Cagney & Lacey: The Return

This is the first of the made-for-TV movies staring the duo from the series. Chris is married and is having a retirement party for Lt. Samuels that Mary Beth feels uncomfortable attending since Chris is now rich and Mary Beth is not. Harvey has a heart attack at the party. Chris works for the D.A.'s office.

Then there's a plot revolving a round a bunch of thugs stealing a lot of weapons. Marcus Petrie is suspected of being involved which then brings Cagney into the investigation. She gets Mary Beth to help her. There's also someone from Cagney's past involved, someone she really doesn't like.

A sub-plot involves Cagney's husband thinking about taking a job in Washington, D.C., him going there and she remaining in New York. Another sub-plot; Cagney is starting to go through menopause.

Cagney and Mary Beth work together as a team just as well as they ever did. It's good to see the two of them working together and the way each has her own separate approach, but their approaches meld together. Definitely a very good movie bringing the two of them back together and into fighting crime together.

Reviews

November 6, 1994, Movie #1: The Return It's six years later. Mary Beth has done her 20 years and is collecting her pension. The boys are out of the house (why don't we have grandchildren?) and Alice is in school. Chris is married! He's a wealthy businessman who went to law school with Bill Clinton. She's been promoted to lieutenant and is chief investigator for the D.A.'s office, reporting to A.D.A. Feldberg. Chris throws a retirement party for Samuels, at which Harvey has a heart attack. So Mary Beth needs a job and a medical plan. Guess who needs help? The police case involves stolen guns and a dead cop. The original suspect is Sgt. Petrie, but the fine hand of Bruce Mansfield is again seen. To complicate matters, Chris' husband has been offered a big job in Washington and he wants Chris to go.

They're back and they're as dynamic a partnership as ever. Six years on and Christine and Mary-Beth have lost touch; Cagney is married to a rich businessman and works in the D.A.'s office and Lacey is just a housewife. But they meet at Cagney's party where Lacy's husband, Harvey, has a massive heart attack. Now she must find a job to support her family and home. Cagney, who is working on a murder inquiry and stolen weapons heist, arranges to have Lacey as a temporary 'partner' to help solve the crimes. This powerful drama is a taut mystery, combining action and suspense with moments of heart-wrenching emotion. The duo dice with danger and death as they place joint pressure on the major suspect, one of the underworld's most villainous and ruthless men with a personal vendetta against Christine Cagney.