Robyn McCall (Queen Latifah) walks into a dark room in Coney Island where some scuzzy guys are holding a young woman (Lorna Courtney) against her will. McCall politely but firmly asks them to let her go, but the men don’t listen. They tell her to mind her own business, and McCall responds, “I tried that, but I’m really bad at it.” Then she makes short work of the creeps. It’s a moment I’ve seen countless times already, but the Queen made it feel fresh.
The Equalizer, which premiered after the Super Bowl on CBS last night, is somehow more than the sum of its predictable parts. The series isn’t just a gender-flipped update of the 1980s TV show starring Edward Woodward and the Denzel Washington films from 2014 and 2018. It’s heartfelt and engaging. This has a lot to do with Queen Latifah, who’s a joy to watch. She’s funny and sweet, while also badass.
Robyn is haunted by her past as a former CIA agent. The specifics are deliberately mysterious, but we know something went wrong and she had to leave. Her former boss, William Bishop (Chris Noth), wants her back, but she confides that what keeps her up at night is the feeling that she didn’t help enough people. I love that guilt isn’t what motivates her. She’s not seeking redemption. Anyone who’s reached middle age and a degree of success in their careers can relate to that nagging feeling that you could’ve done more, made a more significant impact in the world.
The young woman Robyn saves is Jewel Machado, who’s been framed for murder and is on the run. Robyn believes her story and offers her unique set of skills. Jewel wonders, “Who do you go to when you can’t go to the cops?” and that simple question lands quite differently when it’s a Black woman talking to another Black woman.
Robyn provides sanctuary for Jewel, which is an effective way of introducing her crew, who are more like a second family. There’s Melody (Liza Lapira), a former Air Force sniper who now runs a bar, but here’s the coolest thing: Underneath the bar is a sleek, high-tech hacking operation. Yes, Robyn has access to a Batcave. Melody later patches up Robyn’s injuries there like a far more attractive Alfred.
Melody’s husband, Harry (Adam Goldberg), is the hacker in residence. Robyn helped Harry fake his death in a previous noodle incident. She even introduced him to Melody because she’s just that cool. Robyn doesn’t seem to make enemies aside from the assholes she deservingly takes down.
This week’s asshole villain is Reese Pruitt (Michael Rady, who previously played another Big Tech heavy on Lucifer). He’s an Elon Musk-type who’s about to offer the world self-driving cars. There’s not much of a mystery here, but it’s fun to watch Robyn and her team outsmart him. The climax, when Robyn confronts a terrified Pruitt, feels like a moment from my idealized Batman series. Just give the sister a cape.
Tory Kittles plays Detective Marcus Dante, who the series nicely sets up as Robyn’s Commissioner Gordon and possible love interest. He’s the honest man at the NYPD, and yes, he’s Black. This is another way The Equalizer is more revolutionary than it might seem. When Robyn poses as a public defender after the cops apprehend Jewel, Dante advises her not to make a plea deal. He believes she’s innocent, as well. This is where my suspension of disbelief was most tested. But it worked. I like Dante and think the two have solid chemistry.
The series was developed by former Castle producers Andrew W. Marlowe and Terri Edda Miller, but you can feel Queen Latifah’s influence as co-executive producer. She won a grammy for the 1993 hip-hop song, “U.N.I.T.Y,” and that theme is present in The Equalizer: Women look out for each other, they believe in each other, they support each other.
Robyn lives with her 15-year-old daughter, Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes), who doesn’t know about her mother’s dual identity. She thinks she worked for a charity, which I suppose is now technically true. When Delilah is caught shoplifting, Robyn takes her to a women’s prison where the population is predominately Black. This is more than just a tough love warning about how the world sees young Black women. Robyn confesses that she once stole a car at 17, but the judge (a woman) saw her potential and offered her a choice — army or prison. Maybe that’s not how the actual world works, but wouldn’t it be great it if was? The scared straight scene is further flipped on its head, because Robyn doesn’t just show her daughter a worst-case scenario and drive away. No, she wants Delilah to volunteer at the prison, to help change lives. Robyn believes everyone can be saved. This is the hero we need most in 2021.
