The Equalizer (1988) Target of Choice, and Always a Lady

McCall (Edward Woodward) and Mickey (Keith Szarabajka) have their work cut out for them in the penultimate episode of season three of The Equalizer. Target of Choice, written by Kevin Droney, first aired on 6 April, 1988. A killer, Hawkins (Kevin Geer), is out of prison, and he’s got his murderous eye on the man…

The Equalizer (1986) – Shades of Darkness, and Nightscape

William Sadler goes toe-to-toe with Edward Woodward’s Robert McCall in Shades of Darkness. Written by Jack V. Fogarty this episode was first aired on 5 November, 1986. Sadler plays Rick Dillon, a murderer, rapist, sociopath and ex-soldier who has murdered a woman but Dan Turner (Lenny von Dohlen) is arrested for it when he’s found…

The Equalizer (1985) – The Defector, and The Lock Box

Very quickly The Equalizer has shown that its willing to go dark and gritty, and while there are some dark moments in The Defector, The Lock Box is even darker. The Defector was written by Heywood Gould and first debuted on 2 October, 1985. An old friend, and former agent of the USSR, Felix (Joe…

Angels & Demons (2009) – Ron Howard

Tom Hanks reunites with Ron Howard to bring Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon back to the screen in his second adventure (his first in the novels). Once again the renowned symbologist finds himself in over his head, but his wits and knowledge will be key to surviving. When the pope dies, the Vatican seals itself off…

The Quick and The Dead (1995) – Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi brings his frenetic style of zooming cameras and powerful camera angles to the western genre with a tale of revenge riding across the plains into an unforgiving town. Sharon Stone who looks absolutely stunning in western getup stars as Ellen, a woman bent on vengeance. She rides into a frontier town to take…

Mission: Impossible (1971) – Cat’s Paw, and The Missile

Things get personal for Barney (Greg Morris) this week as I dig into some more assignments from Mission: Impossible – The Complete Series on blu-ray. Cat’s Paw was written by Howard Browne, and first aired on 9 January, 1971. Barney’s older brother is murdered for getting too close to a high tech criminal organization, which…

The Prisoner (1967) – Checkmate, and Hammer Into Anvil

Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) squares off against Number Two (this time played by Peter Wyngarde) in a layered scheme in Checkmate. Written by Gerald Kelsey, this episode first debuted on 24 November, 1967. Inspired by a life-sized chess game, Six begins canvassing his own pieces, fellow prisoners, as he’s reasoned out how to tell the…

Beneath Her Skin (2021) – C.S. Porter

Nimbus Publishing, under its Vagrant Press, brings a new voice, C.S. Porter to the mystery genre, with their first novel, Beneath Her Skin, a lean, brisk, thriller. With the sub-title A Kes Morris File, one can assume that this will be Porter’s first foray into a series around their creation of Kes Morris, a female…