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The Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey Season 5

Every episode of Cagney & Lacey Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Cagney & Lacey Season 5!

Binge this in 18h 0m•Peaking at 8.8/10

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 5 Episode 1 - On the Street
    8.4/10(77 votes)

    #1 - On the Street

    S5:E1

    A teenager has run away from her wealthy home, preferring prostitution to Princeton. Cagney and Lacey need her to testify against her pimp

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 2 - Ordinary Hero
    8.1/10(65 votes)

    #2 - Ordinary Hero

    S5:E2

    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

    Director:Reza Badiyi
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 3 - The Psychic
    7.8/10(55 votes)

    #3 - The Psychic

    S5:E3

    A psychic is hired to find a missing woman (hired by the family of the woman). Cagney senses trouble.

    Director:Ray Danton
    Writers:Debra Frank, Scott Rubenstein

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  4. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 4 - Lottery
    7.3/10(58 votes)

    #4 - Lottery

    S5:E4

    After the New York State Lottery has paid out millions, here comes another ticket. Somebody has a fake, but who? In the B story, Harvey and Mary Beth must face an IRS audit

    Director:James Frawley
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 5 - Entrapment
    7.9/10(60 votes)

    #5 - Entrapment

    S5:E5

    Cagney and Lacey try to nail drug dealer Mansfield. But their case rests on Chris' unsubstantiated conversation with him. Mary Beth would rather go bowling than lie, but she has to stick up for Chris.

    Director:Al Waxman
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 6 - The Clinic
    8.1/10(63 votes)

    #6 - The Clinic

    S5:E6

    Cagney and Lacey escort a poor Latina to an abortion clinic, as she's afraid to run the gauntlet of protestors. When the clinic is firebombed and someone dies, it becomes murder. When the baddy is discovered, Lacey points out that since she's pregnant, attacking her is just like killing a baby. This was a controversial episode, not shown by every affiliate.

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 7 - Mothers & Sons
    7.9/10(59 votes)

    #7 - Mothers & Sons

    S5:E7

    There's good evidence against a suspect, but his mother insists that he was at home with her. As long as the suspect has an alibi, he's all right

    Director:Ray Danton
    Writer:Frank South

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  8. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 8 - Filial Duty
    7.7/10(62 votes)

    #8 - Filial Duty

    S5:E8

    Charlie Cagney's drinking begins to catch up with him and he winds up in the hospital. Lacey, now well advanced in her pregnancy, wants to get off the street and into a desk

    Director:Sharron Miller
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 9 - Old Ghosts
    7.8/10(55 votes)

    #9 - Old Ghosts

    S5:E9

    Cagney sees a robbery in progress, gives chase, loses the perp, and then gets into trouble because she didn't catch the guy. She doesn't like being accused of cowardice. Brother Brian shows up from L.A. to see how Charlie is doing.

    Director:Georg Stanford Brown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 10 - Power
    8.3/10(59 votes)

    #10 - Power

    S5:E10

    Samuels' absence gives Cagney a chance to shine as temporary commander. Inspector Knelman gives her her orders - put Lacey on maternity leave. This is considered a classic episode because it is the one in which Cagney takes her turn as watch commande

    Director:James Frawley
    Writer:Patricia Green

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  11. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 11 - Play It Again, Santa
    6.8/10(60 votes)

    #11 - Play It Again, Santa

    S5:E11

    A Christmas episode, where Cagney is teamed with Newman to solve a dispute over who has rights to a song. Since Chris just had a fight with David, maybe Newman will be a romantic prospect? See Cagney dressed up as a Santa with big elf shoes on

    Director:Charlotte Brown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 12 - The Rapist (aka Rebukes)
    8.0/10(55 votes)

    #12 - The Rapist (aka Rebukes)

    S5:E12

    Also given to me as ""The Rapist, Part 1"")"" As a temporary replacement for Lacey, Sara Jones seems like a fine detective, and very gungho on finding a rapist. Too gungho - she decides to take matters into her own hands when it seems it is taking too long to nail the suspected rapist. A very, very sad ending to this episode.

