Authors: Barney Rosenzweig
Subplot
: Lacey finds a porno magazine belonging to Michael and talks with him about respect for the person inside the body.
Subplot
: Isbecki is intimidated when an older woman asks him out on a date. As it turns out, they have a lot in common.
REVENGE
Note: Episode features an appearance by Oscar winner, Kathy Bates
Director: Reza Badiyi
Written by: Frederick Rappaport
Petrie recognizes a crucifix around the neck of a perp as one his sister used to wear before she was raped and murdered fourteen years earlier. He is convinced he is the one who was her killer and begins harassing him to get a confession. When the perp turns up dead, Petrie becomes a suspect, leaving Cagney and Lacey to try and prove his innocence. Eventually he is cleared and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
Subplot
: A brash freelance journalist romances Cagney to get the inside scoop on what a woman cop is really like.
Subplot:
Lacey is stuck needing a babysitter and grandfather—to—be, Samuels, steps in.
MARATHON
Director: Ralph Singleton
Written by: Josef Anderson
Assigned to protect a white South African marathon runner, Cagney and Lacey are confronted by the woman’s obsession to remain apolitical despite her becoming the focal point of the struggle against apartheid during a corporate sponsored marathon. Cagney and Lacey have differing opinions on the matter. Cagney believes not everything, especially sporting events, has to be political, while Lacey, a la Harvey, believes that not only action, but lack of action is a political statement.
RITES OF PASSAGE
Director: Reza Badiyi
Written by: Georgia Jeffries
Cagney and Lacey investigate the apparent suicide of a college girl discovering the real cause to be sorority hazing. Between Cagney and Lacey this brings up issues of ambition and the urge to “belong” at any cost.
Subplot
: At home, Lacey walks in on a heavy necking session between Harvey Jr. and Tiffany. This sparks concerns by Lacey that her son be aware of his responsibilities in a sexual relationship. She asks Harvey to tell his son about responsibility and “condoms”, and when he doesn’t, in a moving scene she tells Harvey Jr. for the first time about her own teenage pregnancy and abortion. As far as she’s concerned he should “wait”. But if he chooses not to, he should be smart and use proper birth control precautions.
Subplot
: Cagney has a handsome new neighbor, Tony. She’s very attracted to him until she finds out that he’s gay. They resolve to be friends.
Subplot
: Michael tells Lacey that his new friend smokes marijuana and it’s okay with the friend’s parents. Despite a promise to Michael, Lacey feels compelled to confront the mother.
Subplot
: Samuels stops drinking, but only Cagney knows that he puts tea in his whiskey bottle.
AHEAD OF THE GAME
Director: Joel Rosenzweig
Written by: Allison Hock
When Cagney and Lacey investigate the untimely and seemingly drug-related death of a young basketball star, they discover the involvement of steroid usage in high school athletics.
Subplot
: The Lacey house is burglarized and Lacey loses her only heirloom, a gold candlestick. When it is finally located, Lacey is faced with owing some future favor to a crooked gambler or standing on principle and losing it forever.
Subplot
: Cagney is crushed when Charlie gets drunk and embarrasses her at the annual Irish policeman’s ball.
EASY DOES IT
Director: Helaine Head
Written by: Les Carter & Susan Sisko
Cagney and Lacey go undercover, investigating robberies at AA meetings. The more Cagney hears and sees the stronger her denials become about her own problems with alcohol. Making things worse, Charlie’s girlfriend, Donna LaMarr, has broken off with him, prompting a binge of drinking on his part. Cagney, in a pivotal scene in “The Jane” with Lacey, finally accepts that her father is a drunk and there is nothing she can do about it.
Subplot
: Meanwhile, Harvey has gotten a large payment on a remodeling contract and is spending like crazy, which throws Lacey completely. She worries about the future and is uncomfortable with “Diamond Jim”. They compromise with Harve toning down a bit and Lacey doing a little spending of her own. (She gets a new hat and a new washer and dryer).
RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT
Director: Sharron Miller
Story by: Becky Cole
Story and Teleplay by: David Abromowitz
Lacey narrowly avoids shooting a teenage female perp, who’s suspected of killing a drug dealer. Lacey’s guilt is heightened when it is revealed the girl is deaf. Cagney attempts to keep Lacey objective about her guilt and the evidence against the girl, but each step in the investigation only fuels Lacey’s misplaced emotions. Lacey’s relieved when the deaf perp is released for lack of evidence, but her mistaken judgment is quickly confirmed when the girl kills again. Lacey recognizes her mistakes and in an emotional scene, interrogates the girl like the criminal she is.
Subplot
: Isbecki is embarrassed to reveal he is dating Ginger, an older, plain looking,” intelligent woman to whom he is attracted for other than just physical reasons.
THE RAPIST - PART II
Director: Helaine Head
Story by: Patricia Green
Teleplay by: Patricia Green, Kathryn Ford, Frank South and Joe Viola
Sara Jones (THE RAPIST) goes to trial. Cagney is torn between the department’s order that she be a witness for the prosecution and her own feelings of guilt and obligation to Sara. But when Sara asks Cagney to commit perjury on the stand to get her off, Cagney comes to grips with just how much she owes her former temporary partner and refuses. While dealing with her own responsibility in missing cues regarding Jones, Cagney overcompensates for her loss of control, pulling rank on Lacey. Together they confront the issue of “rank” in their partnership.
