S04.E10: Shattered

[DanaK]

Quote

The team races against the clock after Mel is kidnapped by a member of her veteran support group and his older brother. Meanwhile, Dante is offered a position with the NYPD's Special Investigation Unit in Los Angeles, on the fourth season finale of the CBS Original series THE EQUALIZER, Sunday, May 19 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+

 

[AnimeMania]

Josh Stamberg as Captain Miller

[Brown44]

As I suspected the Mel program is headed into Person of Interest territory. 

[possibilities]

Robyn said Dante was instrumental in rescuing Mel, but I thought it was Dee's info that actually helped them find her.

A toast to whoever it was who predicted last week that they would blow up the Marcus-Robyn romance immediately.

I have to admit that it makes me very uncomfortable seeing Queen Latifah trying to act like she's in love. I love her, but that really seemed so fake. It just doesn't fit her energy at all. She was more convincing in the kitchen with Vi and talking abouut it, than she was with Dante in the scene with her.

I hope M.E.L is really gone, but I predict they are going to have it somehow reboot itself. I hope I'm wrong.

Mel no longer "equalizing" seems to me like Robyn saying she's no longer with the CIA. Something will rope her back in. 

I liked Dee figuring out there are other ways to help besides the military. I mean, I think that's obvious, and surely someone could have told her if she didn't notrice on her own. But I still think it's good she finally noticed. What kind of career counseling do they have at her school? "You want to help people? Here are 47 different ways to do that. Let me know if you want more when you get done looking at those"-- but apparently not.

 

[AnimeMania]

46 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I hope M.E.L is really gone, but I predict they are going to have it somehow reboot itself. I hope I'm wrong.

M.E.L. probably jumped into the CIA computer so she could start World War 3.

[dwmarch]

I was not expecting this show to jump into sci-fi with the M.E.L. goes Skynet plot. I guess M.E.L. will be the villain next season, sending waves of bad people at Robyn and Harry and Mel and Dante and Aunt Vi and Dee and so on. It will take them at least half the season to figure out what is going on. Reminds me of The Blacklist and I do not mean that as a compliment.

So Mel killed the father in Bangladesh except he didn't die so when his sons went on a revenge mission the father was able to get there just in time to watch them both get killed. Good job fixing it heroes.

Also, dad just happened to get a new identity that put him in NYC? I mean sure, it's a big city and good place for someone to blend in. But he was also conveniently placed within easy driving distance of this warehouse where the bad guys had set up. Nobody ever gets stuck in traffic on this show and of all the absurd things they expect us to believe that is probably the worst one.

What is the NYPD going to do with their only Detective moving across the country? Between that and Mel taking a break, Equalizing is going to be way more difficult now! I guess we'll see if Dee knows how to handle a gun.

[KWalkerInc]

I hope that next season or whenever the show ends, CBS will give them a heads-up, because otherwise they just cannot NOT end on cliffhangers.  (At least everyone isn't on fire like last year.)  They were quite efficient, essentially shutting down Robyn/Dante before the credits were done rolling.  Of course it takes them a while to get through the credits on this show, but it's still like a quarter of one episode.  That was a pretty eventful day for Dante, so I hope he found time to contact his kids somehow and told his ex-wife she was getting them full-time before he left for the airport.  Just saying it was a little abrupt!  Also, I hate the captain.

I'm glad that Mel didn't die, just M-E-L, which was a stupid storyline.  I would never have even worried too much about Mel except that they planted a seed about her dying a couple episodes ago.  It's good for her to seek help, but her not equalizing probably won't last much longer than when Harry couldn't use a computer as terms of his release.

I don't like the fact that they probably have a bunch of Michelle crap to go back to next year, plus the thrilling CIA task force storyline related to that that Fisk warned Robyn about several episodes ago.  They could always just pretend none of that ever happened, but that seems sadly unlikely.

[agathapenny]

Dee has to be one of the worst, most annoying characters on television. Her after school special storylines desperately need to stop. I've never seen anything so heavy-handed in my life, unless it was NCIS-LA inexplicably trying to do a social justice episode, which was one of the worst, least subtle, most preachy things I've seen on-screen in decades (whoever was running that show the last couple of years had no idea what they were doing, or they were deliberately trying to get it cancelled).

