# The Equalizer (2021 TV series)
**The Equalizer** is an American crime drama television series that premiered on CBS on February 7, 2021, a reboot of the 1980s series of the same name. It stars [Queen Latifah](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-latifah) as Robyn McCall, a former CIA operative who uses her extensive skills to help people with nowhere else to turn while posing publicly as an average single mother raising her teenage daughter.[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/the-equalizer/) • [2](https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-equalizer/) The character had previously been played by [Edward Woodward](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-woodward) in the original series and by [Denzel Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/denzel-washington) in the films released in 2014 and 2018.[3](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | CBS, 2021 to 2025; five seasons, with the final season's 18th episode, "Decisions," airing May 4, 2025[2](https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-equalizer/) • [4](https://www.thewrap.com/the-equalizer-canceled-5-seasons-cbs/) |
| Lead role | Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, a single mother and former CIA operative who secretly pursues vigilante justice on behalf of the disenfranchised[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/05/21/the-equalizer-queen-latifah/) |
| Premiere slot | Debuted immediately after Super Bowl LV; the first scripted series in more than 25 years to premiere after the game[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/05/21/the-equalizer-queen-latifah/) |
| Creative team | Showrunners and writers Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller, producing with Latifah and original co-creator Richard Lindheim[3](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml) |
| Main cast | Tory Kittles, Adam Goldberg, Liza Lapira, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Lorraine Toussaint, and Chris Noth alongside Latifah[3](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml) |
| Rating and streaming | TV-14 crime drama, streaming on Paramount+ after broadcast[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/the-equalizer/) |
## Premise and character
Robyn McCall comes across to most people as an average single mom quietly raising her teenage daughter; to a trusted few she is "The Equalizer," an anonymous guardian angel and defender of the downtrodden who is also dogged in her pursuit of personal redemption.[2](https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-equalizer/) In the pilot, she assists Jewel (Lorna Courtney), an adolescent charged with murder who is fleeing those responsible for framing her for the killing.[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/the-equalizer/) TVLine's review notes that the name Robyn McCall echoes the original series' Robert McCall, and describes the character as a former CIA operative back home in New York City after a series of international missions, still haunted by bad memories, who is hounded by a former CIA colleague named Bishop ([Chris Noth](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-noth)).[6](https://www.tvline.com/reviews/the-equalizer-review-cbs-reboot-queen-latifah-1234636222/)
The show frames McCall's work against an unequal system. A Common Sense Media parents' guide lists helping underserved people get equal treatment in the criminal justice system as a major theme, along with systematic racism, death, and divorce, and notes that not all the people Robyn works with do legal work.[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-equalizer-2021) In her past life, McCall did the dirtier bidding of the CIA; haunted by her misdeeds, she left the agency and returned to New York City. [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker)'s Doreen St. Félix observed that McCall is not a renegade but delivers "a compensatory fantasy of law and order," and that in each episode an unequal system plunges a character, who is poor or Black or both, to the darkest depths, with McCall there to rescue them.[8](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/queen-latifah-obliterates-trumps-n-musks-in-the-equalizer)
## Production and premiere
The reboot was produced by showrunners and writers Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller together with Queen Latifah and Richard Lindheim, co-creator of the original series.[3](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml) Filming took place in New Jersey, continuing through Spring 2021 in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and other towns.[3](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml) Latifah was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange before coming to fame as a rap artist.[3](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml)
CBS scheduled the premiere immediately after [Super Bowl LV](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl-lv) on February 7, 2021. According to The Washington Post, it was the first scripted series in more than 25 years to make its debut after the big game.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/05/21/the-equalizer-queen-latifah/) St. Félix found the scheduling inspired, suggesting it invited viewers to connect the [National Football League](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-football-league)'s embrace of social-justice language with the series that followed.[8](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/queen-latifah-obliterates-trumps-n-musks-in-the-equalizer) TVLine called the premiere "an efficiently built thrill ride" that brings the franchise into the 2020s and provides a perfect starring vehicle for Latifah.[6](https://www.tvline.com/reviews/the-equalizer-review-cbs-reboot-queen-latifah-1234636222/)
