First 48 Season 18 Episode 11 - The Deadliest Sin / Bloodlines
    8.3/10(32 votes)

    S18:E11

    In Mobile, Alabama, the murder of a 19-year-old becomes personal when the team learns that the victim is Detective Jermaine Rogers' cousin. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a 31-year-old mother is gunned down in front of her home by an unlikely suspect.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Unspeakable Part 2" is the best rated episode of The First 48. It scored 9.4/10 from 49 votes. Written and directed by Unknown, it aired on November 26, 2018. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "Buried Secrets".

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