China Beach (1988–1991)

1. S01E01China Beach (1)April 26, 1988 10.0It's November 1967 and nurse Colleen McMurphy faces the last week of her tour of duty in Vietnam, dealing as usual with the dying boys, prim
2. S01E02China Beach (2)April 26, 1988—McMurphy decides that she can't leave China Beach even though she is eligible to go home. Cherry and Laurette arrive- Cherry to look for her
3. S01E03HomeApril 27, 1988—Laurette auditions local entertainers to fill in the act and McMurphy struggles to overcome her feelings when a Viet Cong woman who was resp
4. S01E04Hot SpellMay 4, 1988—KC agrees to ask about Cherry's brother as she sets up a deal to buy an antique vase. Laurette prepares to perform for visiting brass. Lila,
5. S01E05Somewhere Over the RadioMay 11, 1988—Lila, Cherry and Laurette find themselves pinned down with a combat squad whose leader is not dealing with reality. Back at China Beach, KC
6. S01E06Waiting for BeckettMay 18, 1988—Cherry is taken in by a deserter who claims to know her brother, and who is pursued by a determined office from the CID. Laurette and Boonie
7. S01E07BrothersJune 1, 1988—Laurette faces an important audition with laryngitis. Beckett battles the pressure of racial prejudice and financial coercion when he discov
8. S01E08Chao OngJune 8, 1988—Despite distractions, McMurphy and Natch finally get together. Laurette gets a chance to join another, bigger USO tour. McMurphy gets blamed

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

1. S02E01Lost and Found (1)November 30, 1988—Lila takes over command of China Beach and orders KC off the base. McMurphy finally lets herself admit how much she cares for Natch when she
2. S02E02Lost and Found (2)December 7, 1988—Wayloo Marie becomes a casualty as she shoots her assignment. Frankie Bunsen arrives for temporary duty. McMurphy finds a badly injured Dodg
3. S02E03LimboDecember 14, 1988—McMurphy continues her vigil by Dodger's bedside as he stays in a coma. KC agrees to get Boonie some black market penicillin for a native ho
4. S02E04X-Mas Chnbch VN '67December 21, 1988—Christmas '67 brings a steady supply of casualties and a crazed Santa to China Beach.
5. S02E05Women in WhiteJanuary 4, 1989—McMurphy fights jealousy, envy and fear when a confident woman doctor comes in from the States and takes over Dr. Richard and Dodger's case.
6. S02E06All About E.E.V.January 11, 1989—A dashing lieutenant colonel parachutes into China Beach for some R&R and disrupts the lives of Lila, KC and Wayloo Marie. Dr. Richard and M
7. S02E07Tet '68January 25, 1989—Wayloo Marie tries to keep reporting, McMurphy and KC are trapped in an officer's restroom, Beckett is held prisoner by Mai's brother and Dr
8. S02E08CherryFebruary 1, 1989—Wayloo Marie becomes intimidated by the war as its reality sinks in following Cherry's death. McMurphy tries to fight the bureaucracy to kee
9. S02E09Crossing the Great WaterFebruary 8, 1989—Dr. Richard throws himself into helping a Vietnamese orphanage when his wife Beth Ann serves him with divorce papers. McMurphy tries to reco
10. S02E10PsywarsMarch 1, 1989—An Army psychiatrist visits the Five and Dime and touches off McMurphy's inability to deal with Natch's death. Wayloo Marie learns something
11. S02E11Where the Boys AreMarch 8, 1989—As McMurphy's enforced R&R continues with the help of an 18-year-old medic, Boonie tries to recreate a combination spring beach frolic and s
12. S02E12VetsMarch 15, 1989—The accounts of life in Vietnam by real vets are intercut with scenes from old episodes showing how closely the show has mirrored reality.
13. S02E13TwilightMarch 22, 1989—Wayloo Marie's digging results in a medal ceremony for Boonie and an unwelcome investigation into his lost jungle patrol. McMurphy sees Dodg
14. S02E14After BurnerApril 5, 1989—McMurphy goes through the emotional wringer when Natch Austen returns to China Beach after six months as an MIA. Lila cares for the ""pet""
15. S02E15Promised LandApril 12, 1989—Beckett faces going home when his tour ends in April 1968, as the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr polarizes black-white relations in
16. S02E16The World (1)April 26, 1989—Wayloo Marie prepares to return the world and a new job at BBC news. She's unexpectedly joined by McMurphy, who's returning to her unsettled
17. S02E17The World (2)May 3, 1989—McMurphy reassesses her life as she tries to decide whether or not to return to Vietnam following her father's death.

