Just like it has audiences used to, The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 2, “Full Throttle,” delivers an action-packed episode in which Robyn (Queen Latifah), Dante (Tory Kittles), Mel Mel (Liza Lapira) and Harry (Adam Goldberg) bring peace to two different families while dealing with their own personal and professional issues.
Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) continues to try and figure out what to do with her future, while Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) leaves her relationship on the sideline to help her grand-niece.
RELATED: Read our recap for the previous The Equalizer episode, “Truth For a Truth”
The Case
“Full Throttle” starts with three teenage girls dancing in the middle of a group and being filmed for social media. When the dance is over, one of the guys who is watching drops his ball, which rolls onto the street. Jordan, one of the dancing girls, follows it, and when she bends down to pick it up, a car hits her and drives off.
As is to be expected, Jordan’s mom reaches out to Robyn, explaining to her what happened and asking for her help. The mom blames herself for what happened, but Robyn reassures her she is not to blame, and she decides to take the case. To get started, she meets with Mel and Harry to see what information they can gather. Harry finds photos of street car racers that were taken before Jordan was hit.
Because he is back working for NYPD and his badge carries some weight, Robyn and Dante pay a visit to the car shop where the other racers have their cars. They deny knowing who the other racer is but promise to take care of him if they find him first. Dante takes the two guys away, allowing Robyn the time to talk to Christine who tells her she knows who the other racer is. She shows Robyn a photo of him which becomes the biggest lead they have.
RELATED: 6 Best TV Shows for First-Time Parents
Watching Ari
Soon after they leave the shop, Ari, the guy who hit Jordan with his car, is seen walking down the street before two men take him hostage in a van.
In the meantime, Harry discovers the Maserati Ari was driving was sold to the consulate of Sudan, and that is how they discover who he is and where he lives. Mel decides to show up at the consulate where she is able to talk to Ari’s mom. She mentioned she hadn’t seen her son since the day before, but she wasn’t too worried because her son had been very stressed because of the regime takeover in their country. However, she is unable to give any more information as her husband and his Chief of Staff end up kicking Mel out.
Mel realizes there is something Ari’s dad is hiding, so she decides to stick around to watch him. By the time Robyn joins her in the car, a man shows up, shoots the Chief of Staff, and tries to take Ari’s dad. The two women are able to stop the kidnap, but instead take the father into the police station. However, he hides behind his diplomatic immunity, refusing to say what has happened.
RELATED: Read our recap of this week’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode, “Zone Rouge”
A Diamon in the Rough
As a secret weapon, Mel brings his wife into the station, and she immediately starts fighting him, demanding him to speak up in order to save their son. That is when he confesses he had stolen a precious diamond from the regime to sell it and be able to start a new life with his wife and son away from Sudan. To keep the diamond hidden, he had placed it in the glove compartment of Ari’s car. The kidnappers had taken Ari believing he knew where the diamond was.
As Harry and his new AI system continue digging, they find the guys who took Ari are soldiers who turn dark. He is also able to find the new location of the Maserati, and when Robyn arrives at the location, she realizes she is too late because the soldiers arrived there before her. As they drive away, they drop a body out of the car. To Robyn’s surprise, the body is Johnny Black — the other street car racer.
In order for Johnny to have gotten to the car before them, he must have been tracking it. That is how they figured out the guys from the shop were tracking the Maserati to steal it. Robyn asks Johnny’s friend and Christine to give up the location to find Ari.
RELATED: Class Is in Session: Best Quotes From Abbott Elementary’s “Smoking”
Arrival
When Mel, Dante and Robyn arrive at the warehouse where Ari is being kept, they realize they are outnumbered. Dante suggests waiting for reinforcement, but before they can make a decision, Johnny’s friend walks in with a gun. He gets killed immediately, and the trio is left fighting everyone. Mel is about to get shot, but Dante shoots the bad guy first, while Robyn follows the soldier who took Ari.
Robyn, obviously, saves the day by speaking to Ari in his own language and telling him to get down for her to shoot the man who is holding him hostage. Even though Ari reunites with his family, he must still be held accountable for his actions and harming Jordan. Before he is taken into custody, he asks Robyn to take him to the hospital to see the teenage girl. There, he meets her mom and apologizes for what he has done. In return, Jordan’s mom tells him she won’t be pressing charges because she doesn’t want his mom to lose her child.
Before the case is wrapped, Robyn realizes the diamond wasn’t in the car by the time the soldiers found it. Remembering the photo Christine showed her, she knows the girl is responsible for taking the diamond. She pays her a visit at the car shop, and Christine admits she took it because she wanted a way out of her life. However, she regretted it immediately after, but couldn’t return the diamond to its owner. Instead, she gives it back to Robyn.
Family Drama
While busy saving lives, both Robyn and Dante are dealing with personal issues regarding their children.
RELATED: Read our recap of this week’s Abbott Elementary episode, “Smoking”
On the one hand, Robyn is surprised by Delilah’s desire to go into the military. She asks her mom a bunch of different questions about the career path she chose. Robyn makes it clear that she didn’t have a choice and she had to go into the army but she wants Delilah to go to college.
When Delilah comes home from school, Aunt Vi is waiting for her with Briggs to give her the opportunity to ask him any questions she may have about the army. Dee is quite excited about this opportunity, and while talking to Briggs, he ends up telling her about the dangerous situations he and his friends were in. He talks about trying to keep his friends alive and watching his supervisor give his life for them to stay alive.
By the time Briggs leaves, Delilah is quite upset with Aunt Vi and tells her she knows what she is trying to do. She makes it clear that she is determined to pursue a career in the military and that Aunt Vi’s intentions to stop her from doing that by making Briggs tell her horror stories of what he went through won’t work.
RELATED: Read our Criminal Record recaps here!
Overstepping
Later on, Aunt Vi walks into Delilah’s boxing and apologizes to her for overstepping but tells her it’s all out of love. Delilah highlights that she wants to go into the army because of the work her mom has done to protect everyone. That the training and knowledge she has give her an advantage and make her privileged so her responsibility is to help others, which her aunt and mother have always taught her.
That night, when Robyn comes home, Aunt Vi tells her their plan backfired on them, and Robyn won’t be able to stop her daughter from going after what they want. As much as it pains her, Delilah will probably follow in her footsteps.
On the other hand, Dante is still struggling with his father’s return. He tells Robyn that he behaves when Dante is around, but now is asking for alone time with his grandchildren which he isn’t sure is the best idea. Later, his youngest son calls him to show him the gift their grandpa sent them and asks for the opportunity to spend more time with his grandfather. Dante promises to talk to him about it, but it doesn’t happen on this episode of The Equalizer.
Harry & AI
Since the beginning of The Equalizer, Harry has been an integral part of the team. On “Full Throttle,” he is first shown running a bunch of images on his screen to add more quality to his work. He introduces Mel and Robyn to his new AI bot that will help handle all the mundane computer tasks so he can focus on the more important stuff. He calls this bot MEL for his wife.
RELATED: Read our recaps for The Equalizer here!
Throughout the episode, Harry runs into a lot of issues with his bot which at times slow down his research. Towards the end, he is seen at the bar very frustrated and upset while trying to fix the system. When Mel confronts him about it, he says he worries all the time hearing them go out there and face danger, so the system is supposed to help when he is unable to.
The Equalizer airs Sundays at 8 pm on CBS.
- LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Season Finale Recap: (S25E13) Duty to Hope - May 16, 2024
- ABBOTT ELEMENTARY Recap: (S03E13) Smith Playground - May 16, 2024
- THE EQUALIZER Recap: (S04E09) The Big Take - May 14, 2024
