The Equalizer
First Light
TV Flash files “First Light” as hour 42 of 88 in the TV Flash guide — The Equalizer (1985–1989) on CBS, season 2, episode 20, aired 1987-05-13, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E20: listed hour 42 of 88 in the The Equalizer guide, hour 20 of 22 in season 2. It aired 1987-05-13 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Coal Black Soul” (S02E19). Next is “Hand and Glove” (S02E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
McCall is out of town appearing in a hearing being conducted by a Senator over an op (operation) Control did a few years ago on him, and McCall's testimony could take Control down. Scott and a friend are trying to help an old man who is being terrorized by someone. After McCall saves Control, he hurries home to help Scott.
Viewer FAQ
Where does First Light sit in the The Equalizer guide?
S02E20 is listed hour 42 of 88 — hour 20 of 22 in season 2, season 2 episode 20.
When did The Equalizer S02E20 air?
First Light aired 1987-05-13 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:…