Summary
The Equalizer 2
‘s ending delves deep into symbolism, revealing Robert’s inner struggles and path to protecting the innocent.
Dave York’s shocking betrayal as Susan’s killer sets up a brutal showdown with Robert in their hometown.
Robert’s choice of forgiveness over vengeance in the heavy ending brings a new sense of purpose and redemption.
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While The Equalizer 2’s ending wraps up nicely, the symbolism of the sequel’s climax is much deeper than it appears. The Equalizer was a 2014 action thriller that saw Denzel Washington play Robert McCall, a lethally dangerous marine turned DIA officer. In the tense movie, Washington’s character reluctantly returned to action to save a teenager from the Russian mob. In The Equalizer 2, Robert and his former colleague, Dave York, investigate the murder of another co-worker, Susan Plummer, who was killed by unseen assailants during what looked like a robbery in Brussels.
Robert and York looked into this killing, but it didn’t take long for Washington’s hardened antihero to uncover the shocking truth leading up to The Equalizer 2’s ending. Meanwhile, a troubled teenage artist named Miles offered to paint a mural on Robert’s apartment building. These two plots converged in The Equalizer 2’s closing scenes, wherein Miles was kidnapped by Susan’s killer and Robert had to return to his hometown to confront the killers. In the process, The Equalizer 2’s ending gives new insight into Robert’s worldview, his struggles, and the path that brought him to a life of protecting the innocent.
The Equalizer 2
is available to stream on Hulu.
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Who Killed Susan Plummer In The Equalizer 2?
Robert Narrowly Avoided A Similar Fate When Agreeing To Work With David
Shockingly, Pedro Pascal’s seemingly sweet Dave York was the one who killed Susan in The Equalizer 2. He was working as a mercenary and knew that Susan would soon uncover the fact that Dave was also the one who staged the murder-suicide in Brussels. Dave, along with Robert’s other former colleagues Kovak, Ari, and Resnik, turned to crime after they were left behind by the DIA despite years of faithful service.
Feeling abandoned, Dave and the rest of Robert’s former squad killed Susan and had intended to do the same to Robert. However, Robert outmaneuvered them and forced them to meet him on home turf so that he would have the advantage. Even though Dave spent most of The Equalizer 2 trying to find Susan’s killer alongside Robert, the duplicitous character turned out to be the culprit in the killing.
Using the local watchtower as a base, Robert picked them off by using a severe storm for cover, eventually facing off against Dave in one-on-one combat.
Robert realized this when he saw Dave’s number in the call list of an assassin who tried and failed to kill Robert. This is when director Antoine Fuqua’s sequel got truly brutal, as Dave and his associates kidnapped Miles and followed Robert to his seaside hometown. There, using the local watchtower as a base, Robert picked them off by using a severe storm for cover, eventually facing off against Dave in one-on-one combat.
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Why Robert Killed Kovak, Ari, and Resnik
Picking Off Dave’s Henchmen Made The Final Fight Easier For Robert
Melissa Leo and Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2
Robert lured Kovak, Ari, and Resnik to his hometown and killed them with a speargun, knives, and a dust explosion in The Equalizer 2’s ending. In practical terms, Robert killed these henchmen one at a time to make his final showdown easier. On a metaphorical level, Robert needed to return to his childhood home and mete out these violent fates on his colleagues to kill the parts of himself that wanted to turn his rage into murderous revenge.
Robert, like his colleagues, felt cheated and betrayed by an uncaring government after years of faithful service. As such, he needed to kill them to ensure he did not become like them.
What Dave York’s Death Means In The Equalizer 2’s Ending
Giving Dave A Simple Death Was A Turning Point
Robert slowly stabbed Dave to death with his own knife, using the techniques they both learned in the DIA. Dave leaned into his anger, bitterness, and resentment to become a killer, whereas Robert turned the blade on Dave (and, by extension, his own simmering resentment). The Equalizer 2 was Denzel Washington’s first sequel, and this heavy ending explains why. As Robert killed Dave, he chose the path of forgiveness over seeking out violent vengeance. This brought him a sense of purpose that was missing in ending of the original The Equalizer.
