The WORST episodes of Frontline

#1 - The Secret War

Season 2012 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/3/2012

A revealing look at the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan and covert support for elements of the Taliban by the Pakistani military and its intelligence service, the ISI. Contains updates not previously reported.

#2 - Target America

Season 2001 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/4/2001

Last month, the nation's top leaders gathered to decide the U.S response to the September 11 terrorist attack. Some of the same individuals were in Washington, DC, twenty-two years ago when the United States suffered its first humiliation at the hands of Islamic militants. U.S. embassy employees were taken hostage and held captive before the world. Over the decades, incident followed incident - the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, the killing of American soldiers in a Berlin nightclub, the downing of Pan Am 103, and the first attack on the World Trade Center. In "Target America," FRONTLINE uncovers a long-standing division within the nation's security apparatus about how to deal with an enemy that has been targeting America and Americans for decades.

#3 - Dangerous Straits

Season 2001 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/18/2001

Since the terrible events of Sept 11th, the United States has worked hard to put together a worldwide coalition against international terrorism. Where will China come down? FRONTLINE and The New York Times explore the tensions between the U.S. and China and the troubles the relationship presents for President Bush, who plans a visit to China in October. The dramatic U.S. spy plane incident off the coast of China in early 2001 reminded us of the dangerous suspicion that exists between the world's most powerful country and its most populous one. China has been supportive of some Islamic states that the U.S. counts as its enemies, and there is also the simmering question of Taiwan. American support for Taiwan means that if it declares independence, the U.S. could be drawn into an international dispute that might lead to war. The Straits of Taiwan have been described by one China expert as "one of the most dangerous places in the world."

#4 - Trail of a Terrorist

Season 2001 - Episode 15 - Aired 10/25/2001

On December 14, 1999, Ahmed Ressam was detained at the U.S./Canadian border when an alert customs agent became suspicious of Ressam's hesitant answers to her questions. When the trunk of his car was opened, agents discovered a powerful bomb and a plot for a millennium attack on America. Ressam said nothing at his trial but, facing 130 years in prison, decided to testify against an accomplice. His chilling testimony reveals his motives, his methods, and his connection to an Algerian terrorist group that had already carried out bombings in Europe. Ressam described his training at the Osama bin Laden camps in Afghanistan, where he became skilled in urban warfare, sabotage, and covert operations. With access to Ressams testimony, police files, and officials in the U.S., Canada, and France, correspondent Terence McKenna follows the trail of a terrorist.

#5 - Gunning for Saddam

Season 2001 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/8/2001

As Americans are confronted by acts of bioterrorism, powerful forces in the nations capitol believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to blame, for this and many other terrorist acts during the last decade. Many are lobbying to mobilize a military operation to oust Hussein when the next phase of the war on terrorism kicks in. Proponents of the plan, including former Clinton administration CIA director James Woolsey, contend Saddam Hussein was involved in the first World Trade Center bombing, the attempted assassination of President George H.W. Bush in 1993, and the ongoing state sponsorship of terrorist activities. Foes of this plan argue that attacking Saddam will destabilize other nations in the region, most prominently Saudi Arabia, and no doubt destroy the carefully crafted coalition presently hunting for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. FRONTLINE investigates Americas other enemy, Saddam Hussein.

#6 - Saudi Time Bomb?

Season 2001 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/15/2001

President Bush says that if the nations of the world are not with us in the war on terrorism then theyre with the terrorists. But what about the United States' supposed ally Saudi Arabia? After September 11th many Saudi citizens reportedly applauded native son Osama bin Laden as a hero. Then the monarchy hesitated to renounce the Taliban and they are still reluctant to allow U.S. warplanes to fly from their bases. Why have Saudi and other Gulf charities sent money to support Islamic fundamentalist schools that are encouraging jihad? And are the Saudis dragging their feet when it comes to assisting U.S. law enforcement agencies that are tracking down terrorists? Whose side are the Saudis on? FRONTLINE and The New York Times explore the fragile alliance with this ultra conservative fundamentalist kingdom upon which the U.S. depends for fifteen percent of the countrys oil needs.

#7 - The Monster that Ate Hollywood

Season 2001 - Episode 18 - Aired 11/22/2001

The box office is booming. New international markets are opening weekly. Amazing advances in technology hold the promise of new delivery systems. Yet there's trouble bubbling just below the surface in Hollywood today as movie industry creative types struggle to adapt to new business realities. On the eve of one of the biggest weekends for new movie releases, FRONTLINE explores the changing Hollywood, revealing how once-fiercely independent studio bosses must now answer to the megacorporations that have swallowed the industry whole.

#8 - Organ Farm (2)

Season 2001 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/3/2001

#9 - Storm Over Everest

Season 2008 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/13/2008

As darkness fell on May 10, 1996, a fast-moving storm of unimaginable ferocity trapped three climbing teams high on the slopes of Mount Everest. The climbers, exhausted from their summit climb, were soon lost in darkness, in a fierce blizzard, far from the safety of High Camp at...,000 feet. World-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears, who aided the rescue efforts back in 1996, now returns to Everest to tell the fuller story of what really happened on that legendary climb. Through remarkably intimate interviews with the climbers and Sherpas -- many who have never spoken before on American television -- Breashears sheds new light on the worst climbing tragedy in Mount Everest's history.

