The Equalizer Season 5 Episode 5, “Take My Life…Please!” tells the story of a standup comedian whose life is in danger. The episode introduces us to Craig Harris as he performs for the first time in years. When the show is over, he announces he will be joining the upcoming comedy tour.
Everything seems to be going well, and Craig and his wife are in good spirits until they make it to the car. Right as Craig is about to get in the car, a truck speeds by, trying to run him over.
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The Equalizer, “Take My Life…Please!”
The next morning, we see Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) looking at a message on her iPad telling her the biopsy results are still pending. She quickly turns the iPad around when Robyn (Queen Latifah) walks into the kitchen. While they’re talking about Dante (Tory Kittles) and their feelings, Robyn knocks the iPad off the table and, when she picks it up, sees the biopsy message. Before they can talk about it, Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) interrupts them.
Dee is upset the last college she toured with her dad might be trying to recruit her to fill the DEI boxes. She wants to attend a college that will care about who she is and what she brings to the table rather than what she can do to meet their DEI quota.
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Shocking Turn of Events on The Equalizer
Craig’s wife approaches Robyn about the incident. She explains everything that happened during Craig’s career and asks for help figuring out what happened. Of course, Robyn can’t work alone, so she heads to Harry’s (Adam Goldberg) cave and is at first surprised to see Mel (Liza Lapira) back at work. She is also surprised to find Harry in an arm cast.
Harry goes through all the information they can find on Craig, pointing out he has made bad investments in his life. Besides that, there’s not much to go on from the footage found outside where the truck drove by. Robyn decides the next move is to talk to Craig. When Mel tries to go with her, Robyn stops her, which causes tension between them.
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When Robyn meets Craig, he dismisses his wife’s fear by saying nothing happened and driving away. However, the moment the car pulls away, Robyn sees brake fluid on the street. Even though she tries to run after Craig to warn him, he crashes before she can reach him. That’s when he finally admits he asked his friends to kill him.
He explains his background story, his family’s financial struggles, and how he never wanted that for his own family. Recently, there was a medical bill he couldn’t pay, so he planned his death. If his friends killed him, his family could get the insurance payout and not worry about money. He tells Robyn that he forgot to call off the hit but later told his friends that Friday he’d meet with his lawyer to change the insurance policy. Because of this new information, Robyn wants to interrogate his friends.
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Harry interviews the first friend, discovering that because Craig pulled out of his business plan, he went bankrupt. Mel talks to another friend who used to date both the ex-wife and the wife before Craig. And Robyn speaks to a man Craig pulled a prank on, costing him his car. On paper, none of them seem to be the right suspect because their alibies check out. That’s when Robyn decides it’s time to interview Craig again. This time, Mel tags along with her because she makes it clear that neither she nor Harry can treat her as fragile if she’s coming back to do her job.
At the park, they find Craig with the man who helps him write his jokes. As they confront him about the parts of his life he didn’t tell them about, a guy delivers Craig’s food. Robyn and Mel are quick to realize the food is poisoned, and when they ask the delivery guy who sent it, they discover it’s one of Craig’s friends.
They talk to Craig’s friend and discover he had borrowed money from bad people who were asking for the money back. However, he explains he didn’t try to run him over, just poison him with the sandwich. As they realize there’s still someone out there trying to kill Craig, Robyn asks Mel to bring him and his wife to the safe house. Once there, he must make a list of all of his enemies.
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A Jealous Co-Writer
Harry discovers that Craig’s ex-wife had her relationship guru career ruined when his comedy career took off. Recently, she started recovering what she had lost by writing a best-seller. However, Harry finds a video of an interview in which the moderator asks her how she feels about Craig going on tour again. She seems surprised by the news and angrily walks off stage. When Robyn brings her up as a possible suspect, Craig says it can’t be her.
He has shared the safe house location, and she is on his way to see him, but Robyn tells him to get out before she arrives. By the time Craig gets in his car, his ex-wife angrily breaks his windows. Before she can do anything, Robyn arrives and pulls her away. That is when Craig drives away, telling Robyn on the phone that someone is still trying to kill him and she needs to make things right.
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Mel has an idea of who might be after Craig, but to find out the suspect’s name, she needs Harry to research. Since Craig’s joining the tour was announced on Tuesday, they have to find out if someone else got bumped because of him. Harry discovers that a comedian named Cliff Phillips was removed from the tour to let Craig in. When we see a photo of Cliff, we realize he is the man helping Craig with his jokes.
At the same time, Craig arrives at the comedy club and asks to get on stage. For that to happen, the manager has to bump Cliff off, which upsets him even more. The next thing we see is Craig getting on stage and Cliff pulling a gun from his bag. On stage, Craig talks about his life and apologizes for his mistakes, but before he can say anything else, Cliff points the gun at him. He wants Craig to apologize to him and admit he is writing his jokes. Robyn arrives right on time and pushes Cliff to the ground. Craig is only grazed by the bullet Cliff shot.
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Later that night, Robyn, Harry, Mel, Craig and his wife are at open mic night at Mel’s bar. Craig’s friends arrive because they saw the live stream and want to make peace with everything that happened. Craig’s way of doing so is by getting on stage and trying new material. Meanwhile, Robyn congratulates Mel on a job well done and expresses how lucky she is to have a best friend she can trust.
Dante’s Feelings
While Dante is still in town, he and Robyn meet to talk about Big Ben. Robyn also talks about how worried she is that Mel might be back at work too soon. Before she has to leave him to work the case, Dante indirectly mentions how much he misses her.
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Dante meets up with his mom to figure out what will happen with his father, but soon finds out she has filed for divorce. She mentions she is done putting him before her own needs. The conversation doesn’t go as planned, and they fight because she didn’t tell him about his half-brother. His mom walks out after saying she is no longer dealing with Big Ben, and Dante doesn’t have to either.
When he meets up with Robyn again, he mentions the conversation with his mom. The biggest thing he is upset about is that he has to deal with Big Ben alone, but Robyn suggests he reach out to his brother. Dante says he isn’t ready for that and doesn’t know what he wants. However, he mentions he knows how he feels and tries to kiss her. Even though she wants to kiss him too, Robyn stops him because he is still going back to LA.
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While Robyn is closing the case, Dante meets with his mom again. The two apologize to each other for storming out and for overreacting. His mom tells him he can make the choice he wants regarding his father. He can write a check and walk away and still be a good man. However, she believes whatever choice he makes must be an informed decision, so she hands him the letters Big Ben wrote to him from prison.
Delilah’s Choice
Aunt Vi tries to remind Delilah that her college experience should be about more than academics. She wants her to find a college that will celebrate her and not just tolerate her, so she mentions HBCU. To help her get a better understanding of what the options are, she takes her to meet Kenya. There, Dee can talk to students from different colleges about their experiences. She also gets to see a step show.
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That night, she shares the news with her mom, saying she will look into HBCU options. After she is gone, Robyn talks to Aunt Vi about her biopsy. She wants to reassure her aunt that she won’t be pressuring her to talk but that she should know Robyn will always be there for her. That’s when Aunt Vi asks Robyn to read the biopsy results for her. Thankfully, the results come back negative.
As they celebrate, Robyn talks about Dante. All she can say is that she still has feelings for him and doesn’t know how to compartmentalize them.
The Equalizer airs on Sundays on CBS.
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