Cagney & Lacey: Season 5
Season 5 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Cagney & Lacey Season 4.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 5 Progress Shield
On the Street
Sep 30, 1985
A teenager has run away from her wealthy home, preferring prostitution to Princeton. Cagney and Lacey need her to testify against her pimp
Ordinary Hero
Oct 7, 1985
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
The Psychic
Oct 21, 1985
A psychic is hired to find a missing woman (hired by the family of the woman). Cagney senses trouble.
Lottery
Oct 28, 1985
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
Entrapment
Nov 4, 1985
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
The Clinic
Nov 11, 1985
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. W
Mothers & Sons
Nov 25, 1985
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
Filial Duty
Dec 2, 1985
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
Old Ghosts
Dec 9, 1985
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 Br
Power
Dec 16, 1985
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
Play It Again, Santa
Dec 23, 1985
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 p
The Rapist (aka Rebukes)
Jan 6, 1986
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 de
Act of Conscience
Jan 13, 1986
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 ""bo
DWI
Jan 20, 1986
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 girl
The Gimp
Jan 27, 1986
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 wheelch
Family Connections
Feb 10, 1986
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 reco
Post Partum
Feb 17, 1986
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
The Man Who Shot Trotsky
Mar 3, 1986
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?
Exit Stage Centre
Mar 10, 1986
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 o
Capitalism
Apr 7, 1986
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.
Extradition
May 5, 1986
Cagney and Lacey get a sweetheart trip - to Los Angeles to bring back a bail jumper
A Safe Place
May 12, 1986
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
Model Citizen
May 25, 1986
A labor leader is killed. Once again, the victim seems to have led a blameless life, yet someone wanted him dead.
Parting Shots
May 26, 1986
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 visi