Cagney & Lacey

The Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey

Genres:CrimeDrama
Network:CBS

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

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...
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  1. 8.7/10(57 votes)

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

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    S4:E17

    No description available

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    Director:Ray Danton
    Writer:N/A
  2. 8.6/10(82 votes)

    #2 - Heat

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    S4:E2

    Mary Beth is taken hostage by a very dangerous man.

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    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:N/A
  3. 8.6/10(62 votes)

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

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    S4:E16

    A two parter where Mary Beth discovers that she has a lump in her breast, but she refuses to talk about it or do anything about it. Chris finds out when Harvey gets worried and sneaks out to tell her. Chris finally convinces Mary Beth to see a doctor and then to get a second opinion. Meanwhile the detectives must find a missing child. Cagney thinks the kid ran away because the mother was unfit. The mother thinks that they would look harder for a white child. Finally he turns up in an underground passage and Chris goes in after him. Mary Beth goes in for her surgery, but Chris can't be there because she is taking the sergeant's exam. But she gets back in time to learn that the operation is a success

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    Director:Ray Danton
  4. 8.5/10(59 votes)

    #4 - Partners

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    S3:E6

    Cagney gets show by a bad guy early in the episode. Not to worry, she solves the case from her hospital bed. She has to, because Mary Beth gets stuck with a real dweeb as a replacement. In a role reversal, Mary Beth is the ""hot dog"" and the guy is only interested in getting home on time

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    Director:Joel Oliansky
    Writer:N/A
  5. 8.5/10(65 votes)

    #5 - Rules of the Game

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    S4:E14

    C&L think it's wonderful to be assigned to a hot case under the hot Captain Hennessey. it seems that his interest in Chris is more personal than professional. Finally, Chris announces that she will file departmental charges against him for sexual harassment.

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    Writer:N/A
  6. 8.4/10(67 votes)

    #6 - Stress

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    S4:E15

    Cagney is a witness to a stabbing. The bad guy has the charming habit of erasing people he doesn't like, such as witnesses, and he goes after her

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    Writer:N/A
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Cagney & Lacey

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  8. 8.3/10(56 votes)

    #7 - Lost and Found

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    S4:E18

    Cagney's car (a yellow Corvette) has been stolen and boy is she mad. She doesn't get much help from Mary Beth, who is convalescing at home and considering quitting for good. The good news is that the second half of the sergeants exam has a question about auto theft technique.The episode introduces Hector (El Vengeador). It is later learned that Cagney's nemesis Mansfield had him murdered for his role as a drug informant in the episode ""The Man Who Shot Trotsky

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    Director:Al Waxman
    Writer:N/A
  9. 8.1/10(61 votes)

    #8 - Choices

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    S3:E7

    The crime story is a sequel to #16 (slumlord trying to get rid of tenants.) The witness has died, since the defense strategy is to stall, so C&L have to find new witnesses.

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    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:N/A
  10. 8.0/10(2 votes)

    #9 - Better Than Equal

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    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.

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    Director:Ray Danton
    Writer:N/A
  11. 8.0/10(61 votes)

    #10 - Insubordination

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    S4:E3

    Dory McKenna is back, rehabilitated from cocaine, and C&L again get to assist him. Meanwhile, Samuels must deal with a former subordinate who is now a captain and wants to ""improve"" the 14th Precinct.

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  12. 8.0/10(56 votes)

    #11 - Taxicab Murders

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    S4:E6

    This is the only episode with the title displayed. The cabbies of New York are disappearing, and the detectives drive shifts to find the killer. This so worries Michael Lacey that he runs off to Christine's to get reassurance.

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    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:N/A
  13. 8.0/10(64 votes)

    #12 - Thank God It's Monday

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    S4:E8

    The 14th Precinct has done its paperwork so badly that everyone (except for Petrie) has to come in over the weekend and clear it up. but C&L discover a statute of limitations that's about to expire and they must serve the warrant that weekend. The paperwork doesn't get done. Petrie is no better off - Claudia makes him spend the weekend painting the place.

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  14. 8.0/10(54 votes)

    #13 - Out of Control

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    S4:E11

    The crime story concerns a cat burglar who never uses a gun. Yet somebody gets shot. Chris is now sufficiently involved with Dory to meet his kids by a prior marriage

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    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:N/A
  15. 8.0/10(67 votes)

    #14 - American Dream

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    S4:E12

    A company is getting ahead in business by some well-placed fires. The small firms can choose between burning and blackmail

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    Writer:N/A
  16. 8.0/10(54 votes)

    #15 - Two Grand

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    S4:E19

    In a sequel to #18, the noted jewel thief Albert Grand returns. All Chris asks of him is that he not give her anything stolen. It is considered a classic episode for Albert Grand's confession to Cagney

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    Writer:N/A
  17. 8.0/10(57 votes)

    #16 - Con Games

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    S4:E20

    Cagney's sexual harassment case comes to trial (follow up to #49). Lacey is busy with the bunco squad. She manages to get approached by a completely different bunco scam and reels them in.

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    Writer:N/A
  18. 8.0/10(56 votes)

    #17 - Violation

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    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

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    Director:Allen Baron
    Writer:N/A
  19. 7.9/10(70 votes)

    #18 - Matinee

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    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

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    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:N/A
  20. 7.9/10(64 votes)

    #19 - Old Debts

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    S4:E4

    A cop killer has just been paroled. C&L have to guard him for only a little while, but of course he gets killed on their shift. This was a popular killing, but the ladies don't like anybody messing with them, so they track down the killer.

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    Writer:N/A
  21. 7.8/10(57 votes)

    #20 - The Bounty Hunter

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    S3:E4

    This time it's clear who the bad guy is. But he's being pursued for bail jumping by a bounty hunter. The bounty hunter not only has a legal right, if he can find him, but he makes a point of irritating Cagney.

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    Director:Bill Duke
    Writer:N/A
  22. 7.8/10(56 votes)

    #21 - Baby Broker

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    S3:E5

    When an abandoned infant is turned in, C&L go to work on a baby-broker scheme. The baby is deaf, and Mary Beth wants to take it home for child #3. (This was shown before Tyne Daly's pregnancy.) In the B plot, Cagney is dating a glamorous playwright, but he doesn't think much of her career.

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    Writer:N/A
  23. 7.8/10(102 votes)

    #22 - Fathers and Daughters

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    S4:E5

    Both the wife and daughter confess to a killing, but they can't both have done it. ADA Feldberg has a great time sarcastically pointing out how two confessions are not better than one

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    Director:Karen Arthur
    Writer:N/A
  24. 7.7/10(56 votes)

    #23 - Happily Ever After

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    S4:E13

    Dory finally pops the question. Will Christine marry him? Of course he will; there's just a few things to iron out. The crime story concerns a fellow who works in the credit department of a store and is making good money by stealing one penny from each refund

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    Writer:N/A
  25. 7.7/10(56 votes)

    #24 - Organized Crime

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    S4:E22

    When a nun is killed, C&L assume it's their case. However, the nun's family was friends with the Godfather, and the ladies find themselves with some very efficient but unwanted assistance.

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    Writer:N/A
  26. 7.6/10(60 votes)

    #25 - A Killer's Dozen

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    S3:E2

    The uniforms are on strike, and the detectives must wear uniforms and go back on the street, all the while solving the case of the ""Don Juan Strangler."" This is the first episode in which Cagney plays poker.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Who Says It's Fair (2)" is the best rated episode of "Cagney & Lacey". It scored 8.7/10 based on 57 votes. Directed by Ray Danton and written by N/A, it aired on 2/18/1985. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Heat".