The Equalizer
Carnal Persuasion
TV Flash files “Carnal Persuasion” as hour 36 of 88 in the TV Flash guide — The Equalizer (1985–1989) on CBS, season 2, episode 14, aired 1987-01-21, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E14: listed hour 36 of 88 in the The Equalizer guide, hour 14 of 22 in season 2. It aired 1987-01-21 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Beyond Control” (S02E13). Next is “Memories of Manon (1)” (S02E15).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A woman, whose husband was arrested for a crime she knows he didn't commit, is approached by the judge handling her husband's case and is propositioned by the man. She then calls McCall and tells him what happened. McCall first starts by asking another judge what she knows about the man, and learns that he appeared to come from out of nowhere, which means he is in someone's pocket. McCall then goes to see a friend of her husband who tells him that some criminal needs a man in his position for his smuggling operation but the man is honest and wouldn't be a part of it ...
Viewer FAQ
Where does Carnal Persuasion sit in the The Equalizer guide?
S02E14 is listed hour 36 of 88 — hour 14 of 22 in season 2, season 2 episode 14.
When did The Equalizer S02E14 air?
Carnal Persuasion aired 1987-01-21 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:…