## Significance of the casting
Queen Latifah, born Dana Owens, is the first Black woman to take the lead role in the franchise's history, on either the big or small screen.[9](https://www.tvline.com/news/the-equalizer-queen-latifah-black-women-interview-cbs-reboot-1234642165/) According to Common Sense Media, Queen Latifah is just the fifth Black woman ever to headline an hour-long drama on a U.S. network.[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-equalizer-2021) She also served as an executive producer on the series.[9](https://www.tvline.com/news/the-equalizer-queen-latifah-black-women-interview-cbs-reboot-1234642165/) In a 2022 emmy magazine interview, Latifah discussed the necessity of a fresh spin on the franchise, noting that although she was not an obvious candidate for a starring role in the CBS reboot, it turned out to be ideal.[10](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/press-releases/emmy-magazine-2022-04)
## Run and cancellation
The series ran five seasons on CBS, and after broadcast its episodes streamed on Paramount+.[1](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/the-equalizer/) In May 2025, CBS canceled the series after five seasons. TheWrap reported the cancellation on May 2, 2025, alongside other CBS cancellations that season including [FBI: Most Wanted](https://www.edgepedia.org/fbi-most-wanted), FBI: International, and S.W.A.T.[4](https://www.thewrap.com/the-equalizer-canceled-5-seasons-cbs/) The series was the last show standing until early May in CBS's 2024-2025 schedule.[11](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/queen-latifah-shares-message-ride-or-die-fans-equalizer-cancellation-what-we-know-cbs-series-finale)
According to CinemaBlend, citing Deadline, a 13-episode sixth and final season had been a possibility, with producers and Latifah reportedly making budget concessions to CBS, but the network declined.[11](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/queen-latifah-shares-message-ride-or-die-fans-equalizer-cancellation-what-we-know-cbs-series-finale) The season 5 and series finale, "Decisions," aired May 4, 2025,[2](https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-equalizer/) and Latifah posted a message to fans after the cancellation was announced.[11](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/queen-latifah-shares-message-ride-or-die-fans-equalizer-cancellation-what-we-know-cbs-series-finale) The Spanish newspaper [El País](https://www.edgepedia.org/el-pais) listed [The Equalizer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-equalizer) among 14 series canceled in that 2025 round, alongside Suits L.A. and the FBI spinoffs.[12](https://elpais.com/television/2025-05-13/14-series-canceladas-adios-a-the-equalizer-suits-la-fbi-most-wanted-y-otras.html)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. Time described the show as "a formulaic but likable-enough action drama" in the context of CBS's strategy of adapting familiar properties into case-of-the-week procedurals.[13](https://time.com/5937503/clarice-cbs-review/) A TV Guide review of season 2 argued that Latifah was quietly defying the gender, body, and age standards historically applied to action heroes.[14](https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-equalizer-season-2-review-queen-latifah-masterfully-flips-the-script-on-tired-procedural-dramas/) St. Félix, reviewing five episodes in, wrote that Latifah had yet to convey her character's history, which might have given the character more depth.[8](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/queen-latifah-obliterates-trumps-n-musks-in-the-equalizer)
## References
1. [The Equalizer, Paramount+ show page](https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/the-equalizer/)
2. [The Equalizer, CBS show page](https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-equalizer/)
3. [The Queen Returns To New Jersey, New Jersey Department of State (December 21, 2020)](https://www.nj.gov/state/press-2020-1221.shtml)
4. ['The Equalizer' Canceled After 5 Seasons at CBS, TheWrap (May 2, 2025)](https://www.thewrap.com/the-equalizer-canceled-5-seasons-cbs/)
5. [Why the success of 'The Equalizer' is bigger than the show itself, The Washington Post (May 21, 2021)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/05/21/the-equalizer-queen-latifah/)
6. ['The Equalizer' Review: Queen Latifah Rules In CBS' High-Octane Reboot, TVLine (February 5, 2021)](https://www.tvline.com/reviews/the-equalizer-review-cbs-reboot-queen-latifah-1234636222/)
7. [The Equalizer (2021) Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-equalizer-2021)
8. [Queen Latifah Obliterates Trumps n' Musks in "The Equalizer", The New Yorker (March 8, 2021)](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/queen-latifah-obliterates-trumps-n-musks-in-the-equalizer)
9. ['The Equalizer' Season 1, Queen Latifah Interview, TVLine (February 21, 2021)](https://www.tvline.com/news/the-equalizer-queen-latifah-black-women-interview-cbs-reboot-1234642165/)
10. [Queen Latifah, Star of CBS' The Equalizer, Talks Necessity of a Fresh Spin on the Franchise, Television Academy (May 6, 2022)](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/press-releases/emmy-magazine-2022-04)
11. [Queen Latifah Shares Message For 'Ride Or Die' Fans After The Equalizer's Cancellation, CinemaBlend (May 3, 2025)](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/queen-latifah-shares-message-ride-or-die-fans-equalizer-cancellation-what-we-know-cbs-series-finale)
12. [14 series canceladas: adiós a 'The Equalizer', 'Suits L.A.', 'FBI: Most Wanted' y otras, El País (May 13, 2025)](https://elpais.com/television/2025-05-13/14-series-canceladas-adios-a-the-equalizer-suits-la-fbi-most-wanted-y-otras.html)
13. [CBS' Silence of the Lambs Sequel Clarice Review, Time (February 11, 2021)](https://time.com/5937503/clarice-cbs-review/)
14. [The Equalizer Season 2 Review, TV Guide (October 8, 2021)](https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-equalizer-season-2-review-queen-latifah-masterfully-flips-the-script-on-tired-procedural-dramas/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Crime, police, and detective series › American crime series › Serialized crime dramas › Titles A to L*
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