Season 2 ranked & reviewed

1. S03E01The Unquiet EarthSeptember 20, 1989—McMurphy and K.C. are kidnapped by the Viet Cong and taken underground into a warren of tunnels, where their captors expect McMurphy to oper
2. S03E02Skin DeepSeptember 27, 1989—McMurphy uses a little guilt and a little blackmail to get a reluctant K.C. to visit a wounded soldier whose face has been badly disfigured.
3. S03E03Dear China BeachOctober 4, 1989—Dodger is left with an Amerasian baby that is supposedly his son; McMurphy makes a poor patient when she comes down with dysentery; and Holl
4. S03E04Who's Happy Now?October 11, 1989—Dr. Richard worries over a craniotomy that has permanently altered a patient's mental capacity; Lila faces an inspection that will determine
5. S03E05Independence DayOctober 25, 1989—China Beach celebrates a soggy Independence Day with Boonie and Holly trying to keep everyone's spirits up, McMurphy dealing with a love str
6. S03E06GhostsNovember 8, 1989—K.C. avoids dealing with unpleasant memories of her father stirred up by a trunk of his belongings; Dr. Richard faces his ex-wife's remarria
7. S03E07With a Little Help From My FriendsNovember 15, 1989—Holly is shaken when it appears that Hang is connected to the VC and has been using their friendship to gain information; Frankie is serious
8. S03E08China MenNovember 22, 1989—Dodger and Hyers square off after a battlefield incident; McMurphy spends an uncomfortable evening with Dr. Bernard's sophisticated civilian
9. S03E09How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (1)November 29, 1989—Beckett and a civilian photographer temporarily join Dodger's patrol; McMurphy gets to know a wounded POW.
10. S03E10How to Stay Alive in Vietnam (2)December 6, 1989—The wounded Cambodian POW befriended by McMurphy is taken away by the South Vietnamese for interrogation as the photographer Cat pursues the
11. S03E11MagicJanuary 3, 1990—McMurphy finds herself caught up in a triangle affair with Dr. Bernard and Vinnie; Holly tells Boonie how she feels about him; and Lila cope
12. S03E12NightfallJanuary 10, 1990—K.C. feels responsible for the death of a Vietnamese prostitute she sent out and takes things into her own hands when Otis refuses to invest
13. S03E13SouvenirsJanuary 17, 1990—Dodger reaches the limit of his endurance and decides to leave Vietnam and faces a mountain of paperwork as he tries to get permission to ta
14. S03E14Holly's ChoiceJanuary 30, 1990—Holly has had an abortion and as her friends at China Beach try to deal with it, the circumstances that led up to it are gradually revealed.
15. S03E15The Rumor of PeaceFebruary 7, 1990—China Beach reacts to the rumors of peace floated by Beckett and Frankie during their pirate radio broadcast.
16. S03E16WarriorsFebruary 14, 1990—McMurphy is in an emotional and ethical turmoil when she delivers Vinnie's buddy from death but he falls into a terminal coma; and Frankie f
17. S03E17The Thanks of a Grateful NationFebruary 28, 1990—Dodger tries to reintegrate his life as a civilian but finds himself drifting as he tries to make sense of his experiences in Vietnam.
18. S03E18SkylarkMarch 14, 1990—A pair of ballroom dancers bring a note of grace and harmony to the uneasy relationship between McMurphy and Dr. Richard while completing a
19. S03E19PhoenixMarch 21, 1990—K.C. finds herself in the middle of a C.I.A. assassination plot, and dependent on McMurphy to vouch for her innocence.
20. S03E20F.N.G.April 16, 1990—In November 1966, fairly new guys Colleen McMurphy and Dr. Richard find themselves learning the ropes when they arrive at China Beach.
21. S03E21The GiftApril 23, 1990—McMurphy finds herself under suspicion when a wounded G.I. she doesn't remember names her as his beneficiary. Lila has mixed feelings about
22. S03E22Strange BrewApril 30, 1990—With everyone else away for a distant USO show, K.C. and McMurphy indulge in an alcoholic binge that takes them to a dreamy landscape where

