The Equalizer: Season 5 Episode 4 “Sacrifice” – Recap and Review

Originally Aired	November 17, 2024
Network	CBS
Director(s)	Solvan “Slick” Naim
Writer(s)	Rob Hanning
Character	ACTOR’S NAME
Big Ben	Danny Johnson
Marcus	Tory Kittles
Robyn	Queen Latifah
Jason	Uly Schlesinger
Fisk	Donal Logue
Harry	Adam Goldberg
Mel	Liza Lapira
Delilah	Laya DeLeon Hayes
Vi	Lorraine Toussaint
Dr. Roszak	Roma Maffia

Storyline Recap

A Fresh Start – Big Ben, Marcus, Robyn

Marcus returns to New York after being told things could be dire for his father, Ben. Thankfully, despite a few major surgeries, Ben is okay. However, he does suffer memory loss so great that he doesn’t remember Marcus at all.

Robyn is here for Marcus throughout it all, including when he thinks about abandoning Big Ben and all the ill feelings shared between them. But, Robyn reminds Marcus that his dad’s memory lapse means a fresh start with a man who seems to like and be proud of Marcus being his son and may lack the issues that there were before – personality-wise.

Can You Ever Trust Fisk – Jason, Fisk, Harry, Mel, Robyn, Dr. Roszak

Fisk pops up regarding the Hungary expedition he did with Harry and him popping up, as you can imagine, ruffles feathers. For Robyn, the lack of notice or trust will always bug her. For Mel? Him showing up triggers old feelings and then add in he had Harry lie to her? Oh, it is enough to have her head into Harry’s cyber sanctum and get involved when she learns a kid who mirrors Harry’s story, named Jason, is at risk.

Now, how does this play out in therapy? Well, Mel still has a wall up, and Dr. Roszak tries to make an effort to chop it down, but no matter who tells Mel it is a good idea, including Robyn, she finds it hard to open up about things like, why did she join the military? Her go-to answer was to rebel; since women didn’t join the military in her family, the men did. But Dr. Roszak thinks there is something deeper, and Mel doesn’t want to go there.

So, upon hearing about Jason, aka Kaos, and his plight, it seems to prove Dr. Roszak wrong, maybe others, about her needing therapy of that kind; she pushes herself to get back in the field – especially when Harry and Robyn end up in a tight spot.

Things Happen To Me, Rather Than Me Make Things Happen – Delilah, Robyn, Vi

While Robyn is trying to save a hacker, barely in his 20s, from being killed or exploited to make a program that could cause devastation across the United States, Delilah is worrying about her college essay, and Aunt Vi is trying to be encouraging. Delilah feels a lot has happened to her, versus her taking the initiative, and while she has done a protest, getting arrested isn’t something anyone thinks she should put on her essay.

So, at this point, she is still trying to figure out who she is and is also thinking about, since she has lived her life on the straight and narrow so much, letting loose a bit, living, and really giving whoever reads the essays a sense of who she is—even if she doesn’t know.

Another One Bites the Dust – Jason, Fisk, Harry, Mel, Robyn

For Harry, Jason was the kid who mirrored his story in being massively talented at coding but also isolating himself because he had no one else. Then, add on bad players coercing him to do things until he escaped by joining the military, Harry gets it. But while Harry got some decent people to work with when he was young, Jason got Fisk, who nearly left Jason for dead.

Thankfully, as noted above, Harry and Robyn weren’t going to let that stand, so they rescued Jason, and Mel even jumped in, driving and using a firearm. But Jason had to buy time, for Fisk left him unprotected for at least three months, so he ended up making the program that could affect the US grid and cause catastrophe.

Ultimately, the program doesn’t end up in the wrong hands, but only because Fisk sacrifices himself with an explosive that ends his life, the people who forced Jason to make the program, and the hard drive that has the software. As for Jason’s next move? It seems he’ll be another character who may get called up when needed.

New Character Descriptions

Jason

Jason, who also goes by Kaos, was/is a CIA asset for Fisk, tasked with infiltrating the Dragonfly Collective, an organization with billions of crypto assets. However, with becoming assumed dead, Jason wasn’t extracted and forced to create a program which could bring the United States’ grid to its brink.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. How Robyn escape that shootout and get to a safe house so quick?

Collected Quote(s)

• Good ideas are very shy creatures. If you go searching for them, they tend to hide. But the moment you pretend you’re not interested, they have a way of sneaking up on you. — Aunt Vi

Review

Highlights

Delilah’s Storyline

Throughout Delilah’s storyline in the series, I thought maybe a spin-off could be done, especially as she started training heavily with Mel. But now, rather than an action show, I would love a coming-of-age program. With being under the Paramount Global brand, it could be cool to see BET, which doesn’t do a large amount of original content anymore, potentially have a coming-of-age show featuring a young Black woman like Delilah.

As said before, you would be hard-pressed to find anything out there like what Delilah is giving in “The Equalizer,” for there is minimal focus on Black girls. The only exception I can think of would be what “The Ms. Pat Show” provides through Janelle, who is close in age to Delilah. That show, however, isn’t on network TV but on BET+, which means multiple barriers to consumption.

Mel Back In Action & The Challenges Of Therapy

Mel is not forced to go to therapy or heavily pressured, but it seems she understands she needs to talk to someone outside her bubble. But I don’t think she has ever been confronted like this. Harry may question certain things, but no one generally challenges Mel beyond life-or-death situations.

I’d even say the reason why she is so haunted by the situation with the father and her sons is because it wasn’t about survival in a combat situation but challenging her mentally and emotionally. And when there is a deep shade of gray, or she can’t turn off her feelings and get something done, it messes with her. It takes her to a place she has shut herself off from, thus leading to her becoming shaky and frozen when she sees a firearm.

But, one could submit, just as she found a way to set aside taking a person’s life if hers was threatened, maybe she is in the process of setting aside the morals of a situation to prove she doesn’t need Dr. Roszak’s services.  

A Noble Sacrifice

Fisk dying was a bit of a surprise, especially since he sacrificed himself. It would be more in tune for him to let Jason potentially die or send off a tracker to get him at a later time, but him instead killing himself and Jason’s former captors with the program was unexpected. I’d even say it was one of the few times “The Equalizer” did something that didn’t seem predictable.

With that, though, and since this episode featured following up on storylines, it does make me wonder, when the CIA decides to tap on Robyn’s shoulder, who will look out for her now? Her contacts and allies have been dropping and there is no clear sign she may have more up her sleeve.

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