The BEST Episodes of Mission: Impossible (1988)
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Mar 23, 2020
Network: ABC (US)
In this update of the original 60's series, Peter Graves returns as Jim Phelps, head of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). Brought out of retirement by the death of his successor and protege, he brings together a team of four skilled operatives and leads them as they travel the globe conducting "impossible" covert missions for the U.S. His new team consists of Nicholas Black, master of disguise; Max Harte, self-trained soldier; Grant Collier, technological genius and son of former IMFer Barney Collier; Casey Randall, femme fatale (and killed in action in episode 1.10), and Shannon Reed, another femme fatale and former newscaster and Secret Service Agent.
#1 - Deadly Harvest
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired Jan 6, 1990
Terrorist Jouseff K., a native of the country of Orambach, plans to release a deadly virus over the wheat fields of the U.S. The team must stop the production of the virus in Orambach and destroy the terrorist cell.
8.50 
#2 - Countdown
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 26, 1989
To prevent the detonation of a nuclear bomb by a fanatic unaware that she is being mislead by a general seeking to take over his country, Grant must get close to the woman and find the location of the bomb.
8.46 
#3 - For Art's Sake
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired Dec 14, 1989
A valuable painting and a foreign country's national treasure is stolen by a master thief during its exhibition in the U.S., and the team must recover it before the situatioin turns hostile.
8.20 
#4 - Spy
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired Mar 18, 1989
An ex-MI6 agent sells lethal chemical weapons and the IMF must team up with a Russian spy whose people also want to eliminate the threat.
7.91 
#5 - Gunslinger
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired Feb 3, 1990
An arms dealer who runs a mock-Western town in Nevada is the team's next target.
7.87 
#6 - Church Bells in Bogota
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired Feb 10, 1990
The IMF team is sent to Bogota in order to destroy a vicious druglord's operation. All attempts to even meet the druglord is met with failure - Nicholas as an arms dealer, Max as a drill sergeant for the troups. Finally, Shannon is set up as a singer, but her plane to Bogota crashes, and she loses her memory. She is brought to the druglord, and his nephew sees this as an opportunity to woo her, and eventually he proposes to her. She says yes. On the wedding day, the team makes their move. Jim poses as a doctor, restores her memory, and under cover of Nicholas'impression of a priest, they manage to sneak her out while destroying the operation.
7.85 
#7 - The Golden Serpent (2)
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired Sep 28, 1989
The team turn Selimun against his Golden Serpent masters, but when they kill him they must deal with the head of the organization to recover the hidden gold and destroy the Serpent once and for all.
7.82 
#8 - The Princess
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired Oct 5, 1989
A militant group hires an assassin, Coyote, to take out the princess of a country who she is turning toward Western ways. The IMF must go undercover to infiltrate the group, find out the identity of the assassin, and take him out before he can complete his assignment.
7.71 
#9 - The Fuhrer's Children
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired Nov 16, 1989
The head of a neo-Nazi organization plans to ally similar groups with an elaborate computer scheme, and has a ""master plan"" which guarantees him success.
7.58 
#10 - The Golden Serpent (1)
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired Sep 21, 1989
The IMF must take down Selimun, who works for the Golden Serpent triad running drugs. Complicating matters, Grant's father Barney has already infiltrated Selimun's operation, but is captured and the team must weigh whether to help him or complete the mission.
7.53 
#11 - The Assassin
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired Jan 20, 1990
The team must discover the cause of a series of bizarre assassinations caused by seemingly innocent people, but Nicholas is targeted as the next killer.
7.50 
#12 - Target Earth
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired Nov 9, 1989
When an IMF operative at a commercial orbital launch site goes missing, Shannon takes her place, only to find herself trapped on a space shuttle in orbit when terrorists take it over to launch a global blackmail scheme.
7.50 
#13 - The Killer
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired Oct 23, 1988
When an IMF team leader is assassinated, Jim Phelps comes out of retirement and assembles a new team to bring the killer to justice.
7.49 
#14 - War Games
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired Nov 2, 1989
The IMF must stop the general of a European country from using a series of war games as a cover to invade a neighboring country.
7.47 
#15 - The Fixer
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired Feb 25, 1989
A Washington journalist uses his connections to gain information to blackmail politicians, posing a threat to the U.S.
7.36 
#16 - The Pawn
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired Jan 15, 1989
When a Russian scientist and chess player decides to defect, Nicholas must take his place under the watchful eyes of the KGB while the rest of the team gets the scientist and his daughter out of the country.
7.24 
#17 - Command Performance
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 12, 1989
The IMF team must rescue an imprisoned holy man and recover a holy relic which holds evidence of the Defense Minister's atrocities.
7.24 
#18 - The Greek
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired Feb 11, 1989
Jim and Grant must get close to a Greek billionnaire who runs a black market drug ring, and turn his partners against him.
7.20 
#19 - The Cattle King
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired Dec 18, 1988
The IMF teams up with Australian aborigines to bring down a superstitious cattle king and arms dealer.
7.19 
#20 - The Legacy
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired Nov 26, 1988
When the sons of four Nazis come together to recover a fortune in gold and create the Fourth Reich, the team must infiltrate the group and locate the gold.
7.18 
#21 - Holograms
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired Nov 6, 1988
The IMF must lure a canny drug lord on to U.S. territory so he can be arrested for his crimes.
7.18 
#22 - The System
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired Oct 30, 1988
The team must force a mobster to turn evidence against his partner and mentor.
7.18 
#23 - Reprisal
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired Apr 15, 1989
A deranged ex-IMFer targets retired IMF agents, killing them and framing Jim Phelps for the crimes. The IMF gives Jim only a little time to prove his innocence before they must turn him over to the authorities.
7.14 
#24 - The Lions
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired Feb 4, 1989
A king's son returns to his Asian country to take the test that will confirm him as the king, but his uncle, a rabid anti-American, has rigged it so that he can fail, so the IMF must rig it back.
7.13 
#25 - The Condemned
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Nov 20, 1988
The team must free a falsely-condemned prisoner - former IMF techno-genius Barney Collier.
7.10