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  • CBS
  • Sep 18, 1985
  • CBS
  • Sep 18, 1985

Summary GOT A PROBLEM? ODDS AGAINST YOU? CALL THE EQUALIZER! The Equalizer (Robert McCall) is a former agent of a shadowy, unnamed government agency, who is trying to make up for the unspoken sins of his past. His atonement comes in the form of an advertisement in the newspaper that features the above quote. McCall uses his finely honed ski...

Created By: Richard Lindheim, Michael Sloan

  • CBS
  • Sep 18, 1985
  • CBS
  • Sep 18, 1985
The Equalizer
Season 1
Season Premiere: Sep 18, 1985
Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 6 Critic Reviews
53
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary GOT A PROBLEM? ODDS AGAINST YOU? CALL THE EQUALIZER! The Equalizer (Robert McCall) is a former agent of a shadowy, unnamed government agency, who is trying to make up for the unspoken sins of his past. His atonement comes in the form of an advertisement in the newspaper that features the above quote. McCall uses his finely honed ski...

Created By: Richard Lindheim, Michael Sloan

Season Episodes

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Episode 1 • Sep 18, 1985 • 48 m
Pilot
Disillusioned by his years as a spy, Robert McCall resigns from his job, determined to help people in need. His first two clients are a telecommunications employee who stumbles onto an extortion ring, and a woman threatened by a stalker.
Episode 2 • Sep 25, 1985 • 48 m
China Rain
A Chinatown gang kidnap whom they believe is the son of a wealthy Chinese-American couple, unaware that he is actually the maid's child. Fearful that the police will not be able to get the boy back alive, the maid contacts Robert McCall.
Episode 3 • Oct 2, 1985 • 48 m
The Defector
McCall's attempt to help a former agent defect from the USSR goes badly, leaving the man's daughter in peril. McCall is also asked by a teenage boy for help against a local gang of bullies.
Episode 4 • Oct 9, 1985 • 47 m
The Lock Box
Episode 5 • Oct 16, 1985 • 48 m
Lady Cop
A young New York City patrolwoman contacts McCall to help her take down a trio of dirty cops, which include her partner.
Episode 6 • Oct 23, 1985 • 47 m
The Confirmation Day
Prior to his confirmation, a boy hires McCall to protect his father who is caught up in some crooked business deals, while at the same time protecting an aging stage actress from a stalker.
Episode 7 • Oct 30, 1985 • 48 m
The Children's Song
On a camping trip, McCall and his estranged son Scott must band together to protect a young rape victim from a gang of hoodlums who also killed her boyfriend.
Episode 8 • Nov 6, 1985 • 48 m
The Distant Fire
McCall meets an old Agency colleague who now hires himself out as a killer. His next target is an ambassador and his wife. He asks for McCall's help to save the wife because she is a woman they both used to love.
Episode 9 • Nov 13, 1985 • 48 m
Mama's Boy
A mother turns to McCall when she discovers her teenage son is working for a dangerous drug dealer.
Episode 10 • Nov 20, 1985 • 48 m
Bump and Run
McCall searches for a vigilante who is killing criminals in his name. Meanwhile, his colleague Kostmeyer protects a young woman from carjackers seeking revenge for a fallen member of their crew.
Episode 11 • Dec 4, 1985 • 48 m
Desperately
Episode 12 • Dec 11, 1985 • 48 m
Reign of Terror
Episode 13 • Dec 18, 1985 • 47 m
Back Home
Episode 14 • Jan 15, 1986 • 48 m
Out of the Past
McCall's ex-wife asks for his help when her current husband is threatened by a vengeful ex-con.
Episode 15 • Jan 22, 1986 • 48 m
Dead Drop
McCall assembles a team of former colleagues to help an innocent bystander in danger when he is unwittingly involved in a smuggling operation. However, McCall runs into unexpected trouble with a smug bureaucrat gunning for Control's job.
Episode 16 • Jan 29, 1986 • 47 m
Wash-Up
Two window-washers who want to form a union ask for McCall's help when they are threatened by their murderous employer. Meanwhile, McCall's housekeeper moves into his townhouse temporarily for a few days with her two young sons in tow.
Episode 17 • Feb 5, 1986 • 48 m
Torn
McCall finds his attention divided when Jason Mazer from The Agency offers him a chance at revenge against an old enemy, while at the same time a young girl asks McCall to protect her and her mother against her abusive father.
Episode 18 • Feb 12, 1986 • 47 m
Unnatural Causes
Episode 19 • Feb 19, 1986 • 48 m
Breakpoint
While attending a wedding, McCall is taken hostage by Middle Eastern terrorists seeking to capture and execute a philanthropist from their country.
Episode 20 • Mar 5, 1986 • 48 m
No Conscience
Episode 21 • Apr 1, 1986 • 48 m
Unpunished Crimes
Episode 22 • Apr 8, 1986 • 48 m
Pretenders
McCall helps a rookie reporter who suspects her new neighbor of criminal activity. As McCall probes further, he discovers the man may have murderous intentions and is being protected by Control.

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 6 Critic Reviews
53
50% Positive
3 Reviews
17% Mixed
1 Review
33% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 6 Critic Reviews
53
50% Positive
3 Reviews
17% Mixed
1 Review
33% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
80
Aug 15, 2013
Woodward seems destined to become the season's most seasoned heartthrob. Women will adore him, men admire him. He gives his character an affecting worldly disenchantment, but at the same time brings out all the allure in the wish-fulfillment aspects of the role. [18 Sept 1985, p.D1]
By Tom Shales
80
Aug 15, 2013
But I think the biggest reason is that I like its star, the British actor Woodward, who is an older man, 55, a veteran actor of 40 years, and not just another pretty young face on a vacuous head. He gives this show the same touch of class that another British export, Patrick Macnee, used to give The Avengers. [18 Sept 1985, p.3]
By Steve Sonsky
70
Aug 15, 2013
The results of this ploy are predictable. But the end of the episode delivers a satisfying double kick that neatly caps off Woodward's generally understated performance. It needs better scripts, but Woodward makes The Equalizer worth watching. [18 Sept 1985, p.C7]
By Robert P. Laurence
50
Aug 15, 2013
The Equalizer...recites the Vigilante Creed with effective fervor. And Mr. Woodward, the always accomplished actor whose more recent credits include "A Christmas Carol" on television and the title role in the Australian film "Breaker Morant," is so good that he makes the entire questionable enterprise seem almost reasonable.
By John J. O'Connor FULL REVIEW
30
Aug 15, 2013
The evening's funniest show on CBS, though, is a drama, The Equalizer. [18 Sept 1985, p.6]
By Howard Rosenberg
30
Aug 15, 2013
A misfired offering. [18 Sept 1985, p.7]

User Reviews

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