The WORST episodes of Tour of Duty
Every episode of Tour of Duty ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Tour of Duty!
As the first television drama series about the Vietnam War, Tour of Duty focuses on a single platoon of young U.S. soldiers through their one-year tour of combat duty in Vietnam during the late 1960's. While their own country is rocked by a massive anti-war movement, these young men find themselves thrown into combat in Southeast Asia, where they face enemy troops they can not see and sometimes can not kill. They also face their own fears, as they struggle in a hostile environment just to keep themselves and their fellow soldiers alive. Terence Knox, Kevin Conroy, Stephen Caffrey, Joshua Maurer, Steve Akahoshi, Tony Becker, Eric Bruskotter, Stan Foster, Ramon Franco and Miguel A. Nunez, Jr. star as the infantrymen who represent diverse racial, cultural and philosophical backgrounds but must ultimately depend on one another to get through the war alive.
#1 - Paradise Lost
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/26/1988
The men from Bravo company are patrolling in the jungle when they find a fresh trail, one that leads to a trap by a group of VC soldiers. The Americans are out-numbered and in a very bad position. Suddenly they are rescued by Montagnards. Anderson trusts them, and has the squad follow them back to their village where they meet the translator -- an ex-GI (Kithem). The American is obviously hostile to the presence of Goldman and the rest of the Americans. Against Kithem and Anderson's better judgement, Goldman follows orders to help fortify the native "compound" against the VC. Kithem warns that all the American attention will only bring down the ARVN and NVA forces. Which is exactly what happens.
#2 - Sitting Ducks
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/1987
B Company is sent to relieve another group guarding a small village which is having an important new irrigation system installed. As they arrive, Goldman discovers that the commanding officer has just been killed out on patrol. After they take over, men get hit every time they patrol the surrounding jungle. It looks like someone from the village/fort is setting them up. Horn becomes fascinated with the local Buddhists and eventually discovers that it is the monks using the temple bell, who are tipping off the NVA.
#3 - Roadrunner
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/7/1988
One of a GI's big events is the arrival of his mail. When Zeke opens his mail to find that his ex-wife, it is to find that she is complaining that he is not writing letters home often enough to their 3-year-old daughter. Zeke already has enough responsibilities... this one isn't wanted. However he has little time to worry about it before he finds himself out on patrol. Goldman orders the squad forward when Anderson warns that they are walking into trouble, Anderson scouts out ahead and ends up in a near-lethal mortar barrage. Anderson is nearing his limit when he finds out that the squad's next destination is a valley where Zeke's last outfit was nearly wiped out. Anderson fights going tooth-and-nail and it is obvious to everyone that Zeke is falling apart. There is little time to help him, though, as the men have to consider their mission first. The squad ends up going after a downed flyer... and while Zeke continues to deteroriate.
#4 - The Good, the Bad and the Dead
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/19/1987
A drunken GI steals a chaplain's jeep and goes on a joy ride with a Vietnamese hooker. They nearly collide with a jeep-load of MPs who chase him down. His arrest is witnessed by Zeke, who recognizes him as Decker, his former drill sergeant and role model. Anderson rescues Decker from a certain court-martial (his second) and drafts him into the squad without checking with Goldman first. Decker is popular with the guys but he almost immediately starts to disobey orders. Decker mans a listening post with Horn to watch for enemy troops movements, but he gets drunk and falls asleep. As a result, Horn is nearly killed.
#5 - Brothers, Fathers and Sons
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/1987
Anderson, Baker and Johnson are shot down and must make their way back to base while being hunted by the Viet Cong, led by Trang, whose son was killed by the Americans. The trio come across a woman who dies giving birth. Anderson is adamant about leaving the baby behind, but the other two insist on taking it with them. However, it is Anderson who ends up taking care of the baby and forms the strongest bond with him, risking his life to save the baby. In the end, after many gunfights, Trang and Zeke are left to battle it out. Trang gets the upper hand down when Zeke tries to save the baby, but he is unable to kill a man who twice risked his life for this child.
#6 - Burn, Baby, Burn
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/1987
Racial tension leads to violence when a militant black soldier, Tucker, and a KKK member, Innis, both end up in B Company. Tucker's friend is killed when Innis fails to provide cover. Later, Innis murdered with Johnson's weapon. While Goldman and Anderson don(t believe Johnson is guilty, they must follow procedure and place him under arrest. Meanwhile, Tucker has riled up "his" men. Armed, they approach the Camp Prison where Johnson is being held and demand his release. The white soldiers also approach, carrying their weapons. Only Zeke's courage and authority prevents a shootout between the groups.
#7 - Dislocations
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/1987
B Company is ordered to escort a group of villagers from their present village to a new location, which is to be an example of U.S. technology aiding the Vietnamese. Among the villagers is Lang, a beautiful woman to whom Goldman becomes very attached. They are attacked again on the trail and Goldman's life is saved and then spared by a VC who turns out to be Lang's husband.