#10 - The Released

Season 2009 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/28/2009

This year, hundreds of thousands of prisoners with serious mental illnesses will be released into communities across America, the largest exodus in the nation's history. Typically, mentally ill offenders leave prison with a bus ticket, $75 and two weeks worth of medication. Within eighteen months, nearly two-thirds are re-arrested. In this follow up to the groundbreaking film The New Asylums, FRONTLINE examines what happens to the mentally ill when they leave prison and why they return at such alarming rates. The intimate stories of the released -- along with interviews with parole officers, social workers, and psychiatrists -- provide a rare look at the lives of the mentally ill as they struggle to stay out of prison and reintegrate into society.

#11 - Apocalypse! (2)

Season 1999 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/22/1999

In part II of the Apocalypse!, FRONTLINE traces the orgins of the Book of Daniel and how it continues to influence modern apocalyptic thinking. And, they exmamine the anti-Christs of recent history.

#12 - War in Europe (2)

Season 2000 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/29/2000

In the second hour of this analysis of a military effort hampered by diplomatic infighting, senior military leaders -- including Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark, in his first in-depth interview -- tell the story of political constraints, internal divisions and miscalculations that shaped the war in Bosnia.

#13 - Opium Brides

Season 2012 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/2012

Young farm girls are caught in the crossfire of attempts to eradicate Afghanistan's drug trade.

#14 - Nuclear Aftershocks

Season 2012 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/17/2012

FRONTLINE examines the implications of the Fukushima accident for U.S. nuclear safety, and asks how this disaster will affect the future of nuclear energy around the world.

#15 - Blackout

Season 2001 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/5/2001

Power shortages. Rolling blackouts. Skyrocketing utility bills. California's power disaster has made "energy" a national front-burner issue. The state's power crunch has affected everyone from homeowners and small businesses to the big-business consumers of electricity who originally pushed for deregulation. Now, the state's largest utility, PG& E, has filed for bankruptcy. But is California's energy crisis the result of flawed deregulation and the weather-or, as some charge, market manipulation by a new breed of power entrepreneurs? Or a bit of both? And could other states face similar energy shortages?

#16 - The Interrupters

Season 2012 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/14/2012

"The Interrupters" presents profiles in courage, as three former street criminals in Chicago place themselves in the line of fire to protect their communities. The film follows the lives of these "Violence Interrupters," who include the charismatic daughter of one of the city's most notorious former gang leaders, the son of a murdered father, and a man haunted by a killing he committed as a teenager. As they intervene in disputes to prevent violence, they reveal their own inspired journeys of struggle and redemption. From director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), "The Interrupters" chronicles an intimate, year-long journey across the stubbornly violent landscape of our cities through the eyes of those fighting to sow peace and security.

#17 - Cell Tower Deaths

Season 2012 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/22/2012

The demand for better and faster cell phone service comes with a hidden cost. This joint investigation by FRONTLINE and ProPublica has found that the independent contractors who are building and servicing America's cellular infrastructure are 10 times more likely than an average construction worker to die on the job. Complex layers of subcontracting insulate the carriers against liability, despite the fact that they set the aggressive schedule that can force subcontractors to cut corners in order to meet deadlines.

#18 - Murdoch's Scandal

Season 2012 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/27/2012

The battle over the future of News Corporation and Rupert Murdoch's reputation is chronicled.

#19 - The Real CSI

Season 2012 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/17/2012

Evidence collected at crime scenes -- everything from fingerprints to bite marks -- is routinely called upon in the courtroom to prosecute the most difficult crimes and put the accused behind bars. And though glamorized on commercial television, in the real world it's not so cut-and-dried. FRONTLINE investigates the serious flaws in some of the best-known tools of forensic science.

#20 - Money, Power and Wall Street, Part 1

Season 2012 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/24/2012

FRONTLINE takes you inside the rapid rise of credit default swaps, including the voices of those who created them. With the real estate market booming, bankers successfully tweaked the credit default swap to bundle up and sell home mortgage loans to eager investors. But despite the money flowing into banks’ coffers, credit default swaps also loaded the financial system with lethal risk. And when the housing bubble burst, the credit default swaps — originally designed to stabilize the system — brought the global economy to its knees. Regulators, who had often stood on the sideline and allowed Wall Street to police itself, saw the ugly consequences rapidly unfold before them.

#21 - Money, Power and Wall Street, Part 2

Season 2012 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/24/2012

FRONTLINE investigates the largest government bailout in U.S. history, a series of decisions that rewrote the rules of government and fueled a debate that would alter the country’s political landscape. It offers play-by-play accounts of several secret meetings that permanently altered the financial system.

#22 - Money, Power and Wall Street, Part 3

Season 2012 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/1/2012

#23 - Money, Power and Wall Street, Part 4

Season 2012 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/1/2012

#24 - Al Qaeda In Yemen

Season 2012 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/29/2012

Since the death of Osama bin Laden, Yemen has become the hottest front in the war against Al Qaeda. Now, with headlines about a terrorist plot to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner, award-winning reporter and FRONTLINE correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad travels into the heart of Yemen's radical heartland. His first hand report shows how members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have taken advantage of turmoil in the country to impose their rule on areas of south Yemen. As the US expands its drone war to prevent terrorists from establishing a new safe haven, FRONTLINE shows how AQAP is taking control of towns and cities in an attempt to establish its own state. Also in this hour, the story of Al Qaeda operative Fahd al Quso --killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen early this month - as told by former FBI agent Ali Soufan who first interrogated him before 9/11.

#25 - Six Billion Dollar Bet

Season 2012 - Episode 13 - Aired 5/22/2012

It has been seven months since the collapse of MF Global, yet thousands of former clients have yet to fully recover money they invested with the firm. An estimated $1.6 billion in customer funds went missing in the days leading up to MF Global’s bankruptcy. The story behind the firm’s failure is clearer today, yet many important questions remain unanswered.