Stray observations
- Queen Latifah is only the fifth Black woman to lead an hourlong broadcast network drama series. She’s also 50 and sending suckers to nap land. It’s awesome.
- Lorraine Toussaint plays Robyn’s Aunt Viola. Let’s hope she has more to do in future episodes.
- I greatly appreciate that there was no woman in the refrigerator moment that inspired Robyn’s heroism. Jewel survives and Robyn even takes her to her college interview.
- When Pruitt answers his phone with, “She dead?” and Robyn responds, “No, but she is pissed,” I pumped my fist.
- The pilot boasts some great location filming and action set pieces, especially when Robyn takes out a police van and rescues Jewel.
80 Comments
btw the description for this on facebook leaves out the “is not”…so it doesn’t make sense because it says it’s just a gender-flipped update…that adds compassion and warmthalso good to hear this isn’t just about the tying goal in soccer made into human form
Thanks, it’s been corrected!
I was just imagining Denzel taking a few minutes out to hug everybody, like Han Solo in the Star Wars holiday special
Blurst, you stupid monkeys.Also I watched this and while it wasn’t as hard to suspend belief as watching William Conrad kick ass in Cannon, some of the ‘action’ sequences didn’t feel right. I like the background and what they’re going for, but…DAMN. Beat by one minute. Let the CancerAIDS rain down upon me I guess…
That initial fight scene was “fence jump from Taken 3″ levels of insane editing where it was obvious Queen Latifah can’t actually fight like that.
They should go full on “Troma” level editing where you can see it’s clearly some ripped white guy doing the stunts/action scenes.
A) Latifah is actually athletic and can ride motorcycles. I’m not saying she can take out a room of highly trained soldiers, just that she can sell a stunt as capably as any physically fit 50 year old actor.B) The choppy editing is probably more about the traditional house style of the post production team the Castle producers likely brought in than Latifah’s abilities.C) Eyewitness testimony to the fact she is a badass irl.In conclusion: Queen Latifah could beat the shit out of Edward Woodward.
I agree with most of your points, but I still have a big suspension of belief in regards to said fence hopping…Edited to add: wait, why do you need to be athletic to ride a motorcycle? Am I the only one who remembers those fat twins on the motorcycles in the Guinness Book of World Records?
I mentioned the motorcycle riding because others — not you — have cited it as implausible, not realizing that QL grew up riding bikes. As for fence hopping a) I would not expect it of most actors and b) the often discussed editing in Taken’s fence hopping is about (imo) bad esthetic choices more than Liam Neeson (or his stunt person’s) ability to make the action convincing. The Equalizer — in any incarnation — isn’t supposed to be Jackie Chan. What they are supposed to be is a skill intelligence operative and a very dangerous person who can take opponents apart with or without weapons. Part of that skill set is being underestimated by foes because of their surface appearance. That requires an actor that can sell that underlying deadliness. Imo, some of QL’s prior roles (Set It Off, Chicago) and her actual irl history establishes that.
I haven’t seen it yet, but this is my main issue with the premise. I can’t picture Queen Latifah pulling off any fight scenes without a lot of help from editing.
And that’s EXACTLY what happened. The editing was your classic ‘quick cuts’ to hide her inability to pull off the scene. What SHCOKS me is the fact that she has not physically prepared for this role. Her presence works for this however her physical look does not…. And the fact she is not athletic enough for this role. She is overweight and this is the hardcore truth and hurts thd impression that she is super CIA operative badass. What I just stated (and many more have stated this) will get a lot of hate but it’s true
People can hate all they want. It’s the truth tho. You need more than attitude to pull off a character. I think of Kareem Abdoul Jabar fighting Bruce Lee in The Game of Death. His size is massive and he plays the part good, but his moves were a joke.
