The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 17: Prisoners of Conscience Aired on CBS: April 27, 1989 Directed by: Marc Laub Written by : Robert Eisele Featuring: Tony Plana, Pat Hingle, Dan O'Herlihy, Tim Woodward (Edward's son!) Another Equalizer episode with international intrigue. Whereas last week dealt with Bulgarian ambassadors, this time we got a team of torturers in town working for the Chilean government. But as with every Equalizer episode, the creators add some additional, crazy intrugue of their own: The head torturer (Randall Payne) just happens to be the same man who killed Robert McCall's father; we get a flashback/dream sequence with the Equalizer talking to his father, played by Edward Woodward's real life son Tim Woodward; plus the torture sequences have less polish than our 21st century sensibilities are accustomed to, so that's kinda weird. Chris and Chuck go deep on Chilean history, pronounce "Pinochet" in every way possible, and salute Robert Lansing for his final appearance as Control. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 16: Time Present, Time Past Aired on CBS: April 20, 1989 Directed by: Gordon Hessler Written by : Tom Towler Featuring: William Zabka, Shirley Knight, Brian Bedford, Dennis Boutsikaris A big episode for the larger Equalizer through-story: First, the second appearance of Kay: Equalizer's ex-wife and Scott's mother. Shirley Knight got a Best Guest Actress Emmy nomination for her "You were never there for us... and now look what you've done: Scott's been kidnapped by the Bulgarian Embassy" scenes with Edward Woodward. Secondly, this episode is a series wrap for William Zabka, and what a way to go: a training montage, thwarting the Bulgarians, losing his innocence, listening an opera album on headphones. It's a tour de force. And then the action itself - brotherly strife between two Bulgarian spies by two veteran guest stars of the show - packs a punch and checks off one more country whose spies the Equalizer has taken head on. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 15: Starfire Aired on CBS: April 13, 1989 Directed by: Bradford May Written by : Robert Eisele Featuring: Michael Moriarty, George Plimpton, Wendell Pierce, Angela "you're what the french call les incompetents" Goethals Equalizer episode or early precursor to the X-Files? Another superlative episode, the most sci-fi episode to date. This one reinforces once again that audiences have no idea what to expect when they sit down to watch an Equalizer episode. EQ helps a man who calls himself Seti (nudge nudge, UFO nerds) who believes he is part of a large cosmic battle but who is for real being targeted by assassins. That would be enough but this episode just keeps giving - Bunk from The Wire as a psychologist monitoring this odd alien guy; a spacey kaleidoscope; some budget 80s special effects; and another odd inclusion of a young girl in trouble (Angela Goethals not long before Home Alone). Is the show hinting that UFOs are real? Are they in fact real? Chris and Chuck provide conclusive answers to that question and many more in this can't-miss episode. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 14: 17 Zebra Aired on CBS: April 6, 1989 Directed by: Alan Metzger Written by : Jacqueline Zambrano Featuring: William Atherton, Cordelia González, Joe Seneca, Robert Joy Just like other epic shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, we at this Equalizer podcast have a different schedule for the second half of our final season. In our case, what has usually been a weekly show is now... every month or so. But like Gideon's army of three hundred against the Midianites, we are charging ahead with trumpets blaring. And 17 Zebra is a doozy of an episode to come back to: legendary Equalizer guest William Atherton (jerk from Real Genius, Die Hard, Ghostbusters) stars as an esteemed paramedic who is so fed up with the drunks, winos, and junkies he picks up that he starts killing them! If that wasn't enough, we go deep on every Bible verse McCall tosses around. Just like a prayer we will take you there, listeners. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 13: Lullaby of Darkness Aired on CBS: March 30, 1989 Directed by: David Jackson Written by : Coleman Luck Featuring: Stephen Lang, Ellen Latzen, Mary-Joan Negro, Vivian Nathan, Jacqueline Brookes Stephen Lang - the villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar - is similarly evil in this one, though his victims aren't the Na'vis but rather his character's own wife and daughter. Like most episodes dealing with ugly topics, the viewpoint of the show is good but the execution gets uncomfortable, being from 1989 and all. Shaking up the episode: a) Lang's character takes out a restraining order against the Equalizer (future EQ villains take note) b) the daughter escapes into her imagination along with her old/creepy/evil dolls, making this the most that The Equalizer has ever dipped into the fantasy genre. We wouldn't say it's the easiest Equalizer episode to watch, but of course we're established professionals so this podcast episode goes down easy as always. