The Equalizer - No Good Deed - Review

Client:  A Venezuelan migrant’s (Jaime Perez) wife needs Robyn to prove he did not kill the woman who was helping them.

This episode stuck firmly to the formula the show has established and consequently held no surprises for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.

We’ve seen the ‘innocent person accused of murder’ story before. Sadly, this episode didn’t have any twists I didn't see coming.

As we met the potential suspects, it was obvious that the most unlikely villain would be the congresswoman’s assistant, Lacey Young.

So, it wasn't a surprise that she turned up dead, or that she was the killer.

I miss the days when the twists and turns were unexpected and sent the story in an unexpected direction.

I want to plead with the writers to step out of their comfort zone. Stop making Robyn's job so easy.

Family Life:  Vi tries to help a student whose paintings imply there is trouble at home.

I liked the paintings that were “painted by” Vi’s student, Robby. (Forgive me if I have his name wrong. I thought I heard Dante call him Robby in the final scene in the police station.)

There’s a person in the paintings who is always in shadow, and Vi’s instincts tell her this subject represents the focus of Robby’s problems.

Vi realizes the kid has lied to her about where he lives. She tries to follow him when he takes to the streets.

She assumes he lives on the street but he’s actually in a good foster home. Unfortunately, the first foster home he and his older brother were put in had them in the care of an abusive father figure.

Robby is carrying a lot of guilt because he and his brother were separated when the night they tried to escape that foster home.

Robyn collects Vi with Dante, who is able to find Robby’s brother, Darius, and reunite them.

This part of the episode did engage me because I liked the kid who played Robby and I thought the story was sweet.

I wanted the boys to have a happy ending.

I really wish the A-Story had been able to engage me as much.

Dante’s Case:  Dante gets an unexpected reaction to his quest to find out who shot Manny.

This story moment gave me a really good chuckle in the episode.

When the idiot, Detective Hutchins, called, out of the blue, to tell Dante to back off trying to find the person who shot Manny, I couldn’t help but laugh.

The least successful way to get someone to stop looking into a crime you’re trying to keep hidden is to tell that person to back off.

That’s a neon sign screaming “Look over here! I have something to hide.”

It’s a fairly standard trope, but it was such a dumb thing to do that I couldn’t help but have fun with it.

I am looking forward to the continuation of this story.

What did you guys think of the episode?