Latifah, who exudes natural instincts and a casual confidence, isn’t given much that requires her to do anything but cruise on her charisma, and cash checks for however long the series runs. But there’s nothing in the episode that suggests it will. She exists in two worlds, and there’s room throughout the season for the series to really dig into that dichotomy.
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She has to figure out how to switch off the soldier inside of her, where she seems most at ease, and switch on the mother, where she seems to struggle most. She has family, including her rambunctious 15-year-old daughter, Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes), and Aunt Vi (the great Lorraine Toussaint, with really nothing to do here), and friends.
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Unlike the original version and movie adaptations featuring imperturbable, lone-wolf vigilantes - seemingly without much backstory - Latifah puts a human face on a well-worn formula, grounding her character in reality. 'The White Lotus': Everything You Need to Know About the HBO Series 'French Dispatch' and 'Last Night in Soho' Start to Lift Stagnant Specialty Box Office 'The Sex Lives of College Girls' Review: Mindy Kaling's Propulsive HBO Max Comedy Lauds Friendship 'The Great' Season 2 Review: New Ruler, Same Impeccably Sharp Blend of Power, Pleasure, and Pain Of course, as a fighter for the proletariat, she follows them out of protective curiosity, and is soon drawn into a conspiracy that involves deep-fake videos, a murdered attorney, mercenaries, complemented by the usual car/motorcycle chases, fight sequences (watch Latifah effortlessly dispatch four goons), trite one-liners, and the like.
It’s representative of the many series’ plot contrivances that McCall just happens to see the woman being ushered into some kind of storage facility at Coney Island, perhaps reluctantly, by a nondescript man, late one night. What prompts her to enter a new career of reformer is a chance entanglement with the case of a young woman - Jewel (Lorna Courtney) - framed for murder and on the run from the real killers, who are backed by an Elon Musk-esque tech executive. Like the male “Equalizer” characters, Latifah’s McCall is a former intelligence operative for the CIA who became disillusioned with the government’s methods and opted for civilian life. There are a number of callbacks to the original series, which the reboot relies on primarily (not the Denzel Washington movie adaptations), but they probably won’t mean anything to new audiences. As yet another one of CBS’ exhumations of classic last-century crime/drama series (including “MacGyver,” “Magnum P.I.,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “S.W.A.T.,” and more), this “Equalizer” feels thoroughly unoriginal. She’s an enigmatic former CIA operative who uses her particular set of rather extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn.
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It’s been described as “new take” on the character first played by Edward Woodard in the late 1980s CBS TV series, and most recently portrayed by two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington in two Antoine Fuqua-directed blockbuster films in 20.Ĭhris Noth (of “Sex and the City”) plays McCall’s former CIA boss and “Orange is the New Black” scene-stealer Lorraine Toussaint plays her aunt.Īlthough currently on a brief hiatus until March 28, new episodes of “The Equalizer” air Sunday nights.In CBS’ New York City-set re-imagining of the 1980s series “ The Equalizer,” starring the late Edward Woodward as the stoic menace with a populist message, multi-hyphenate Queen Latifah plays Robyn McCal. “The Equalizer,” which was filmed in parts of Jersey City this fall, follows an ex-CIA agent and single mother Robyn McCall - portrayed by the hip hop and Hollywood trailblazer born Dana Elaine Owens - who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. The premiere episode also scored the best viewer and demo numbers for any entertainment program since the 2020 Academy Awards. The other two were “Elementary” in 2012 and “Criminal Minds” in 2006. The prime placement marked only the third time a scripted series landed in the post-game berth for CBS. Its Super Bowl Sunday premiere was the most-watched debut of the 2020-2021 season, delivering 23.8 million viewers. 1 scripted series in the key demos, averaging 14.6 million viewers, CBS said. The Deborah Martin-Chase-produced drama is television’s No.
“We’re extremely proud to see this outstanding broadcast drama, led by Queen Latifah, punch through the competitive landscape and return for a second season.” “‘The Equalizer’ has proven more than equal to the task of engaging viewers and racking up wins on Sunday night,” CBS Entertainment chief Kelly Kahl said.