Anyway, I can't tell if the actor playing Dee is decent or not; nobody could make that drivel work.

[milkyaqua]

Yes, no way M.E.L. doesn't somehow pop-up next season.  How very POI except not as well done.

I could care less about Robyn and Marcus but yes that was an abrupt end to that relationship.  Couldn't Marcus' captain just transfer him to another burrough?  And yes, he had a day to get his kids situated with their mom and what about this house?  Unless the actor is leaving the show, how will he get back to NYC?  A major crime kingpin who his new team has to follow to NYC?

Mel taking time to deal with her trauma is fine but is it expected to got past the summer break or half way through next season?  And yes, there's the national threat and of course Michelle is still running around meaning Fisk won't be going anywhere and Harry has to find a way to decrypt whatever he and Fisk stole on their trip.

As for Dee, yes, it was nice of her to figure out she could help people and not be in the military to do it.  But as asked by another, why couldn't she ask her guidance counseler knowing how her mom and Aunt Vi felt?  Hopefully next season TPTB can wrangle in the Dee/Aunt Vi in jeopardy stories.

[blackwing]

I thought this was a great season finale.  As soon as Mel mentioned she did something in Afghanistan, I knew right away that the vet was going to turn out to be the son of the guy she killed.

I would be surprised if either Mel or Dante left.  But the possibility of them leaving made me dredge up my lingering questions:

1) Where does Robyn get her money?  Is it from the divorce settlement?  She used to be CIA but then she was out.  She devoted her life to "equalizing" but there's never been any mention of money so I don't think she charges people for her services.  She doesn't seem to have any kind of day job.  Yet she has fancy clothes and can afford to fly to Europe for a night on her own dime.  She supports her aunt (who I think might work as a volunteer art teacher?) and daughter and lives in a nice large single family house in Brooklyn or Queens (?)  Must have been a great settlement.

If all of her money comes from a divorce settlement, wouldn't having a relationship with Marcus be problematic?  Most alimony agreements state that if the recipient gets remarried then the alimony ends.  I would think that would at least have come up during the past two episodes.

2) Where are Harry and Mel getting their money?  That bar can't generate enough income to fund their lifestyle and the fact that neither of them seem to have day jobs.

3) How is the team even authorised to do what they do?  They've definitely killed people.  Some of it gets handwaved as part of some CIA investigation.  And Dante surely gets some of the rest taken care of.  But Hardass Captain is on to him so surely wouldn't look the other way.  Is it the DA?  Captain said in this episode that DA wouldn't let her fire Dante.

4) When did Harry get weapons and combat training?  He is a lifelong computer desk jock.  He seems awfully comfortable with guns and hand to hand fighting now.

Edited May 20 by blackwing

[blackwing]

3 hours ago, milkyaqua said:

Yes, no way M.E.L. doesn't somehow pop-up next season.  How very POI except not as well done.

I could care less about Robyn and Marcus but yes that was an abrupt end to that relationship.  Couldn't Marcus' captain just transfer him to another burrough?  And yes, he had a day to get his kids situated with their mom and what about this house?  Unless the actor is leaving the show, how will he get back to NYC?  A major crime kingpin who his new team has to follow to NYC?

She didn't want to transfer him to another borough, then he would still be in New York and still working with Robyn.  And then when this was discovered, there would still be some heat on the captain for not taking care of this.  She wanted him out of New York permanently and as far away from Robyn as she could make it.

Robyn must not be independently wealthy otherwise I think she would have offered him a job with her team.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

When did Harry get weapons and combat training? 

Harry probably took the gun from the guy that entered the room to check on the brothers, I don't think he would normally carry a gun. But, because it was Mel that was missing, I think Harry decided to be more lethal.

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Where does Robyn get her money?

It is probably just money that is left over from her various CIA Ops and probably a few criminal takedowns. It would be similar to her having a cache of weapons and having several valid IDs she could use in a pinch.

