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The Pretender poster

The Pretender (1996)

Action · Drama · Mystery

Raised in a secret facility built for experimenting on children, Jarod is a genius who can master any profession and become anyone he has to be. When he realizes as an adult that he's actually a prisoner and his captors are not as benevolent as he's been told, he breaks out. While trying to find his real identity, Jarod helps those he encounters and tries to avoid the woman sent to retrieve him.

IMDb rating
7.5 (18,121 votes)
Episode average
8.0 ↑ +0.5 vs IMDb
Seasons
4
Language
EN
Type
TV series

Shape drift trajectory: its last season breaks the pattern the earlier ones set. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every Shape drift show in the explorer →

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 4 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1996)

7.64 avg 22 episodes 7.8 → 8.3 47 min avg

Ep 1: 7.8 · 278 votesEp 2: 7.6 · 202 votesEp 3: 7.5 · 192 votesEp 4: 7.7 · 189 votesEp 5: 7.6 · 187 votesEp 6: 7.7 · 179 votesEp 7: 7.5 · 171 votesEp 8: 7.9 · 186 votesEp 9: 7.4 · 171 votesEp 10: 7.5 · 171 votesEp 11: 7.5 · 164 votesEp 12: 7.3 · 159 votesEp 13: 7.3 · 154 votesEp 14: 8.0 · 175 votesEp 15: 7.2 · 152 votesEp 16: 7.7 · 142 votesEp 17: 7.7 · 149 votesEp 18: 7.5 · 133 votesEp 19: 7.5 · 131 votesEp 20: 7.6 · 136 votesEp 21: 8.2 · 153 votesEp 22: 8.3 · 148 votes
Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Pilot7.8278
2Every Picture Tells a Story7.6202
3Flyer7.5192
4Curious Jarod7.7189
5The Paper Clock7.6187
6To Serve and Protect7.7179
7A Virus Among Us7.5171
8Not Even a Mouse7.9186
9Mirage7.4171
10The Better Part of Valor7.5171
11Bomb Squad7.5164
12Prison Story7.3159
13Bazooka Jarod7.3154
14Ranger Jarod8.0175
15Jaroldo!7.2152
16Under the Reds7.7142
17Keys7.7149
18Unhappy Landings7.5133
19Jarod's Honor7.5131
20Baby Love7.6136
21Dragon House: Part 18.2153
22Dragon House: Part 28.3148

Season 2 (1997)

8.02 avg 22 episodes 7.6 → 8.7 47 min avg

Ep 1: 7.6 · 146 votesEp 2: 7.6 · 135 votesEp 3: 7.8 · 133 votesEp 4: 7.5 · 139 votesEp 5: 7.8 · 127 votesEp 6: 8.0 · 124 votesEp 7: 8.0 · 135 votesEp 8: 7.7 · 121 votesEp 9: 8.0 · 127 votesEp 10: 7.9 · 120 votesEp 11: 7.6 · 128 votesEp 12: 8.0 · 127 votesEp 13: 8.0 · 111 votesEp 14: 8.3 · 121 votesEp 15: 7.8 · 107 votesEp 16: 8.1 · 104 votesEp 17: 8.1 · 111 votesEp 18: 8.4 · 110 votesEp 19: 8.6 · 127 votesEp 20: 8.5 · 122 votesEp 21: 8.4 · 130 votesEp 22: 8.7 · 134 votes
Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Back from the Dead Again7.6146
2Scott Free7.6135
3Over the Edge7.8133
4Exposed7.5139
5Nip and Tuck7.8127
6Past Sim8.0124
7Collateral Damage8.0135
8Hazards7.7121
9F/X8.0127
10Indy Show7.9120
11Gigolo Jarod7.6128
12Toy Surprise8.0127
13A Stand-Up Guy8.0111
14Amnesia8.3121
15Bulletproof7.8107
16Silence8.1104
17Crash8.1111
18Stolen8.4110
19Red Rock Jarod8.6127
20Bank8.5122
21Bloodlines: Part 18.4130
22Bloodlines: Part 28.7134

Season 3 (1998)

8.16 avg 22 episodes 8.3 → 8.9 42 min avg

Ep 1: 8.3 · 116 votesEp 2: 8.1 · 110 votesEp 3: 8.4 · 106 votesEp 4: 7.8 · 117 votesEp 5: 8.5 · 108 votesEp 6: 8.2 · 96 votesEp 7: 7.9 · 93 votesEp 8: 8.3 · 102 votesEp 9: 8.2 · 127 votesEp 10: 7.7 · 127 votesEp 11: 8.1 · 108 votesEp 12: 7.8 · 106 votesEp 13: 8.1 · 119 votesEp 14: 8.0 · 119 votesEp 15: 7.8 · 104 votesEp 16: 7.9 · 107 votesEp 17: 8.2 · 98 votesEp 18: 8.4 · 103 votesEp 19: 8.2 · 113 votesEp 20: 8.1 · 97 votesEp 21: 8.6 · 115 votesEp 22: 8.9 · 121 votes
Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Crazy8.3116
2Hope & Prey8.1110
3Once in a Blue Moon8.4106
4Someone to Trust7.8117
5Betrayal8.5108
6Parole8.296
7Homefront7.993
8Flesh & Blood8.3102
9Murder 1018.2127
10"Mr. Lee"7.7127
11The Assassin8.1108
12Unsinkable7.8106
13Pool8.1119
14At the Hour of Our Death8.0119
15Countdown7.8104
16PTB7.9107
17Ties That Bind8.298
18Wake Up8.4103
19End Game8.2113
20Qallupilluit8.197
21Donoterase: Part 18.6115
22Donoterase: Part 28.9121

Season 4 (1999)

8.11 avg 20 episodes 8.4 → 8.2 44 min avg

Ep 1: 8.4 · 114 votesEp 2: 8.1 · 96 votesEp 3: 7.8 · 100 votesEp 4: 8.1 · 104 votesEp 5: 8.6 · 134 votesEp 6: 8.0 · 96 votesEp 7: 8.1 · 100 votesEp 8: 8.1 · 98 votesEp 9: 8.6 · 117 votesEp 10: 8.3 · 106 votesEp 11: 7.8 · 125 votesEp 12: 7.7 · 91 votesEp 13: 7.6 · 103 votesEp 14: 8.2 · 91 votesEp 15: 8.3 · 98 votesEp 16: 8.0 · 95 votesEp 17: 7.7 · 96 votesEp 18: 7.9 · 94 votesEp 19: 8.7 · 115 votesEp 20: 8.2 · 131 votes
Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1The World's Changing8.4114
2Survival8.196
3Angel's Flight7.8100
4Risque Business8.1104
5Road Trip8.6134
6Extreme8.096
7Wild Child8.1100
8Rules of Engagement8.198
9'Til Death Do Us Part8.6117
10Spin Doctor8.3106
11Cold Dick7.8125
12Lifeline7.791
13Ghosts from the Past7.6103
14The Agent of Year Zero8.291
15Junk8.398
16School Daze8.095
17Meltdown7.796
18Corn Man7.994
19The Inner Sense: Part 18.7115
20The Inner Sense: Part 28.2131
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Episode ratings and vote counts from IMDb. Poster, overview, and streaming data from TMDB. Data refreshed 2026-10-03.

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