THE EQUALIZER Post-Mortem: Joseph C. Wilson on Season 3’s ‘Bigger Bad,’ the Magic of Combining the Teams, and Familial Drama to Come

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for THE EQUALIZER’s season 3 premiere.]

There was really good news and a bit of bad news for Robyn McCall (Queen Latifah) on the season 3 premiere of THE EQUALIZER.

Despite being kidnapped—and a deep-fake video being released to claim she was responsible for Quinn’s (Chris Vance) attempted destruction—McCall managed to fight her way free, Quinn was killed, and the team managed to dismantle the dirty bomb.

But, naturally, things aren’t exactly going to be easy with one foe knocked out. And, now, McCall is in uncharted waters: After two seasons of trying to separate her various worlds as much as possible, there was a full-on collision in “Boom,” as everyone worked together to try and save her life…and the genie won’t be able to go back in the bottle.

So what comes next? THE EQUALIZER co-showrunner Joseph C. Wilson talks with Give Me My Remote about season 3, as the writers play with new dynamics, Robyn and Dante’s (Tory Kittles) relationship grows, Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) and Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) get more agency, and new faces join the drama to shake things up…

We actually see the team coming together, for real, in the premiere for the first time. How was it to finally combine McCall’s various worlds?
It’s definitely [like], “Oh my God, we can do this!” Because all the characters worked in these little silos: You had home scenes, you had McCall and Dante at the precinct, and Harry and Mel at the[ir secret bunker/home base]. There were these three little shows operating independently, with only McCall looping throughout.

So now we’re talking about scenes where, “What happens when Harry meets Vi? What’s going to happen there?” Comedy and hijinks are going to happen. And they’re going to develop a special relationship through Vi’s love of cooking, and all these special dishes that she makes.

Dante gets to interact with Harry, in a way—Dante doesn’t have a lot of people to talk to. Mel and Delilah—we teed up that they met last season, but what they get into this season is one of the major storylines, and it’s going to be heavy. And it’s going to affect all of them. It’s gonna affect Delilah, it’s gonna affect Mel, it’s going to affect McCall. And it’s gonna affect the relationship because of what Delilah has seen and what she’s been through with McCall. She’s gonna have a lot more agency this season, and Mel’s going to be involved in that.

What have been the most unexpected pairings so far?
Unexpected? Probably the Dante and Harry or Vi and Harry. We’re getting Harry out in the field a little more this year. He’s a master at what he does, but, at the same time, he’s really funny when he’s out in the field. And then you have McCall here, and she’s looking at all of this, like, “I’m used to keeping all of these guys separate, and now they’re coming together.” So there’s a little discomfort for her.

In the premiere, there was a pretty scary deep-fake video of Robyn taking credit for an eventually disarmed dirty bomb. What ramifications will there be for that beyond the premiere?
It’s huge, it’s scary, but we are going to wrap that up with the end of this episode. It’s not going to play outside of 3×01. But with Quinn, even though [he’s dead], the repercussions of Quinn are still going to echo throughout the season.

Looking to Quinn, he was such a big looming threat in McCall’s life. Now that the chapter is closed, what can you tease about her new foe?
There’s going to be the emergence of a, in my opinion, a bigger bad. And it’s going to come from a scarier place, if you will—[a] threat level higher than Quinn…because it’s coming from a personal place for McCall. It’s going to be a lot closer to who she is in her heart and her past.

Where Quinn was more of a political enemy—just how she came in contact with him—this is coming from a closer place. So, in my opinion, is going to be a bigger bad. And then what happens with this bigger bad is going to be a lot worse than what happened towards the end of last season. So if you thought Quinn was bad, this person is going to be somebody ugly.

Hopefully this is not connected, but Donal Logue is joining the cast as a CIA agent. What is his relationship like with McCall?
Donal Logue[‘s] Colton Fisk—Donal’s great, by the way, and what he’s doing with the Colton Fisk character…we’re trying to just build off of what we did with Bishop and the loss of Bishop.

The way they come into contact, they’ve got a common love for Bishop—which also puts them in opposition at the same time. Fisk blames McCall for what happened to Bishop. But Bishop has explained to Fisk who McCall is and how great she is. And Fisk is going to find out, “Oh, she’s better than advertised.” And he feels like he can use that.

So, when we get into more CIA-related stories, we’re gonna see how that all that comes together. And there’s a big mystery wrapped into that, too. Things will be revealed towards the end of the season, and it’s all going to come to a head and fireworks are going to fly

Even if Fisk is appreciating McCall’s skills, what is his take on her team? Even if he’s been told to trust her, there are a number of wild cards working with her…
I think Fisk is more of a wildcard. He’s someone who likes to operate outside the lines. We like to say he operates from 50,000 feet and he moves chess pieces of the world around him; he doesn’t play by the same rules that we play by.

