Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
The Equalizer Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 1985 - 1986
Episode 1
Pilot
Wed, Sep 18, 198548 mins
We are introduced to someone who calls himself The Equalizer who takes on 2 new clients in this pilot episode. The first is a man working for a Telecommucation company who discovers some unexplained records in the company files - McCall discovers that the VP of the Telecomm company is recording high-level officials' phone conversations to use for blackmail. The second is a single mother who is being stalked - McCall tries to scare off the stalker but only succeeds in making him more violent towards his victim.
Episode 2
China Rain
Wed, Sep 25, 198548 mins
When some men plan to kidnap the son of a wealthy Asian couple, they grab the the maid's child by mistake. They call the police and to keep the boy alive they pretend that they have the couple's son. But when her employer refuses to pay the ransom, she calls McCall.
Episode 3
The Defector
Wed, Oct 2, 198548 mins
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
The Lock Box
Wed, Oct 9, 198547 mins
The Griffith family arrives in NYC on vacation from Duluth and things go wrong right from the start...their luggage is stolen by a gypsy cabbie and the hotel has lost their reservations. Bored and frustrated, Edie, the Griffiths 17 year old daughter wanders out of the hotel at night to do some exploring. She is lured into accepting a ride and finds herself abducted. The police can offer little help and with no one else to turn to they hire McCall to help find their daughter. His search will lead him into the seedy underworld of prostitution and an 'invitation only' brothel known as a Lock Box.
Episode 5
Lady Cop
Wed, Oct 16, 198548 mins
Officer Sandra Stahl, a young NYC policewoman, discovers her partner Officer Nick Braxton and two other cops are crooked, but if she blows the whistle on them she may risk more than she can give. She calls in McCall, who discovers that what she risks may just be her life.
Episode 6
The Confirmation Day
Wed, Oct 23, 198547 mins
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
The Children's Song
Wed, Oct 30, 198548 mins
Robert McCall and his estranged son, Scott, agree to a weekend trip together to a private cabin upstate to try to bond before Scott takes off for college. Enroute they cross paths with a hitchhiking couple, and Scott makes a friendly acquaintance with Melinda. After the McCalls drive away, Melinda and her boyfriend are found by three young joyriding thugs in a pickup truck, Bobby, Dillart and Ray, who offer the couple a ride. The couple accept but are then forced into the woods where the punks, in attempting to rape Melinda, end up nearly killing the boyfriend. In some last vestige of conscience, the three take the victim and Melinda to the hospital. Now the boyfriend is DOA (dead on arrival), the three realize they may suffer the consequences for a myriad of felonies crimes they've just committed; kidnapping, attempted rape, and now, murder. But there is only one witness. As they confront Melinda in the small town diner/convenience store, Scott appears on a beer and snack run, and, in "like-father-like-son" fashion, Scott rescues her and they retreat back to the cabin with the thugs in pursuit. As Scott and Melinda brief Robert, it's clear the Equalizer is off vacation. The villainous trio lay siege to the cabin with the intent of leaving no one alive. The very capable McCall pulls no punches as he realizes that this may also be an opportunity to show his son the reason why he chose the life he did in opposing just this kind of deadly terrorism, no matter what form it has taken.
Episode 8
The Distant Fire
Wed, Nov 6, 198548 mins
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
Mama's Boy
Wed, Nov 13, 198548 mins
A woman who is raising her son by herself, thinking that he is in trouble asks McCall to look into it. He learns that the boy is messed up with a Fagin like criminal. He pretends to be someone wanting to do business with him. He tries to get the boy's father to help.
Episode 10
Bump and Run
Wed, Nov 20, 198548 mins
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
Desperately
Wed, Dec 4, 198548 mins
A bored housewife is dared by her friend to pick up a guy which she does. He takes her to a hotel room but when they arrive there's a guy already there. The guy who brought her there pulls out a gun and kills the man there. She runs away and calls McCall but she doesn't want her husband to know what happened. When she tells him what happened, McCall deduces that the man is a professional killer so they go to the police and she tells her husband. But the assassin tracks her down through her friend.
Episode 12
Reign of Terror
Wed, Dec 11, 198548 mins
A doctor takes over an inner city clinic, upon arriving she discovers that the previous doctor has a deal with the gang who runs the neighborhood to provide them with drugs in exchange for letting them stay there. But when she learns of this, she tells them that it ends. The gang then threatens her but she's not intimidated. But her assistant knowing she's in over her head calls McCall. But upon meeting him, she refuses to accept help from because she doesn't believe in violence.
Episode 13
Back Home
Wed, Dec 18, 198547 mins
McCall is called by the tenants of an apartment building who are terrorized so that they would move out. They believe that the owner a wealthy man is doing this so he can tear down the building. McCall does a check on the man and discovers that he is looking for a hit man to kill his wife. So McCall approaches her and convinces her to come with him.
Episode 14
Out of the Past
Wed, Jan 15, 198648 mins
Eddie is released after an eight year prison sentence. Meeting up with his partner, Fenn, he swears murderous revenge on the man who put him there. This turns out to be the new husband of McCall's ex-wife, Kay. As Eddie becomes more deranged and his harassment increases, scaring even Fenn and terrifying the couple, Kay realizes she needs to turn to the one person in her life best suited to handle such a situation, the Equalizer, aka McCall. Reluctant but willing, McCall's attempt to ward Eddie off trigger Eddie's psychopathic rage resulting in the cold blooded murder of his parole officer, and the double revelation of the darker motive behind Eddie's mission, and the deeper darker involvement between Kay's husband and Eddie. Enlisting Fenn, now fearful of the consequences of Eddie's behavior McCall tries to intercede and resolve the situation before anyone else suffers, even Eddie.
Episode 15
Dead Drop
Wed, Jan 22, 198648 mins
McCall assembles a team of former colleagues to protect an innocent bystander marked for death when he stumbles onto a "dead drop," a secret location used to pass money, drugs, or information. However, he must contend with a smug Company bureaucrat gunning for Control's job.
Episode 16
Wash-Up
Wed, Jan 29, 198647 mins
A small-time hood gets in debt over his head, and tries to coerce the employees of his window-washing firm not to unionize. Meanwhile, McCall's housekeeper loses her apartment, and is forced to move in for a few days -- with her two small boys in tow.
Episode 17
Torn
Wed, Feb 5, 198648 mins
The frightened 10-year old daughter of an abused wife calls McCall just before her father is due to be released from jail after an 18 month sentence. Although the mother has taken out a restraining order they both believe he will come back to hurt them.
Episode 18
Unnatural Causes
Wed, Feb 12, 198647 mins
A serial killer is targeting New York's lonely single women who respond to a Lonely Hearts newspaper ad. His calling card is an orchid he pins to the body. Meanwhile, McCall is writing an article about Robert E Lee for a military magazine and trying to help a young actress from being exploited by a pimp.
Episode 19
Breakpoint
Wed, Feb 19, 198648 mins
While attending a wedding, McCall is taken hostage by Middle Eastern terrorists seeking to capture and execute a philanthropist from their country.
Episode 20
No Conscience
Wed, Mar 5, 198648 mins
A womanizer is grabbed by some people who demand that he give them something that one of the women he's been with gave him. He has no idea what they're talking about so he turns to McCall for help. After going through all the women he knows they hit a wall. That is until he remembers one other woman whom he met briefly.
Episode 21
Unpunished Crimes
Tue, Apr 1, 198648 mins
A man goes to the CEO of a corporation and accuses them of stealing his invention, and when he presents proof the CEO tries to destroy it. He then orders that the man be taken care of. And when they fail, the man's son calls McCall. McCall checks the CEO out and learns that he may have ties to a terrorist group, so he approaches the man in charge of the group and together they run a game on the CEO.
Episode 22
Pretenders
Tue, Apr 8, 198648 mins
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.
