I loved this show when it was on back in 1985 or so. I'm glad to see my nostalgic fondness -- unlike so much else from the 80s -- is well-placed.

The Equalizer, Season One 

Overall
Story		Acting
Production		Features

Story: Tapping into the Reagan-era cynicism and fear of urban crime, and channeling a bit of John le Carré, The Equalizer tells the tale of Robert McCall, a former CIA (agency not named) agent who, tired of bureaucrats, politics, and promises he's not been able to keep, quits* and sets up a private detective/troubleshooting service to atone for all the Little People he's not been able to help or save -- the folks who are too small for the justice system to help. He advertises in the classifieds ("Odds against you? Need help? Call the Equalizer.") and mixes spycraft, intimidation, suavite, and unswerving resolve to take down everything from drug lords to political assassins to psychos to slumlords to Donald Trump (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

The cases always have a personal touch -- he's not out to be a hero, he's out to help an individual, a couple, someone lost, someone who can't fight for themselves. Interspersed with all of this is McCall's continued informal involvement in Agency business -- using old contacts, borrowing help, his friendship with his old Control, and dealing with snarky Agency politics that consider him a dangerously loose cannon at best, an outmoded dinosaur at worse.

The writing is generally good. There's still a degree of "social / crime issue of the week," and 80s fashions and hairstyles and portrayals of "hipness" and painfully socially awareness and occasional preachiness are ghastly. On the other hand, there's plenty of grim and gritty, and the spy-stuff and bits where McCall takes the stage hold up extraordinarily well. The show is quite violent for its day -- not blood-spattering violent, but quite a few off-screen (sometimes barely) killings, often either brutal or coldly efficient.

The show also marked the early days of story arcs. The Equalizer has several, from McCall trying to rebuild his relationship with his son (for whom he was "never there"), to the political infighting in the Agency (as personified in the smarmy Jason). It's worth noting that while the episodes are largely "done in one," and justice is almost ultimately always done, there are plenty of cases where it's not all skittles and unicorns and happiness at the end, times where McCall may have won, but at a cost and with failures that clearly haunt him.

While sometimes there are aspects that are straight out of 1985, much of the show hangs together quite well, even for today's more sophisticated TV audience. Or, at least, for me.

Acting: Show creator Michael Sloan had to fight (and shop the show to a different network) to get Edward Woodward into the lead role, against naysayers who wanted someone more craggy and obviously heroic (and slender). It was the right course to take, as Woodward both looks and acts perfectly as the former ex-spy, alternately charming and lethal, beset by amateurs and leading professionals. He does a great job of dealing with the old Inner Demons from his past, and the challenges of the present -- always with a smile that never goes very deep, and the constant threat of an explosive, deadly anger.

The continuing supporting cast is primarily McCall's colleagues in and around the Agency. Robert Lansing does his usual enjoyable job as the lean and aging Control, McCall's friend and alter-ego on the other side of the professional divide. Saul Rubinek is appropriately despicable as (first season) Agency antagonist Jason. Keith Szarabajka plays the younger, trigger-happy Mickey Kostmeyer, the most frequent of Agency "assets" McCall borrows. There are a variety of others, almost all of them decent or better, as recurring cops, customers, or back-story elements.

Guest stars read like a who's-who of 80s and 90s talent. Filming in New York, just as Law & Order does, meant being able to drawn on a huge pool of actors.

But the show centered on Woodward/McCall -- as demonstrated when a heart attack left him unable to participate late in the series, which rapidly went downhill despite some fine talent brought in to backfill. He nails -- or creates -- the character perfectly as someone you want to be able to call, but perhaps don't want to really know ...

Production: The Equalizer was the first TV series to film in New York for a long time, and it makes effective use of the city ... from the shiny and aristocratic to (more often) the grimy, run-down, decaying and dangerous. 

The cinematography, in general, is quite good in this season. There's a lot of conventional TV angles, but also a lot of more sophisticated tricks and techniques. 

No discussion of the show is complete without mention of the soundtrack by Stewart Copeland (The Police).  Alternately driving, disturbing, humorous, and rich, it set the tone for the show (literally) as much as the city did.

Features: This 5-disc set is slender on features. The premiere episode has a good commentary track by creator Michael Sloan, and there's an episode from Season Two included, but that's about it.

Overall: While I put on a brave face and wallow in nostalgia all to often for TV shows from my youth, The Equalizer is truly worth the watching and has been worth the wait.

So, when is Season Two coming out?

Other links:
The Equalizer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Equalizer" (1985) (IMDB)

*According to the premiere commentary track, the original main titles was a Prisoner-esque silent montage of McCall slamming down his resignation.  

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