To be fair, it’s not like Edward Woodward did a whole like of leaping about in the original.
That’s the thing, Woodward didn’t pretend to be an action hero.At least I don’t think he did. It’s been forever, but I don’t remember him giving bad guys roundhouse kicks to the face.
McCall sure wasn’t Walker, Texas Ranger, MyTVNeverLies! He also wasn’t BURN NOTICE’s Michael Weston (played by IRL black belt Jeffrey Donovan).
Robert McCall was a seemingly out-of-shape middle-aged man who could move just a bit faster than you’d expect and usually carried a gun. He was also highly intimidating, hence his frequently using some variant of “If you do not leave my client alone, I will hunt you down. I will find you. And I will kill you” to freak out bad guys. (Of course, they almost never sensibly walked away, which meant that McCall usually caught them in the middle of trying again…and on more than a few occasions shooting them dead when they tried to take him out.)
I saw Cannon for the first time a couple months ago, and yeah, William Conrad fighting guys was hilarious.I think it’d be easier to buy Ironsides as an action hero.
I love Cannon for exactly the reason you’re listing. Also for the voice over announcement of the credits:
I watched it last night and I was surprised how good it was. I never watched the version of it before this, but I always thought of them as Lone Wolf-ish? (I could be completely wrong on that). This means I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case here.
The action scenes weren’t perfect (though I loved the flash of long jacket that helped them look better), but they were still way better than say.. an old Steven Seagal action scene. The weak point of the episode was the early daughter story, but even that was made better at the end.
I do worry that this whole “you owe me one” schtick will get tired pretty quick, but we will see.
I really wanted a reboot of the Equalizer for years . And as much as I like Queen Latifa ,…sorry she is wrong for the part .I always envisioned the new McCall as
No… Brosnan’s enjoying his after-dinner second beer too much to play another action hero.
Besides, that would pretty explicitly make McCall a retired James Bond.
“that would pretty explicitly make McCall a retired James Bond.”Thus retroactively making The Equalizer a gritty reboot of The Prisoner.
coolest thing: Underneath the bar is a sleek, high-tech hacking operation.Hate to disagree but the secret lair under the house/office/tailor shop/abandoned subway station/bar manned by an computer genius is probably the most expected trope in the whole badass vigilante hero genre. I think it would be cooler if there weren’t one.
One of the most fun aspects of the original series is how McCall’s “team” was pretty much ad hoc and mostly reluctant, but helping out as a favor to him. Introduction to a new expert was usually, “McCall, you’re going to get me fired/arrested. OK here is what you need….”. Plus the Stewart Copeland score and vintage views of New York City in the early 80’s in all its pre-Giuliani urban decay.
Ah. The 80’s. When finding a vigilante meant scouring the want ads in the local paper.
Back in the day Soldier of Fortune magazine existed and allegedly advertised for mercenaries and hitmen (but probably didn’t for real)https://wearethemutants.com/2019/08/30/dont-trust-civilization-soldier-of-fortune-magazine-and-the-masculine-myth/
is this the same set as Taken the TV series with the same hacker? LOL
So that’s already Taken?
Yeah, I kinda want the “genius computer hacker” to be working in a cubicle-farm, or be, like, the local Elementary school’s IT guy as cover for all the other stuff they’re doing.
Plus, I also kinda wish all of these basement hideouts looked like actual basements instead of underground auditoriums. It’s the basement under a bar, it’d have, like, six and a half foot ceilings.
This is basically a CW superhero show without the costumes.
I was doing computer work in a bar in DC last week. It was in the basement.. 6.5 feet ceilings is really pushing it.
Yeah, those are the spacious basements. Half the time it’s six foot nothing.
Having been working out of my basement for the past 10 months I think it would have been cooler if the whole thing had some cobbled together pandemic system with mismatched monitors on an old desk. Then Goldberg could play the offbeat whiny complainer that he always seems to play. “Hey McCall. Maybe I’d be quicker if this chair wasn’t killing my back. Would it kill you to buy me descent fucking chair!”
