The Equalizer: Season 5 Episode 10 – Recap/ Review

We meet the final pieces of Mel’s family as Aunt Vi goes on a date that alters her opinion of Captain Curtis for the worse.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Episode Details

Episode Title: Dirty Sexy Money
Air Date: March 2, 2025
Network: CBS
Director(s): Chris Fisher
Writer(s): Barry O’Brien

Recap

This Week’s Case: Robyn, Marcus

In this week’s case, Robyn and Marcus see the opportunity to work together as a means of spending quality time as they help a couple from Barbados who nearly lost their entire finances thanks to their son trying to rob a major bank, which had strong Russian ties.

The Job Isn’t Easy: Curtis, Robyn, Vi

Like Robyn, Aunt Vi is in bliss when it comes to Curtis, but what complicates their relationship is that she goes on a ride-along with him, and while he stops someone and investigates who they are, he nearly pulls out his gun. The act of seeing him go from kind and flirtatious to potentially killing a young Black man because he nearly fit a description shakes Aunt Vi to her core.

Robyn does her best to ease her anxiety by talking about the cop who helped her when her father was killed, reminding Aunt Vi that man died because someone killed him while he was doing an investigation. In some ways, it does ease Aunt Vi to a point, but she can’t help but be shook after seeing a different side to Curtis that was in stark contrast with the man she was falling for.

Like Father, Like Daughter: Mel, Lorna, Mr. Bayani

Despite not seeing it for a few episodes, Mel is still in therapy, and she is pushed to open up her support system to include her parents. With her mom, Lorna, this is a bit easier but with her father, this is a struggle. The reason being, her father, in the Philippines, was a soldier who was captured and tortured so hearing his daughter’s struggles triggered him.

But, with pushing past his initial resistance, Mel finds herself able to have more than a surface level relationship with her parents, and gets the privilege of being closer to them more than ever.

New Characters

Mr. Bayani (Jon Jon Briones)

Lorna Bayani (Ching Valdes-Aran)

Predictions

  1. With the show revisiting Mel’s trauma, I hope and expect them to revisit the mysterious entity of the CIA, who was taking an interest in Robyn back when Fisk was alive.

Review

Highlights

Mel Spending Time With Her Parents [83/100]

With meeting Mel’s parents, we have met everyone in her family and also added a piece to the puzzle. After hearing Mr. Bayani talk about his life in the military, especially the torture, it helps you understand why most of his kids felt the need to join the armed forces as well as his hesitance regarding Mel joining. But what perhaps matters the most is this allowed for a notable storyline to continue.

It addressed Mel healing, her relationships, and while in many ways it feels like it is closing her latest and potentially greatest arc, there is always hope there is more planned for her.

The Complicated Life and Career of Captain Curtis [82/100]

Cops, and their role in the community, remains deeply complicated. To add an additional layer onto it, there is Black cops who both understand the struggles of those they serve but also recognize the dangers the public presents in trying to protect. Shows like “On Call” go deep into this, and for “The Equalizer” it calls on Aunt Vi to face some of her bias and blind spots.

After all, Robyn hasn’t always been on the side of good and just, for her work in the CIA often had her playing judge, jury and executioner, with the backing of the US Government to say she did the right thing. So in a way, Robyn explaining the complications of things was perhaps one of the few and best moments she has had as of late to address her past and use it to shed light on the present.

Now, whether or not this may lead to further discussions, maybe even develop Aunt Vi a bit, is hard to say but like with Mel, we’re hopeful there is more to come.

On The Fence

How Is Robyn Disrupting So Many Local Crime Units Without Issue? [74/100]

It seems with the majority of episodes, Robyn is interfering with some kind of mob, interfering with some government agency, and increasingly I find myself wondering why is her life, her team, her family, not under more constant threat? To a point, I get Harry is likely masking their identities and keeping them off the net, likely limiting them to that message board, assuming it is still in use.

However, after 5 seasons, and a few years in the world of “The Equalizer,” I can’t imagine there aren’t people stalking Robyn to figure out where she lives, where Mel’s bar is, who she associates with, and those people aren’t coordinating an attack on the damn near one woman army.

Trajectory

Trajectory (79/100): Plateau

While there may always be some level of frustration regarding Robyn’s job and the minimal consequences of her exposing, destroying, or disrupting government and criminal organizations, there is no denying the good parts of the episode. From Aunt Vi’s growing relationship with Captain Curtis, and the complicated way she can see his job and Mel continuing her healing journey, while maybe not as consistent as we’d like, “The Equalizer” knows how to come through in a clutch.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.