[agathapenny]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

1) Where does Robyn get her money?  Is it from the divorce settlement?  She used to be CIA but then she was out.  She devoted her life to "equalizing" but there's never been any mention of money so I don't think she charges people for her services.  She doesn't seem to have any kind of day job.  Yet she has fancy clothes and can afford to fly to Europe for a night on her own dime.  She supports her aunt (who I think might work as a volunteer art teacher?) and daughter and lives in a nice large single family house in Brooklyn or Queens (?)  Must have been a great settlement.

If all of her money comes from a divorce settlement, wouldn't having a relationship with Marcus be problematic?  Most alimony agreements state that if the recipient gets remarried then the alimony ends.  I would think that would at least have come up during the past two episodes.

I do not think we're supposed to believe most or any of Robyn's money is from her ex. I think the show just handwaves that she's got a well-invested nest-egg from her previous life. Ditto Mel and Harry, actually. And I'm fine with that. I don't need to watch characters on a show like this pretend to work at real jobs. In fact, I usually find it annoying, if they try it.

[marceline]

Does the Army have a height requirement? Because the sight of Mel playing soldier was ridiculous. I handwave a lot about her military service. I ignore the idea that she can carry the weight of a sniper rifle but watching that flashback of her in "Bangladesh" just made me laugh.

So now we have yet another shadowy government task force. The oh-so-originally named Federal Task Force or FTF. A shadowy off-the-books organization that everybody seems to know about, including an NYPD police captain. When Dante got offered the job, I kept waiting for him to mention his kids but since he's not the custodial parent I guess that doesn't matter but isn't his dad also in the hospital?

 

17 hours ago, possibilities said:

I have to admit that it makes me very uncomfortable seeing Queen Latifah trying to act like she's in love. I love her, but that really seemed so fake. It just doesn't fit her energy at all. She was more convincing in the kitchen with Vi and talking abouut it, than she was with Dante in the scene with her.

Same. I love her but she's out of her depth.

[ribboninthesky1]

22 hours ago, possibilities said:

I have to admit that it makes me very uncomfortable seeing Queen Latifah trying to act like she's in love. I love her, but that really seemed so fake. It just doesn't fit her energy at all. She was more convincing in the kitchen with Vi and talking abouut it, than she was with Dante in the scene with her.

Yeah, I kind of agree with this.  They only had a few short scenes as a "couple," and she was a bit too reticent. Tory Kittles was doing the heavy emotional lifting in those scenes. 

17 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

That was a pretty eventful day for Dante, so I hope he found time to contact his kids somehow and told his ex-wife she was getting them full-time before he left for the airport.  Just saying it was a little abrupt! 

His children were the first thing I thought about.  If Robyn and Marcus had gotten together earlier in the season, I think the emotional "we're a couple" resonance they were going for might have worked.

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

1) Where does Robyn get her money?

I remember wondering about this in season 1. I assumed it was the standard "spy/former spy has substantial money that's never explained" that I've seen so often in film and TV. Then again, perhaps a military + CIA pension is lucrative. 

I know there are plenty of shows running several seasons, but I'm not sure where else this show can go. I found the procedural, case of the week elements to be a bit tedious after season 2, so I didn't mind some of the CIA stuff to break up the monotony at first.  It was a blow to lose Chris Noth, and Donal Logue was a miscast. The writing has struggled ever since the showrunner change, which started with season 3, if memory serves.

I never watched the original Equalizer show, so I looked it up.  It lasted about 4 seasons, although of course a season was the typical 22 episodes.  

[Trini]

23 hours ago, possibilities said:

A toast to whoever it was who predicted last week that they would blow up the Marcus-Robyn romance immediately.

 

Well, I'll start off with Robyn/Marcus, I guess: As the opening scene kept getting more ridiculous, I was wondering if it was a dream sequence; but a training simulation works too, for this particular couple! So *immediately* after their first date, Dante gets an amazing job offer (well, that's one way for the captain to get rid of him!), - ::eyeroll:: #1. And then Dante immediately accepts?! Not even a few days to consider uprooting his life, or even to make arrangements?? - ::eyeroll:: #2. But they needed a breakup scene for a cliffhanger*, apparently. Robyn and Dante are best when they're flirty, so at least I enjoyed the 5 minutes when they were actually happy together.

