Authors: Barney Rosenzweig
Subplot
: The Laceys are being audited by the IRS. Despite Harvey’s apprehensions and conspiracy theories, they get a refund of $600 which would seem terrific except they end up re—enacting “The Gift of the Magi”. Mary Beth pays for non-refundable reservations for the weekend in the mountains Harvey wants, and Harvey opens penalty for early withdrawal bank account for the Lacey Baby, which Mary Beth had let known earlier would be the best use for the money.
ENTRAPMENT
Director: Al Waxman
Written by: Steve Johnson
Having earned kudos for the undercover arrest of an illegal drug pusher, Cagney and Lacey go after the pusher’s supplier, Bruce Mansfield, a slippery big-time dealer. During the set-up, Cagney, out of sight of the surveillance equipment, illegally entraps Mansfield. The dealer is arrested, and the Narcotics Lieutenant in charge of the bust urges Cagney and Lacey to “get their story straight over the weekend.” Lacey is reluctant to lie and Cagney issues her an ultimatum: either back her up -— thus committing perjury or the partnership is over. Lacey agonizes over the moral dilemma, then finally agrees to back up her partner. When Lacey is unexpectedly called upon to corroborate Cagney’s testimony in the hearing, Cagney herself admits the attempted perjury. Mansfield is free but Cagney and Lacey plan to go after him again, and do it right the next time.
Subplot
: Petrie requests a new partner when he thinks that Isbecki has been spreading gossip regarding his wife’s affair, but Samuels intervenes, encouraging them to “get it all out in the open,” and the partnership survives.
THE CLINIC
Director: Alexander Singer
Written by Judy Merl & Paul Eric Myers
Cagney and Lacey are called in to police a demonstration against abortion outside a woman’s clinic. When a young woman is intimidated by the abuse of the crowd, Lacey sympathizes with the woman’s confusion about her decision to have an abortion. Cagney’s ambivalence (Catholic upbringing verses a woman’s right to choose)quickly develops into a sore spot between the two women, made more poignant by the revelation that the now happily pregnant Lacey once had a(then illegal)abortion when she was nineteen. The clinic is bombed, destroying it, and severely injuring a vagrant sheltering near the clinic. When the vagrant dies, the leader of the protest group reluctantly gives Cagney and Lacey a list of the members of the organization. A cross check of files zeroes the investigation in on one of the protesters. When Cagney and Lacey question the suspect, she cracks and threatens to set off another bomb only -- being deterred by the thought of killing Lacey’s five—month fetus.
Subplot
: Samuels, after much soul—searching, reconciles himself to his son’s marriage to a divorced Asian, older than his son,- and to the fact that his son will not live out the dreams Samuels has for him.
MOTHERS AND SONS
Note:
Emmy
Award for John Karlen (Harvey Lacey) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Director: Ray Danton
Written by: Frank South
A young man on trial for assault and mugging, is set free when his mother provides him with a very believable false alibi. Cagney and Lacey are then assigned to another case but when the boy’s father comes forward and volunteers that his son is guilty and his ex-wife perpetually lies to protect him, Cagney and Lacey return to question the woman but cannot persuade her to change her story. Cagney and Lacey reopen the investigation on an old crime robbery and assault on an elderly Korean man. When the father gives the detectives a gold watch, that his son had left behind with the old man’s name engraved on it, they have the evidence they need to get him off the streets.
Subplot
: Harvey Jr. gets cut in a fight with a boy at school who tried to steal his pocket money. Harvey and Mary Beth are at odds over the incident —— Harvey is rather proud of him for defending himself, but Mary Beth feels money isn’t worth fighting over. When Harvey Jr. is suspected of throwing bricks through a window of a local television repair store, a major breech opens between Harvey and Mary Beth, until Mary Beth gets the truth from Harvey Jr. (He had done it in retaliation for the mugging.)
Subplot
: Cagney is called in as a “ringer” when Newman cleans out the squad in a poker game. She does her “dumb woman playing poker” act, setting Newman up for the second “so you think women can’t play poker, huh?” game. But Newman has found out from Charlie that she’s actually an ace player and the competition is on.
FILIAL DUTY
Director: Sharron Miller
Written by: Richard Gollance
Cagney and Lacey investigate the robbery/murder of an old woman living with her daughter, son-in-law Frank, and their twelve—year—old son. The murder is blamed on a cat burglar, but further investigation (and Cagney’s stubbornness) leads Cagney and Lacey reluctantly to believe a family member was responsible. Suspicion centers first on the son-in-law, but further questioning leads Cagney and Lacey to the chilling conclusion that the murder was actually committed by the woman’s 12 year old grandchild. The pregnant Lacey is so upset by the case that she decides it’s time to go on clerical duty.
Subplot
: Ignoring a cough, Charlie Cagney ends up in the hospital with pneumonia, complicated by some cirrhosis of the liver and the diagnosis that he is an alcoholic. Once out of the hospital he and Cagney face his mortality and what Cagney’s part in his future will be. She makes the difficult decision to call her estranged brother, Brian, in California.
OLD GHOSTS
Director: Georg Stanford Brown
Written by: Georgia Jeffries
Cagney chases and fires on a kid who attempts to rob a grocery in which she is a customer. The owner of the grocery, files a complaint against Cagney, charging her with non—feasance (cowardice). No bullet can be found in the alley to support her story, and Cagney is suspended. Lacey, temporarily off clerical duty, investigates, with Cagney’s unofficial help, and they uncover the store owner’s record as a “chronic complainer” and his animus for the NYPD.Eventually they track down the teenager, with the bullet wound from Cagney’s shot in his arm. Cagney is reinstated.
