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.

Last Updated: 2/23/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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Turn, Turn, Turn (1)
star
9.00
7 votes

#1 - Turn, Turn, Turn (1)

Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/30/1987

Charlie's drinking finally catches up with him and he goes to the Great Bar in the Sky. Chris and brother Brian send him off with a wake at Flannery's. But Chris can't handle it, and winds up dead drunk in her apartment. Only Lacey can save her and get her to AA.

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Turn, Turn, Turn (2)
star
8.83
6 votes

#2 - Turn, Turn, Turn (2)

Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/30/1987

In the B plot, Lacey rescues a child from a burning car and then has to return the child to the proper mother.

Directors: Sharron Miller
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Who Says It's Fair (1)
star
8.43
7 votes

#3 - Who Says It's Fair (1)

Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1985

After a large amount of cash is found in the locker of an eight-year-old latchkey kid, Cagney and Lacey respond to a call from his worried mother, who fears her young son is now missing; meanwhile, Mary Beth refuses to face the possibility of breast cancer.

Directors: Ray Danton
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The Gimp
star
8.43
7 votes

#4 - 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.

Directors: Sharron Miller
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Child Witness
star
8.38
8 votes

#5 - Child Witness

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/15/1984

An over-protective father refuses to let his child testify in a molestation case. Meanwhile, Petrie feels the way he was treated by two white officers who mistook him for a car thief was racially motivated.

Directors: Karen Arthur
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Disenfranchised (aka Incest)
star
8.38
8 votes

#6 - 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.

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Heat
star
8.29
7 votes

#7 - Heat

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/22/1984

Tension rises with the temperature after Lacey is grabbed by an armed robber and held hostage in a sweltering boxcar.

Directors: Karen Arthur
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Who Says It's Fair (2)
star
8.25
8 votes

#8 - Who Says It's Fair (2)

Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/18/1985

Cagney and Lacey are called to testify against Kevin's mother in a custody hearing; meanwhile, as the rest of the 14th precinct prepares to take the Sergeant's exam, Mary Beth must miss it as she enters the hospital to treat her breast cancer diagnosis.

Directors: Ray Danton
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Right to Remain Silent
star
8.25
8 votes

#9 - Right to Remain Silent

Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/9/1987

A deaf girl is suspected of murder. Could someone with such a severe handicap commit a crime like that? Also, a drunken David Keeler appears on Cagney's door step begging her forgiveness. She hadn't seen him since ""the Cost of Living"" although he left numerous messages on her answering machine.

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Ordinary Hero
star
8.17
6 votes

#10 - Ordinary Hero

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/7/1985

Cagney and Lacey have no trouble with a case, thanks to their star witness. Alas, he's an illegal alien, who can only stay in the country until the trial ends. When the baddy takes a plea bargain, the witness and family are going to be deported

Directors: Reza Badiyi
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Parting Shots
star
8.17
6 votes

#11 - 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.

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A Killer's Dozen
star
8.14
7 votes

#12 - A Killer's Dozen

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/26/1984

A uniformed officers' strike forces the detectives back into their blues and onto the streets, as Cagney and Lacey try to bring an end to the "Don Juan Strangler."

Directors: John Paterson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Safe Place
star
8.14
7 votes

#13 - 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.

Directors: Alexander Singer
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Schedule One
star
8.14
7 votes

#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.

Directors: Alexander Singer
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Happiness is a Warm Gun
star
8.14
7 votes

#15 - Happiness is a Warm Gun

Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/23/1987

This time it's Lacey's turn to get shot. She isn't hurt as badly as Cagney was, but the trauma sends them to the police psychiatrist. Lacey is saved from certain death by her bullet-proof vest.

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Revenge
star
8.13
8 votes

#16 - 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.

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The Zealot
star
8.13
8 votes

#17 - 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.

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On the Street
star
8.13
8 votes

#18 - On the Street

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/1985

Cagney illegally detains a pimp to protect a prostitute who implicated him in murder.

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Recreational Use
star
8.00
12 votes

#19 - Recreational Use

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/27/1982

A murder investigation into a shady landlord attempting to turn his building co-op becomes more complicated when Cagney and Lacey are assigned to work with the drug-addicted homicide detective Chris has been dating.

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Baby Broker
star
8.00
7 votes

#20 - Baby Broker

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/30/1984

Emotions run high for Cagney, whose suitor doesn't appreciate her job dedication; and for Lacey, who volunteers to temporarily care for an abandoned deaf infant.

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A Fair Shake (2)
star
8.00
6 votes

#21 - A Fair Shake (2)

Season 7 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/16/1988

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A Cry for Help
star
7.90
10 votes

#22 - A Cry for Help

Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/2/1983

Cagney and Lacey work to arrest a con-man involved in a Ponzi scheme against elderly women; and Mary Beth learns that one of the detectives they are working with is beating his wife.

Directors: Barbara Peters
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Family Connections
star
7.88
8 votes

#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.

Directors: James Frawley
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To Thine Own Self Be True (aka The Rapist II)
star
7.88
8 votes

#24 - 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.

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Special Treatment
star
7.88
8 votes

#25 - Special Treatment

Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/16/1987

Lacey participates in a protest march against nuclear weapons. She gets arrested and thrown to the tender mercies of Detective Dupnick.

Directors: Jackie Cooper
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV