Will – or can – Robyn McCall retire from Equalizing?

Season 2 starts with a bang, and immediately high stakes. Any viewer by now would know not to expect an ordinary bank robbery in the show, and this one comes with both a shocking casualty rate and an immediate personal stake to Dante, who by chance is quick on the scene. We know within the first couple of minutes that this is not going to be a gentle episode. And yet there appears to be more. Over the course of the show the scene is being set not only as a recap from where the first season dramatically left off, but also gives some solid signposting as to where things are heading.

McCall is already finding the strain of the effects of her work on her personal life too much, and certainly is not enjoying her new-found fame. This affects her to that point that she is considering calling the whole thing off. However, in another significant matter for viewers, it is Dante himself who steps up as her first client of the season. This is an excellent move from the writers; not only reinforcing the gravity of the situation ahead, but also the bastion of law enforcement that he is and took some considerable time to recognise McCall as more than just a dangerous vigilante. This is a big deal, and they want us to know it early.

In fact, it is only the urgency of Dante’s petitioning, and the fact that it is he who petitions in the first place, which causes her to postpone her early retirement plans. He knows he has no chance of getting justice through his own channels. This is a new Dante, one who has seen the dark side of going by the book when the supposed authorities cannot, or will not, do what is necessary.

Beyond McCall’s evolving relationship with Dante, the episode manages to cover every other ongoing subplot very smoothly. Bishop has contacts which Team McCall can’t ignore. His CIA connections are stretched just to be able to identify what they are truly up against, rogue Agency on a powerful payroll. However, the viewer cannot ignore the mention of McCall’s arch-nemesis, Mason Quinn here. An as-yet unseen presence, his spectre continues to loom and the casual mention of him early on seems to foreshadow troubled times ahead for our heroes. Even this episode’s adversaries provide a dangerous mirror for McCall’s particular set of skills. With rising reputation so follow more powerful enemies, it seems.

Outside the main action, her daughter Delilah, who now knows what her day job is now, is still reeling from her discovery which threatens the wellbeing of the entire family unit of mother, daughter and Aunt Vi. Melody continues to be an invaluable field agent for McCall. And yet it is Harry’s backstory which grabs the attention this week. Through an amusingly macabre celebration, he finds himself at odds with his own faked death after five years off the grid, which ultimately ends up with him requesting to be another of her clients in order to resurrect himself. A longer-term action, it is the second request from another close ally for her professional service in the show. There is a feel of additional foreshadowing at play here, that friends as clients may become a theme, and a dangerous one as the season unfolds.

Verdict: This is an incredibly strong opening episode. A gritty start, a masterful, not to mention smooth effort getting the band back together, threat levels established for the season and fresh challenges and character development whilst remaining comfortably familiar for the audience. There is plenty here to invest in the rest of the season. 9/10

Russell Smith