#8 - I Wish It Would Rain
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/14/1989
Alex and a French correspondent investigate illegal incursions of Cambodia by U.S. troops.
#9 - Popular Forces
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/21/1989
Anderson, Johnson and Ruiz train four Vietnamese recruits whose inexperience poses problems.
#10 - Under Siege
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/11/1988
The men of Bravo are certain that Westmoreland has not yet informed the enemy that they are losing, as Firebase Ladybrid continues to come under daily long-range artillery fire. Suddenly a helicopter approaches and lands despite the fact that the base is taking fire. It is the new company commander -- Captain Larry Heath -- a man who initially wins over the favor of his troops with gifts, but he proves to be a complete fanatic. Heath wants to attack despite the fact that it appears that the base is about to be attacked. Zeke and Goldman set them men to putting up a defense and get in trouble because of it. A large attack proves that Anderson was right when the firebase is over-run and Doc Matsuda, with only 15 days left of his tour of duty, is killed when he refuses to abandon his patient.
#11 - Non-Essential Personnel
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/31/1989
Alex sets out to expose a major whose questionable judgement has caused casualties.
#12 - True Grit
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/24/1989
Anderson risks court-martial to delay the return of battle-weary men to combat.
#13 - Saigon (2)
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/10/1989
Anderson meets with his wife and sees her off after her announcement that she is remarrying. Goldman begins a relationship with Devlin which almost ends as they are both nearly blown up by a VC bomb. Percell is fed up with the senselessness of the war and Ruiz becomes convinced that he is going to be the next to die. Johnson and Taylor go to check on Bridger only to be told that he is dead (he is faking it), while Stacy Bridger has arrived to find her father. Goldman is ordered to have Alex pull her story about the soldier who died in the opium parlor and Zeke runs into Stacy Bridger -- rescuing her from some Vietnamese punks. He takes her back to the hotel where Zeke ends up trying to save a suicidal marine deserter. The deserter has sold information to the VC and ends up killing himself. Meanwhile McKay sends Goldman on a "snipe" hunt so that he can be alone with Alex, and inadvertently exposes Goldman to serious danger.
#14 - Saigon (1)
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/1989
Having received some warning of the upcoming Tet Offensive, Bravo Co. is still unprepared for what happens to them after they are transferred to Tan Son Nhut Base outside of Saigon. Zeke and Goldman catch up with one of their men in an opium parlor and have a run-in with some Vietnamese thugs. The situation is basically under control until a female wire service correspondent -- Alex Devlin -- butts in. Alex explains that she was following up on a story lead. Lt. McKay is introduced as a chopper pilot who will be shuttling Bravo Co. As they prepare to leave on a mission, Zeke opens a letter from his ex-wife who claims she will soon arrive in Saigon to see him. The company is landed in a hot-LZ and only gets saved from sure disaster when Lt. McKay uses his helicopter to fire machine guns at the hostile position. Alex meets up with Jake Bridger who tells a story about VC infiltrating the cities as peasants. McKay and Goldman start to argue over both their increasing
#15 - The Hill
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/30/1988
Goldman and Nikki have a great time on a brief R&R that they spend together on China Beach. Their reunion is marred by the fact that Nikki refuses to marry him, fearing he will be killed in combat. Goldman returns to Firebase Ladybird to find that his unit has been assigned to help take Hill 1000. They've taken it before and lost it before. And this battle promises to be the worst. Even after the bunker is finally taken, it is found empty. They go back down so that a plane can spray a defoliate. They must go back and take that hill yet again. Horn has, in the meantime, gotten in trouble with a young -- and new -- officer. Sitting at the bottom of the hill and awaiting the court-martial, he sees a wounded Taylor and he decides to go back with his buddies and fight. Horn is seriously wounded and sent home.
#16 - Angel of Mercy
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/9/1988
In a small South Vietnamese hamlet, an NVA officer arrives to brief his men that they will soon begin infiltrating towns and villages through-out the country in preparation for the Tet Offensive. Meanwhile, Bravo is in the bush, while Baker is losing a battle with his dysentery. As he "answers the call of nature," he sights VC closing on the unit and then, pulling his pants up, gets a frog down them, and starts screaming. As the American's come running, a firefight starts, ending with the capture of an NVA Colonel Trang. Goldman catches a bullet in the helmet and in his jacket as they try to retreat. Though saved by his clothing, he still does need to go to the hospital along with Anderson, who is hit with shrapnel. While Goldman and Anderson recover, Trang dies under mysterious circumstances during interrogation.
