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The Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey

Every episode of Cagney & Lacey ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey!

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Mary Beth Lacey and Chris Cagney are teamed up as NYPD police detectives. Their opposing personalities (one is tough and the other sensitive) mesh to make this one of the great crime-fighting duos of all

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 2 - One of Our Own
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - One of Our Own

    S2:E2

    A uniform cop is shot in a restaurant. The assumption is that the cop was shot because he knew too much, but it was actually mistaken identity. The B story is that the precinct is going to field a softball team. Of course, Cagney wants to play and drags Lacey along. Isbecki is the captain and tries to keep them out but eventually has to allow them in when he learns that the team must include both men and women

    Director:Reza Badiyi
    Writers:Robert Crais, April Smith

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  2. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 3 - Beauty Burglars
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Beauty Burglars

    S2:E3

    A group of baddies is preying on wealthy patrons of beauty shops. They get into these shops by pretending to be policemen. C&L get to head up the task force, and Cagney befriends one of the victims

    Director:Reza Badiyi
    Writer:Robert Crais

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  3. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 4 - High Steel
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - High Steel

    S2:E4

    A construction worker falls to his death, and everyone thinks it's an accident, including Isbecki, who lets the ladies take over the case. You see, Harvey knew the fellow, and he thinks there's something funny. It turns out that the victim was on the take, and Harvey and Mary Beth go out to the construction site to inspect first hand.

    Director:Reza Badiyi
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 5 - Hot Line
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Hot Line

    S2:E5

    A group of unrelated stranglings has the NYPD very worried. Turns out all the women work for telephone erotic hotlines. There's a very funny scene where C&L go to investigate and the hotline manager thinks they're looking for work.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Frank Abatemarco

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  5. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 6 - Internal Affairs
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - Internal Affairs

    S2:E6

    The 14th precinct has an informer in its midst. The undercover agents working on a truck hijacking are getting exposed. IAD ""asks"" C&L to investigate, since they're ""outsiders."" When Cagney refuses, the IAD lieutenant smirkily tells her that Charlie was on the take when he was a cop. All they turn up is that LaGuardia has a girlfriend and Samuels is seeing aa psychiatrist because of the effect of his divorce.

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Joanne Pagliaro

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  6. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 7 - Mr. Lonelyhearts
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Mr. Lonelyhearts

    S2:E7

    A farmer from Vermont comes in looking for his wife, who has disappeared in New York City. Seems that she has ""married"" several men, and is collecting money from all of them.

    Director:James Sheldon
    Writer:Jeffrey Lane

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Cagney & Lacey

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  7. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 8 - Conduct Unbecoming
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Conduct Unbecoming

    S2:E8

    C&L and another detective are working on a case involving some illegal weapons. The catch is that the third detective has just had his picture turn up in a gay magazine. Is he gay? Will he be suspended before he helps C&L catch the bad guy?

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Rogers Turrentine

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  8. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 11 - Hopes and Dreams
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - Hopes and Dreams

    S2:E11

    A gang of thieves have an intriguing modus operandi. They wait until a family is at a funeral and then break in and steal everything. One of the victims is a crippled girl.

    Director:Peter Levin
    Writer:Frank Abatemarco

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  9. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 12 - The Grandest Jewel Thief of Them All
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - The Grandest Jewel Thief of Them All

    S2:E12

    Albert Grand is the most famous jewel thief in the world. He has even written a book about his career. Can the elegant dog lover who stops a petty crime really be the great thief?

    Director:Victor Lobl
    Writer:Michael Piller

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  10. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 14 - Open and Shut Case
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - Open and Shut Case

    S2:E14

    Lacey is the main witness in an open-and-shut case, only it isn't that open-and-shut. in the ""B"" story, a witness in an old rape case has to testify. The defendants' strategy is stall and stall, and C&L have to support her when she wants to quit

    Director:Nicholas Sgarro
    Writers:Terry Louise Fisher, Steve Brown

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  11. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 17 - Burn Out
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - Burn Out

    S2:E17

    The ""A"" story is that Cagney goes undercover as a nun to investigate the theft of drugs from a hospital. The ""B"" story is that she goes alone because Lacey has gone off AWOL. After her vacation is canceled at the last minute, she just says, ""the hell with it"" and disappears

    Director:Don Weis
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 19 - Let Them Eat Pretzels
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Let Them Eat Pretzels

    S2:E19

    A poor Jewish man is hit by a car, and we know who did it. The problem is that he's the son of an Arabian diplomat, and safe as long as he stays in the embassy. After he escapes twice, the women had better work something out.

    Director:Harry Harris
    Writer:Peter Lefcourt

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  13. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 20 - The Gang's All Here
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - The Gang's All Here

    S2:E20

    To celebrate Petri's promotion to detective first grade, the gang goes out to celebrate. Alas, they get robbed (including their guns and shields), and have to restore face. LaGuardia is so upset that he threatens to quit.

