7.7/10218 votes#1 - Pilot: The Equalizer
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1985
A former government agent offers his services to people facing problems too big for them to handle, such as a woman being stalked by a psychopath and a man who learns of a blackmail scheme involving government officials.
Director: Rod Holcomb
Writer: Michael Sloan
7.2/10169 votes#2 - China Rain
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/25/1985
McCall comes to the aid of a housekeeper when kidnappers grab her son by mistake.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow, Victor Hsu
7.2/10149 votes#3 - The Defector
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/2/1985
McCall helps a double agent defect and a young boy stand up to bullies.
Director: Rod Holcomb
Writer: Heywood Gould
7.6/10155 votes#4 - The Lock Box
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1985
McCall helps a man whose daughter has been abducted by a pimp who services covert government operations.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow, Frank Military
7.5/10145 votes#5 - Lady Cop
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/16/1985
A crooked cop is willing to murder to ensure that his new partner won't blow the whistle on his operations.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow
7.1/10124 votes#6 - The Confirmation Day
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/1985
McCall helps a former showgirl convinced someone is stalking her and a boy whose father helped steal antiques now wanted by two separate parties.
Director: Richard A. Colla
Writer: N/A
7.3/10137 votes#7 - The Children's Song
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1985
Father and son protect a girl from would-be rapists intent on killing the only witness to a murder.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow
7.1/10118 votes#8 - The Distant Fire
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/6/1985
A hit man wants help to prevent another killer from murdering a woman both McCall and the hitman once loved.
Director: Alan Metzger
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow
7.1/10123 votes#9 - Mama's Boy
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/1985
A career woman wants McCall's aid in ending her son's fascination with a charismatic drug dealer.
Director: James Sheldon
Writer: Heywood Gould
7.5/10127 votes#10 - Bump and Run
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/20/1985
Muggers seek revenge on a student who injured one of them while escaping, and a vigilante killer pins McCall's ad to his victims.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow
7.6/10108 votes#11 - Desperately
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/4/1985
A lonely, neglected wife gets more than she wanted when she considers a fling and ends up witnessing a murder.
Director: Donald Petrie
Writer: Charles Grant Craig
6.9/10116 votes#12 - Reign of Terror
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/11/1985
The new doctor at a local clinic refuses to give gang members drugs as `rent' for using their turf.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Steve Bello
7.8/10107 votes#13 - Back Home
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/18/1985
A banker is harassing tenants of a potentially valuable property and planning to murder his wife.
Director: Alan Metzger
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow
7.8/10114 votes#14 - Out of the Past
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/15/1986
An ex-con is harassing the man whose testimony put him away-the man now married to McCall's former wife.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Cyrus Nowrasteh
7.6/10118 votes#15 - Dead Drop
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/22/1986
McCall assembles some old friends to protect a man marked for murder for no apparent reason.
Director: Donald Petrie
Writer: Maurice Hurley, Joel Surnow
7.3/10102 votes#16 - Wash Up
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/29/1986
A window washer witnesses the murder of his pro-union partner by their anti-union boss, who has his own witnesses to back his self-defense claim.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Mark Frost
7.8/10111 votes#17 - Torn
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/5/1986
McCall tries to divide his time between defending a woman from her abusive husband and settling with an old enemy.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
7.4/10106 votes#18 - Unnatural Causes
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 2/12/1986
McCall's on the trail of a serial killer, leaving him little time for an actress fallen into the wrong crowd.
Director: Alan Metzger
Writer: Scott Shepherd, Susan Woollen
8.0/10125 votes#19 - Breakpoint
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 2/19/1986
McCall is among those taken hostage by terrorists seeking a Middle Eastern philanthropist.
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Scott Shepherd, Don Carlos Dunaway
7.3/1096 votes#20 - No Conscience
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 3/5/1986
A womanizer is abducted and threatened with death if he doesn't give his captors what they want-but he can't figure out what.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Mark Frost
7.6/1097 votes#21 - Unpunished Crimes
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 4/1/1986
McCall is hired by an inventor whose designs were stolen by a huge corporation headed by a ruthless executive.
Director: Alan Metzger
Writer: John Burke, Grenville Case
7.3/10102 votes#22 - Pretenders
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/8/1986
An aspiring reporter, desperate for a scoop that will get her notice and a promotion, becomes convinced that something big is happening right in the next apartment.
Director: Richard Compton
Writer: Scott Shepherd
The Best Episodes of The Equalizer Season 1
Every episode of The Equalizer Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Equalizer Season 1!
Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself...
Genres:Action & AdventureCrimeDrama
Network:CBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Pilot: The Equalizer" is the best rated episode of "The Equalizer" season 1. It scored 7.7/10 based on 218 votes. Directed by Rod Holcomb and written by Michael Sloan, it aired on 9/18/1985. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "China Rain".