Not everybody wins as Dante and McCall clash over a case.

Highly dangerous criminal Randall Grayle coerces ex-con Tim into serious criminal activity once more. The reformed elite safecracker has no interest in returning to a life of crime, but with his brother’s life under threat, he has been left little option but to comply. However, Randall reckoned without the possibility of the Equalizer offering her protection.

McCall’s struggles to come to terms with the changes in her operational life continue to impact her as the difficulties she suffered on trust are augmented by herself this time being on the wrong side of the circle of trust. The case is personal to Dante, given Grayle has killed a colleague. However this brings conflict, with Dante’s urgency set against the necessity for McCall to save Tim’s brother.

Grayle is no fool and makes life difficult for both of them by virtue of a competent plan and a good heist crew. Despite this, McCall’s friends once more find a way to disrupt this – but not fully. As the show has demonstrated, Team Equalizer do not always win and this is one of the weeks which proves tough for McCall in particular. It is McCall who’s in need of the second chance the title hints at, at least with Dante as a result of what happens, but the wedge which has been driven between them is a harsh one, which will require later resolution, and perhaps a larger threat to reunite them. On that note, Grayle carries with him the potential to be a recurring villain, yet what might be trickier would be identifying a motivation for him to return following events.

Meanwhile Kat and Cecil, card sharks from a previous episode and rivals of the Aunt Vi / Delilah gaming juggernaut, make a welcome return to the show, although it quickly turns less amusing. The pair are being made victim of some unpleasant estate agent power dynamics involving the continuing real-life issue of Black American homeowners looking to sell their properties being swindled out of the true value of the property. Vi is sure to offer exposition, introducing or reintroducing ‘Redlining’ and ‘White Flight’ as nasty 1950s racist aggression, but the problem is very contemporary. An exponent of the worst of such property cons, Wallace Potter has the misfortune to be outed in Vi’s presence, and as such, vengeance is sweet. It is a good introduction to more of history’s more unsavoury stories and the resolution sees a change in our perceptions of the light-relief couple. With a satisfying end to an emotional issue, it is a little retribution in a larger minefield.

Verdict: An episode with a number of compelling moving parts which brings bittersweet consequences. 8/10

Russell A. Smith