Despite some of the really outlandish plots in the original series (somehow 1 out of 3 villains were former agency associates!), they tried to look realistic as to how a person of limited means, but a wealth of former associates, would handle situations beyond their abilities/skillset. It was always down to “I know a guy who does ____, who owes me a favor”. Usually the expert of the week worked out of a grubby civil service office farm or the back of a junk food filled van.
Somebody named a kid Edward Woodward?
He used to joke around in interviews about his name, saying it had too many ‘D’s, and if you take them all out, he’s E-war Woo-war. (Which turns him into a Star Wars character.)
I was too young to actually watch the show, and never caught up with it after the fact, so all I ever knew about the show (other than the basic premise) was that the main actor’s name was Edward Woodward and that it sounded weird.(Also that Mad Magazine’s parody was called “The Tranquilizer”.)
Former SCTV’er Dave Thomas did a parody of his character, THE HUMILIATOR, on his short-lived sketch show, where he took out the enemies by spewing British-accented invective at them until they ran off!
He is Ed Wood’s more sophisticated cousin.
She’s going to do a superhero landing. Wait for it!
I was wondering if she just leapt off a building before this still.
“Robyn confesses that she once stole a car at 17, but the judge (a woman) saw her potential and offered her a choice — army or prison. Maybe that’s not how the actual world works, but wouldn’t it be great it if was?”No? I’m not sure it would be great at all if juvenile offenders were offered the choice between our shitty prison system and committing themselves to possibly being killed in a war in some far off place. What would be great is if both the juvenile and adult justice systems were as geared toward rehabilitation as they pretend to be, and if someone who stole a car wasn’t given a possible death sentence to avoid going to prison.
Yeah, I was onboard with the whole review, but I did a double take there. I vehemently disagree with “army or prison?” and would hope there’s a better route of rehabilitation within the justice system. I don’t disagree with it within the optics of the show — it’s pretty clear while Robyn is grateful for her tour of duty making her who she is, it was still the result of a corrupted system looking to chew up a young black woman in either option — but it’s not something to idealize. It reminds me of Roger Ebert’s review of V for Vendetta, which he very much liked but didn’t agree with V’s stance of “People shouldn’t be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people”, reasoning both options inevitably lead to violence (and we saw that play out very well on Jan. 6) and that the ideal would be government and people working in service of each other. It works within the confines of Vendetta’s fantastical world, but like the “army or prison?” story here, it’s not an attitude to co-opt in real life and we as a society should strive to do better than these binary choices.
Yup, death and/or murdering civilians in their homes vs. prison and the lifelong fallout from that are both terrible options and the last thing that’s needed is more black bodies forced to uphold the empire at gunpoint
To be fair I don’t think the writer was actually saying we should co-opt the army into some sort of forced labor prison alternative. Yeah, that could possibly work to rehabilitate some young convicts better than our current prison system but it’s also easy to imagine ways in which such a system could go horribly wrong. I’ll give the writer the benefit of the doubt here and say that he’s referring specifically to the example in the story; a judge gives a young black convict a second chance by enlisting in the army and then it turns out that a little boot camp is all she needs to turn her life around and eventually become a TV hero. It would be nice if things could be so neat and easy considering how much of our population we imprison in this country.
Giving the “young Black convict” a second chance by enlisting in the Army is exactly the part that I find problematic, so I’m not sure your “to be fair” here really changes the analysis at all. Giving the juvenile in question a second chance, yay. Second (and third) chances should already be built into the justice system. You shouldn’t have to choose to go to a war you may or may not agree with as your second chance, and “young Black convicts” should not be fodder for our over-stuffed military-industrial complex anymore than they should be fodder for our over-stuffed prison-industrial complex. I don’t consider either of those things “neat and easy.” She could have had her second chance by attending a community college or getting a job or, you know, getting to live in an area that wasn’t blighted by centuries of socio-political redlining.
