Obviously, CBS has high hopes for its reboot of “The Equalizer,” endowing it with a high-profile 2021 post-Super Bowl premiere, TV’s most coveted time slot.
This will win the series, starring Queen Latifah, a large audience that will never come close again. CBS knows this, of course, but is confident that “The Equalizer” will attract a sufficiently loyal audience in today’s saturated television landscape.
It remains to be seen, but the Sunday night premiere gave us a perfectly predictable drama in this type of formulaic networks. There’s nothing new here, at least not yet, but “The Equalizer” ticks all the boxes, behaves well with an attractive cast, and has a strong main character, which should be enough to ensure a decent shelf life.
The series reimagines the 1980s CBS series starring Edward Woodward and the 2014 Denzel Washington film, starring Latifah as Robyn McCall, who left the CIA after a stellar career capturing the bad guys. (There is a hint that things are not going well in Venezuela.) Divorced, she moved to New York, where her 15-year-old daughter Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) lives with Aunt Vi de Robyn ( Lorraine Toussaint), who has been caring for the teenager in her mother’s frequent (and long) absences. This is not fully explained in the opening, nor are there any other contextual narrative points, but I hope we learn more about Robyn’s relationship with Delilah and Aunt Vi as the series progresses. (Robyn’s “cover story” is that she’s been working for a nonprofit organization all these years).
“The Equalizer” opens in fashion with the attack of a lawyer in a dark alley, an innocent young woman framed by the murder in the style of a gang. This leads Robyn, who is officially “retired”, and her crew of companions (bearded (of course), iconoclastic hacker Harry Keshegian (Adam Goldberg) and Melody Bayani (Liza Lapira)) to a billionaire businessman.
“Think you can buy and sell everyone!” Robyn barks at him, a predictable line that isn’t exactly Shakespeare but hey, he makes his point. He then uses his crazy skills to solve the case and is a tough cookie, with an ingenious ability to avoid any possible obstacles complemented by his fucking bursts, karate kicks, blows to people’s heads … things usual. We don’t expect anything less, and Robyn / Latifah delivers the merchandise (without sweating). It’s a setback, but it’s “The Equalizer,” damn it, announcing his intentions to continue fighting the good fight at the end of the episode.
Chris Noth is also within reach of William Bishop, Robyn’s former CIA colleague who now runs a private investigation company in the city. No doubt we will see much more of him, as “The Equalizer” is installed in the usual time slot from 8 pm on February 14. in this case, this should give “The Equalizer” a chance to fight to leave its mark.