Subplot
: Lacey goes back to college one night a week, ecstatic to be learning again.
Subplot
: Cagney and Lacey investigate a clever robbery scheme.
WASTE DEEP
Director: Claudia Weill
Written by: Michael Berlin and Eric Estrin
Cagney and Lacey bust a young woman who’s vandalizing a factory as a publicity stunt for her cause.
COST OF LIVING
Director: Al Waxman
Story by: Paul Ehrmann
Teleplay by: Frank South and Joe Viola
Tension between Cagney and Keeler reaches a damaging pitch when he joins the defense team for her old nemesis, Mansfield. The result of the trial sets Mansfield free in the Federal Protection Program after he reveals the name of a bigger “fish”. Cagney and Keeler are left at seeming irreparable odds.
Subplot
: Lacey feels threatened when a perp who’d sworn revenge on her years ago is seen working near the station house. She gets up the courage to confront him and puts such a scare into him that she has to go back and reassure him that she is not going to send him back to jail. Cagney learns that Charlie has been less than honest when he told her he was on the wagon.
Subplot
: When David Keeler attempts to repair his relationship with Cagney, he finds her with Tony Stantinopolis. It results in a macho standoff between the two that Cagney secretly enjoys.
TO SIR WITH LOVE
Director: Ray Danton
Written by: Marcy Vosburgh and Sandy Sprung
Samuels has been challenged to the annual contest for the precinct with the highest clearance rate. Inspector Knelman blackmails Cagney into being chairperson for the annual division dinner by telling her Samuels will receive the Distinguished Service Award. Between the clearance rate and the dinner, Cagney nearly loses her mind, not to mention all her friends. At the last minute Knelman says they need entertainment. The 14th decides to put on a show. In their spare time Cagney and Lacey are working on the “case” of a couple who are breaking up. He has her ring, she has his five—speed food processor, etc. By the time Cagney and Lacey finish the “fives” on all the misplaced property, the 14th is in contention for the clearance trophy. Samuels is happy and surprised with the Distinguished Service Award and the show goes on.
Subplot
: In the midst of all the hubbub, Lacey gives Alice Christine a very special first birthday party.
Subplot
: In a scene very reminiscent of Lucy and Ethel, Chris and Mary Beth attempt to make cannoli in Lacey’s kitchen.
DIVINE COURIERS (aka HEAVENLY MESSENGERS)
Note: Episode features
Emmy
Award Winning Actress, Lois Nettleton
Director: Sharron Miller
Written by: Frederick Rappaport
A con woman, appropriately named Faith Dewey, sends messages to the dead by hiring terminal patients to memorize and carry the messages “across.” Although Cagney and Lacey take turns being outraged by this scam and the woman’s behavior, they can’t seem to pin a crime on her nor find any dissatisfied customers. The messengers have been given hope and a purpose in dying, along with $50.00 per message. Their main concerns are how to locate the addressees. When a man comes in to complain that he has given all his money to Faith Dewey sending messages to his dead wife, Cagney and Lacey resolve to put an end to her activities but they are stumped until Isbecki comes forward to say he has paid Dewey to send a message to his mother.
Subplot
: After sixteen years, Harvey’s mother needs more time for herself and Lacey and Harvey have to find a day care center for Alice Christine.
Subplot
: Charlie wants Cagney to intercede with Donna who has left him because of his alcoholism. Donna confronts Cagney and tells her that not only is Charlie a drunk, Cagney better watch out for herself, too.
Subplot
: Coleman, facing his high school reunion, tries to decide what he should “go as.” After much soul searching, he decides to go as himself with spectacular results.
SPECIAL TREATMENT
Director: Jackie Cooper
Written by: Allison Hock
Lacey is arrested during a peaceful anti—nuclear demonstration. She winds up in the precinct of her old nemesis, Detective Dupnik who would like her to walk away quietly. Lacey, however, wants no special treatment and demands her “ticket.” Dupnik decides to teach her a lesson by locking her up which he goes through a painfully slow ID and booking process. Meanwhile, Cagney is preparing to be the spokesperson for the 14th Precinct at a hostile Community Board meeting when Peter Gates, of Heavenly Gates’ Mortuary and President of the Community Board, has his favorite hearse stolen. Through a series of mishaps, the hearse becomes lost forever and the Community Board meeting is a debacle.
Subplot
: Cagney’s stress due to Lacey’s incarceration and the Community Board situation is multiplied when she bets Charlie she can go for a week without drinking.
Subplot
: Esposito is involved in an EST-like seminar program which wreaks havoc with the boys in the squad room.
HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN
Director: James Frawley
Written by: Joe Viola
A gun collector’s museum piece handgun is stolen by two street punks. One of them uses the gun in a robbery, shooting the cashier. Cagney and Lacey go after the kid. When they find him, Lacey is wearing her bullet-proof vest but Cagney has left hers at Charlie’s. Lacey gets shot but thanks to her vest, only suffers a cracked rib. The shooting triggers an emotional examination of her partnership with Cagney and they are forced to reveal, feelings about their jobs, themselves and each other.
Subplot
: An off-duty Brooklyn cop is killed and the 14th joins in the manhunt to find his killer. Because he was carrying an unauthorized gun, Knelman wants a gun inspection and Samuels has Cagney make the inspection. The inspection uncovers some unusual practices.
TURN. TURN. TURN - PARTS I & II
PART I