The Equalizer Recap: Robyn Discovers a Key Detail About Her Father's Murder
On each episode of The Equalizer, we watch Robyn solve mysteries, take out foes and save the day as a modern-day Superwoman.
But every hero has a backstory, and many details of Robyn’s past are revealed during Season 3’s penultimate episode, which aired Sunday on CBS.
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When the episode opens, Robyn, Aunt Vi and Delilah are dining at a restaurant. Robyn spots an old male friend, with whom she used to get into trouble during her childhood. He tells her he’s abandoned his life of crime and now owns a car-detailing shop. Following their conversation, she notices someone has left her a note on a napkin. The note includes an address and a message: “You’ll find the truth there.”
With Harry’s help, Robyn discovers the address leads to an abandoned farmhouse. She drives there immediately and discovers Mel has secretly followed her. The two women find a car, which Robyn reveals belonged to her father; it’s the vehicle he was driving the night he was murdered nearly 30 years prior.
Robyn recounts that night to Mel. She was 17, and she called her dad to pick her up after a night of partying. Before he could make it to her location, he was carjacked and killed. His murder was never solved, and Robyn has blamed herself ever since.
When Robyn finds a mixtape she made her father in the car, she has a flashback to a moment they shared, riding around the city, singing “Fly, Robin, Fly” by Silver Convention. She remembers him talking about fixing up the car and encouraging her to believe in herself.
Back in the present-day, Aunt Vi arrives at the farmhouse and is stunned to see her late brother’s car. They also find a nametag with “Dolly” on it in the car. Aunt Vi recalls that they had a neighbor with a daughter who went by the name.
Meanwhile, Dante is still in trouble at work for pursuing Lo-Lo, a man who shot Dante’s mentor Manny at his boxing gym. The guy fell off a building while Dante was chasing him, and he’s now in a coma. The police captain warns Dante to follow orders moving forward.
With Harry’s help, Robyn tracks down Dolly, who says Robyn’s father came to her rescue before he died. He witnessed two men harassing her as she was walking home from work, so he asked her to get in his car. After initially attempting to keep the peace, Robyn’s father was forced to beat the men up after they attacked him.
Using his hacking skills, Harry examines the credit cards of every customer who ate at the restaurant the day someone slipped Robyn the note. He finds a driver’s license belonging to a man named Demetrius. He not only matches the description of one of Dolly’s harassers, but has a relative who owns the abandoned farmhouse. Realizing her father was targeted, Robyn is determined to get revenge. She shows up to Demterius’ house, tases him and demands to know why he wrote the note.
Demetrius says he wanted Robyn to know the truth, but insists he has changed his life after converting to Islam in prison. He is now an imam. He admits he wasn’t the only person involved in the fatal shooting of Robyn’s father, but he refuses to reveal the identity of man who actually pulled the trigger. Robyn finds out anyway because the NYPD discovered the fingerprint of a powerful crime boss, Yancy Turner, on her father’s car. Robyn sees a photo of Yancy with the childhood friend she saw at the restaurant. She learns he details cars for Yancy, and convinces her friend to lead her to the criminal.
After secretly following Robyn, Dante convinces her not to throw her life away by killing Yancy. Robyn spares Yancy, but he uses his lawyers and connections to get out of police custody. After recalling her father’s warnings against resorting to violence, and listening to Aunt Vi’s pleas, Robyn decides to take the criminal down another way.
Shortly after Robyn shows up to his compound, Harry sends incriminating information to Yancy’s henchmen; for years, he had been cheating them in different ways, including making deals for them to serve time while he escaped prison. The men turn on him and ostensibly beat him to death. Recognizing the good that Demetrius is now doing in the world, Robyn decides not to turn him in.
But all is not well for Dante, who is informed Lo-Lo is now awake and accusing him of pushing him off the building. The police captain informs Dante that he will be on suspension during the investigation into his actions.
After Robyn returns home, she learns that Aunt Vi has arranged for her father’s car to be returned to the family. Though Robyn breaks down thinking about her father, it seems she may finally have peace.
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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