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Why Is There A Hurricane In The Equalizer 2’s Ending?
The Storm Is An Incredibly Heavy-Handed Metaphor
The hurricane in The Equalizer 2’s ending is a classic case of pathetic fallacy. Dave’s murder of Susan upended Robert’s memories of their time together in the DIA and forced him to confront the horrors of his past. Thus, his hometown was literally torn to pieces while, internally, Robert felt that his well-earned peace was disrupted and torn asunder, too.
The hurricane imagery externalizes Robert’s internal turmoil
The hurricane imagery externalizes Robert’s internal turmoil as the character realizes one can never truly go home after experiencing the horrors of war. Instead, Robert had to brutally accept that he was part of Dave’s squad once and now needed to kill his former friends.
What Miles’ Mural Means In The Equalizer 2’s Ending
Miles painted an idyllic rural scene on the side of Robert’s apartment building in The Equalizer 2’s ending. The mural depicted a community tending to its crops, both a reflection of the apartment building’s own communal garden and a testament to the power of community rehabilitation. After so much bloodshed and death, Robert couldn’t have found a purpose in his life if it weren’t for the restorative power of community.
Robert embodied the holistic, community-centered approach to life that is depicted in Miles’s utopian vision.
By leaning into mentoring Miles, Robert embodied the holistic, community-centered approach to life that is depicted in Miles’s utopian vision. However, Robert’s failure to offer the same guidance to his colleagues haunted him after their deaths at his hands.
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What The Equalizer 2’s Ending Really Means
The Finale Of The Equalizer Sequel Is About Redemption And Choosing A Better Path
While The Equalizer 2’s ending is not tragic, there is a sense of sadness to it. Robert reunites a Holocaust survivor with his long-lost sibling thanks to his skills, but can’t force Dave to see a path for his life that isn’t defined by violence and retribution. As the New Testament says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” and Robert realized this when it proved easier to stab out Dave’s eyes than to make him see the error of his ways.
Robert could easily have become another disgruntled mercenary like Dave, Kovak, Ari, and Resnik, and he was forced to contend with this fact in The Equalizer 2’s ending. By encouraging Miles to pursue art instead of a life of crime, Robert passed on his wisdom to the next generation. However, he couldn’t save the men that he fought alongside and, ultimately, was the one to kill them. For all of his attempts to help those in need, Robert McCall was still troubled by his limitations in The Equalizer 2’s ending as he realized that he could have been tempted into crime like his brothers in arms.
How The Equalizer 2 Ending Sets Up The Equalizer 3
Susan’s Daughter Plays A Key Role In The Next Movie
In 2023, The Equalizer 2 was followed by The Equalizer 3, turning the story of Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall into a trilogy. As to be expected, there were several elements of the second The Equalizer movie that directly played into the third, bringing the overarching story of the movies to a satisfying conclusion (unless Washington returns for The Equalizer 4, that is).
A key way that The Equalizer 3 is set up by The Equalizer 2 is the death of Susan Plummer. Robert’s CIA contact in The Equalizer 3 is Emma Collins, who it’s revealed is in fact Susan’s daughter. It’s this connection that allows Robert to inform the CIA of the illegal drug trade operating in the small Italian town of Altamonte, where Robert has settled for a quieter life.
There was also the character of Greg Dyer in The Equalizer 3 who Robert revealed to Emma he had a connection with. However, despite many wondering if the “pension guy” was in the second movie, he was a unique and new character introduced in The Equalizer 3. Beyond this though, the main connections between the two movies were thematic. Robert found a sense of peace at the end of The Equalizer 2, and it’s this peace that led him to Altamonte and wanting to settle down for a peaceful life by the time The Equalizer 3 begins.
The Equalizer 2
The Equalizer 2 is the follow-up film to Antoine Fuqua’s 2014 The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington as Robert McCall. The sequel was released four years later and follows McCall as he seeks revenge after one of his close friends is murdered. The film wasn’t as well received as the first movie but was still considered a worthy addition to the Equalizer franchise.
Director Antoine Fuqua
Release Date July 20, 2018
Writers Richard Wenk
Runtime 121minutes