The Equalizer signed off with what turned out to be its series finale. The showrunner, Joe Wilson, shares what the sixth season could have been about!.
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for The Equalizer series finale
It’s always tricky when a season final episode was never meant to be the series finale. That was the case with The Equalizer as the fifth season was wrapped up when CBS announced the show would be canceled, just days before the finale aired.
Thankfully, the writers were careful enough to craft the episode to work as a series finale, just in case. The main plotline had Robyn (Queen Latifah) and police detective beau Dante (Tony Kittles) taking a trip to a cabin in the woods. Meanwhile, Harry (Adam Goldberg) and Mel (Liza Lapira) talked about if they should continue with this job, Harry noting how, sooner or later, “our luck will run out.”
What happened in The Equalizer series finale?
The pair then learned that mercenary Salazar (Juan Javier Cardenas) was hunting Robyn and Dante. They raced to the woods just as the pair were trying to hold off Salazar’s men. Dante was badly wounded while confessing he’d been planning to propose to Robyn.
Robyn ended up killing Salazar in a brutal fight while Dante was taken to the hospital and pulled through. He and Robyn talked with Robyn worried about how dangerous their lives were, but in the end, accepted his proposal.
Meanwhile, after a meeting with an author she idolized, Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) had a chance to get into Howard University while Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) decided to move in with Curtis (Christopher B. Duncan).
It wasn’t a bad wrap-up with the extended family coming together, Harry and Mel deciding they’d stick with working with McCall for a while and ending in a nice dinner together. It closed out a chapter in Robyn’s life and the idea she and the gang would continue on their jobs helping others, as fine an ending as could be hoped for.
Was this intended to be the finale?
Thankfully for fans, the show didn’t end on some big cliffhanger and that was by design. Speaking to TV Insider, showrunner Joe Wilson explained they’d written the finale just in case it ended up being the series ender.
"It was definitely on purpose. We didn’t want to end with a cliffhanger. Shows get a little older. We are going into our sixth-season budget, and money becomes an issue. We weren’t sure what was going to happen, and if we did end up on that wrong side, we did not want the fans to feel incomplete or cheated in any way. So we designed it in a way that can feel like an ending, but there’s so much more to unpack."
No doubt, Wilson remembered how The Equalizer came down to the wire for a fifth-season renewal, and the ratings were poorer this season. Thus, hedging their bets for a finale that would wrap things up well while still leaving room for a sixth season was a good thing.
Wilson teased the possibility of a spinoff about Harry and Mel. “It’s the comedy version of Kung Fu. They roam the earth and get into adventures everywhere they go.”
Wilson also pointed out how the end scene is the first time all the main characters have ever shared a scene together, which is a perfect way to end the show. Yet fans may have wished for another season and there were plans for it.
What could The Equalizer season 6 have been?
While there seems no plans for the show to be shopped to another network or streamer, Wilson was still prepared for a possible sixth and final season. One move would have been Delilah going to college, making Hayes a recurring figure but still connected to her mother and family.
“We’d have to see how it unfolds. Our plan is to set it up for the audience to not miss the family dynamic as it currently is. So they’ll be in different capacities, but with technology and travel, we don’t want to lose that core. That’s the core of the show, these three generations of black women and their relationship and the strength and support. We don’t want to lose that. So if anything, we’ll dial it in even more so we can focus on that a little bit more. Even if you don’t see it every episode, you won’t miss it.”
The season would focus on Robyn and Dante continuing to plan their wedding, with Dante being tempted away from his cop life to aid in Robyn’s “equalizing.” There also would have been more delving into Harry and Mel’s private life and Mel’s fun family. Also, while Vi would adjust to a new home with her beau, there would be the inevitable attempts to conceal Robyn’s secret job.
Wilson said that the show would still have focused on Robyn and how this was a “family business,” just extending the family a bit. The Equalizer at least wrapped it all up in a finale to please fans, yet it’s sad that it couldn’t have gone just one more year.
The Equalizer is available to stream on Paramount+.
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