The BEST episodes of China Beach season 3

Every episode of China Beach season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of China Beach season 3!

The trials of a weary nurse, her friends and colleagues in a Vietnam War field hospital.

Last Updated: 8/30/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
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star
8.43
7 votes

#1 - Warriors

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/14/1990

McMurphy is in an emotional and ethical turmoil when she delivers Vinnie's buddy from death but he falls into a terminal coma; and Frankie finds herself in charge of a squad of grizzled grunts.

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star
8.33
9 votes

#2 - How to Stay Alive in Vietnam, Part I

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1989

Beckett and a civilian photographer temporarily join Dodger's patrol; McMurphy gets to know a wounded POW.

Directors: Fred Gerber
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star
8.17
6 votes

#3 - A Rumor of Peace

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/7/1990

China Beach reacts to the rumors of peace floated by Beckett and Frankie during their pirate radio broadcast.

Directors: Neema Barnette
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star
8.14
7 votes

#4 - Souvenirs

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/17/1990

Dodger reaches the limit of his endurance and decides to leave Vietnam and faces a mountain of paperwork as he tries to get permission to take his Amerasian son home with him.

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star
8.13
8 votes

#5 - Dear China Beach

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1989

Dodger is left with an Amerasian baby that is supposedly his son; McMurphy makes a poor patient when she comes down with dysentery; and Holly badgers everyone into answering the letters sent by seventh-graders from Colorado.

Directors: Michael Rhodes
Writer: John Wells
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star
8.10
10 votes

#6 - How to Stay Alive in Vietnam, Part II

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/1989

The wounded Cambodian POW befriended by McMurphy is taken away by the South Vietnamese for interrogation as the photographer Cat pursues the story of his defection and a new commander arrives to take over the base, leaving Lila and K.C. unsure of their positions.

Directors: Steven Dubin
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star
8.00
10 votes

#7 - The Unquiet Earth

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1989

McMurphy and K.C. are kidnapped by the Viet Cong and taken underground into a warren of tunnels, where their captors expect McMurphy to operate on their wounded leader.

Directors: Michael Rhodes
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star
8.00
10 votes

#8 - Skin Deep

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1989

McMurphy uses a little guilt and a little blackmail to get a reluctant K.C. to visit a wounded soldier whose face has been badly disfigured. Holly, the new doughnut dolly, challenges the nurses on behalf of the Red Cross Volunteers to compete in a Miss China Beach beauty pageant. Frankie is assigned to the motor pool and runs into Sarge Pepper, who's not very eager to have her there.

Directors: Mimi Leder
Writer: Carol Flint
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star
8.00
7 votes

#9 - F.N.G.

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/16/1990

In November 1966, fairly new guys Colleen McMurphy and Dr. Richard find themselves learning the ropes when they arrive at China Beach.

Writer: Carol Flint
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star
7.90
10 votes

#10 - China Men

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1989

Dodger and Hyers square off after a battlefield incident; McMurphy spends an uncomfortable evening with Dr. Bernard's sophisticated civilian friends; and Boonie gets a surprise from the sexy Asian singer all the men in camp are longing for.

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star
7.89
9 votes

#11 - Independence Day

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1989

China Beach celebrates a soggy Independence Day with Boonie and Holly trying to keep everyone's spirits up, McMurphy dealing with a love struck private as she tries to sort out her feelings for Dr. Bernard, Lila and the Sarge discussing the future and Beckett and K.C. quarreling over registering the dead to vote.

Directors: Mimi Leder
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star
7.88
8 votes

#12 - The Thanks of a Grateful Nation

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/28/1990

Dodger tries to reintegrate his life as a civilian but finds himself drifting as he tries to make sense of his experiences in Vietnam.

Directors: Mimi Leder
Writer: John Wells
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star
7.86
7 votes

#13 - Nightfall

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/10/1990

K.C. feels responsible for the death of a Vietnamese prostitute she sent out and takes things into her own hands when Otis refuses to investigate the matter.

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star
7.86
7 votes

#14 - The Gift

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/23/1990

McMurphy finds herself under suspicion when a wounded G.I. she doesn't remember names her as his beneficiary. Lila has mixed feelings about an old friend who now outranks her and has arrived at China Beach to do a recruiting film about Army nurses.

Directors: Michael Katleman
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star
7.83
6 votes

#15 - Holly's Choice

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/30/1990

Holly has had an abortion and as her friends at China Beach try to deal with it, the circumstances that led up to it are gradually revealed.

Writer: Carol Flint
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star
7.80
10 votes

#16 - With a Little Help From My Friends

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/1989

Holly is shaken when it appears that Hang is connected to the VC and has been using their friendship to gain information; Frankie is seriously injured by a booby trap; and McMurphy aids Dr. Bernard at a civilian clinic.

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star
7.71
7 votes

#17 - Strange Brew

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/30/1990

With everyone else away for a distant USO show, K.C. and McMurphy indulge in an alcoholic binge that takes them to a dreamy landscape where a Native American guide tries to help them heal past and present wounds.

Directors: Michael Fresco
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star
7.70
10 votes

#18 - Ghosts

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/1989

K.C. avoids dealing with unpleasant memories of her father stirred up by a trunk of his belongings; Dr. Richard faces his ex-wife's remarriage with a ""black wedding""; Beckett ends his relationship with Mai; and McMurphy learns more about Dr. Bernard's life.

Directors: Michael Fresco
Writer: Toni Graphia
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star
7.57
7 votes

#19 - Skylark

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/14/1990

A pair of ballroom dancers bring a note of grace and harmony to the uneasy relationship between McMurphy and Dr. Richard while completing a mysterious mission of their own.

Directors: Fred Gerber
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star
7.50
6 votes

#20 - Magic

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/3/1990

McMurphy finds herself caught up in a triangle affair with Dr. Bernard and Vinnie; Holly tells Boonie how she feels about him; and Lila copes with the disappointment of losing command of China Beach to Otis.

Directors: Mimi Leder
Writer: John Wells
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star
7.38
8 votes

#21 - Who's Happy Now?

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1989

Dr. Richard worries over a craniotomy that has permanently altered a patient's mental capacity; Lila faces an inspection that will determine if she gets a key promotion; Sarge Pepper asks for some advice about courting Lila and K.C. finds herself in a very awkward position when a senior officer goes AWOL on her permanently.

Directors: Fred Gerber
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star
7.33
6 votes

#22 - Phoenix

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/21/1990

K.C. finds herself in the middle of a C.I.A. assassination plot, and dependent on McMurphy to vouch for her innocence.

Directors: Mimi Leder
Writer: Toni Graphia
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