The Equalizer Season 5 Episode 4 Review: Sacrifice

The awkward stage of Mel and Robyn’s friendship ends on The Equalizer Season 5 Episode 4, “Sacrifice,” as Mel returns to the team. As she makes a breakthrough in her recovery and realizes she is ready to equalize again, Mel arrives just in time to save Harry and Robyn.

Does her return to the team mean she is done with her healing journey? It sure doesn’t seem that way. Even though we see her walk out of her therapy session, something about that unfinished moment makes us believe she will be back.

Mel is slowly coming back to herself and to the team. Being able to hold a gun, shoot, and work a case is a sign that she has been doing the right thing by taking care of herself. Hopefully, this quick comeback won’t backfire on her (or the team).

Robyn’s excitement when Mel announces she is back proves she has been holding her breath all this time. After her near-death experience, Harry never left her side again. But even then, it always felt like something was missing.

It is no coincidence that this is, so far, the best episode of the season. One wouldn’t expect an episode involving Fisk to be the best because he always brings trouble and chaos with him. However, his presence probably helps this episode reach its full potential.

If Mel hadn’t seen Fisk at the bar, she would have never dared ask what the case was and would not have been capable of showing up when Harry and Robyn needed her.

Mel’s return to the equalizing team brings this episode full circle. Even though the show focuses on Robyn McCall and what she can do to help those in need, she wouldn’t be who she is without her team, and so far, her team has been lacking.

It will be interesting to see how Mel finds her ground again. Hopefully, as she heals her friendship with Robyn, she won’t lose the friendship she had started creating with Delilah. Both of those friendships seem to be key to her recovery.

Harry’s backstory is one of the plotlines that makes this episode of The Equalizer so great. In the show’s five seasons, we have never heard Harry talk so in-depth about who he is and who he was.

We have always known he is a hacker who used to work for the military, but we never knew how he got there. By bringing in a hacker who resembles his own experience, Harry can open up about his past and what he’s been through.

Seeing this side of him helps us better understand his character. Harry is a highly likable character, and this background story only adds to that likability. He is the kind of person you want to have in your life.

It makes perfect sense that Fisk wants to shut down the sensible moment in which Harry shares his past while Robyn encourages him to speak. But it makes even more sense that when she hears Jason’s story, Mel understands why Harry wants to help him.

Every piece of this equalizing team is needed for them to succeed. Without the other two members, none of them could help others or stay alive in the field. Harry’s backstory only adds to the dynamic of this trio.

While it is excellent to have Dante back in New York for this episode, his return is shadowed by Mel’s decision to join the team again. These two departures greatly impacted the way Robyn behaved throughout the first episodes of the season, so it doesn’t make sense to bring them back into her life at the same time.

Each of these instances should have had its own episode. Dante’s return (at least for the time being) would have significantly impacted the audience later in the season.

The conversations between Robyn and Dante implied they missed each other, but their reunion lacked those feelings. However, when hearing Robyn’s conversation with Aunt Vi, one can understand she might be guarding her feelings.

Aunt Vi is correct in saying Dante and Robyn are too similar, so they might not work out. But is Miles a better option? The love triangle is still alive as Robyn cancels her lunch with Miles to stay with Dante in the hospital.

Only time will tell who the best candidate for Robyn is. Could it be the man who is just like her and never puts himself first? Or could it be the man who lost her once and seems to have realized his mistake?

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The Equalizer airs Sundays at 10/9c on CBS.

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