The BEST episodes of The First 48

Every episode of The First 48 ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The First 48!

Follows detectives during the hours immediately following a homicide.

Last Updated: 3/8/2024Network: A&EStatus: Continuing
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The Devil You Know
star
10.00
1 votes

#1 - The Devil You Know

Season 21 - Episode 45 - Aired 3/25/2021

Mobile Homicide tracks a killer who shot a man in his home, but they learn not everything is what it seems.

Watch Now:Amazon
Thick as Thieves
star
10.00
1 votes

#2 - Thick as Thieves

Season 21 - Episode 46 - Aired 4/1/2021

In Mobile, Detective Jermaine Rogers hunts for multiple perpetrators of a home invasion that left two dead.

Watch Now:Amazon
Down and Out / Room for the Night
star
9.30
10 votes

#3 - Down and Out / Room for the Night

Season 17 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/4/2016

Detective Rob Barrere investigates when three men meet in a motel room in New Orleans east, and one of them ends up dead; while in Tulsa, Detective Ronnie Leatherman catches the case of a man stabbed 21 times when a night of drinking ignites a murderous rage.

Watch Now:Amazon
Deadly Gamble/Inside Job
star
8.93
30 votes

#4 - Deadly Gamble/Inside Job

Season 9 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/15/2010

Harris County/Miami - Dep. Mario Quintanilla investigates the murder of a woman shot during a robbery of her illegal game room. Acting on a tip that his suspects are from Central America, Quintanilla races to find them before they can flee the country. And in Miami, Det. Fabio Sanchez heads to Little Haiti to investigate the homicide of two young men shot in their living room. Sanchez must track down a friend of the victims, who was with them before they were shot, to find out what he knows.

Triggered
star
8.83
6 votes

#5 - Triggered

Season 21 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/27/2020

Detective Ronnie Leatherman returns to Tulsa homicide to investigate the death of a man who crashed his car in a shopping center.

Watch Now:Amazon
Hit List/Hand in Hand
star
8.63
41 votes

#6 - Hit List/Hand in Hand

Season 11 - Episode 11 - Aired 8/25/2011

In Miami, lead detective TC Cepero investigates the murder of a 20-year-old male, gunned down in the middle of the street in broad daylight. With surveillance video of the suspect and possible witnesses they learn the victim may have been on the killers hit list. Then, in DeKalb County, a 20-year-old man is shot dead while walking his girlfriend home at night. Sergeant Matthew Ferreira and team must work quickly to solve this senseless murder that also left two others injured.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Lester Street
star
8.58
72 votes

#7 - Lester Street

Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/17/2008

Four adults and two children lay dead in was is being called the worst mass murder in 15 years. Detectives scramble for clues and learn the deaths may be gang related. Can detectives locate these killers for before they take anyone else out?

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Desert Bones / Party's Over
star
8.54
87 votes

#8 - Desert Bones / Party's Over

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/19/2004

Detectives Dillian and Jewell join forensic anthropologist Laura Fulginiti to determine the identity of a female skeleton found in the desert. And the shooting of a teenager at a high-school party puts Detectives Rodriguez and Kulesa on the trail of a shooter wearing a ski mask.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Best Laid Plans/Burned Alive
star
8.40
86 votes

#9 - Best Laid Plans/Burned Alive

Season 13 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/30/2013

In Cleveland, when a teenager is shot down in the street, detectives discover his best friends may have something to do with the murder. In Harris County, a young woman set on fire clings to life as deputies race to find who left her for dead.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Wild Ride
star
8.34
82 votes

#10 - Wild Ride

Season 13 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/4/2013

Cleveland homicide detectives follow a bizarre trail of evidence in the case of a father of five who was stabbed over 50 times.

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Easy Money/Ambushed
star
8.33
72 votes

#11 - Easy Money/Ambushed

Season 13 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/11/2013

In Dallas a young father is shot in the back, but no one wants to talk. Then in Cleveland a brazen corner store stickup leaves an innocent clerk dead

Watch Now:Apple TV
After Hours/The Cutting Edge
star
8.33
6 votes

#12 - After Hours/The Cutting Edge

Season 20 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/28/2019

In Atlanta, a stranger guns down a new father in a parking lot; in Georgia's Gwinnett County, a man is stabbed more than 20 times when someone he trusts turns against him.

