The WORST episodes of The First 48
Every episode of The First 48 ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The First 48!
Follows detectives during the hours immediately following a homicide.
#1 - Spellbound
Season 21 - Episode 50 - Aired 5/6/2021
In Atlanta, the life of a promising young college student takes a tragic turn when he falls under the spell of a mysterious friend. Detective Darrin Smith races to find the killer before he strikes again.
#2 - Johnny Black/Stranger Than Fiction
Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 9/1/2009
In the first of two homicides less than ten blocks away, detectives head out to the shooting of man in the middle of the day. They investigation leads to a suspect who is a friend of the victim. Then, shots ring out and a young man is gunned down by a man on a bike. When a witness comes to them, they have a hard time believing her story. Is truth really stranger than fiction?
#3 - Heart of Gold/Last Breath
Season 8 - Episode 23 - Aired 9/8/2009
A woman is stabbed multiple times. Once detectives arrive they realize they are familiar with the victim. They turn to friends and family to help isolate a killer. A dieing man speaks his final words to his sister after he was shot. Will his words lead to his killer?
#4 - Life Snatched
Season 9 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/5/2010
Miami - Det. Anthony Reyes and the homicide team are investigating the murder of a middle-aged mother of four, shot to death in a random robbery outside a public storage facility. With no witnesses to the actual shooting, detectives must rely on surveillance footage, which could be the key to solving their case.
#5 - The Good Son/Jacked Up
Season 9 - Episode 23 - Aired 8/12/2010
Harris County/Birmingham - When a 16-year-old boy is murdered at his family's roadside taco stand, Sgt. Henry Palacios is faced with one of the most tragic cases he has ever seen. Palacios is hot on the trail of his suspect, when another shooting turns the case on its head. And in Birmingham, Detective Marcel Walker investigates the death of a 29-year-old car mechanic, killed when a late-night tune-up turns deadly. When he gets a tip that the suspect is about to skip town, Walker launches a major manhunt.
#6 - In the Line of Fire/Over the Edge
Season 18 - Episode 20 - Aired 7/20/2017
A police detective must determine if the person who gunned down a New Orleans teenager is a friend or a foe; the employees of an executed businessman may prove a motive for the crime.
#7 - Deadly Dispute/Heart to Heart
Season 18 - Episode 19 - Aired 7/13/2017
In Tulsa, a running street battle leaves a young father dead. And in Atlanta, a man defending his mother’s honor gets shot in the back.
#8 - House of Horrors/Final Sacrifice
Season 18 - Episode 21 - Aired 7/27/2017
Two young men are victims of a hammer attack in Tulsa. In Atlanta, a man is murdered after a selfless act.
#9 - A Murder in Mobile
Season 18 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/3/2017
When a homeless man is gunned down on the sidewalk, Mobile detectives discover a petty motive.
#10 - Silent Rage/Tainted Love
Season 9 - Episode 24 - Aired 8/19/2010
In Harris County, Deputy Jason Brown is called out on Easter Sunday to investigate the brutal shooting of a woman who was a school bus driver and mother of two. Meanwhile, Harris County Sergeant Sidney Miller takes on the murder of a young father, shot dead in a courtyard.
#11 - The Code
Season 21 - Episode 37 - Aired 1/14/2021
Tulsa detectives investigate the Neighborhood Crips to solve the murder of a young man trying to leave the gang.
#12 - What About Me/Last Round
Season 21 - Episode 38 - Aired 1/21/2021
In Tulsa, a mother of five is killed after a roadside argument spins out of control; in Mobile, a security guard tries to keep the peace and ends up brutally murdered.
#13 - The Price of Kindness/The Woman at the Door
Season 21 - Episode 39 - Aired 1/28/2021
Tulsa homicide detectives must find a possible victim by getting her killer to lead the way; a young Mobile man is found shot in a car minutes after another man gets ambushed.
#14 - For Love and Honor/Dark Side of Love
Season 21 - Episode 41 - Aired 2/18/2021
In Tulsa, Okla., a young man stands up for his girlfriend and pays the ultimate price; a man is gunned down in front of his girlfriend after someone from her past goes over the edge.
#15 - Death in the Family/Love Lost
Season 21 - Episode 40 - Aired 2/4/2021
In Tulsa, a woman is found dumped in a hospital parking lot after someone she trusts crosses the line. Then, in Mobile, a jealous rage leaves a father of nine dead and threatens to tear his family apart.
#16 - Vengeance/Paid in Full
Season 21 - Episode 43 - Aired 3/11/2021
In Tulsa, a quadruple shooting leaves two people dead as a vigilante seeks payback for his house being targeted in a drive-by shooting; in Mobile, a man is shot in front of his fiancee as a dispute over money takes a deadly turn.
#17 - Crossfire Hurricane
Season 21 - Episode 52 - Aired 5/20/2021
After two people are gunned down in a crowded park, detectives must rely on the public to reveal what sparked the deadly shootout.
#18 - Childhood Friend/Magic Bullet
Season 21 - Episode 35 - 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.
#19 - Blind Rage/Those Closest to Us
Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 9/15/2009
A man is shot inside his home, a woman calls 911 from inside then flees the scene. Detectives set out to find this woman to see if she is just a witness or if she is a cold blooded killer. A homeless man is stabbed in the park and left to die. Detectives search for clues and get a tip the victim was last seen with a friend. They race the clock to find out if this friend is actually a killer.
#20 - A Killer Fight/Do the Right Thing
Season 20 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/7/2019
In Mobile, a street fight escalates to a shooting that leaves a man dead on his front yard. In Tulsa, a drive-by shooting stemming from a gang feud claims the life of a 16-year-old girl, while her boyfriend clings to life.
Watch Now:Apple TV#21 - Massacre in Little Haiti/Exposed
Season 12 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/19/2012
Miami detectives hope that survivors of a shooting outside a corner store can identify the culprits; a Cleveland man is found strangled in his apartment, and police search for his friend and a motive.
#23 - A Simple Plan/The Rip-Off
Season 12 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/7/2012
A woman is murdered in front of her daughter during a home invasion in Harris County, Texas; a Dallas teen runs into serious trouble while trying to sell a gun.
#24 - Final Call/Fatal Fury
Season 10 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/3/2011
In Charlotte, rookie homicide Det. Brian Whitworth is assigned his first case when a woman is discovered on her bedroom floor, stabbed to death. Hampered by false leads and a lack of eyewitnesses, Whitworth must rely on the physical evidence to bring the killer to justice. Meanwhile, in Louisville, Det. Jon Lesher investigates the homicide of a 43-year-old father, gunned down in front of his house for telling a rowdy group of men next door to quiet down. The case comes to a standstill when an eyewitness steadfastly upholds the street's code of silence. Lesher must use his veteran-interview techniques to break the code and get the witness to talk.
#25 - Inside the Tape Special #20
Season 28 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/16/2025
In Kansas City, Kansas, when a dead body is discovered in a bridge, catching the killer depends on finding the crime scene; when a man is found shot dead in his car, St. Louis detectives hope a local prostitute can point them in the direction of the shooter.