The Equalizer
Torn
TV Flash files “Torn” as hour 17 of 88 in the TV Flash guide — The Equalizer (1985–1989) on CBS, season 1, episode 17, aired 1986-02-05, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E17: listed hour 17 of 88 in the The Equalizer guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1986-02-05 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Wash Up” (S01E16). Next is “Unnatural Causes” (S01E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
McCall finds his attention divided when Jason Mazer from The Agency offers him a chance at revenge against an old enemy, while at the same time a young girl asks McCall to protect her and her mother against her abusive father.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Torn sit in the The Equalizer guide?
S01E17 is listed hour 17 of 88 — hour 17 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 17.
When did The Equalizer S01E17 air?
Torn aired 1986-02-05 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Are the movies the same show?
They share the title and the concept — a protector for people failed by the system — but they are later film adaptations, not Woodward's continuity. His McCall is the gold standard for many viewers.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Woodward's performance is the franchise — weary competence and controlled fury. Retired intel man Robert McCall takes newspaper-ad justice into his own hands: darker, quieter action drama than the truck-jumping competition. Got a problem? Odds against you? Later films borrowed the title; Woodward owned the soul.
Got a problem? Odds against you? A retired intelligence operative takes newspaper-ad justice into his own hands, and CBS puts gravel in prime time. *The Equalizer* (1985–1989) made Edward Woodward's authority into urban vigilante cool with more moral weight than many 1980s action toys. Keith Szarabajka and Robert Lansing aided missions the system wouldn't touch. Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim: adult revenge fantasy with a British center of gravity. **Woodward owned the soul later films only rented.** Max's…
Filed against
- Edward Woodward as Robert McCall
Edward Woodward's Robert McCall is The Equalizer — weary competence, controlled fury, and newspaper-ad justice darker and quieter than the truck-jumping competition. Got a problem? Odds against you? The performance is the franchise. TV…
- Robert Lansing as Control
Robert Lansing's Control shadowed The Equalizer as intel-world weather — Edward Woodward's weary McCall taking newspaper-ad justice into his own hands, darker and quieter than the truck-jumping competition. TV Flash files Lansing as 1980s…
- Keith Szarabajka as Mickey Kostmayer
Keith Szarabajka's Mickey Kostmayer worked The Equalizer from the wetwork side — 1980s newspaper-ad justice, darker and quieter than the truck-jumping competition, weary competence as a franchise. TV Flash files him as action-drama craft:…