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The Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey Season 2

Every episode of Cagney & Lacey Season 2 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey Season 2!

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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
    Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 17 - Burn Out
    8.7/10(102 votes)

    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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  2. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 6 - Internal Affairs
    8.5/10(87 votes)

    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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  3. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 4 - High Steel
    8.3/10(90 votes)

    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
    8.3/10(95 votes)

    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 8 - Conduct Unbecoming
    8.2/10(88 votes)

    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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  6. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 10 - Recreational Use
    8.2/10(85 votes)

    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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  7. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 16 - Date Rape
    8.2/10(80 votes)

    S2:E16

    It's a rape case, but the victim knew her assailant, which makes it date rape. Cagney and Harvey think the woman asked for it; Lacey is more supportive. The ""B"" story is that the guys in the precinct are playing practical jokes such as fixing Isbecki up with a female impersonator and Samuels with a prostitute. Cagney thinks it's funny and points out that it's a great step forward for them to be included in this

    Director:John Patterson
    Writer:Steve Brown

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  8. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 21 - A Cry for Help
    8.2/10(77 votes)

    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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  9. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 1 - Witness to An Incident
    8.1/10(115 votes)

    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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  10. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 14 - Open and Shut Case
    8.1/10(74 votes)

    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 15 - Jane Doe #37
    8.1/10(76 votes)

    S2:E15

    a bag lady, is murdered. Only Cagney cares what happened, and strives to find the woman's real name. The ""B"" plot is very funny: our heroines are assigned to do recruiting, and wind up trying to do a commercial for the NYPD. Of course, they get replaced by ""real"" actresses.

    Director:Stan Lathan
    Writer:Peter Lefcourt

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  12. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 13 - Affirmative Action
    7.9/10(83 votes)

    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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  13. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 20 - The Gang's All Here
    7.9/10(73 votes)

    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 2 - One of Our Own
    7.8/10(91 votes)

    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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  15. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 3 - Beauty Burglars
    7.8/10(86 votes)

    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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  16. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 12 - The Grandest Jewel Thief of Them All
    7.8/10(88 votes)

    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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  17. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 18 - Chop Shop
    7.8/10(76 votes)

    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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  18. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 22 - The Informant
    7.8/10(69 votes)

    S2:E22

    To find out who's selling drugs to high school students, C&L use a teenage informer. But the youth is not to be trusted, and the detectives wind up with eggs on their face when it turns out that he's selling drugs himself.

    Director:Michael Vejar
    Writers:Ronnie Wenker-Konner, Lawrence Konner

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  19. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 9 - I'll Be Home for Christmas
    7.7/10(84 votes)

    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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  20. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 7 - Mr. Lonelyhearts
    7.6/10(86 votes)

    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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  21. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 11 - Hopes and Dreams
    7.2/10(78 votes)

    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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  22. Cagney & Lacey Season 2 Episode 19 - Let Them Eat Pretzels
    7.1/10(72 votes)

    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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Season 2 Ratings Summary

"Burn Out" is the best rated episode of "Cagney & Lacey" season 2. It scored 8.7/10 based on 102 votes. Directed by Don Weis and written by Unknown, it aired on 3/7/1983. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Internal Affairs".