The Equalizer: Season Two review by Bobby Blakey
From 1985-1989 the late Edward Woodward brought the character of Robert McCall in the show The Equalizer on CBS. Years later the property came to the big screen when Denzel Washington took on the role of McCall in two feature films in 2014 and 2018. In 2021 the TV series was rebooted with Queen Latifah taking on the role of a gender swamped Robyn McCall aptly titled The Equalizer. I actually enjoyed the first season so was interested to see where it was going next and now you can find out with The Equalizer: Season Two coming home.
The Equalizer follows Robyn McCall, an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills as a former CIA operative to help those with nowhere else to turn. McCall presents to most as an average single mom who is quietly raising her teenage daughter. But to a trusted few, she is The Equalizer – an anonymous guardian angel and defender of the downtrodden, who’s also dogged in her pursuit of personal redemption. Robyn’s clandestine work and her personal life collide when her smart and observant daughter, Delilah, and her aunt Vi, who lives with Robyn to help her balance life as a working mother, discover her secret career as a vigilante. While Robyn contends with uncertainty at home, she is joined in her pursuit of justice by Melody “Mel” Bayani, an edgy bar owner and sniper from Robyn’s past; and Harry Keshegian, a paranoid and brilliant white-hat hacker. As Robyn aids the oppressed and exploited, she sometimes works with Marcus Dante, an NYPD detective who once sought to uncover her identity, but now respects the need for Robyn’s type of justice even as he often questions her methods.
While I am a fan of Queen Latifah’s music I have always been hit and miss with her acting. Either way I am a fan, but can honestly say I wasn’t sure this was the right fit for her. To my surprise she fit right in and does a pretty good job with the whole thing. The show isn’t breaking any ground
in originality, but does a good job bringing the premise into modern day without feeling like it is trying to force it down our throats. The new season feels a lot more balanced not that it has found its footing and dives deeper into some of the more personal aspects caused by what she does.
In the first season the personal life stuff was a bit clunky to me and kind of the weaker element, but I think it works a lot better this time around. Now seeing the family deal with knowing what she does as well as the after effects of some of the trauma really makes for some interesting situations outside of the case of the week scenario. The shake up with the removal of a major character also changed some of the direction, but props to making it seamless enough and even working into the story as a big element to how things are done.
There continues to be some decent action pieces here and Latifah does a good job getting in on the action. She appears to be doing a lot of the fighting and is pretty impressive. If it’s not her then most of them are shot well enough to make it blend to perfection. There is nothing groundbreaking here on this front either, but enough offered up and handled well enough to deliver.
The series continues to take on the case of the week approach, but does still have an ongoing story behind the scenes this time around that is always at play. I am hoping we get more of the straight week to week stuff in the next season as it just makes the series fun and more unexpected as opposed to constantly waiting for new developments in the existing story. I am not typically a fan of the gender swap remakes just for the sake of doing it, but this one works and hoping it keeps pushing itself to get better. It’s far from great, but offers up just enough entertainment to keep me in on the fun.
This release not only offers up all eighteen episodes of the second season, but also bonus content including a gag reel and deleted scenes. Grab your copy of The Equalizer: Season Two when it hits DVD on September 20th from Paramount and CBS Home Entertainment.