*But is it a cliffhanger, though? Like someone else said, a case from Dante's new job will probably bring him right back to NYC. At the moment, I don't think anyone is really leaving.

I'm not as annoyed with Dee as the rest of y'all, but yeah, obvious lesson was obvious. But I did like that she had a small part to play with the main case.

The main plot with Mel: Well, yikes to that ending! I know they were the kidnappers, but dang- things don't usually end so bleakly. They watched their father "die", then the father had to watch them die -- what are we doing, show?

Of course Mel will be pulled back into equalizing jobs sooner or later.

And yeah, while I'd love for M.E.L. to be dead, I also think it'll show up to cause trouble later.

[andromeda331]

For a second during the opening sequence I thought I was watching Burn Notice Michael and Fiona shooting on their date. For Dante and Robyn? Really? This is what they chose for their first date? Why? Not that it matters since he's suddenly going off to mysterious task force. Of course Robyn doesn't tell him she wants him to stay because it's an opportuny of a lifetime only to later tell him she wants him to stay. He can't beause it's an a very important bad guy their chasing. As if their not those in NYC. No he has to do it.

My problem with their storyline is you saw it coming a mile away. There were no surprises. Same with Dee of course by the end of the season she changed her mind about military. It started out of the blue and ended predictable. And I'm sorry aren't there like a million ways to help people in NYC? Tons of organizations, charities, etc. Shouldn't her school have a list of things to help people too? You know for putting on college applications? How is it Dee has no idea there are other ways to help people besides the military? It just doesn't make any sense like her getting singled out for helping people as a bad thing. As if there's not tons of students doing tutoring, volunteer work and soup kitchens to put on their transcripts. I might understand if she lived in a small town but not NYC. 

I hate that the dad turned out to be alive. I wish they had stuck with brothers seeing their father died and wanted revenge. It undermines their story, her talk with Eric and Mel doesn't have to feel bad about that turns out she didn't kill him. It was better when she was confronted by a mistake she made in the past. 

Now she thinks that she was helping others with PTSD to avoid dealing with her own? Helping others with it can also be a way to help herself. Talking to others who went through the same crap can be a real big help. 

[possibilities]

I live in a small town, and believe me-- we have the same "people doing good things to help others" stuff here. It's a huge part of the culture.

M.E.L. reminds me of HAL from 2001: A Space Odessey.

Edited May 21 by possibilities
freaking typos

[blackwing]

10 hours ago, Trini said:

The main plot with Mel: Well, yikes to that ending! I know they were the kidnappers, but dang- things don't usually end so bleakly. They watched their father "die", then the father had to watch them die -- what are we doing, show?

Of course Mel will be pulled back into equalizing jobs sooner or later.

And yeah, while I'd love for M.E.L. to be dead, I also think it'll show up to cause trouble later.

 

8 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I hate that the dad turned out to be alive. I wish they had stuck with brothers seeing their father died and wanted revenge. It undermines their story, her talk with Eric and Mel doesn't have to feel bad about that turns out she didn't kill him. It was better when she was confronted by a mistake she made in the past. 

Now she thinks that she was helping others with PTSD to avoid dealing with her own? Helping others with it can also be a way to help herself. Talking to others who went through the same crap can be a real big help. 

The whole business with the dad being alive was utter crap.  Did the U.S. government intend all along to have him fake his death?  If so, they would have had him wear a vest.  This makes zero sense.

More likely, after Mel shot him, the U.S. government swooped in and saved him.  They used him for intelligence and information.  He said he didn't tell his boys he was alive because he wanted to protect them.

This doesn't really make sense either.  He got shot twice in the chest, those wounds must not have been as fatal as they looked.  By not telling his sons he was alive, he pretty much encouraged them to hate the United States.  They moved to the United States and for the past 15 years they have been plotting to kill Mel? 

The younger boy, Eric / Bihhad, looked to be about 8 or 10.  The older one slightly older.  How did they find Mel?  Any records regarding who was on the mission team would have been sealed.

The government did Mel a huge disservice by not telling her that the innocent man she thought she killed was in fact alive and living in the United States.  For years she has been living with guilt and it has caused her lots of issues and PTSD of her own.

