8.6/1049 votes#1 - Where There's Hope, There's Crosby
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/1986
A depressed Father Joseph McCabe returns to St. Eligius; Morrison receives a visitor from Seattle; Dr. Craig seeks help for his injured hand from an old classmate; one of Axelrod's patients awakens in the morgue; and Luther plays musical air conditioners.
Director: Bruce Paltrow
Writer: Tom Fontana, John Masius
8.2/1041 votes#2 - When You Wish Upon a Scar
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/1986
Wade tries to get a grip on her marital problems; Fiscus throws an engagement party for Morrison; Rosenthal figures out the self-serving Griffin; and John Doe #6 returns.
Director: Mark Tinker
Writer: John Tinker
8.5/1041 votes#3 - A Room With a View
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/1986
Dr. Craig behaves boorishly to his replacement, Dr. Paulette Kiem; Birch finds a radioactive patient; Papandrao claims Ehrlich as an escort to a family birthday party; a friend of Fiscus' is admitted with a major stroke; and a hospital neighbor becomes very upset when she observes Dr. Craig's imminent departure.
Director: Eric Laneuville
Writer: N/A
8.1/1046 votes#4 - Brand New Bag
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/1986
The Craigs try out yet another new maid; fellow employees stab Luther in the back; Axelrod is embarrassed and rude about a patient's colostomy; and Fiscus helps Mr. Ewell's daughter take him home to die.
Director: N/A
Writer: Eric Overmyer
8.1/1043 votes#5 - You Beta Your Life
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/1986
Dr. Westphall helps a terminally ill teenager reach his parents; Griffin plays Birch and Novino off against each other to escape blame in a patient's death; Morrison calls Chandler on it when Dr. Turner gets involved in a dispute involving a sick child; and Dr. Craig tries to start his memoirs.
Director: Mark Tinker
Writer: Tom Fontana, John Masius, Mark Tinker
7.7/1044 votes#6 - Not My Type
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/1986
Dr. Turner faces a dilemma as she performs surgery on a Jehovah's Witness, who has forbidden any blood transfusions; Griffin takes positive steps to blame Birch for the patient's death; Ehrlich announces his night with Papandrao; and Dr. Craig's new typist encourages him to use his imagination.
Director: Allan Arkush
Writer: N/A
8.0/1047 votes#7 - Up and Down
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/1986
Lizzie gets involved with Griffin; a man falls while trying to scale the hospital; Luther befriends a bag lady with Tourette's Syndrome; and John Doe #6 disappears with Dr. Craig's book.
Director: Mark Tinker
Writer: N/A
7.6/1043 votes#8 - Nothing Up My Sleeve
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/19/1986
Mandatory drug testing causes a deep division of opinion; Morrison is haunted by his day at the prison; Axelrod is assigned to guide a 14-year-old medical student around; Griffin gets a warning from Dr. Westphall about hurting Lizzie; and Dr. Craig tries to perform magic tricks for some young patients and his housekeeper.
Director: Allan Arkush
Writer: Norma Safford Vela
8.9/1077 votes#9 - After Life
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/26/1986
Dr. Fiscus is shot. Afterwards, he experiences the afterlife and meets some old friends. Such people include old patients who died in the hospital, a few in limbo and a couple in heaven. However, he is condemed to hades and finds Dr. White swiming in circles for all eternity in a boat with only one oar. Meamwhile, the docs at St. Eligus try their hardest to keep Fiscus alive.
Director: Mark Tinker
Writer: N/A
7.7/1044 votes#10 - Once Upon a Mattress
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/1986
Fiscus awakens but is deeply depressed, despite a visit from his father; Dr. Craig returns to work and his office, disregarding Dr. Kiem's feelings; Dr. Westphall decides to stop seeing Novino and his moving man comes in for a penile implant.
Director: Allan Arkush
Writer: N/A
7.7/1042 votes#11 - Lost Weekend
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/10/1986
Dr. Westphall tries to help an alcoholic poet he once admired; Dr. Craig puts his usual worst foot forward as he tries to persuade the Soviets to release Masha's husband; Rosenthal confronts McPhail about her drug problem; and Ehrlich makes friends with Papandrao's new boyfriend.
Director: Eric Laneuville
Writer: Tom Fontana, John Masius, Eric Overmyer
7.6/1045 votes#12 - Cold War
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 1/7/1987
Dr. Turner finds her confidence shaken when she learns her new patient, about to undergo a risky transfusion procedure, has a malpractice suit pending at another hospital; Dr. Peltrovich arrives but has trouble getting licensed to practice medicine; and Morrison explodes during a mock war with paint guns.
