The BEST episodes of Cagney & Lacey
Every episode of Cagney & Lacey ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Cagney & Lacey!
Mary Beth Lacey and Chris Cagney are teamed up as NYPD detectives in this landmark series. Their opposing personalities (one is tough and the other sensitive) mesh to make this one of the greatest crime-fighting duos of all time.
#1 - A Safe Place
Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/12/1986
Cagney and Lacey race against time to catch a thief who stole more than he bargained for; meanwhile, Cagney faces another birthday, and the Laceys make an offer on a house.
#2 - Favors
Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/26/1987
The detectives go after a corrupt judge. but he has an ""in"" - he's an old friend of Charlie Cagney's. Cagney also has to do the performance reviews, and smoke flies when she doesn't give Lacey top ranking.
#3 - Waste Deep
Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/1987
A toy company is dumping toxic wastes, and a gungho environmentalist is willing to do whatever it takes to get Cagney and Lacey to investigate.
#4 - Cost of Living
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/12/1987
In a sequel to episode #75, Mansfield goes on trial. He's done something clever - he's hired David Keeler to defend him. David explains how principled he is. Chris tells him to go to hell.
#5 - To Thine Own Self Be True (aka The Rapist II)
Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/15/1986
In a sequel to episode #69, Sara Jones goes on trial. She wants Cagney to back up her story, but Cagney won't do it.
#6 - Revenge
Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/8/1986
A wife beater is brutally murdered, and Petrie identifies the man's jewelry as belonging to his sister---who was raped and murdered 14 years earlier.
#7 - Rites of Passage
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/1/1986
A college sorority initiate falls off a building. The detectives suspect a hazing prank gone sour, but the sorority sisters won't talk.
#8 - The Marathon
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/24/1986
The 14th precinct has to help support the annual New York City marathon. One of the (white) runners is from South Africa, and is facing death threats if she runs. Cagney and Lacey are assigned to talk her out of running but if they can't, then they must protect her.
#9 - The Zealot
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/10/1986
An assistant D.A. has devoted his entire career to prosecuting child pornography. When he turns up dead, Cagney (who would have liked to have gotten to know him better) thinks one of those scuzzy pornographers had killed him.
#10 - Role Call
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/3/1986
In a self-referential show, the 14th is visited by a TV star, ""Detective Deedee,"" who has permission from the brass to learn how real policemen work. She especially wants to learn from Cagney and Lacey.
#11 - Disenfranchised (aka Incest)
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/27/1986
(Also given to me as ""Incest."") A girl says that their father is molesting the younger daughter, who is too young to testify. How does she know? Because she was molested herself. Cagney and Lacey get the children away from their parents, but have to split up the girls to do so.
#12 - Sorry, Right Number
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/20/1986
A rash of burglaries coincides with a heat wave; Lacey and Isbecki are trapped in an elevator; and Cagney frets over a long weekend with David.
#13 - Culture Clash
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/1986
Cagney and Lacey investigate the murder of a teenage girl who wanted to break away from her traditional Islamic upbringing; meanwhile, Chris is excited by the prospect of being chosen for a potentially career-making task force.
#14 - Schedule One
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/29/1986
The Laceys move into their first home, but Mary Beth's joy is diminished by a junkie's claims that he saw a cop take heroin from a crime scene.
#15 - Parting Shots
Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/26/1986
The 14th precinct suffers the loss of one of their own, setting off a manhunt for a cop killer on the loose.
#16 - Model Citizen
Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/25/1986
Cagney and Lacey each deal with surprise visitors in their lives while they investigate the slaying of a "model citizen."
#17 - Ahead of the Game
Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/1987
Story by Allison Hock. The crime story hits close to home here. The Laceys are burglarized and Mary Beth must deal with Detective Dupnick from Queens. Of course, she's neglected all the precautions that she lectures civilians about. Cagney attends the Emerald Ball, while dealing with a high school athlete who dropped dead of steroid overuse
#18 - Extradition
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/5/1986
Cagney has an uneasy reunion with her brother when she and Lacey travel to Los Angeles to extradite a criminal.
#19 - Capitalism
Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/7/1986
A lawyer who "helped" fellow Cambodian refugees for a fee is murdered; Lacey is affected by Harvey's job pressures; and Cagney tries to sell her car.
#20 - Exit Stage Centre
Season 5 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/10/1986
An investigation of an actress's apparent suicide reveals several murder suspects; Cagney makes an interesting date; and Harvey reveals a secret from his past to Mary Beth.
#21 - The Man Who Shot Trotsky
Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/3/1986
Cagney presses an informant to get information on a drug supplier who walked away from an earlier arrest, after she admitted to entrapping him.
#22 - Post Partum
Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/17/1986
A West Point cadet caught with cocaine refuses to help himself avoid court-martial due to his code of honor; and Mary Beth receives an unwanted visit from her estranged father, who abandoned her and her mother thirty years ago.
#23 - Family Connections
Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/10/1986
Cagney meets the new woman in her father's life; Isbecki regrets his lack of a family life; and, after a wild ride to the hospital, the Laceys welcome a new family member.
#24 - The Gimp
Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/27/1986
Cagney gains insight into the life of the physically impaired when she takes to a wheelchair to nail muggers preying on the disabled.
