All episodes Season 3 S03E13 1988-01-20 60 min 1980s CBS

The Equalizer

The Child Broker

TV Flash files “The Child Broker” as hour 57 of 88 in the TV Flash guide — The Equalizer (1985–1989) on CBS, season 3, episode 13, aired 1988-01-20, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S03E13: listed hour 57 of 88 in the The Equalizer guide, hour 13 of 22 in season 3. It aired 1988-01-20 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “A Dance on the Dark Side” (S03E12). Next is “Video Games” (S03E14).

The Equalizer — The Child Broker (S03E13)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

A robbery gang of semi-homeless kids is run by a ruthless manipulator. One of the kids has a caring single mother who enlists the Equalizer to look into things. When the gang boss shows his true colours anytime the possibility arises to advance in the world, the boys and The Equalizer bring him to justice.

Viewer FAQ

Where does The Child Broker sit in the The Equalizer guide?

S03E13 is listed hour 57 of 88 — hour 13 of 22 in season 3, season 3 episode 13.

When did The Equalizer S03E13 air?

The Child Broker aired 1988-01-20 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…

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Filed against

Also in season 3

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