When he sees Robyn, and how she operates, she kind of operates outside the lines. And he can use that. He doesn’t have to go through the paperwork. He doesn’t have to go through the bureaucracy. So I think he’s impressed with the team and he sees it as another tool in his arsenal, in how they can be deployed. But he’s also ruthless in a way—everyone’s dispensable.

On the flip side, Dante made it clear in the premiere that his badge was not as important as saving Robyn’s life. How will their relationship be developing this season?
They’re gonna get closer. Dante is going through some things in his life. [Going back to] last season, he’s still reeling from the situation in 2×13, “D.W.B.,” where he was abducted by police. He’s dealing with his children. He’s got two sons and he’s trying not to let that same thing happened to them. He’s got to teach them how to be young Black men out in the world, where they are targeted. He’s affected by that.

He’s dealing with his father…there are different scenarios going with his father. We get inside Dante’s head a lot. And McCall’s gonna help him navigate what’s going on with him a little bit. They’re going to grow closer. We’re going to see their relationship develop, but there’s going to be some friction in there as well. Just when they get that close, there are some scenarios that will push them apart a little bit. We’re seeing a love story building there. It’s coming along nicely.

Looking to Dante’s father, is this something where McCall gets involved with, work-wise, or Dante is dealing with Ben outside of work?
Both. She’s going to help him navigate the emotion that is around his relationship with his father. We’re [also] going to learn a little bit about McCall’s father and then because of who Dante’s father was, he was a pretty big-wig cop before Dante—[Dante’s] reason for becoming a cop was, “I can be a better cop than my father. I can be a better man than my father was.” But Big Ben was a monster out on the streets, and he’s connected. So, we’re going to access some cases where we’re going to have to go to him to get some information when we’re out in the streets doing some things. So he’s going to be involved.

To touch back on Delilah’s agency, we’ve seen her go through an awful lot already…and that was before she witnessed her mom get kidnapped and have to worry about the possible bomb going off in the premiere. How will the show be handling the trauma she’s had to endure?
It’s tough. You hit it on the head: She’s seen way more than any teen should. And she’s had to grow up way faster. And we address that, head on. We’ve seen Delilah—she’s been growing up fast since season 1. Her best friend was shot and killed; just all the trauma, PTSD, she’s dealing with. Going to therapy. And then she sees her mom abducted in front of her; she’s worried about her.

So, Delilah is going to have more agency than we’ve seen. And she’s going to become stronger. We’re going to see a different Delilah this year. Mel is going to be a big part of that, in helping her get that. She’s gonna be a lot stronger in her own way.

You see, even in this episode, just her sense of justice, of what’s right in the face of this massive bomb, a dirty bomb—she doesn’t want to leave. “It’s not right,” she says. And that’s that sense of equalizing the injustice. “What about my friends? What about all the people? We can’t just leave.” Whereas a normal scared teen is like, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” She’s gonna come into her own. That’s kind of the tee up of that. It’s going to be really cool.

Vi has also been going through her own trauma, and balancing her care-taking of Delilah and Robyn—and herself. How is she holding up with all of this?
It’s tough for her. She confronts McCall about it. She wants more information from McCall. I keep saying Delilah is going to have agency this year—Aunt Vi is activated this year; she’s going to have agency. She corners McCall and tells her, “Listen, I know you feel you have a responsibility to the world, because of the skill set that you have. And you need to do this equalizing.”

“Well,” she says, “I have a responsibility to—to take care of this family. And that means Delilah, and that means you.” She demands to have the tools necessary, so she can do her job: “If you’re going to do this, you gotta let me be able to do what I need to do. And with that, I need a certain amount of transparency and information.”

Gloria Reuben is joining the show as Vi’s ex, Trish. What will that relationship be like?
We’re going to see their romance. We’re going to learn a lot more about Aunt Vi through Trish. They’re two fantastic actors who light up the screen. She’s gonna be a welcomed addition, I think.

Looking ahead, what else is exciting you about season 3?
We get all the family stuff going on. But in true EQUALIZER fashion, we still want to stay topical. We’re addressing gun violence. We’re working on a trans story—there’s a ton of social injustice is that we’re shining a light on. The health care system. Second chances for people who’ve paid their debts to society. We still want the heart and soul and the emotions of what we normally do. But we’re upping the personal side of the show as well. So you’re still gonna get all the good stuff that you’re used to.

We’re going to see how all this is affecting McCall, and how she starts to question everything; that’s going to bleed throughout the season. And there’s going to be some decisions she’s going to have to make. With the family theme—family’s not always a beautiful thing. Family can get rough. Family can hurt you like no one else can…and we will see some scenarios down the line where the pain is going to come from within instead of outside.

Things will be revealed, secrets revealed—there’s gonna be a lot of heartbreak and hurt on top of it. Can they recover?

THE EQUALIZER, Sundays, 8/7c, CBS

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