#17 - Blood Brothers
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/12/1988
Retired Major General Goldman arrives by helicopter at Firebase Ladybird on a fact finding mission for Washington brass. Seeing another helicopter landing, he goes to greet and question Anderson and his soldiers about the mission they have just returned from. They later learn that the general is Goldman's father but it is clear when they meet that the two don't have a good relationship. They were estranged when Myron's mother died five years before and haven't spoken since. The Major general finds that his son's leadership methods appall him. Ruiz befriends a new man who joins the team, mainly because he is also a hispanic. But the man manages to get himself killed due to his careless attitude. Dalby orders Goldman's men into an impossible attack which Myron refuses to go on. Zeke and Goldman realize that the new man was on dope and set out to cure the problem themselves.
#18 - Soldiers
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/18/1988
The squad is in heavy contact with a group of enemy soldiers, and after taking several casualties manage to be retrieved by two helicopters. Danny hears that his father is hospitalized after a near-fatal heart-attack and is given emergency medical leave. Danny finds that his father and mother have separated and his father has taken up with a younger woman who is loyal to him. Danny feels left out and alienated from a man who he already wasn't close to. While waiting for his father to get better, Danny meets Rudy Morales, a vet handicapped by wounds -- a bitter, broken man. Danny is seriously upset by this and further upset by an argument with his father. Meanwhile, Taylor and Ruiz decide that they need to be by Danny's side, so they talk Anderson into pulling some strings and getting their R&R in Bangkok changed to Honolulu. Once in Hawaii they are exposed to the "real" world of mini-skirts and negative attitudes about the war.
#19 - USO Down
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/21/1988
A USO band comprised of three female dancers, a sax players, and a singer, completes their performance at an outlying base, and are rushed to a helicopter to be flown to their next destination. None of them get a chance to even change their costumes. The helicopter is shot down and the entire crew is killed. Meanwhile, Bravo company is out on a recon, and Taylor who is on point, thinks he must be going crazy when he sees the girl in hot pants and leather boots. Bravo company takes the girls with them but can't call in for help because the radio's batteries are dead.The USO people make the transition to "soldier" with various degrees of success.
#20 - Lonesome Cowboy Blues
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/11/1989
Anderson and Goldman find a leak in a top-secret operation; Alex must prove herself to a shady new boss.
#21 - Sealed with a Kiss
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/2/1989
Zeke considers a job offer as a mercenary for the CIA; Zeke and Goldman go on a dangerous mission with a Navy SEAL.
#22 - Hard Stripe
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/9/1989
While out on patrol, the unit stumbles across CIA recruiter Jim Doyle. He has taken possession of a case of Russian-made sniper rifles, and claims that finding him there was an accident. It is obvious that Goldman and his men have been used by Doyle to provide himself with an escort out of the bush. They get ambushed on the way out. They get most of the rifles back, but Zeke and Myron wonder why they were ambushed by Montagnards, a group known for their loyalty to Americans. Goldman decides to investigate Doyle and enlists Alex's help. Doyle learns he is being investigated and leans on Zeke to get the lieutenant to stop. McKay tries to convince Goldman that he should take a non-combat job ""for Alex's sake"". Taylor is upset because a soldier named Smith gets his sergeant's stripes before Johnson gets them, and Taylor think race has something to do with it.
#23 - The Volunteer
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/16/1989
A young desk clerk seeking to prove himself is assigned to Anderson's platoon.
#24 - Lonely at the Top
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/1989
While Zeke is back in the States, Brewster sends the men out to locate a missing SOG team. Once in the bush, Team Viking locates the missing soldiers, who all appear to be dead. It is an NVA trap; the enemy opens up just as the American reach the bodies but retreat quickly when Johnson leads a counter-strike against them. Johnson faces a crisis of confidence because men under his command were killed. Ruiz is struggling with Doc Hock's pacifist attitudes, Johnson is getting worse and Taylor is losing faith in everyone. Anderson arrives back in Texas and spends time with Dr. Seymour. They spend the weekend together and discuss the days ahead, Zeke has trouble seeing any future that involves him returning to the World.
#25 - A Bodyguard of Lies
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/28/1989
Utter havoc reigns in the jungle after a newby makes a mistake and two other soldiers are killed going to his resuce. The men are led by Lt. Beller, and his unit has seen far too much action and too much death. Beller is an old friend of Goldman's, together they are sent back out to search for an NVA regiment. Beller tells command that his men need rest or they are going to snap but Brewster insists they must go out. Meanwhile everyone is happy to see Anderson return, except for the ever-depressed Percell. Goldman spends some time with Beller. Percell is going over the edge fast and no one knows that he has started to use drugs. Anderson discovers that Brewster is married to a Vietnamese girl and they have a child. The next day, on their mission, Percell (drugged up) starts to panic. Beller's unit creates a My Lai-type of massacre in the field and that sends Percell off the deep end and straight into the waiting arms of heroin dealers.