History Series / TheEqualizer

* InterruptedSuicide: In "Unpunished Crimes", McCall comes down into Frank Donahue's (His current client, although hired by Frank's kids) basement just in time to run into Frank holding a gun to his own head. Hearing McCall describe the act of suicide makes Frank immediately regret the thought and stop.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Many, including Stuart Cane of "Unpunished Crimes". He destroys the evidence that shows he stole ideas from an independent inventor and then poured resources into ruining the man's life. He even goes as far as to place pipe bomb's at the man's house, and is implied to have hired terrorists to kill the heads of competing companies.

* CorruptCompanyExecutive: Stuart Cane of "Unpunished Crimes". He destroys the evidence that shows he stole ideas from an independent inventor and then poured resources into ruining the man's life. He even goes as far as to place pipe bomb's at the man's house, and is implied to have hired terrorists to kill the heads of competing companies.

* TheGunslinger: Several characters, but notably Kostmayer, who always carries a handy [[CoolGuns Uzi or Ingram]] [[MoreDakka submachine gun]].

He is helped in his investigations by contacts acquired during his intelligence years, ranging from scientists to mercenaries. Notable among these -- more so in later years, when health problems forced actor Woodward to slow down -- is recurring sidekick Mickey Kostmayer (Creator/KeithSzarabajka), a junior agent who doesn't quite understand what drives [=McCall=]'s crusade but is ferociously loyal anyway (it's stated in one episode that Mickey had been convicted of {{fragging}} his superior officer, and [=McCall=] proved his innocence). [=McCall=] also reluctantly does assignments for his former boss, known only as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Control]] (Robert Lansing), who in payment turns a blind eye to this wholesale 'borrowing' of Agency personnel.

* DarkAndTroubledPast

* ManlyTears: [=McCall=] when recalling the death of [[spoiler: his daughter]], which is obviously still a very present pain.

* TearJerker: when McCall is attempting to rescue a kidnap victim he realises one of the kidnappers is the man who killed his father during the 1950s conflict in Egypt. He gets drunk and tearfully imagines confronting his father, a British Army officer (played by Edward Woodward's son, Tim) for forcing him to remain at boarding school rather than let him visit his mother who was dying of cancer. Woodward described this as his favourite scene in the series, not only getting to work with his son but finding the emotional heart of the character beyond the tough guy image.

The character's past is never fully revealed to the audience, but is implied to be full of amoral shadows and secrets. He is a ruthless and pragmatic man, a killer many times over -- but also a sensitive and honorable man, whose humanity has somehow survived years of terrible disillusionment. The series' expert juxtaposition of all of these elements -- and the flat refusal to apologise for ''or'' justify any of them -- is what has made it a cult classic. (Well, that and the cool [[Music/ThePolice Stewart Copeland]] soundtrack - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g87nDBIyqeU check out the intro]])

In keeping with this dedication to the grey areas, the Equalizer's clients are usually average New York City citizens seeking protection from stalkers, neighborhood hoodlums, abusive husbands, corrupt politicians, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive crooked businessmen]] and other largely untouchable villains. The show is the epitome of TheRottenBigApple, 80s New York in the grip of the crack/AIDS epidemic and is depicted as having Uzi wielding gang members on every corner ready to prey on the populace. His fees are nominal and frequently waived altogether, while his services inevitably go far beyond simple bodyguarding.

[[Film/TheEqualizer A film of the series]], with Creator/DenzelWashington starring as [=McCall=], was released in 2014, and had [[Film/TheEqualizer2 a sequel]] in 2018, with a third film in development. Since 2021, CBS has aired a modern [[Series/TheEqualizer2021 reboot]] of the show starring Music/QueenLatifah as a [[GenderFlip gender flipped [=McCall=]]].

In keeping with this dedication to the grey areas, the Equalizer's clients are usually average New York City citizens seeking protection from stalkers, neighborhood hoodlums, abusive husbands, corrupt politicians, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive crooked businessmen]] and other largely untouchable villains. His fees are nominal and frequently waived altogether, while his services inevitably go far beyond simple bodyguarding.