The Equalizer: Watch Queen Latifah in new TV series reboot

If I were to ask you to think of “The Equalizer”, chances are it’s Denzel Washington just destroying some bad dudes in a hardware store that will come to your mind. Washington’s two big-screen stints in the role of retired intelligence officer Robert McCall weren’t the origins of The Equalizer though, as those movies were actually reboots of the 1980s American TV drama series of the same name starring Edward Woodward as the mysterious good samaritan with deadly skills who helped out those people in need with nobody else to turn to. And now The Equalizer is going back to its TV series roots with a new reboot with a modern twist.

The upcoming CBS drama series will see Queen Latifah taking the lead as Robyn McCall. The character may have switched genders, but everything else is still the same as we learn in the first teaser released this weekend past. Well, nearly everything. While Latifah’s McCall is indeed a badass retired CIA officer who employs her skills to assist those who need help, she’s now also a mom with a teenage daughter, who comes with her own complications. Check it out below.

I have to admit, based on that trailer, I don’t see this one lasting long. It could just be the editing/directing in this preview, but this really doesn’t look all that good. Latifah – who is also exec producing the show alongside original creator Richard Lindheim – doesn’t appear very convincing to me in the action scenes, all of which seem rather uninspired and lacklustre. But then again, I would have said the same thing for CBS’ Magnum P.I. reboot and I just realized last week that that show is on its third season already. CBS apparently knows what its audience wants and how to give it to them, irrespective of how lame it looks to me.

Well, fans will be able to find that out for themselves when The Equalizer debuts on 7 February, right after the NFL Super Bowl. Strangely, thus far it’s just this first pilot episode listed, so I guess CBS may be taking it cautiously this time.

Last Updated: January 11, 2021