    Director:Christian I. Nyby II
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 21 - A Cry for Help
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - A Cry for Help

    S2:E21

    The "A" story is that a con man is doing very well, but when he's arrested as he's fleeing, there's nothing of value in his suitcase. The "B" story is that one of the cops working with them, who Mary Beth has known since academy days, is beating his wife.

    Director:Barbara Peeters
    Writers:Terry Louise Fisher, Chris Abbott

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  15. Cagney & Lacey Season 4 Episode 21 - Violation
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - Violation

    S4:E21

    A teenager is thrown into a very tough jail by mistake for am minor offense and gets raped. The angry parents file a lawsuit for $7 million dollars against the NYPD

    Director:Allen Baron
    Writer:Les Carter

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  16. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 18 - The Man Who Shot Trotsky
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - The Man Who Shot Trotsky

    S5:E18

    In a sequel to #62,Cagney and a back-on-duty-again Lacey go after Mansfield again. Cagney's informant is a street-smart Hispanic youth - is he tough enough to handle Mansfield?

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writers:Kathryn Ford, Peter Lefcourt

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  17. Cagney & Lacey Season 3 Episode 1 - Matinee
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - Matinee

    S3:E1

    A wealthy Westchester housewife is found dead in the city. Since Cagney comes from a well- off family in Westchester, we get to learn a little bit about her background. The ""B"" story is that Samuels' son David gets arrested for car theft, and relations between the two are very strained

    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:Chris Abbott

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  18. Cagney & Lacey Season 1 Episode 2 - Pop Used to Work Chinatown
    8.0/10(3 votes)

    #18 - Pop Used to Work Chinatown

    S1:E2

    The first appearance of Dick O'Neill as Charlie Cagney. The case occurs in Chinatown, where Charlie just happened to work, so he helps out. This is the episode where Lacey shoots and kills a fleeing perp.

    Director:Georg Stanford Brown
    Writer:Brian McKay

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  19. Cagney & Lacey Season 1 Episode 6 - Better Than Equal
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #19 - Better Than Equal

    S1:E6

    C&L are assigned to protect a feminist, only not a Gloria Steinem type, but a Phyllis Schlafy type. This episode was very controversial, and several stations refused to run it.

    Director:Ray Danton
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 1 - Witness to An Incident
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - Witness to An Incident

    S2:E1

    One of the uniforms accidentally kills a civilian, mistaking him for a perp. C&L both see it, but they have very different recollections of the event. Marquette and Samuels pressure Lacey to agree with Cagney, but you know how stubborn she is. The bad guy is a crewman on a foreign ship, and it ends with a chase on the ship.

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Paul Laurence

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  21. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 9 - I'll Be Home for Christmas
    8.0/10(3 votes)

    #21 - I'll Be Home for Christmas

    S2:E9

    A Christmas episode, lighter than usual. The ""villain"" is a nebbish who steals from parking meters. When he gets arrested, he makes off with a squad car, which so enrages Samuels that nobody gets to leave early on Christmas Eve. The villain is played by character actor David Masur The ""B"" story is that Petri's Lauren daughter is born. We first meet Dory McKenna as Chris' boyfriend.

    Director:Burt Brinckerhoff
    Writer:Robert Crais

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  22. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 10 - Recreational Use
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Recreational Use

    S2:E10

    C&L are assigned to work for Sgt. Dory McKenna on a murder investigation. The baddy is a slumlord who is trying to get rid of his tenants so he can make a co-op out of his building. The kicker is that Dory is using cocaine. After he snorts up at Mary Beth's and doesn't show up as backup, Chris threatens to turn him in unless he gets help for his addiction.

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:April Smith

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  23. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 13 - Affirmative Action
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - Affirmative Action

    S2:E13

    A new detective has been assigned to the 14th. Lacey thinks it's nice to have another woman; Cagney thinks she's incompetent

    Director:Peter Levin
    Writer:Jeffrey Lane

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  24. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 18 - Chop Shop
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - Chop Shop

    S2:E18

    When C&L screw up a backup assignment, Isbecki is taken hostage. The situation gets worse when Petri kills a child. As the child is black, public relations thinks they can solve the problem by putting Petri's picture in the paper, so everyone can see he's also black

    Director:Bill Duke
    Writer:Kevin Rodney Sullivan

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  25. Cagney & Lacey Season 1 Episode 3 - Beyond the Golden Door
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #25 - Beyond the Golden Door

    S1:E3

    An illegal immigrant is murdered, and the trail leads to a large racket in modern-day slave trading.

    Director:Reza Badiyi
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"One of Our Own" is the best rated episode of "Cagney & Lacey". It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Reza Badiyi and written by Robert Crais, April Smith, it aired on 11/1/1982. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Beauty Burglars".