I agree with almost everything you’re saying here. I don’t agree that everyone who joins the military becomes fodder for the military industrial complex. Lots of people do gain valuable life experiences from military service. The fact that we’ve been at war for nearly 20 straight years now tips the scales decidedly in the wrong direction, but you’re oversimplifying things here. And the point is that in the show, it worked out well for the character. Had she gone to prison her (hypothetical, fictional life) would most likely ended up worse than it did. Is the show over simplifying an incredibly complicated topic that deserves much more examination? obviously it is (unless it gets into those issues more in future episodes) But isn’t that what Stephen was getting at when he wrote that it would be nice for things to work out that well for everyone in that situation?
I agree with you that people who voluntarily join the military aren’t joining to become fodder, and that it’s a great experience for a lot of people, but in this “ideal world” the reviewer is envisioning where judges send juvenile offenders into the Army to pad military numbers, yes, I think in that case the juvenile justice system will be doing nothing but sending young offenders off as fodder and I think that would be really wrong. If they aren’t killed (which another commenter correctly stated they probably wouldn’t be killed) they are still at risk for mental health issues, homelessness, and other problems arising from military service. Which is fine if that’s a choice they make freely and with eyes wide open, but that’s not what’s happening if your choice is languish in jail or go to the Army.I don’t think I’m oversimplifying. In the show it worked out great and that’s great, but the line from the review I’m talking about suggested this should be a normal practice. It wouldn’t work out great for all or even most of them. Stephen wasn’t referring to how well it worked out. The “wouldn’t it be great if it was” was referring specifically to the situation of the judge offering the choice.
I think we’ve both put more thought into arguing about that one sentence than the writer did. It’s open to interpretation I guess but I read it as an acknowledgement that the vast majority or people in the character’s position don’t get a second chance of any kind, nothing more than that. As for the negative impacts of military service, you’re absolutely right. We’ve been at war for 20 damn years now and while everyone acknowledges “the brave sacrifice made by our men and women serving in the armed forces” (can’t even write that without hearing it as the PA announcer before a football game or a politician’s soundbite), I don’t think we’ve really grasped the enormous human toll that these wars have and continue to leave in their wake.
That’s fair enough! In truth, I think that if he read these comments he would 100% agree that this is not a practice that should make its way into the actual dealing with juvenile offenders, and it’s very likely that your interpretation is what he meant. What he actually said, though, is what I’m saying he said, and I would just like him, a professional writer, to try to put at least as much thought into what he writes as those of us who read it do. lolTotally agree on your second paragraph. It’s interesting because years ago and friend and I were having a conversation about military service, and she said she could never support a kid of hers going into the service (neither of us had kids yet) and I thought that was strange, and she explained just what you said—that it’s too hard on people ultimately, and that the government doesn’t really take care of them once they come back. I still left that convo thinking she was being kind of shitty to the military in general, but as I’ve grown and learned more I think she was right. I won’t go so far as to say I wouldn’t support my kids if that’s the avenue they voluntarily chose, but I can see her point now too. Anyway I think that you and I agree philosophically on this whole shebang, and we can part as friendlies.
No one cares what you find problematic. You’re clearly an idiot.
Well, military service has long-been a reliable, accessible path out of a bad home/environment. When I was active duty there were PLENTY of people who had joined due to abusive home environments and/or escaping gang affiliation. You can join up with a shitty education and nothing but the shirt on your back and make a clean break with whatever shitshow you were in before and be given an opportunity to make something out of your life. Does it suck that it’s often the ONLY available path? Yup. Would it be better if there were other paths available that were as accessible? Unquestionably. But that doesn’t change the reality. Plus, it is important not to overstate the casualty rate of active duty servicemembers. Since 2006, more personnel have died from accidents than from any sort of combat, so it’s hardly a “flip a coin” likely death sentence in the way Vietnam was. (The suicide rate is also really high, which is a whole other terrible thing.)
