The Equalizer Season 5 Episode 17, “Acceptance,” begins with two patrol officers talking as they are about to get in their car. Before they open the doors, shots are fired in the parking lot across from them. They discover a man who claims he did nothing, but the two officers find a dead body.
Meanwhile, Robyn (Queen Latifah) calls Dante (Tory Kittles) to meet up for breakfast. He says he can’t because his brother James (Neil Brown Jr.) is coming over to talk to him. Before they hang up, Dante asks about Delilah’s (Laya DeLeon Hayes) prom, and she mentions she’s been preparing for that day all year. We can see Robyn holding a UCLA envelope. Dante also tells her they can finally go on their getaway to Pochonos.
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The Equalizer, “Acceptance”
Delilah and Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) come back from the salon, and Robyn tells her there is a letter for her from UCLA. Dee is surprised because she says UCLA has already rejected her. However, when she opens the envelope, she reads that she has been accepted.
Dante is talking to his captain when his brother walks in. When he mentions they are related, the captain says that making her life difficult runs in the family because she knows James as a defense attorney. That is exactly why he is in the precinct; he wants Dante to help him with a client.
James describes what happened in the parking lot and explains that his client has been released because there was no evidence to retain him. However, when he tried to contact him, the phone had been disconnected, and he had lied about the hotel where he was staying. Even though his team says the client’s background check is clean, he wants the help of the equalizer to make sure his client didn’t do anything or to get him behind bars if he did.
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A Clear Killer
Harry (Adam Goldberg) tells Mel (Liza Lapira) that Kaos (Uly Schlesinger) has stopped texting him, and he is afraid he might have done something wrong. Even though Mel suggests he might have gotten a life, she also encourages Harry to invite him over for lunch to catch up.
At that moment, Dante calls Harry to dig deeper into his brother’s client. Everything seems to be good, but Harry suspects it’s too clean. His high school was flooded, and his last business went bankrupt. Dante decides to go look at the last place the man was in.
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Meanwhile, Dee calls Mel about UCLA to talk about Cam and what long-distance would mean. Dee mentions that she doesn’t know if she wants to move across the country, but Mel tells her that, regardless of her decision, she needs to be honest with Cam.
Dante and his brother arrive at the jail where James’s client had been detained. As they walk to view the security footage, Dante asks James how he became a defense attorney. His explanation is that he saw the side of the mothers with kids visiting people in prison, and he knew they needed someone in their corner. After that, they see his client talking to someone on the inside.
Harry calls to let them know he found footage of the murder, and the recording shows James’s client killed the owner of the janitorial company.
The Answer in a Dumpster
As Harry continued to look into James’s client, he discovered his real name and that he had undergone plastic surgery to change his appearance. Cromwell turned out to be a hitman who was hired for a series of political assassinations. When Dante decides to go back to the crime scene because the man Cromwell spoke to in prison was headed that way, Mel asks if they should tell Robyn. At first, he says no because of Dee’s prom, but Mel reminds him they must tell her and let her decide.
Kaos shows up for his meeting with Harry, but he tells him they have to reschedule because something has come up. Kaos wants to help and asks Harry to take him to his computer room. Harry only agrees if Kaos meets him for a drink once a week to help with his socializing.
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Aunt Vi and Robyn are giving Delilah a family necklace tradition for prom when Mel calls her to tell her what’s going on. Even though Robyn says she can’t meet them because she doesn’t want to miss any more of Dee’s special moments, her daughter tells her to go.
A little bit later, she meets Dante and James in the parking lot. The guy who had spoken to Cromwell in prison is gone, but Robyn sees a homeless man going through the trash and decides to ask him. He only talks to her when she gives him cash, and mentions that the man was there looking for a card in a dumpster.
Surprises for Everyone
They realize that the card belongs to the victim. Harry is able to locate his location, so they decide to follow him in case he leads them to Cromwell.
Meanwhile, Cam arrives to pick up Dee for prom. Aunt Vi films as he tries to put the corsage on her, but he ends up cutting off the strap of her dress. As the two women go upstairs to fix the dress, Cam sees the UCLA letter.
