The WORST episodes of Frontline

#1 - 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.

#2 - 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.

#3 - 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.

#4 - 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.

#5 - 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.

#6 - 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.

#7 - 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.

#8 - 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.

#9 - 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.

#10 - 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.

#11 - 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.

#12 - 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.

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

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

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

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

#15 - 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.

#16 - 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.

#17 - Dollars and Dentists

Season 2012 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/26/2012

Miles O'Brien investigates the flaws in America's dental system and nascent proposals to fix them.

#18 - Endgame: AIDS in Black America

Season 2012 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/10/2012

Traces the history of the AIDS epidemic through experiences of individuals in the black community.

#19 - Fast Times at West Philly High

Season 2012 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/17/2012

Students and teachers from a West Philadelphia High School make super-hybrid cars for a competition.

#20 - Alaska Gold

Season 2009 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/10/2009

FRONTLINE probes the fault lines of a growing battle in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, home to the world’s last great wild sockeye salmon fishery – and enormous mineral deposits.

#21 - Middle School Moment

Season 2012 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/17/2012

How one Bronx school is using a novel form of data collection and analysis to predict and prevent dropouts before they happen.

#22 - The Battle for Syria

Season 2012 - Episode 19 - Aired 9/18/2012

Journey into the heart of the insurgency for an an unprecedented portrait of Syria's rebel leaders.

#23 - Dropout Nation

Season 2012 - Episode 20 - Aired 9/25/2012

A journey through an inner-city high school investigates the challenges of America's dropout crisis.

#24 - The Choice 2012

Season 2012 - Episode 21 - Aired 10/9/2012

This election special offers biographies of presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

#25 - Climate of Doubt

Season 2012 - Episode 22 - Aired 10/23/2012

John Hockenberry goes inside organizations that fought to redefine the politics of global warming.