The WORST episodes of Spenser: For Hire
Every episode of Spenser: For Hire ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Spenser: For Hire!
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.
#1 - McAllister
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/30/1988
Spenser assists a lawyer in proving the innocence of his client, a Navy seaman accused of murdering the captain's daughter. The only witness is a missing Polish sailor.
#2 - My Enemy, My Friend
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/4/1987
A streetwise young kid gets involved over his head in the underworld. Spenser and Hawk try to protect him from would-be killers.
#3 - The Heart of the Matter
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/11/1987
Lt. Quirk faces his mortality when he suffers a heart attack. Spenser and Hawk protect him from revenge-minded villains as he recovers.
#4 - On the Night He Was Betrayed
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/1/1987
Spenser helps an old friend, an alcoholic priest who tries to help homeless teenagers, when he gets involved over his head.
#5 - Sleepless Dreams
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/8/1987
Spenser becomes obsessed with an apparently suicidal woman after a chance encounter on the street.
#6 - Consilum Abditum
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/15/1987
Susan is in trouble when her claims of sexual harassment lead her college counselor to retaliate by hiring a hit man to keep her quiet. Spenser gets arrested for getting involved in a fight.
#7 - Thanksgiving
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/29/1987
Spenser runs into an old friend while visiting a recreation of a Puritan village. Spenser does everything in his power to exonerate said friend when he's accused of a brutal slaying. As he uncovers more and more, Spenser begins to think it might be hard to clear the name of a guilty man.
#8 - Gone Fishin'
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/6/1987
Spenser's fishing trip is interrupted when he has to protect a young man who's not allowed to marry the girl he loves.
#9 - Child's Play
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/20/1987
A sniper takes some shots at Spenser and Susan, and a young boy ends up dead in the crossfire. Spenser sets out to determine why such a tragedy happened and track down the shooter.
#10 - Skeletons in the Closet
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/3/1988
Spenser and Hawk find themselves on opposite sides of the same case. Spenser is hired to retrieve a stolen journal containing information damaging to a judge's career. Hawk is hired by the thief to extort money from the judge.
#11 - Personal Demons
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/7/1987
Spenser and Rita go after a corrupt African.
#12 - Rockabye Baby
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/25/1986
A mobster's pregnant teenage girlfriend tries to keep her unborn son from his father.
#13 - And Give up Show Biz?
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/1/1986
Spenser protects a man suffering from amnesia.
#14 - The Long Hunt
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/1986
A young criminal's father attacks a bus transporting convicts to the state prison.
#15 - Home is the Hero
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/22/1986
Rita hires Spenser to investigate a troubled teenager, yet another 'Spenser helps a misguided youth' episode.
#16 - Shadowsight
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/13/1986
A girl who apparently has the unique ability to 'see' through both space and time, enlists Spenser's help to solve a rash of arsons.
#17 - Murder and Acquisitions
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/24/1987
Spenser investigates the apparent suicide of a philandering financier about to turn state's evidence to bring down insider trading. Rita has problems of her own when an old boyfriend shows up. Belson hires Spenser to find his missing wallet containing a winning lottery ticket.
#18 - Mary Hamilton
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/14/1987
A girl comes to Boston looking for her estranged father. Spenser decides to help her.
#19 - The Road Back
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/21/1987
Spenser loses all feeling in his right arm after he's shot while guarding a politician.
#20 - If You Knew Sammy
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/4/1987
NRA poster-boy Sammy Backlin breezes into town for a book signing, unwittingly involving Spenser in a shoot out. Spenser agrees to protect Sammy from gangland thugs.
#21 - Company Man
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/12/1988
Spenser suspects insurance fraud when a building blows up. Susan has a possibly cancerous mass removed.
#22 - Haunting
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/7/1988
Spenser investigates an old child kidnapping case when he tries to track down a teenage girl's biological parents.
#23 - The Hopes and Fears
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/20/1986
With the help of Hawk, a disgusted Spenser is determined to get rid of thugs who are terrorizing his Boston neighborhood.
#24 - One for My Daughter
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/7/1987
Spenser and Hawk protect a man who owes money to men of dubious ethics. When their client, Bo Braxton tries to blackmail his creditors, he and his alcoholic teenage daughter go on the run.
#25 - Watercolors
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/19/1988
Spenser protects a child artist after the child witnesses a mob execution while painting in the forest.