The WORST episodes of VICE
Every episode of VICE ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of VICE!
The Emmy®-winning documentary series is now on SHOWTIME, delivering immersive reporting from the frontlines of global conflicts, civil uprisings and beyond, and tackling untold and complex geopolitical stories from all corners of the globe.
#1 - Keepers of the Caliphate & SIM Kids
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/29/2020
VICE correspondent Hind Hassan explores the resurgence of ISIS, as brigades of radicalized ISIS women have started to regroup within al-Hol camp, where tens of thousands of women and children who once lived under The Islamic State and are now held; VICE correspondent Krishna Andavolu examines the unlikely origins of what some call the perfect crime, and explores the urgent implications for personal security, digital identity, and the persistent industry inaction on SIM swapping.
#2 - Engineering Earth
Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 9/14/2018
Greenhouse gas emissions are at unprecedented levels and still rising. As climate deniers and their allies in industry and government thwart conservationists' efforts, some scientists are working to develop a back-up plan: use technology to "geoengineer" the Earth's atmosphere and reduce the impacts of climate change. Shane Smith and Ben Anderson find out how this technology would work and how effective this radical, and potentially dangerous, plan could be.
#3 - Brainhackers & Fall of Rio
Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired 9/21/2018
Thomas Morton takes a look at an emerging push to implant electronic devices inside the human body, hardwire them to our brains, and allow us to not only overcome disadvantages or injury, but open up entirely new avenues of human experience. Ben Anderson visits Rio in the aftermath of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics to find Brazil in a financial crisis, its government consumed with a monumental corruption scandal and violence is rising again as drug trafficking gangs fight for control.
#4 - Consent
Season 6 - Episode 23 - Aired 9/28/2018
One year after the explosive allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement has impacted everything from Supreme Court nominees and workplace culture to sex and dating. Isobel Yeung takes a searing, personal look at how we define consent, hold assailants accountable and start to move forward
#5 - Voodoo Wrestling & Big Placebo
Season 6 - Episode 24 - Aired 10/5/2018
Dexter Thomas travels to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to meet the women taking part in the unique sport of Catch Fétiche, in which mystical voodoo rituals and professional wrestling converge. Charlet Duboc meets devotees and skeptics of America’s billion dollar alternative medicine industry where lucrative celebrity endorsements and social media influencers have helped fuel a wellness obsession.
#6 - Death Inc. & Bannon's World
Season 6 - Episode 25 - Aired 11/9/2018
Gianna Toboni investigates Mexico's spiralling murder rate where there have been over 20,000 homicides in 2018 so far, with over 90% of crimes going unsolved. Michael Moynihan visits Sweden, Italy and Belgium to track Steve Bannon as he aids the rise of right-wing populist parties in Europe.
#7 - The Road to Asylum & Lab Rat Nation
Season 6 - Episode 26 - Aired 11/16/2018
Krishna Andavolu travels to Central America and the U.S. southern border to see how the Trump administration's narrowed asylum protections have impacted asylum seekers. Vikram Gandhi visits the bizarre world of human guinea pigs, who are often paid thousands of dollars to try unapproved drugs, to get an inside look at these self-proclaimed “lab rats.”
#8 - A Living Hell & MDMA for PTSD
Season 6 - Episode 27 - Aired 11/23/2018
Ben Anderson returns to Yemen to witness the devastating effects of four years of war and indiscriminate bombing of civilians. He also investigates trials using MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD.
#9 - The War at Home & Putin's Crimea
Season 6 - Episode 28 - Aired 11/30/2018
Gianna Toboni investigates the role firearms play in domestic violence and meets the women working to fix the shortcomings of a legal system that often fails to protect them. Isobel Yeung visits Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014, to see how Crimeans are faring under Russian control, and how Ukrainians are clinging to the hope of reunification.
#10 - Doom Boom & Unfair
Season 6 - Episode 29 - Aired 12/7/2018
Thomas Morton investigates the doomsday industry, which is currently thriving thanks to TV shows, movies, hyperpartisan politics and the news media, even the nation's wealthiest citizens are jumping on board to prepare for unknown calamities. Gianna Toboni heads to Mumbai to find out about the cultural bias towards fair skin, which has given rise to a skin-lightening industry worth nearly $500 million.
#11 - Back in the DPRK & California Burning
Season 6 - Episode 30 - Aired 12/14/2018
In the wake of a series of inter-Korean summits and the first ever DPRK-U.S. summit, Shane Smith returns to the Korean peninsula to see how Seoul and Pyongyang are reacting to the new détente. Gianna Toboni travels to the scorched town of Paradise to learn what is causing the worsening wildfires in California and how they can survive a future of deadlier fires.
#12 - American Piety & Terror in Congo
Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 9/7/2018
Gianna Toboni travels to the Bible Belt where wide support for Donald Trump in 2016, against a backdrop of scandals, has brought heavy media scrutiny and now some faith leaders are striving to move evangelicalism away from political associations. Ben Anderson heads to the Eastern Congo where up to six million people have been killed in an underreported crisis and reports on the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), one of the least known, but most violent groups in the world.
