The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 22: Suicide Squad
Aired on CBS: August 24, 1989
Directed by: Marc Laub
Written by : Jacqueline Zambrano
Featuring: Ving Rhames, Adam Coleman Howard, Joe Morton
Ladies and gentelmen, we have arrived. The 88th and final episode of the hit 80s show The Equalizer, and the 94th and final episode of our podcast The Equalizers. The episode itself doesn't provide any closure for the original series, but at least it's one last bonkers plotline - Ving Rhames, playing what we assume is a first draft version of Marsellus Wallace, is a drug lord who employs specifcally injured athletes, and EQ has to protect a teenager Willy whose football is ending short because of a bad knee. But whereas the episode doesn't give any kind of grand sendoff to the series, Chris, Chuck, and Vince (yes Vince!) do their best to make up for it. We got together and MST3K'd this guy, having our own party and sending off our podcast in style. It's a different format and different sound because we wanted to go all out to celebrate The Equalizer. This episode was a blast as was this entire ride. Thank you to everyone who came along with us.
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equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com
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1:10:52
Endgame
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 21: Endgame
Aired on CBS: August 10, 1989
Directed by: Alan Metzger
Written by : Coleman Luck
Featuring: Elizabeth Berridge, Amy Morton, Lewis Van Bergen, Josef Sommer, Nick Bakay
Penultimate episode! We all remember the gaming mastermind Leon from the 1980 movie Midnight Madness who set off five teams on an epic scavenger hunt just for his own whimsy. Similarly in Endgame, the Equalizer goes up against an old dude who is really into "war games" - which unfortunately are less about Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy, and more about an elaborate recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg with little toy soldiers in his office. And this old dude's fixation on strategic games has bled into a real life game of vengeance aimed at an attorney and her sister (who happen to be pretty messed up themselves). Not necessarily a top tier EQ episode, but Chris and Chuck are on the home stretch and still giving it everything they got, including perhaps the best On This Date segment yet as Chris shows us what he's made of with a heartfelt serenade.
@equalizerspod
equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com
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58:28
Race Traitors
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 20: Race Traitors
Aired on CBS: June 29, 1989
Directed by: Robert E. Warren
Written by : Robert Sabaroff
Featuring: Laurence Fishburne, David Andrews, Michael Cerveris, Verna Bloom, John Cale
The antipenultimate Equalizer episode. This one is... woo boy. The Equalizer is going against a local chapter of neonazi skinheads including a childhood friend of Mickey's. Does the episode approach the topic delicately? Well it starts right off with stock footage of the Third Reich and sails on from there. At the very least, the viewpoint of the Equalizer and the show is in line with today's sensibilities. That said, maybe for the best that so much off the plot focused on weird white supremacy middle management. It's a very strange angle on a very real and sensitive topic. Similarly, Chris and Chuck handle the coverage of this episode with the delicacy of a runaway elephant.
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equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com
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1:10:46
Heart of Justice
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 19: Heart of Justice
Aired on CBS: May 11, 1989
Directed by: Bradford May
Written by : Gail Morgan Hickman
Featuring: John Shepherd, Paul Guilfoyle, Vincent Gallo (!), Philip Bosco, Patty Mullen
New York City in 1989. When the wheels of justice can't convict obviously guilty criminals because of legal loopholes, those criminals run free and, once they get drugged up, they can go out and spend the day terrorizing innocent people without any consequences. This is the case for The Equalizer in this episode, so much so that while he's trying to stop a man who's out for vengeance to right a legal wrong, that guy gets beat to the punch by ANOTHER dude who's out for vengeance to right a legal wrong, just in a more general sense. This episode has emotions, it has an EQ-patented intricate plan that explodes, and it acts as a "Stay Away" sign for anyone thinking of visiting NYC.
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1:05:08
The Caper
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 18: The Caper
Aired on CBS: May 4, 1989
Directed by: Alan Metzger
Written by : Tom Towler
Featuring: Maureen Stapleton, Laura San Giacomo, Zach Grenier, Michael Wincott
A lighter episode of The Equalizer. Yes there's still some grisly violence but this time that's paired up with a lighter mystery plot, a diamond heist, and a spunky new sidekick for Robert McCall. EQ is helping out Mrs. Rutherford (Maureen Stapleton), an older woman who's witnessed a murder and whose head is otherwise in the clouds from all the cheap mystery novels she reads. And she insists on a female bodyguard, so on Mickey's recommendation EQ enlists the help of Trudy Collins (Laura San Giacomo) who looks straight out of Desperately Seeking Susan. All that plus a mystery plot twist and a rather gratuitous strip club scene. Chris and Chuck dig deep into the episode as well as into the Florentine Diamond, Indy 500 pace cars, and the Kinsey report.
@equalizerspod
equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com
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The Equalizer aired on CBS from 1985 to 1989. It inspired two Denzel Washington movies and a reboot with Queen Latifah, but the original series with Edward Woodward is largely forgotten (It can be streamed on nbc.com or the NBC Roku app. Your move, Peacock). In a perfect world, it would receive all the nostalgic love of your MacGyver, your Magnum PI, your A Team, your Knight Rider. The premise - a retired special agent puts an ad in the paper to help those who feel the odds are against them (take that, paper clips and talking cars). Never heard of it? Not a problem. Vince, Chris, and Chuck take a deep dive into the show one episode at a time - incredibly absurd plots, well-known guest stars in every episode (sometimes 4 or 5!), and all other aspects of this show that make it a true hidden gem.
Note: This is pure episodic TV, very few larger plots and themes, so no need to listen in order. This podcast, like say the celebrated show Parks+Rec, had a gestation period, and our full crew kicked in on season 1 episode 16, so you might want to skip ahead.
Photo Credit: Bill Heck
UK