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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!

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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 Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 1 - Where There's Hope, There's Crosby
    8.8/10(57 votes)

    #1 - Where There's Hope, There's Crosby

    S5:E1

    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
    Writers:Tom Fontana, John Masius

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  2. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 2 - When You Wish Upon a Scar
    8.5/10(49 votes)

    #2 - When You Wish Upon a Scar

    S5:E2

    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

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  3. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 3 - A Room With a View
    8.8/10(49 votes)

    #3 - A Room With a View

    S5:E3

    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:Unknown

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  4. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 4 - Brand New Bag
    8.3/10(53 votes)

    #4 - Brand New Bag

    S5:E4

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Eric Overmyer

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  5. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 5 - You Beta Your Life
    8.4/10(51 votes)

    #5 - You Beta Your Life

    S5:E5

    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
    Writers:Tom Fontana, Mark Tinker, John Masius

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  6. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 6 - Not My Type
    8.1/10(50 votes)

    #6 - Not My Type

    S5:E6

    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:Unknown

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  7. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 7 - Up and Down
    8.2/10(55 votes)

    #7 - Up and Down

    S5:E7

    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:Unknown

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  8. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 8 - Nothing Up My Sleeve
    8.0/10(52 votes)

    #8 - Nothing Up My Sleeve

    S5:E8

    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

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  9. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 9 - After Life
    9.0/10(87 votes)

    #9 - After Life

    S5:E9

    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:Unknown

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  10. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 10 - Once Upon a Mattress
    8.1/10(53 votes)

    #10 - Once Upon a Mattress

    S5:E10

    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:Unknown

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  11. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 11 - Lost Weekend
    8.1/10(50 votes)

    #11 - Lost Weekend

    S5:E11

    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
    Writers:Tom Fontana, Eric Overmyer, John Masius

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  12. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 12 - Cold War
    8.0/10(53 votes)

    #12 - Cold War

    S5:E12

    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:Unknown

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  13. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 13 - Russian Roulette
    8.2/10(52 votes)

    #13 - Russian Roulette

    S5:E13

    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:Unknown

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  14. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 14 - Visiting Daze
    7.8/10(53 votes)

    #14 - Visiting Daze

    S5:E14

    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:Unknown

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  15. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 15 - Getting Ahead
    8.8/10(48 votes)

    #15 - Getting Ahead

    S5:E15

    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
    Writers:Tom Fontana, Eric Overmyer, John Masius

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  16. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 16 - Jose, Can You See?
    8.8/10(56 votes)

    #16 - Jose, Can You See?

    S5:E16

    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:Unknown

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  17. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 17 - Schwarzwald
    8.3/10(49 votes)

    #17 - Schwarzwald

    S5:E17

    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:Unknown

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  18. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 18 - You Again?
    8.6/10(52 votes)

    #18 - You Again?

    S5:E18

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 19 - Rites of Passage
    8.6/10(54 votes)

    #19 - Rites of Passage

    S5:E19

    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:Unknown

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  20. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 20 - Women Unchained
    8.5/10(52 votes)

    #20 - Women Unchained

    S5:E20

    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

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  21. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 21 - Good Vibrations
    6.5/10(59 votes)

    #21 - Good Vibrations

    S5:E21

    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
    Writers:Tom Fontana, John Tinker, John Masius

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  22. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 22 - Slip Sliding Away
    8.4/10(52 votes)

    #22 - Slip Sliding Away

    S5:E22

    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:Unknown
    Writers:Eric Overmyer, John Tinker, John Masius

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  23. St. Elsewhere Season 5 Episode 23 - Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball
    8.7/10(59 votes)

    #23 - Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball

    S5:E23

    Auschlander tries to stop the demolition of St. Eligius.

    Director:Bruce Paltrow
    Writers:Tom Fontana, John Masius

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"Where There's Hope, There's Crosby" is the best rated episode of "St. Elsewhere" season 5. It scored 8.8/10 based on 57 votes. Directed by Bruce Paltrow and written by Tom Fontana, John Masius, it aired on 9/24/1986. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "When You Wish Upon a Scar".