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 12: Silent Fury Aired on CBS: March 8, 1989 Directed by: Russ Mayberry Written by : Donna Powers & Wayne Powers Featuring: Cynthia Nixon, Howie Seago, Jon Polito, Paul McCrane, Mark Boone Junior, Beth Ann Bull Another Equalizer special episode. This time he is helping the victims of a band of burglars who target deaf people. Among them, a young Cynthia Nixon in an impressive performance as a deaf person who calls on the Equalizer and has to mediate between him and her hothead fiancee. This episode takes on its special episode topic from many angles but as we note there are a few omissions (What do Cynthina and her fiancee do besides being deaf?), a few cut corners (Do people really just stand around the Center For The Deaf), and a few Equalizer-spiked additions ("What if the attack against the burglars was somehow hearing-themed?"). All that plus Chris shared his own stories about the topic which somehow break the podcast. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 11: Trial By Ordeal Aired on CBS: March 1, 1989 Directed by: Marc Laub Written by : Coleman Luck Featuring: Roy Dotrice, Sylvia Sidney Equalizer clip show! Control is on trial by an Agency Tribunal, with a judge and prosecutor and big agency flag and everything. The agency thinks that all the help Control has given The Equalizer could be considered treason, so they review all of these as evidence... which is where the clips come in. It's a unique clip show, only 30% or so clips, and by the Morrison Directives (one of several agency phrases in the episode), if he's found guilty he gets the chair! We go deep on the episode and clip shows in general, as well as expressing our love of Debbie Gibson. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 10: Past Imperfect Aired on CBS: February 15, 1989 Directed by: Russ Mayberry Written by : Gail Morgan Hickman Featuring: Mark Margolis, Hector Elizondo, Katherine Cortez, Jose Edwin Soto A bittersweet episode, given the recent passing of Mark Margolis. It's his last episode as lovable Jimmy on The Equalizer and packs the most emotional punch. Jimmy acts as Big Brother to a fatherless boy named Tomas. It's a sweet relationship but gets a bit muddy when the boy's father shows up, and then a cartel and the agency and the DOJ are all chasing after him. We pay tribute to Mark Margolis the actor and the character Jimmy while also wondering if Jimmy is really a good fit for the Big Brother program. Also featuring a great guest spot by Hector Elizondo, snake tattoos, and more EQ series callbacks than usual, e.g. microdots. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer 3 movie! Holy cow. How often does it happen on a podcast for a 35 year old show that a new movie in the franchise comes out? Not often at all. For Chris and Chuck, it's a lot of firsts - the first podcast field trip (to a Chicago suburb halfway between our respective suburbs), the first mid-season bonus episode, and the first time we've seen the character Robert McCall, whom we have discussed so very much, on the big screen. It's a roaring rampage of bloody Equalizing justice. On the whole it's consistent with the first two movies, but also a departure in significant ways. Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington reteam, along with cinematographer Robert Richardson to bring you this installment of The Equalizer in a beautiful Italian seaside village, and Chris and Chuck are here to discuss it with their specialized expertise of the original Equalizer. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/

The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 9: The Visitation Aired on CBS: February 1, 1989 Directed by: Bradford May Written by : Robert Eisele Featuring: Jenny Agutter, James Tolkan, Leonardo Cimino, Mike Starr, Mel Gorham The Equalizer has an Outbreak episode - EQ has to stop a deadly disease from spreading outside of New York City. You may think you know what to expect from an episode like this, but the classic beats of the Equalizer totally overtake the beats of a typical pandemic story. Like in this one, the only way to stop the spread is to locate the biggest illegal arms dealer in New York who happens to be Mr. Strickland from Back to the Future wearing a Pirates cap. And the infectious disease plot is further pushed aside by perhaps the most bizarre EQ romance to date - the rekindling of a long-ago relationship that, from what we learn of it, is rather creepy. A bonkers episode that is unpredicatable to the last minute. @equalizerspod equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com https://www.facebook.com/equalizerspodcast/