The Equalizer (2021)
By Melissa Camacho,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Crime-fighter reboot has strong lead, predictable plots.
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The Equalizer (2021)
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Based on 4 parent reviews
The perfect series
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What's the Story?
THE EQUALIZER, a reboot of the popular 1980s series, stars Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, a former CIA operative seeking redemption by using her skills to secretly help people who need it. After becoming disillusioned, McCall quit her covert CIA job and appears to be living an ordinary life with her 15-year-old daughter, Delilah (Laya Hayes), and her Aunt Vy (Lorraine Toussaint). But with the help of best friend and club owner Melody "Mel" Bayani (Liza Lapira), tech genius Harry Keshigian (Adam Goldberg), and former CIA operative William Bishop (Chris Noth), she goes out of her way to help innocent people who get caught in the middle of dangerous criminal operations. But Detective Marcus Dante (Terry Kittles) of the NYPD is a little unclear about what she does, or how she does it.
Is It Any Good?
This second adaptation in the universe of The Equalizer isn't produced to look or feel exactly like the other franchise installments, which includes the original series as well as the movies starring Denzel Washington. Queen Latifah successfully plays Robyn McCall as a strong, intelligent single mother who wants the best for her daughter, as well as for the people she is helping. Meanwhile, the folks she identifies as needing her help are mainly Black and Latinx individuals as well as those from other underrepresented communities, victims of systematic racism and other biases.
Despite these contemporary details, the overall show offers the same type of formulaic drama as other shows in the genre. Each episode's plotline is just elaborate enough to ensure that the innocent victims unwittingly caught up in any illegal activities are completely trapped in their situation, and to require McCall's sharp, tough-as-nails military and CIA training to infiltrate and bring wrongdoers to justice. It also has the standard eclectic team of colleagues helping McCall out, and just enough physical violence to give it some edge. The result is a show that looks different, feels predictable, but shines in the classic action sequences.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the fact that Queen Latifah is only the fifth Black woman in the history of U.S. television to play the lead role in an hour-long network drama. Why do you think there have been only five Black women to do so since the 1940s? What other ways have Black women been represented on television through history?
What is it that makes The Equalizer franchise so popular? Is it the lead character? The plotlines?
TV Details
- Premiere date: February 7, 2021
- Cast: Queen Latifah, Chris Noth, Adam Goldberg
- Network: CBS
- Genre: Action
- Character Strengths: Compassion, Courage, Empathy, Perseverance, Teamwork
- TV rating: TV-14
- Last updated: May 21, 2023
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