The WORST episodes of Taboo

Every episode of Taboo ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Taboo!

Around the world there are people of different cultures who take actions and decisions that seem out of the ordinary to the average westerner. Considered taboo, these people and their stories are now being known.

Last Updated: 1/29/2024Network: National GeographicStatus: Ended
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Extreme Kids
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#1 - Extreme Kids

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/6/2008

"Extreme Kids" explores child kickboxing matches in Thailand and a self-mutilation ritual for Shi'a Muslims in India.

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Beyond the Grave
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#2 - Beyond the Grave

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/17/2010

In an effort to cope with death, we shroud it in ritual and surround it with taboos. And what one culture sees as a normal way to deal with the dead, for another might be forbidden. In Nepal, a body is burned beside a sacred river. In America, a corpse is beautified for an open casket funeral. In Germany, human bodies are sometimes put on public display.

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Strange Love
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#3 - Strange Love

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/10/2010

Human relationships can bring safety, security and love - but sometimes they can also be taboo. Witness a real-life "Lars and the Real Girl" relationship, when a man in the United States falls in love with a sex doll. In Australia, meet a couple who stay faithful by having sex with strangers. In poverty-stricken Nepal, innocence is lost when a 7-year-old child is sold as a bride. Then, in the United Kingdom, a man defies one of his country's strictest taboos by marrying seven women.

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Fat
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#4 - Fat

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/20/2010

In much of the West thin is beautiful, and fat is taboo. But a new health epidemic is sweeping the planet: obesity. We follow the story of Alan, who at 650 pounds is imprisoned in his own bedroom. In Mauritania mothers risk the health of their daughters by force-feeding them to fatten them for marriage. In the U.S.A., Deidra, a 450 pound model is fat, proud and happy. And 24 “plus size” women push the ideals of beauty when they compete in the Miss Plus America Pageant.

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Misfits
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#5 - Misfits

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/27/2010

Misfits are people who live outside of their cultural norms. Some are born into that situation, while others seek it. Meet Dave, an Australian man convinced his right leg didn't belong on his body, so he deliberately froze it beyond recovery, forcing doctors to amputate. In Bangladesh, river nomads make their living with snake charming and traditional healing. Viewed as sorcerers and sham artists by many, they are shunned and often not welcome on land.

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Prostitution
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#6 - Prostitution

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/17/2010

Profiling sex workers in Bangladesh, Sydney, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Washington, D.C.

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Bizarre Bodies
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#7 - Bizarre Bodies

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/10/2008

Profiling people who've gone to extreme lengths to change their looks. Included: a man with surgically attached horns; a woman said to have the world's smallest waist.

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Spilling Blood
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#8 - Spilling Blood

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/1/2008

Western culture hides the spilling of animal blood behind closed doors, but other places its a public event. In Nepal, animals are sacrificed daily to appease a bloodthirsty goddess. Nearly 1,000 whales are slaughtered every year near Denmark in a 1,200-year-tradition called the Grind. Banned in most European countries and the U.S., cockfighting still takes place in Bali to appease evil spirits. Taboo: Spilling Blood takes viewers on a trip to experience animal bloodletting traditions.

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Sex
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#9 - Sex

Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/8/2008

A look at how love and sex are expressed in different societies. Included: swingers in Australia; a Chinese ethnic group that encourages sexual boldness.

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Drugs
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#10 - Drugs

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/15/2008

Some cultures incorporate mind-altering drugs into social and religious life.

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The Third Sex
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#11 - The Third Sex

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/22/2008

Exploring societies that recognize more than two genders in India, Indonesia and Albania.

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Outsiders
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#12 - Outsiders

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/17/2008

Profiling outcast individuals in different societies. Included: rat catchers in India; leprosy sufferers in Nepal; scavengers in Australia.

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Touching Death
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#13 - Touching Death

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/6/2008

Profiling individuals whose jobs entail handling human remains in Manila; Los Angeles; and Bangkok.

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Extreme Eats
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#14 - Extreme Eats

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/10/2008

Spotlighting extreme cuisine, from duck embryos to spiders.

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Trial by Fire
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#15 - Trial by Fire

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/3/2008

Dangerous initiation rituals are spotlighted. Included: a fire dance in Papua New Guinea; riding untamed bulls in India.

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Fantasy Lives
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#16 - Fantasy Lives

Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/2/2011

People obsessed with their fantasy lives are profiled. Included: a grown man in California pretending he's a baby; a Japanese kickboxer dressing up as animated characters in the ring; a Florida father engaging in cybersex in his spare time.

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Body Extremes
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#17 - Body Extremes

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/20/2008

A thriving black market for human organs is examined in the Philippines. Also: a look at an intimate bond between humans and pigs in Papua New Guinea; an Australian health therapist who uses urine as a topical medicine is profiled.

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Supreme Devotion
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#18 - Supreme Devotion

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/13/2008

A look at religions that measure devotion by physical suffering.

Extreme Healing
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#19 - Extreme Healing

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/27/2008

Exploring cultures where people entrust their health to faith rather than modern medicine in Venezuela, Arizona and the Philippines.

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Extreme Punishment
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#20 - Extreme Punishment

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 10/29/2008

When laws are broken, human society demands justice. But who decides which punishment best fits the crime? Taboo travels the globe to discover what lengths some societies go to to punish a crime.

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Body Modification
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#21 - Body Modification

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/29/2007

Why would people choose to radically reshape their bodies? Some women wear heavy brass rings that push down on their collarbones, giving the appearance of elongated necks, a sign of beauty. Elsewhere, an estimated one in four girls undergo a practice known as breast ironing. See how some men—for vanity’s sake—are augmenting their bodies through plastic surgery.

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Proving Ground
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#22 - Proving Ground

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/22/2007

How do men prove their manhood? Often, by enduring pain. In an American Fight Club, successful, educated males engage in physical combat to test their manhood. Hundreds of men taking part in a time-honored event known as the Pasola charge toward each other on horseback, hurling spears. Young men of the Fulani tribe must whip an opponent twice during a large public demonstration, then be whipped.

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Mating
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#23 - Mating

Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/21/2007

A look at ancient and modern rituals humans use to demonstrate love and devotion.

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Jobs
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#24 - Jobs

Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/14/2007

Spotlighting less-than-desirable professions. Included: a man cleans up violent death scenes; a forensic anthropologist works with rotting corpses; an Indonesian miner extracts sulfur from an active volcano.

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Pets
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#25 - Pets

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/10/2007

Examining when extreme pet devotion crosses the line into an obsessive fixation.

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