Caught in the Middle
star
8.20
49 votes

#13 - Caught in the Middle

Season 11 - Episode 16 - Aired 10/27/2011

In Miami, two men are found beaten and shot behind an abandoned house. As Det. TC Cepero digs deeper into the case he unearths more than one reason the men could have been killed.

Watch Now:Amazon
Nightmare in Greedy Grove/Good Man Down
star
8.20
70 votes

#14 - Nightmare in Greedy Grove/Good Man Down

Season 13 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/6/2012

A drive-by shooting in Dallas leads to the death of an innocent bystander; a young Cleveland father is killed as he attempts to break up a fight.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Smoke Screen/The Last Goodbye
star
8.13
63 votes

#15 - Smoke Screen/The Last Goodbye

Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/4/2010

A 28-year-old father is stabbed to death while at work; a 35-year-old man is shot to death in a bar bathroom.

Into the Graveyard
star
8.12
90 votes

#16 - Into the Graveyard

Season 13 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/25/2013

In Miami, a family is shattered when two teenage brothers are gunned down in their own backyard. Two surviving friends point Detective TC Cepero and his team in the direction of two desperate and dangerous gunmen on the run. But Cepero will need the community's help to get the brazen killers off the street.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Cold as Ice
star
8.06
31 votes

#17 - Cold as Ice

Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/23/2009

The body of a man is found in the snow. Detectives work to find a killer, but first they have to get the friend to tell what she knows.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Fatal Pickup/Bad Neighbor
star
8.04
82 votes

#18 - Fatal Pickup/Bad Neighbor

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/18/2007

A sixty-one year old man becomes an unlikely suspect when a double shooting takes place. Investigators try to wrap their brains around the tragic murders and the unlikely suspect. A murder victim is found dumped in a park their body full of bullets. As detectives dig deeper into the life of the victim they start to unravel man secrets.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Torn/Gun Crazy
star
8.03
30 votes

#19 - Torn/Gun Crazy

Season 8 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/11/2009

A love triangle turns deadly, and detectives work to untangle the web. Gun fire erupts in a car leaving one man dead and another injured.

Brother's Keeper/Fighting Words
star
8.02
95 votes

#20 - Brother's Keeper/Fighting Words

Season 14 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/17/2013

In Cleveland, an innocent man is gunned down in a gang war and Detectives race to find his killers before any more blood is shed. Then, in Dallas, a father is murdered close to home and detectives need his neighbors to give them a lead.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Close to Home (AKA Killing Cousins)
star
8.00
1 votes

#21 - Close to Home (AKA Killing Cousins)

Season 21 - Episode 44 - Aired 3/18/2021

In Tulsa, Okla., a father of three is gunned down after an argument, and the instincts of veteran detective Jason White are put to the test. (This episode is also known as "Killing Cousins" and uses that title in the episode title cards.)

Watch Now:Amazon
The Code
star
8.00
1 votes

#22 - The Code

Season 21 - Episode 36 - Aired 1/14/2021

Tulsa detectives investigate the Neighborhood Crips to solve the murder of a young man trying to leave the gang.

Watch Now:Amazon
Childhood Friend/Magic Bullet
star
8.00
3 votes

#23 - Childhood Friend/Magic Bullet

Season 21 - Episode 34 - Aired 12/3/2020

In St. Louis, a man is shot in his apartment with only his girlfriend with him, but she claims she had nothing to do with it. In Tulsa, detectives need a childhood friend of the victim to tell the truth about the shooting in front of her home.

Blunt Force/Random Acts
star
8.00
2 votes

#24 - Blunt Force/Random Acts

Season 20 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/9/2019

In Tulsa, a random shooter reveals startling new information on a cold case. In Mobile, a 70-year-old Vietnam vet is found beaten to death in his home where detectives discover cryptic threatening letters.

The Standoff
star
8.00
2 votes

#25 - The Standoff

Season 21 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/23/2020

Tulsa Homicide responds when a father of three is gunned down at his job by suspects who end up in a standoff with police.

Watch Now:Amazon