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 - Street Law/Standing Up
Season 10 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/17/2011
After a year with the gang unit, Detective Kevin Ruggiero returns to Miami Homicide, investigating a drive-by shooting that left two men dead. He has little to work with until he learns that one of the victims was a founder of a local gang. Then in Louisville, Detective Kristen Downs responds to the shooting of a 17-year-old boy. When she learns that his friends witnessed the shooting, she has to convince them to overcome their fear of retaliation in order to bring him justice
#7 - Chopper
Season 17 - Episode 30 - Aired 9/5/2016
An Atlanta father is gunned down and a rookie detective tries to sort through lies and alibis to uncover the truth.
#8 - In the Line of Fire / Over the Edge
Season 18 - Episode 19 - 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.
#9 - House of Horrors / Final Sacrifice
Season 18 - Episode 20 - 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.
#10 - A Murder in Mobile
Season 18 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/3/2017
When a homeless man is gunned down on the sidewalk, Mobile detectives discover a petty motive.
#11 - Cruel Intentions
Season 21 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/9/2020
Mobile detectives investigate the murder of a young mother of two and unravel the deadly plot that took her life.
#12 - Child's Play/Bad Intentions
Season 21 - Episode 23 - Aired 4/30/2020
A teenager is shot dead in Tulsa, Okla., and detectives must uncover the truth among his roommates' stories; in Mobile, Ala., a young man's murder sets off a retaliatory shooting.
#13 - 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.
#14 - Truly Lost
Season 21 - Episode 35 - Aired 1/7/2021
When two young men are shot and killed in a car, Gwinnett County Homicide turns to the survivors to learn the truth about what led to the shooting.
#15 - The Price of Kindness/The Woman at the Door
Season 21 - Episode 38 - 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.
#16 - Road Rage
Season 21 - Episode 53 - Aired 5/27/2021
When a father of three is gunned down after confronting a hit-and-run driver, Mobile detectives struggle to find clues that will lead them to his killer.
#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 - School's Out
Season 21 - Episode 51 - Aired 5/13/2021
A young man is shot down while walking home and rumors swirl about who could have wanted him dead.
#19 - The Abnormals
Season 21 - Episode 49 - Aired 4/22/2021
In Mobile, the homicide team takes on a missing persons case when new evidence points to foul play.
#20 - Bad Cinderella
Season 21 - Episode 48 - Aired 4/15/2021
A father of four is gunned down while defending his girlfriend during a brutal home invasion.
#21 - 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.
#22 - Inside the Tape Special #9
Season 21 - Episode 42 - Aired 2/25/2021
In KCK, when a body is discovered on a bridge, catching the killer depends on finding the crime scene; in Atlanta, surveillance footage shows a man carrying a box before he is shot; in Mobile, a bleeding father is found by his friends.
#23 - Death in the Family/Love Lost
Season 21 - Episode 39 - 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.
#24 - Easy Mark
Season 21 - Episode 40 - Aired 2/11/2021
In Tulsa, Okla., detectives investigate the murder of a man with a troubled past, and they uncover a sinister plot.
#25 - 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.