Oh, I have no problem with people joining the military if they so choose, and I don’t doubt at all that it is a path out of poverty/bad home situations. I just have a problem with it being used as a sentence for criminal behavior.But I agree with everything you said, and I didn’t mean to overstate the casualty rate. I do think it’s worth mentioning that there is such a possibility, though (and frankly, there’s also such a possibility in jail), and that it shouldn’t be taken lightly when lowkey forcing juveniles to take on this commitment.
That used to be a real thing, back when the army took warm bodies.I heard of guys getting that deal, mostly for fighting, when I was a kid. I know at least one guy it worked out for. He went into the Navy. He was still kinda scary, but he stayed out of trouble after that. Prison probably would’ve only made him worse.
Yeah it’s super hard not to steal cars. And tons of super good people do it.
If Liza Lapira is a regular on this I guess the chances we see George’s boozy mother on Nancy Drew again anytime soon is low. Too bad, she was fun
I didn’t recognize her on sight — only when I looked it up did I remember she had a memorable guest run on NCIS for half a season and holy crap, that was 15 years ago and shes still not even 40?! (she played an agent so I assumed she was older than 24) — but seeing her here had me sitting up like Joker seeing Vicki Vale, “Stop the press, who is THAT?” And that she got in on the action was a cherry on top. Instant scene stealer.
I still remember her from Apt 23.
That’s right! She was in that; man, that show deserved a better life.
There’s Melody (Liza Lapira), a former Air Force sniper who now runs a barAn Air Force sniper?I didn’t know they had those.
Former AF Security Forces member.The AF Security Forces (formerly Security Police) used to only function as an interior perimeter security for AF bases in a combat area. At that time, there were layers of Army and/or Marines before an enemy could get to the AF security. (They also functioned as on base security for resources and as on base police.) That was Cold War stuff, though, and in the late 90s they changed. Primarily because there were no delineated frontlines anymore (AF bases were generally far away from the frontlines) combined with the Army and Marines having too much to do to be able to continue to be an outlying perimeter security. So, Security Forces had to change to being *the* perimeter security, which meant they needed jobs like snipers (I’m sure they had them before, but now there was morea of a need for them.)Also, when Air Force 2 came to the base I was on, a sniper was positioned on a tall building just in case. So, they probably had them for things like that before, too. I don’t know a lot about that, though, because I enlisted in 1996 and the changes came about the next year.As Security Forces, we learned a lot of grunt tactics, like low crawling and high crawling, patrolling, responding to ambushes, performing ambushes, all that stuff. The AF also has Special Forces (pararescue being probably the most known.) It’s not all pilots, air crew, and office workers.
Now that you mention it, I saw a Pararescue thing on Discovery/History/A&E/whatever, so it makes more sense than I first thought. Mea culpa.Still kinda surprised they picked the Air Force, unless she ends up flying something.
Could be because the AF has the highest percentage of women. And, women have been in combat jobs for longer there, they just didn’t consider Security Forces to be combat. If she wanted to do something like that, the AF was probably her best bet.
I wanted to make a joke about “sniper” being what they called Warthog pilots but you had to go ruin it with facts. 😉
Oops! Wouldn’t be the first time I did that.
