Even considering the current obsession of TV to restart and relive anything and everything, The equalizer it is a curious choice. The original 1985-89 CBS series, starring Edward Woodward as a spy who became a private detective who cleaned up a crime-ridden New York City, is just a hazy memory for most viewers and looks like a dusty relic today . (He did most of his business by public telephone and advertised his services in a classified ad in the newspaper.) But the Equalizer the brand was recently redesigned with two films by Denzel Washington and the new version of CBS – premiering this Sunday, February 7, after the Super Bowl; I saw the premiere – it’s a thrill ride built efficiently, bringing the franchise firmly into the 2020s and providing a perfect vehicle for Queen Latifah that makes everything fit together.
Latifah plays Robyn McCall (a piece from the original Robert McCall), a former CIA agent who returned home to New York after a series of international missions, but still haunted by bad memories. She is trying to hide, but is chased by a former CIA colleague named Bishop (Chris Noth), and she ends up helping a young woman who witnessed a murder and then finds herself framed for it. “Who are you looking for if you can’t go to the police?” the girl asks, and it inspires Robyn to create her own rental justice game, unraveling conspiracies and fighting for the oppressed in a brave new world of fake, driverless cars. (Oh, and she posts her ad on social media this time.)
Yes, all of this is a standard CBS police drama from Castle EPs Andrew Marlow and Terri Miller, but the presence of Latifah’s star gives an advantage. She has an easy charisma and an air of authority like Robyn – and she is also an important update on the fight scenes. (She’s a lot more convincing than Woodward ever was.) It’s easy to root for her when she faces villains like a smug tech guru Elon Musk-ian at the premiere: “You think you can buy and sell the whole world,” she says to him … and he can’t, damn it! The premiere also offers frontal action with a series of high-octane stunt sequences, including Robyn making a daring prison escape on a motorcycle – although it’s hard to say whether we can expect this level of eye-popping effects every week, or if they blew up the entire budget at the premiere.
The equalizer builds a solid team behind Robyn too, with NCIS former student Liza Lapira as sniper Mel and Adam Goldberg as bearded hacker Harry supporting her. (A procedure is only as good as your crime-solving team, and I could easily see these three criminals together for about 200 episodes.) None is intriguingly enigmatic like Bishop, using old guard spy tactics to keep in touch, and he and Latifah have a unique vibe that is worth keeping an eye on. In addition, it is always good to see Lorraine Toussaint, here playing Robyn’s Aunt Vi, on our TVs.
I would like to see more than one episode, just to see how these relationships develop. The scenes with Robyn and her naughty teenage daughter Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) seem a little banal at first, but they also have a pleasant and revealing moment when Robyn takes her to a female prison and points out that most of the girls there are black. There is an unspoken layer of social justice in Robyn’s mission, and I wonder how far they will force that angle in future episodes. (The premiere doubles back to show that NYPD cops are not the bad guys.) But it has a solid foundation to build on, thanks to Queen Latifah. May she reign for a long time.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: With explosive action scenes and a Queen Latifah star, CBS ‘ Equalizer reboot gives a new solid touch to an old franchise.