The Equalizer: Season 5 Episode 16 “Sins of the Father” – Recap & Review (With Spoilers)

In an episode built to test if the audience may want a spin-off, you aren’t necessarily given characters who you’d want to see more of.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on Hours Updated on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Episode 16 “Sins of the Father” Details

  • Available On: CBS
  • Public Release Date: April 20, 2025
  • Director(s): Geoffrey Wing Shotz
  • Writer(s): Joseph C. Wilson

Episode 16 “Sins of the Father” Recap (With Spoilers)

With Delilah and Aunt Vi away at an artist retreat, it means being back to work for Robyn, and with someone hitting up her satellite phone, to which only Bishop should have had the number, an eyebrow is raised. Naturally, Harry and Mel get involved, for while this could be a trap, Robyn can’t help herself. Luckily, all this leads to is her meeting Sam, a 27-year-old who has been on the run with her father, Elijah, since she was 2 years old, and he adopted her from the Dominican Republic.

To summarize, Elijah was a CIA agent who went rogue, decided, after having to bomb a local up-and-coming group, to leave, and found Sam in the process of gaining a conscience. This is the story she knew. The truth is, Elijah was there to assess if a man named Alfonso, revealed to be Sam’s dad, could be an asset or a liability to the United States government. Once it was determined he could be a liability, he was supposed to be taken out.

The problem? Elijah fell in love with the man’s wife, Elena, who was in an abusive relationship with Alfonso. They tried to run away together, after Elijah attempted to take out Alfonso, but failed. Elena paid with her life, and made Elijah promise to raise Sam, birth name Delphina, and keep her away from her father. This worked for 25 years as Elijah ran from the CIA and went into hiding, and also did his best to avoid the ever growing power of Alfonso.

Going by Robyn’s contacts still in the CIA, similar to how the CIA eventually left her alone, they did the same with Elijah. However, Sam was led to believe they were a threat for all her life. This led to her being trained in everything Elijah knew, and after being caught on camera in Atlanta, the place they stayed the longest, even planted roots, they were on the run again.

But now that’s over. Elijah, in New York, seemingly made an effort to end the madness, got a friend killed, himself captured by Alfonso’s people, Sam got Robyn involved using a number handed down from Bishop, Robyn and her team get involved, and Alfonso is ultimately taken out. Seeing Sam’s skills, Robyn invites her to join her team, but without having to run anymore, and Atlanta being the closest thing Sam has considered home, while she might become an equalizer, she decides to do so down south.

“The Equalizer” Character Guide

New Cast and Characters

Elijah (Titus Welliver)

Elijah (Titus Welliver)
Elijah (Titus Welliver)
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Elijah is a former CIA operative, a legend, so we’re told, who often was a one-man show in handling missions. However, for the past 25 years, after getting too close to a subject’s wife, he has been on the run with said wife’s daughter, raising her as his own and painting the picture that the CIA, not her father, is the reason he can’t offer her stability.

Sam (Juani Feliz)

  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring Juani Feliz: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring Summer Rose Castillo: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Sam is a 27-year-old Dominican woman who loves her adoptive father dearly, but didn’t know the full story of how she ended up in his care for 25 years. In fact, she only learned the truth after he almost got to take what really happened to his grave.

Alfonso (Demián Castro)

Alfonso (Demián Castro)
Alfonso (Demián Castro)
  • Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
  • Character Summary: Alfonso was an up-and-coming force in the Dominican Republic, to the point that the United States government took an interest in him. However, once it became clear he couldn’t be manipulated, he was seen as someone to eliminate, and that didn’t go well when Elijah tried to execute that command.

Review and Commentary

On The Fence

  • There Is No Need For This Spin-Off [72/100]

Overall

Our Overall Rating [72/100]

While I understand, according to the trades, the way it looks, The Equalizer will either end this season or with the next, I don’t see this backdoor pilot leading to anything needed or necessary. With no offense towards the actors, what was presented didn’t lead to a sense of new energy so combustible it needed its own thing.

Yes, a father/daughter duo, who could dive into their complicated histories, could be fascinating in some ways, but I think by presenting this as a spin-off, rather than freshly introducing the two and building up to the reveal of what Elijah did? They took away what could have been the major shocker if this did become its own show. Never mind, the two characters were mid-key dull and didn’t stand out much beyond many of the guest stars The Equalizer has had over its multi-year run.

So, if anything, I think the show, which increasingly feels like a Trojan Horse to tell Delilah’s story to completion, should either end this season with her graduation, or the next, perhaps with carefully planned time jumps, to see her through college and in the end, either have Delilah become the true next Equalizer, or the type of advocate which makes her mother’s job a decreasingly needed last resort.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been reviewing media since 2010. He approaches each production with hope, rooting for every story to succeed, and believes criticism should come from unmet potential, while praise is reserved for work that meets or exceeds expectations.