Director: Peter Medak
Writer: N/A
7.9/1045 votes#13 - Russian Roulette
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 1/14/1987
Dr. Craig becomes jealous when Dr. Peltrovich is finally allowed to pursue his work with lasers; Fiscus experiences an emotional rollercoaster as he returns to work with a critical leukemia patient; and Ehrlich hits highs and lows as he accepts his ""Orphan of the Year"" award.
Director: Helaine Head
Writer: N/A
7.5/1045 votes#14 - Visiting Daze
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/1987
Axelrod allows Novino and Griffin to override his judgement; Dr. Kiem worries about her long distance marriage as she tries to help an inseparable couple make a final farewell; Luther tries to help Polly make it through a day without her medication; and Ehrlich goes to great lengths to confirm the Oseranskys' story.
Director: Eric Laneuville
Writer: N/A
8.4/1040 votes#15 - Getting Ahead
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 1/28/1987
Novino uncovers a pathologist selling body parts when one of her patients dies; Dr. Westphall learns that Lizzie is pregnant; Chandler and a visiting private practitioner learn something from each other, and John Doe #6 surfaces again, along with Craig's novel.
Director: Allan Arkush
Writer: Tom Fontana, John Masius, Eric Overmyer
8.5/1048 votes#16 - Jose, Can You See?
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 2/4/1987
Novino tangles again with Chandler about admitting a blind street person who's not really sick; Dr. Auschlander learns he has a son he never knew; the Craigs face their grief all over again when Ellen offers Griffin a place to stay; and Wade fears for her future when she learns she needs glasses.
Director: Eric Laneuville
Writer: N/A
7.9/1041 votes#17 - Schwarzwald
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 2/11/1987
Rosenthal tries to help her obese daughter cope with her problems; Axelrod's father brings a dog to the hospital for chemotherapy; Dr. Turner reluctantly reveals the ultrasound results to a couple looking for the perfect baby; and Dr. Westphall continues to try and find a way to keep the hospital open.
Director: Allan Arkush
Writer: N/A
8.3/1044 votes#18 - You Again?
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/18/1987
Morrison testifies at Nick Moat's parole hearing; Dr. Kiem buries herself in work when she learns her son has taken off from home and is missing; Fiscus diagnoses multiple sclerosis in an old college friend; and the rumors fly that St. Eligius is about to become a billing center for Boston General.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.3/1045 votes#19 - Rites of Passage
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 2/25/1987
Fiscus waits for a woman artificially inseminated with his sperm to give birth; three young men explore life and the hospital to relieve the boredom of their stay; Dr. Westphall relives part of his past when a childhood friend reminds him of an old pact; and Drs. Craig and Auschlander continue to search for hospital financing.
Director: Eric Laneuville
Writer: N/A
8.1/1044 votes#20 - Women Unchained
Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 3/4/1987
Shirley Daniels returns to the hospital as a patient; Mrs. Craig offers Griffin a place to stay; Chandler and Novino compete to see who can correctly diagnose a difficult patient; and Ehrlich and Papandrao face wedding rumors when they return from Mexico.
Director: Michael Fresco
Writer: Russ Woody
6.3/1050 votes#21 - Good Vibrations
Season 5 Episode 21 - Aired 5/13/1987
The representative of a foreign medical group interested in the hospital visits to absorb the psychic `aura' of the place (via flashbacks) but collapses from a heart attack before he can recommend the sale.
Director: Bruce Paltrow
Writer: Tom Fontana, John Masius, John Tinker
8.1/1044 votes#22 - Slip Sliding Away
Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 5/20/1987
Luther turns sleuth to find out who is responsible for the mercy-killings; Dr. Turner takes a chance doing experimental fetal heart surgery; Axelrod gets back at Novino and Griffin; Morrison buys a gun to protect his family; Yvonne Galecki Craig comes to claim her daughter, and Ehrlich and Papandrao have second thoughts about marriage when the new owners fire everyone in the hospital.
Director: N/A
Writer: John Masius, John Tinker, Eric Overmyer
8.3/1048 votes#23 - Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 5/27/1987
Auschlander tries to stop the demolition of St. Eligius.
Director: Bruce Paltrow
Writer: Tom Fontana, John Masius
The Best Episodes of St. Elsewhere Season 5
Every episode of St. Elsewhere Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of St. Elsewhere Season 5!
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series starred...
Genre:Drama
Network:NBC
Season 5 Ratings Summary
"Where There's Hope, There's Crosby" is the best rated episode of "St. Elsewhere" season 5. It scored 8.6/10 based on 49 votes. Directed by Bruce Paltrow and written by Tom Fontana, John Masius, it aired on 9/24/1986. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "When You Wish Upon a Scar".