Mission: Impossible: Season 1
Season 1 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Picks up essential narrative continuity directly following the events of Mission: Impossible Season 1.
- Character alliances, factions, and personal loyalties undergo significant shifts under escalating stakes.
- Addresses unresolved cliffhangers and thematic mysteries introduced during previous seasons.
- Establishes the primary seasonal conflict that drives serialized character arcs toward the finale.
Episode Guide
Season 1 Progress Shield
The Killer
Oct 23, 1988 · 48 min
When an IMF team leader is assassinated, Jim Phelps comes out of retirement and assembles a new team to bring the killer to justice.
The System
Oct 30, 1988 · 47 min
The team must force a mobster to turn evidence against his partner and mentor.
Holograms
Nov 6, 1988 · 47 min
The IMF must lure a canny drug lord on to U.S. territory so he can be arrested for his crimes.
The Condemned
Nov 20, 1988 · 48 min
The team must free a falsely-condemned prisoner - former IMF techno-genius Barney Collier.
The Legacy
Nov 26, 1988 · 47 min
When the sons of four Nazis come together to recover a fortune in gold and create the Fourth Reich, the team must infiltrate the group and locate the gold.
The Wall
Dec 11, 1988 · 48 min
A East German doctor makes money by tricking political refugees into paying to use his escape route, and kidnaps a diplomat's daughter to prevent the reunification which would make
The Cattle King
Dec 18, 1988 · 47 min
The IMF teams up with Australian aborigines to bring down a superstitious cattle king and arms dealer.
The Pawn
Jan 15, 1989 · 48 min
When a Russian scientist and chess player decides to defect, Nicholas must take his place under the watchful eyes of the KGB while the rest of the team gets the scientist and his d
The Haunting
Jan 28, 1989 · 48 min
When a rich young sociopath kills a Middle Eastern princess and her father threatens war, the IMF must bring him to justice.
The Lions
Feb 4, 1989 · 49 min
A king's son returns to his Asian country to take the test that will confirm him as the king, but his uncle, a rabid anti-American, has rigged it so that he can fail, so the IMF mu
The Greek
Feb 11, 1989 · 49 min
Jim and Grant must get close to a Greek billionnaire who runs a black market drug ring, and turn his partners against him.
The Fortune
Feb 18, 1989 · 49 min
A team member is killed on solo assignment against the wife of a mentally-weak exiled dictator, and the others resolve to bring them both to justice.
The Fixer
Feb 25, 1989 · 48 min
A Washington journalist uses his connections to gain information to blackmail politicians, posing a threat to the U.S.
Spy
Mar 18, 1989 · 48 min
An ex-MI6 agent sells lethal chemical weapons and the IMF must team up with a Russian spy whose people also want to eliminate the threat.
The Devils
Mar 25, 1989 · 49 min
A rash of insanity among diplomats requires Jim to go undercover as...the Devil, to get the goods on a British lord in charge of a Satanic cult.
The Plague
Apr 8, 1989 · 49 min
An industrial spy prepares to sell a vial of bacteria, unaware of how virulent it is if accidentally released.
Reprisal
Apr 15, 1989 · 49 min
A deranged ex-IMFer targets retired IMF agents, killing them and framing Jim Phelps for the crimes. The IMF gives Jim only a little time to prove his innocence before they must tur
Submarine
Apr 29, 1989 · 48 min
A retired admiral prepares to sell a computer virus that can sink any naval vessel, but the plan goes awry when he destroys the computer ""cure"" before the IMF can get it. Now the
Bayou
May 6, 1989 · 49 min
The IMF must use voodoo rituals to break up a white slavery ring run by a sadistic Louisiana bar owner and millionnaire.