The BEST episodes of Spenser: For Hire season 1

Every episode of Spenser: For Hire season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Spenser: For Hire season 1!

Spenser: For Hire is a mystery/suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator living in Boston, gets involved in a new mystery each episode. Using his years of experience, his natural talents for observation and reasoning, and the occasional bit of help from his friend Hawk, Spenser never fails to crack the case.

Last Updated: 11/6/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
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When Silence Speaks
star
9.00
4 votes

#1 - When Silence Speaks

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1986

Spenser is retained to locate a missing scientist who'd just discovered a major breakthrough in laser techniques by a deaf newspaper columnist with whom the scientist had been corresponding.

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Brother to Dragons
star
8.71
7 votes

#2 - Brother to Dragons

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/4/1986

Spenser goes undercover at a private high school to investigate heroin use on campus, but discovers something far more serious.

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Blood Money
star
8.62
13 votes

#3 - Blood Money

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/26/1985

The wife of a kidnapped oil tycoon hires Spenser to deliver $1 million in ransom money to a ring of terrorists while police have the drop-off area surrounded.

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A Madness Most Discreet
star
8.56
9 votes

#4 - A Madness Most Discreet

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/1986

Spenser is dazzled by the beauty and grace of a former Bolshoi ballerina who appeals for his help and tempts him with her love.

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A Day's Wages
star
8.55
11 votes

#5 - A Day's Wages

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/14/1986

Spenser and Hawk blame themselves for failing to protect their respective clients from the clutches of the underworld, and vow to settle the score with a big-time racketeer and his henchmen.

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Autumn Thieves
star
8.50
12 votes

#6 - Autumn Thieves

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/19/1985

Spenser stumbles onto a ring of thieves while investigating a relic stolen from a museum.

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The Killer Within
star
8.46
13 votes

#7 - The Killer Within

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/1985

Spenser is a Private Detective who is hired by a woman to watch her sister and protect her from an old boyfriend. Susan Silverman is Spenser's girlfriend, a research assistant in a psychologist's office. Susan is elated to have been chosen by handsome Dr. Ed Howard from all the other research assistants to accompany him to San Francisco for a psychology conference. Spenser is less elated. Ed Howard enters the picture when Spenser realizes that his client has multiple personalities, she is herself and her sister. Or is she her sister and . . .she's both Diane and Donna, ok? Susan points out that this is Howard's speciality and should be the one to counsel the woman. Spenser is less than elated to bring in the doctor.

Directors: Don Chaffey
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Internal Affairs
star
8.40
10 votes

#8 - Internal Affairs

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/17/1985

Marital infidelity and suspected involvement in a gambling ring lead to Lt. Quirk's suspension. Belson is shot during a raid. Spenser works to clear Quirk's name and catch Belson's would-be killer.

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The Choice
star
8.38
21 votes

#9 - The Choice

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1985

A pair of young thrill-killers target Spenser, accidentally shooting a bystander. Susan's ex-husband visits.

Directors: Richard Colla
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Children of a Tempest Storm
star
8.35
20 votes

#10 - Children of a Tempest Storm

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1985

Spenser kills a would-be thief in the course of thwarting a robbery. He and Susan take in the man's two children while investigating his past. Susan discovers she's pregnant.

Directors: William Wiard
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Death by Design
star
8.30
10 votes

#11 - Death by Design

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/7/1986

Spenser walks into a death trap when a beautiful university scientist who makes so-called 'designer drugs' hires him to track down her gigolo boyfriend and recover $50,000.

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Original Sin
star
8.28
18 votes

#12 - Original Sin

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/1985

Spenser investigates the apparent suicide of a young nun, and stumbles onto a corrupt landlord.

Directors: Harvey Hart
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Rage
star
8.17
6 votes

#13 - Rage

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/1/1986

A teenage girl's agitated condition following a rape gets her into deeper trouble when she's kidnapped by an ex-con bent on shooting Spenser.

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She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
star
8.14
7 votes

#14 - She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/11/1986

Sgt. Frank falls in love with a white supremicist.

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Resurrection
star
8.13
15 votes

#15 - Resurrection

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/1985

Spenser investigates a crooked vice cop involved in the mugging of one of Susan's friends.

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Discord in A Minor
star
8.00
13 votes

#16 - Discord in A Minor

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/25/1985

Spenser is fired from a bodyguard job after his young charge is kidnapped. Spenser suspects the girl he was to protect, arranged the 'kidnapping' to escape her father, a famous conductor, who may have been molesting his daughter.

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Angel of Desolation
star
8.00
3 votes

#17 - Angel of Desolation

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/4/1986

While working for a wealthy woman, Spenser is caught up in a deadly murder mystery complete with an illicit love story.

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Hell Hath No Fury
star
8.00
2 votes

#18 - Hell Hath No Fury

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/8/1986

A troubled TV news anchor helps Spenser investigate a building collapse that killed a child.

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Promised Land
star
7.79
39 votes

#19 - Promised Land

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1985

Spenser is hired to find the runaway wife of a wealthy businessman. Based on a story by Spenser novelist Robert B. Parker.

Directors: Lee H. Katzin
Writer: John Wilder
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No Room at the Inn
star
7.72
18 votes

#20 - No Room at the Inn

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1985

Spenser is given an old station as a gift from the fire department for a service rendered them. The police department hires to protect a mysterious witness.

Directors: John Wilder
Writer: John Wilder
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In a Safe Place
star
7.67
6 votes

#21 - In a Safe Place

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/14/1986

Spenser and Susan look for a Mexican labor organizer who has suspiciously disappeared. ('On the Waterfront' redux.)

Directors: Virgil Vogel
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At the River's Edge
star
7.50
4 votes

#22 - At the River's Edge

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/25/1986

Spenser is hired by a 12-year-old to investigate the murder of her older sister. The brutal slaying of an ex-convict, and the machinations of a popular preacher with political ambitions factor into the investigation.

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