George Kennedy started that tradition when he fired a flare gun out of an SST in “Airport ‘79:The Concorde”
I’m going to keep watching. I never watched the original series (too young, never showed up in popular syndication, etc) but Im a fan of the Denzel movies and this delivered exactly what it promised: a network-TV-scaled version of the Denzel movies starring another magnetic, black icon. What makes it stand out in the field of the usual CBS procedurals is the escapist fun of apprehending bad guys by kicking their ass. I’m more forgiving of the maligned CBS procedural style — I was a regular CSI and NCIS watcher until their best characters left, enjoying CSI’s scientific/sci-fi take on the L&O formula, and NCIS’s action-comedy mix of CSI and L&O: Criminal Intent — but I imagine this working a little better for a younger-ish audience seeing problems solved with some fists. And Latifah looks great: trimmed, authoritative, and no less convincing in action than 60+ Denzel in the movies. Chris Noth and Adam Goldberg feel wildly overqualified for their roles, but Noth’s brief appearances makes it feel like it’s something he can film in a day or so per week, and I was surprised to see Goldberg (one of my favorite character actors of the last 25 years) hasnt worked in a bit, so maybe this is some pretty steady money. Nonetheless, the core team is instantly likable and engaging, the idea of the cop being a hero antagonist to Robyn’s vigilantism is an interesting wrinkle outside of the Superhero genre, and look, it got me in the door promising me Queen Latifah beating up goons every week, as long as it delivers that, I’m good.
Part of what worked in the original series was the cast of characters that showed up to help out were usually pretty interesting in their own right.Take Mickey Kostmayer. He was basically a thug for hire that McCall dragged out of Control. But McCall could carefully aim Mickey. There’s an episode where Mickey’s brother shows up, and he’s a Catholic Priest, and there’s Russians who are trying to destabilize some peace talks between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Mickey’s prepared to literally murder half the population of NYC and McCall gets him to dial it back.
Adam Goldberg played this exact role on Taken. In the same room even.
The one thing I can see going for this reboot is Latifah’s father was a cop for 30 years so she would have good police procedure knowledge.
Why does a network Premier a show after the Super Bowl? I only had 22 minutes of the Equalizer get recorded due to the uncertainty of the duration of the game. I haven’t looked for it on CBS All Access yet. I hope it’s there.
I was a big fan of the original Equalizer, so I had my doubts when I heard of this. Not because the choice of for the lead but because the original had so many things going for it besides Edward Woodward, like supporting case, the Stuart Copeland score, and the location shots.I watched the new one, and I like what Queen Latifah does with the part. I Lso think they managed to capture most of what was good about the original. I think it works.
Same here, just hoping she has other friends with special skills beside those two. Use her friends alternatingly; otherwise, it’ll become boring very quickly. It’s the Batcave again! It’s melody and her sniper rifle again.
So is this going to eventually cross over to Denzel’s Equalizer all culminating into a universe wide cross over with a CGI Edward Woodward Equalizer?
ooh charm and compassion , 2 things I’m not looking for in my TV thrillers.
I don’t think it works like that any more, but my uncle ended up in the Marines because he was given the option of that or jail. He would be 68 this year, so that was probably at least a half-century ago.
I enjoyed it. Then again, I would watch Queen Latifah read a phone book.
“Tory Kittles plays Detective Marcus Dante, who the series nicely sets up as Robyn’s Commissioner Gordon and possible love interest.”Or as a Detective Zenigata to her Lupin the Third.
Robyn confesses that she once stole a car at 17, but the judge (a woman) saw her potential and offered her a choice — army or prisonMix-up of reality and Hollywood there. Reality = When Edward Woodward (original Equalizer) was a young man, judges really did allow choice between army and prison on some charges.Fantasy part: Judges in those days didn’t give a shit about anyone’s “potential.”
I don’t watch a lot of new TV these days, and this isn’t the show to get me to change my mind. But there were things I liked. The scene outside the prison was nice and understated, and I thought the way Latifah was frumped up in her day to day life (which isn’t easy) very believable.
I’m hoping that she has a larger crew with different sets of skills for different situations, e.g., that she has other friends beside Melody and Harry, and that different ones show up every other episode, like the original Mission: Impossible TV shows. Please, pretty please…
The fight scene was so heavily edited in this.It’s obvious she cannot pull these off. Pretty much like a current Steven Segal film where directors use fast quick eidts to hide his age and girth because he can no longer fight on scene and perform his own fight scenes. This is EXACTLY what is happening here with The Equalizer. Physically she can’t pull this off and it shows.