Subplot
: Brian, Cagney’s brother, comes to New York to try to persuade their father, who is still recuperating (see FILIAL DUTY) to come to California with him. He re—awakens old family jealousies, pain, and bitterness, especially when Cagney finds out that Charlie has been accepting a stipend from Brian without telling her. Brian and Chris come, if not to an agreement, at least to a truce. Charlie will visit California and his grandchildren, and maybe Brian’s daughters will get to meet their Aunt Chris, eventually.
POWER
Director: James Frawley
Written by: Patricia Green
When Cagney temporarily takes over control of the squad, she is thrilled until she encounters resistance and hostility from the other detectives. The problems mount, when Knelman forces her to send Lacey home on maternity leave and Cagney must endure this time at the top alone. In a blaze of media glory and departmental kudos, Petrie and Isbecki arrest a notoriously slippery hit—man for the murder of a mob—connected businessman. Cagney takes the case away from Isbecki when he resists her authority. She doesn’t believe the hit man is guilty and continues the investigation with Newman and Corassa, even in the face of Knelman’s opposition. Cagney tracks down the real murderer, then comes to Lacey for reassurance and validation, and ends up calling Isbecki, so he can make the collar.
PLAY IT AGAIN, SANTA
Director: Charlotte Brown
Written by: Judy Merl & Paul Eric Myers
With Lacey at home, Cagney and Newman investigate the flake case of the month; the disappearance of some street—corner musicians. They uncover the kidnapper, an old—time jazz great. The musicians had recognized him while he was setting up his revenge on the man who built a recording empire on songs he stole from the jazz great, then married the woman he loved as well.
Subplot
: Cagney’s own rules of non—exclusivity backfire on her, when she sees David Keeler with a “bimbosity” with great clothes.
Subplot
: A very pregnant Lacey wants to go swimming all by herself like a “rich kid,” and Harvey surprises her with a maternity swimsuit and a rental of an indoor pool in a major new condo on which he has been employed.
THE RAPIST
Director: James Frawley
Written by: Judy Merl & Paul Eric Myers
With Lacey out on maternity leave, Sara Jones, a charming, bright, eager uniform cop, persuades Cagney that she’s just the person to help with Cagney’s mountain of paperwork. Once the papers are out of the way, they start tracking down a brutal repeat rapist. Sara, with brilliance, intuition, and hard work comes up with the name of the rapist, but no real proof. She starts to spend her evenings following her suspect and harassing him. Cagney begins to worry about Sara, as she is over—stepping the bounds of reason and law in her pursuit of this man. Checking Sara’s file, Cagney learns she was raped, which explains her determination to get at least one rapist off the streets, even if it costs her career. When she’s ordered off the case, Sara sets herself up as bait for the rapist, and kills him.
ACT OF CONSCIENCE (AKA THE FINK)
Note: Features
Emmy
Award winning actor, Michael Moriarty
Director: Jan Eliasberg
Written by: Frederick Rappaport
The entire 14th Squad is furious when Patrick Lowell, a Serpico—type character who blew the whistle on some crooked cops, is assigned to the Precinct. Cagney is the most displeased, as with Lacey home on maternity leave, he becomes her temporarily partner. They investigate a series of teller machine muggings, identifying the driver of the getaway car. Cagney tries to persuade the kid to turn in his buddies in crime, but Lowell hinders the process as he points out that-- if Billy turns informer, it should be his own choice, with full knowledge of the possible consequences and not as a result of outside influences (Cagney included). Cagney, with a nudge from Lacey, is forced to change her opinion of Lowell and come to terms with the similarities in motivation between Lowell’s actions and her own charges of sexual harassment against Captain Hennessey (from RULES OF THE GAME and CON GAMES). One man’s righteous indignation is another man’s tattletale. Eventually, when the youth’s wife is attacked, he turns, and the other muggers are rounded up.
DWI (DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED)
Director: Al Waxman
Written by: Les Carter & Susan Sisko
The son of one of Lacey’s neighbors is badly hurt by a drunk driver, and Lacey, on maternity leave, refuses to let the case rest. She persuades Cagney (who is on night duty) and Harvey (temporarily out of work) to investigate for her. They locate a witness who could prove the driver’s guilt, and it is Lacey who finally persuades the witness to testify.
Subplot
: Cagney, heading the graveyard shift, is confronted with two strange detectives, the Monk and the Mongoose. She tries to keep her sanity and stay awake by making a ship in a bottle for Charlie.
Subplot
: Cagney deals with her feelings about Charlie’s alcoholism and her own drinking habits.
THE GIMP
Note: Mulitple
Emmy
award winner: Outstanding Drama Series, Sharon Gless for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Director: Sharron Miller
Teleplay by: Cynthia Darnell
Story by: Norm Chandler Fox
While investigating a mugger who preys on the handicapped, Cagney finds herself romantically attracted to Ted Peters, who is assisting the police. He’s charming, magnetic, intelligent and in a wheelchair.
Subplot
: Lacey dreads a surprise baby shower Cagney has put together for her.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS
Director: James Frawley
Written by: Georgia Jeffries
When Harvey Jr. goes off on a ski trip, Michael Lacey is off to Washington, D.C. with his grandmother, and Harvey is called to Saratoga to make his bid on a construction job, Lacey’s labor pains start. She and Cagney make a frenetic dash in Cagney’s Corvette for the hospital. The baby girl is named Alice Christine Lacey.
Subplot
: Cagney finds out, by accident, that her father has a girlfriend (Donna La Mar), and is forced to accept that she’s not the only woman in her father’s life.