Spoilers

A friend of Dee’s is missing, possibly kidnapped…

It has been a while since we have had one of the episodes that really sits at the heart of what the show’s ethos is all about. An episode which is guaranteed to be review bombed because some of the viewers settling in for a reliable yet dramatic procedural show are violently reminded that McCall exists also to protect the genuinely marginalised from the predations of modern society. When a Black trans teenager goes missing and the reasons for that happening touch upon some of the very worst of human nature, what comes next will likely be uncomfortable viewing for everyone; those who know what’s next well enough that it might be triggering, and those so vehemently opposed to the cause that they will feel obliged to express their hatred somehow.

By this same reasoning, it is a good rule of thumb that such an episode brings out the very best in the series, and this is no exception. There is a hot start with the missing Raya on the run from clearly hostile captors which sets a tone of terror from the start. Although it is fairly easy to predict where the case is heading given the captive, it does not get any lighter. Soon enough it becomes clear that there is more than one missing person, with elements of a cult at first glance, but the truth manages to be worse still, as every detainee is volunteered to a gender conversion camp through the ignorance and transphobia likely of a family member they trusted.

The cult-like feeling portrayed in advertisement videos is by design. The main villain is cleverly positioned, as it is clear he is a morally bankrupt businessman with no particular conviction about what he is doing, no care about how wrong it actually is. He could easily have been a zealot, but instead they left that to the misguidance of the family members who put the children there in the first place. It means the real villain is far more insidious, wider, and something the team can only tackle in this particular isolation. The implications are grim.

Raya’s mother Jamila is not one of the problematic parents. The vital matter to note is her unconditional love of Raya, and her willingness to allow her daughter to live the life she chooses to, no questions asked, not only in gender identity, but also the company she maintains.

Not all of her family members see the matter that way. The episode is subtle about the part her grandfather plays in this at first, with him initially only referring to his ‘grandchild’ and later pointedly misgendering and deadnaming Raya, under the guise of caring and ‘knowing what’s best’. Other families who appear show their antagonism through the thin line they walk between them being painfully ignorant of their relative’s situation and also generally unwilling to educate themselves on the child’s point of view – the exact opposite of Jamila’s approach, in fact. They are so insistent that the children are sick that they are willing to hand them over to a solution they do not have to think about too hard, and have either taken no time to look into it in full, or worse, do not care. The reality is shown to us: armed guards, physical and mental abuse, some of the vilest torture portrayed on the show, and key to the whole thing, violence at every turn. Even before the children reach the camp, their family showed them violence by allowing this to happen.

Because Delilah effectively initiates the case as Raya is her missing friend, she is positioned as part of the main plot this time around, which narratively links perfectly with her ongoing story this season of considering a military career. Here, she takes the lead on the case almost as much as her mother, which places them all in the same room to reflect on the both the benefits of the freedom of choice Jamila has provided Raya, highlighting McCall’s conflicted emotions as to how to intervene against Dee’s plan without alienating her. A positive resolution presents itself at the end of the episode, but only after both her and Dee have seen the consequences of extreme interference with that liberty.

Even the B-plot, which is solely focused on Aunt Vi, integrates with this as guilt stings her over Dee’s arrest in the previous episode. She wrestles something of a U-turn in terms of the encouragement she gives versus fearing for what a military career will do to Dee but at the same time, gets almost the perfect challenge to consider this when Drake returns to the scene. Drake held both Vi and Dee up at gunpoint previously but Vi recognised that he was in fact desperate and hopeless. She returns to him even as he finds himself in further trouble during his prison sentence, but more debilitating for him is his self-doubt at the thought of taking the next step. He is something of a pet project for her, with the combination of her experience of having been in a bad place in life motivating her to help others in the same place, and a burdened conscience from her recent experiences with Dee. In her quest to help him, a path is cleared for her to help herself in terms of matters with both Dee and McCall. These quests each converge at a stage helpful to them all.

If this was not all enough, two additional subplots are kept in motion, even if by brief reference. First, Dante’s troubles with his father continue with mysterious activities in the background continuing to drag him into trouble, in a manner which appears to be coming to a head shortly. The next episode is set up as Dante’s having to accompany Big Ben out of state to a funeral, which is not going to be that simple. Meanwhile, someone clearly knows about his continued association with McCall and is working to expose him. What is less clear is who and why at this stage.

Verdict: Make no mistake: this episode is a challenge to watch, but that challenge is intentional.  Given there was no way to engage the main subject matter without that being the case should speak volumes about the social issue they are highlighting. There is a quotation on the 26 states who consider this line of conversion therapy legal, with 16 countries banning it entirely, which makes it all the more disturbing. The episode pulls few punches, seamlessly manages a complete investigation which balances with the individual character subplots and a high level of threat from the start. It both concludes existing strands and sets others up for a dramatic next stage. A pure Equalizer episode and one of the strongest in the season so far. The haters only serve to reinforce that point. 9/10

Russell A. Smith