Mel arrives at the location of the prison’s man car and hears shots coming from inside a warehouse.
An Explosive Answer
Even though Harry wants Mel to wait for the rest of the team, she goes inside. At first, Cromwell shoots at her, but then they get into a physical fight. As Cromwell takes the gun from her and gets ready to shoot, Robyn and Dante arrive. He runs away, and they discover a dead body and materials to build a bomb.
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James walks into the warehouse and sees the dead body. Dante can tell that it is his first body, and he is shaken up, so he tells him to go home because he needs to call it in, and he can’t be there.
Robyn and Mel realize Cromwell killed the owner of the janitorial company because he needed access to the building to install the bomb. Harry and Kaos look into possible buildings that Cromwell could be interested in. As they do so, Kaos asks Harry about his experience making friends and putting himself out there. Harry tells him the only way to do it is to find something to put himself out there and connect with others.
They find the hotel where many politicians are gathered for a party.
The Equalizer Is Here
In the limo to prom, Cam acts weird before finally telling Dee that he saw her UCLA letter. He wonders why she didn’t tell him, and she says it’s because she doesn’t know if she’ll go. Dee is afraid to be so far away from the people she cares about, but promises that if she decides to go, they can still see each other. Cam tells her that for a long-distance relationship to work, they need to have trust and faith, and he doesn’t think she has that in him.
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Robyn, Mel and Dante arrive at the party, and Harry advises them not to call the bomb squad because if Cromwell is close by to set up the bomb, he will see what they are doing. Harry 2.0, as Robyn calls Kaos, created a program to help them track the bomb.
Dante sees that his boss is working the event, so he needs to talk to her. He immediately tells her the equalizer is in the building, and they know there is a bomb.
A Women’s Agreement
Mel uses the app Kaos, created to track the bomb and find it in a closet. She and Dante FaceTime Harry and Kaos so they can help disarm the bomb. Harry guides Mel, but he and Kaos can’t agree on which color wire to cut. Things change when Mel tells them all the wires are black. Kaos is the one who figures it out, and Harry vouches for him when Dante asks if he is sure. Mel cuts the wire, and the bomb is shut off.
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While that is happening behind the scenes, a woman introduces the speaker, and Robyn sees Cromwell across the room. As he presses the buttons on the detonator, nothing happens. That is when he sees Robyn coming his way. A security guard tries to stop her, but she runs after Cromwell.
Cromwell shoots a guard before grabbing Dante’s captain as a hostage. Even though she tells Robyn to shoot Cromwell, Robyn puts her gun on the floor. Robyn ends up tricking Cromwell into turning around so she can shoot him. Dante’s captain thanks her and tells her she owes her own. Robyn asks to cash in the favor.
Delilah’s Night
Delilah tells Cam that she wasn’t trying to keep UCLA a secret; she just didn’t know how to tell him. When he says he isn’t ready to say goodbye, she mentions they don’t have to. She reassures him that even if she chooses UCLA, that doesn’t mean he is her second choice. They decide to try long-distance.
As they’re taking photos by the door, Mel and Robyn arrive in a cop car. When Robyn watches Dee take pictures, we can see flashbacks of everything the teenager experienced in the last five seasons of The Equalizer. Mel tells Robyn that she did a good job.
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Kaos tells Harry that he signed up for a night bike ride, and Harry tells him he is proud of him.
A Surprise Visitor
After they’re done working the case, Dante is back at the precinct getting ready to face his captain. She simply tells him goodnight and that she expects to see his report in the morning. Then James walks in to talk to him.
James tells Dante he is the only cop he knows who truly lives by his oath. Dante reassures him that his asking for help resulted in many lives being saved. James confesses he would have been upset if something had happened to Dante, but he doesn’t understand why, because they don’t know each other. Dante tells him it’s time they changed that and invites him over for dinner again.
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The next morning, Dante and Robyn arrive at their getaway cabin. Meanwhile, Harry and Mel look into who could have ordered the bombing of the speaker. As they realize who is behind the bombing, we see Salazar standing outside the cabin with his men, watching Dante and Robyn.
The Equalizer airs on Sundays on CBS.
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