    Director:James Frawley
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 13 - Act of Conscience
    7.9/10(64 votes)

    #13 - Act of Conscience

    S5:E13

    Cagney's new partner, Michael Moriarty, is famous - he ""ratted"" on some cops on the take. The other police officers will have nothing to do with him - in fact, Coleman has a ""book"" on how long the guy will last.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 14 - DWI
    8.3/10(56 votes)

    #14 - DWI

    S5:E14

    To gain more command experience, Cagney commands the night shift, with its own bunch of wackos. The cop case is a hit-and-run drunken driver. Cagney must convince the driver's girlfriend to testify. This episode is one of the first to talk about Cagney's drinking

    Director:Al Waxman
    Writers:Les Carter, Susan Sisko

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  15. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 15 - The Gimp
    8.8/10(87 votes)

    #15 - The Gimp

    S5:E15

    Handicapped people are being robbed, and a wheelchair activist wants the NYPD to do something about it. Cagney goes undercover by appearing as a handicapped individual in a wheelchair and falls for the activist.

    Director:Sharron Miller
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 16 - Family Connections
    8.5/10(70 votes)

    #16 - Family Connections

    S5:E16

    This is sometimes referred to as Cagney & Lacey's ""Lucy and Ethel"" episode for its comedic touches. At last, Lacey has baby Alice. (It did seem like the longest pregnancy on record, didn't it?) Cagney has to drive her to the hospital in the obligatory get-me-to-the-hospital-on-time scene. Chris has another problem - Charlie has a girlfriend, Donna.

    Director:James Frawley
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 17 - Post Partum
    8.2/10(62 votes)

    #17 - Post Partum

    S5:E17

    A West Point cadet is facing court martial and refuses to talk because of his honor code. David Keeler is sure that the cadet is innocent, so Chris goes up to help out. Lacey has a visitor - her long-lost father, who ran out on her mother when Mary Beth was a child. Now he wants to see his grandchildren

    Director:Georg Stanford Brown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 18 - The Man Who Shot Trotsky
    7.3/10(55 votes)

    #18 - 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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  19. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 19 - Exit Stage Centre
    7.4/10(59 votes)

    #19 - Exit Stage Centre

    S5:E19

    An actress in a play has died, and it appears to be suicide. However, when the ladies start digging around, they discover that everybody in the play hates everybody else - plenty of reason for murder. We learn that Cagney tried acting in college.

    Director:James Frawley
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 20 - Capitalism
    6.9/10(49 votes)

    #20 - Capitalism

    S5:E20

    A Cambodian lawyer who specialized in helping his fellow countrymen is killed. Further investigation reveals that he made a lot of money off other Cambodian's misfortunes.

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 21 - Extradition
    7.3/10(55 votes)

    #21 - Extradition

    S5:E21

    Cagney and Lacey get a sweetheart trip - to Los Angeles to bring back a bail jumper

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 22 - A Safe Place
    7.3/10(57 votes)

    #22 - A Safe Place

    S5:E22

    A thief gets more than he expected, when the goods include plutonium. He needs to be caught quickly, so that his radiation sickness can be treated

    Director:Alexander Singer
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 23 - Model Citizen
    7.7/10(50 votes)

    #23 - Model Citizen

    S5:E23

    A labor leader is killed. Once again, the victim seems to have led a blameless life, yet someone wanted him dead.

    Director:Jeffrey Hayden
    Writers:Patricia Green, Hannah Louise Shearer

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  24. Cagney & Lacey Season 5 Episode 24 - Parting Shots
    8.7/10(67 votes)

    #24 - Parting Shots

    S5:E24

    A labor leader is killed. Once again, the victim seems to have led a blameless life, yet someone wanted him dead. In the B plot, Cagney's niece (who we met in #78) comes for a visit.

    Director:Georg Stanford Brown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"On the Street" is the best rated episode of "Cagney & Lacey" season 5. It scored 8.4/10 based on 77 votes. Directed by Alexander Singer and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/30/1985. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Ordinary Hero".