#13 - India Burning & Russia's Fight Factory
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/5/2020
With India's leaders ramping up Hindu nationalist rhetoric, there is growing fear among the nation's 200 million Muslims; the tiny Russian Republic of Dagestan is a modern-day fight factory.
#14 - Battle for Idlib & Seeking Solitude
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/12/2020
Correspondent Isobel Yeung gains rare access inside Idlib, Syria's last rebel-held territory, as President Assad and his allies mount a brutal bombing offensive that has civilians paying the highest price; Correspondent Dexter Thomas goes on lockdown in South Korea to search for the benefits of isolation -- ironically, just weeks before the rest of the world would join him in their COVID-19 quarantines.
#15 - Warning from Wuhan & Cuban Hostage Crisis
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/19/2020
Correspondent Krishna Andavolu presents the video diary of Chinese citizen journalist Chen Qiushi to illustrate the full impact of COVID-19 in Wuhan; Correspondent Paola Ramos exposes how the Trump Administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy is strengthening cartels as they kidnap Cuban migrants held at the border and target their American families waiting for them at home.
#16 - Quitting WeWork & Losing Ground & Italy's Darkest Hour
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/26/2020
In this 1-hour episode, correspondent Seb Walker examines the spectacular rise and fall of WeWork, and delves into the world of venture capitalists willing to gamble billions on the next big startup; as the U.S. continues to grapple with its history of racial discrimination, correspondent Alzo Slade explores the vulnerability of black land owners in the South; correspondent Isobel Yeung reports from the heart of Italy's COVID-19 crisis, gaining rare access to an ICU in a hospital overwhelmed by the virus.
#17 - Three Borders, One War & Generation TikTok
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/3/2020
Correspondent David Noriega reports from the border between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, a lawless place where criminal gangs are more powerful than nation-states; TikTok is one of the most popular apps -- but it's not exactly the first place someone runs to when they want to find thoughtful, deliberate dialogue. Dexter Thomas examines how that's changing.
#18 - Fighting COVID & Atomic Atolls
Season 7 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/10/2020
Following front-line healthcare workers as they take on the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis; the nuclear legacy of the United States' atomic weapons testing in the Marshall Islands and the negative impacts on its people.
#19 - Terror in the Sahel & Corona Crash
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/17/2020
Ben Anderson goes to Burkina Faso, where a fast-growing humanitarian crisis spins out of control as the Sahel becomes the new epicenter of terrorism and violence; Michael Moynihan surveys the long-term economic devastation wrought by COVID-19.
#20 - Maximum Pressure & The Unreachables
Season 7 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/24/2020
A look at the role of sanctions and mismanagement in Iran's fate in the wake of COVID-19, including an interview with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; the ACLU works across borders to reunite families that were torn apart.
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#21 - Death at Parchman & Undocumented
Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/31/2020
Correspondent Gianna Toboni examines how Mississippi’s Department of Corrections neglected Parchman Prison for years until recent riots and smuggled out images exposed its grim and deadly conditions; Correspondent Paola Ramos explores what it’s like to survive as an undocumented immigrant in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
#22 - The Cost of Living & Paradise Lost
Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/15/2018
An exploration of how big pharmaceuticals are impacting Americans. A visit to Puerto Rico, where many residents are still reeling from the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria.
#23 - Post-Truth News & Microbiome
Season 5 - Episode 28 - Aired 10/6/2017
"Post-Truth News" - The U.S. is more divided across party lines than ever before in recent American history, and nowhere are these divisions more visible than in our media. With President Trump waging a war on mainstream news outlets and the rise of hyperpartisan sites spreading misinformation, trust in the traditional press has fallen to a record low of 32%. VICE Correspondent Isobel Yeung looks at what's driving the media's battle over facts and the polarization of the American public in the Trump era. "Microbiome" - Powerful antibiotics and widespread sanitation practices have expanded lifespans across the industrialized world. But they have also come at a cost. Our microbiomes, or the trillions of microbes collectively working in our bodies to help regulate our immune system and food digestion, have lost much of its health-promoting bacteria because of our modern lifestyles and sanitation practices. Scientists across the world are now looking to the planet's few remaining pre-industrialized societies to see what industrialized guts have lost--and in doing so, could fundamentally change the way scientists think about germs. Thomas Morton heads to the Central African Republic to see this emerging field of microbiome science.
#24 - Battle for Jerusalem & A Face In The Crowd
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/13/2018
A look at the aftermath of President Trump's announcement to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and a report from China on advances in facial recognition technology.
#25 - A Revolution in Ruins & New Kids on the Blockchain
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/20/2018
An inside look at how the Libyan revolution is failing and a front-row seat to the geopolitical tug of war over Internet 3.0.