The brothers were innocent victims but that changed when they decided to kidnap and kill Mel.  The father could have prevented their deaths by revealing himself to them years early.  I don't understand what there is to "protect", they are all refugees of war. Perhaps he thought the Afghan government or combatants would hunt down the sons, but that doesn't ring true.  Now he has two dead sons.

[fastiller]

If they're looking to change things up next season, they could have Robin (Robyn?) relocate to LA. 

[cheeky]

Quote

1) Where does Robyn get her money?

All the best current and former agents have the following:

Several passports

Cash

Weapons stash

Offshore accounts

Safe house

Source: Mission Impossible, Bourne series, Equalizer movies

Note: The first three items are normally found in a safe, go-bag, storage unit, inconspicuous train station locker or combination of the four. Got to have redundancies. 

Edited May 21 by cheeky

[andromeda331]

15 hours ago, blackwing said:

The brothers were innocent victims but that changed when they decided to kidnap and kill Mel.  The father could have prevented their deaths by revealing himself to them years early.  I don't understand what there is to "protect", they are all refugees of war. Perhaps he thought the Afghan government or combatants would hunt down the sons, but that doesn't ring true.  Now he has two dead sons.

I don't either. He's had 15 years to tell his sons he was alive. If he was worried about their safety why not when they were older? None of it makes any sense. 

[blackwing]

17 hours ago, fastiller said:

If they're looking to change things up next season, they could have Robin (Robyn?) relocate to LA. 

I was thinking that too.  This will be the 5th season of the show, I think it would be interesting to see Robyn in L.A.  Dee can go to boarding school or college soon.  Viola can move with her.

But the show films in New York and all the cast and crew live in the New York area, so that would be a huge disruption to production to have to find new crew.

[12catcrazy]

Absolutely idiot plot twist to have the kidnappers'  father turn up alive and then to really stick us with the eye-rolling 'O Henry moment, they kill off both of the sons (as their dying mother gets to watch it on live video?). 

Re Dante - I read an interview with the actor (who is currently in a Broadway play) that he isn't leaving the show but depending on how long his Broadway part lasts he might be missing from some episodes.   He also said that the producers want to "open up the show" and hinted that some of the action is going to take place in L.A.    So my friends, my guess is that the main plots are going to be more big blow 'em up type of stuff and any small scale "equalizing" will be left to Aunt Vi and Dee.   

And speaking of Dee - I am still scratching my head how she thought that being in the military "helps" people in the way that she wants to help.  She'd be better off going into social work, psychology (better yet, get the MD like her Dad and become a psychiatrist), nursing, or any number of other professions where she could make a real difference in people's lives. 

Mel and M.E.L.  - yeah, they'll both be back.   

[mythoughtis]

On 5/19/2024 at 11:51 PM, possibilities said:

I have to admit that it makes me very uncomfortable seeing Queen Latifah trying to act like she's in love

Yes.  This true love storyline was pushed by fans.  Her acting skill set isn’t romance. 

[tennisgurl]

This was a really weird season, the pacing and stories were all over the place. Maybe the strike messed up some of their plans? Or maybe the show runners just decided to throw a lot of stuff at the wall to see what sticks? They keep setting up things like Harry creating an AI that wants to replace Mel, Dante's arch enemy of two episodes, Harry going off to do some black site tech stuff, Dee wanting to join a military school but then deciding not to, its just random. 

So without Dante and Mel, its just going to be Robyn out in the field? That's going to be a real problem, I give Mel a few episodes and a near death experience because she changes her mind. 

That was a bleak way to end the story with the brothers, and after they seemed to be teasing a somewhat happy ending. So the dad was taken away and just...lived a normal life in the US somewhere close enough to New York that he can get there in about an hour? He never thought to tell his family that he was alive or tried to reunite with them? The brothers did something terrible when they almost killed Mel but this is on their dad too. Their poor mom. 

I tend to prefer this show when it focuses on character stuff and COTW stories with some more plot stuff weaved in and out, I think they tried to be too serialized and bit off more than they could chew. 

[chamishka]

The way they handled the theme of shattered relationships was so well-done. It's like they really dug deep into the emotional complexities of the characters.