The WORST episodes of Mission: Impossible (1988)
Every episode of Mission: Impossible (1988) ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Mission: Impossible (1988)!
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 - Cargo Cult
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/1990
The IMF take on a criminal organization that is using the image of a vulcano-god and his prophet to scare a primitive tribe into mining gold for them.
#2 - The Fixer
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/25/1989
A Washington journalist uses his connections to gain information to blackmail politicians, posing a threat to the U.S.
#3 - The Plague
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/8/1989
An industrial spy prepares to sell a vial of bacteria, unaware of how virulent it is if accidentally released.
#4 - The Haunting
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/28/1989
When a rich young sociopath kills a Middle Eastern princess and her father threatens war, the IMF must bring him to justice.
#5 - The Wall
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/11/1988
A East German doctor makes money by tricking political refugees into paying to use his escape route, and kidnaps a diplomat's daughter to prevent the reunification which would make his services obsolete. The IMF must rescue the girl, who is trapped on a life support machine with time running out.
#6 - The Condemned
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/20/1988
The team must free a falsely-condemned prisoner - former IMF techno-genius Barney Collier.
#7 - The Devils
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/25/1989
A rash of insanity among diplomats requires Jim to go undercover as...the Devil, to get the goods on a British lord in charge of a Satanic cult.
#8 - The Greek
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/11/1989
Jim and Grant must get close to a Greek billionnaire who runs a black market drug ring, and turn his partners against him.
#9 - Church Bells in Bogota
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/1990
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.
#10 - The Fortune
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/18/1989
A team member is killed on solo assignment against the wife of a mentally-weak exiled dictator, and the others resolve to bring them both to justice.
#11 - The System
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/30/1988
The team must force a mobster to turn evidence against his partner and mentor.
#12 - Holograms
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/1988
The IMF must lure a canny drug lord on to U.S. territory so he can be arrested for his crimes.
#13 - The Legacy
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/26/1988
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.
#14 - The Pawn
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/15/1989
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.
#15 - The Sands of Seth
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/24/1990
When several progressive Egyptian leaders are killed, the IMF team is sent to stop the head of the department for ancient studies at the Cairo museum. It turns out that he has revived the cult of Seth, with sacrificial ceremonies. His henchman has been impersonating a mummy to kill anyone who might talk. Jim, Shannon and Max pose as part of a dig, claiming they have found important relics from the original worship of Seth, while Nicholas and Grant try to break the trust between the leader and his followers. But Grant is caught and is scheduled to be the next sacrifice...
#16 - The Killer
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/23/1988
When an IMF team leader is assassinated, Jim Phelps comes out of retirement and assembles a new team to bring the killer to justice.
#17 - The Lions
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/4/1989
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.
#18 - Banshee
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1989
An Irish arms dealer plays both sides of the country's conflict against each other, and the IMF must trick them into uniting to defeat him.
#19 - The Cattle King
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/18/1988
The IMF teams up with Australian aborigines to bring down a superstitious cattle king and arms dealer.
#20 - Submarine
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/29/1989
A retired admiral prepares to sell a computer virus that can sink any naval vessel, but the plan goes awry when he destroys the computer ""cure"" before the IMF can get it. Now they must force the admiral to reveal the ""cure.""
#21 - Bayou
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/6/1989
The IMF must use voodoo rituals to break up a white slavery ring run by a sadistic Louisiana bar owner and millionnaire.
#22 - War Games
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1989
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.
#23 - The Assassin
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/20/1990
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.
#24 - Command Performance
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/1989
The IMF team must rescue an imprisoned holy man and recover a holy relic which holds evidence of the Defense Minister's atrocities.
#25 - The Golden Serpent (1)
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/1989
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.