Season 3 ranked & reviewed

1. S04E01History: Part I: The Big BangSeptember 29, 1990—In 1985, a reunion between Boonie and Dr. Richard stirs up memories of their first meeting in Vietnam in 1966. It also brings up questions f
2. S04E02History Part II-She Sells More Than Sea ShellsOctober 6, 1990—Still in 1985, Karen learns how her natural mother, KC, coped with her pregnancy by turning to Boonie for help.
3. S04E03You, BabeOctober 13, 1990—In Saigon in 1967, KC gives birth with McMurphy's help and gives the baby over to a foster mother.
4. S04E04EscapeOctober 27, 1990—While attending his father's funeral in 1985, Beckett reflects on his childhood and his tour of duty in Vietnam with the Graves Registration
5. S04E05FeverNovember 3, 1990—In 1970, McMurphy returns home to Lawrence, Kansas to make peace with her mother and try to settle down into civilian life, but finds both g
6. S04E06JuiceNovember 10, 1990—In 1972, Dr. Richard and his nurse take a romantic trip to Florida, where they run across a hard-livng McMurphy working at an orange-juice f
7. S04E07One Giant LeapNovember 17, 1990—In 1969, China Beach watches from afar as the first men land on the moon. McMurphy simmers jealously as Dr. Richard falls for a new nurse. B
8. S04E08One Small StepDecember 1, 1990—Suddenly back home and missing one leg, Boonie begins a slow and painful re-entry into civilian life with the comfort of a loving nurse.
9. S04E09The CallDecember 8, 1990—Frankie returns to Chicago in 1969 to try her hand at being a standup comic but runs into the tragically funny trial of the infamous Chicago
10. S04E10I Could Have Danced All Night ... But Didn'tJune 4, 1991—McMurphy meets a sympathetic drummer at a 1983 wedding and recalls the 1969 wedding of Lila and Sarge Pepper, as well as the end of her rela
11. S04E11100 Klicks OutJune 11, 1991—The imminent fall of Saigon reunites KC with her daughter as she struggles to get the little girl out of Vietnam and safely to America and a
12. S04E12The Always GoodbyeJune 18, 1991—The arrival in Bangkok in 1969 of a hard-drinking McMurphy and a young private disrupts KC's carefully developed new life and brings back un
13. S04E13QuestJune 25, 1991—In 1976, McMurphy helps KC re-enter the country and find her daughter before heading out to Montana to visit Dodger, who's coping with a dis
14. S04E14RewindJuly 9, 1991—In 1985, Karen begins a videotape project interviewing China Beach veterans about their experiences in Vietnam and their memories of her nat
15. S04E15Through and ThroughJuly 16, 1991—In 1985, an increasingly angry Colleen torments herself and her husband until she discovers she's suffering from post-traumatic stress syndr
16. S04E16Hello, Goodbye (1)July 22, 1991—McMurphy agrees to attend a China Beach reunion planned by Boonie and recalls her last day in Vietnam, and travels to Washington DC with the
17. S04E17Hello, Goodbye (2)July 22, 1991—McMurphy agrees to attend a China Beach reunion planned by Boonie and recalls her last day in Vietnam, and travels to Washington DC with the

Season 4 ranked & reviewed