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crack_van2006-12-01 07:48 am
ladyrogue79.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-12-01 07:48 am
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The Equalizer: An Overview
Hello! I'm one of the small fandom drivers this month and this is my fandom's overview. It's not a long summary, but then this fandom isn't exactly big. Or even small, it's tiny actually.
And just in case it needs saying, this includes spoilers for most seasons.
The Equalizer
The Series
Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. An action-adventure series that aired from 1985 - 1989, The Equalizer was about a former CIA agent who decided to atone for his past with the Company by providing his services as an investigator and a protector, usually free of charge, to the public.
The Characters
Robert McCall: (Played by Edward Woodward) Robert got his start by serving in the British army alongside his father, Captain William McCall. He eventually moved to America and joined the Company after his father's death during a mission to Egypt. That was around the year 1960. Fast forward 25 years to the start of the actual show where we find a disillusioned and much wiser Robert just recently retired (rather illegally) from the Company and beginning his life a-new as the Equalizer. At this point in his life, Robert has more regrets than he has fingers to count them on, including his divorce (caused mainly by his work always coming first), his prolonged estrangement from his son, Scott, the death of his baby daughter, and the deaths of many co-workers and friends. If there was ever a character that had a good reason to angst, it's Robert McCall.
Control: (Played by Robert Lansing) Robert's link to the Company post-retirement. While Control usually shows up to ask Robert for a favor or vice versa, Control also plays the part of Robert's best friend who sits around Robert's apartment, drinking and reminiscing about their past (which usually ended with Robert angsting even more). Control also has this habit of popping up everywhere Robert is. Did I mention the subtext between Robert and Control? Yeah, there's subtext. A lot.
Michael "Mickey" Kostmayer: (Played by Keith Szarabajka) A recurring character on the show, Mickey is occasionally called in by Robert to help him with a case. On a couple occasions, he has to bail Robert out of a jam (though it sometimes went the other way). Mickey, like Control, still works for the Company with whom, it seems, he's always in trouble. Personality-wise, Mickey is the anti-Robert. While Robert is off in the corner angsting, Mickey's making amusing cracks about the situation. Of all the pairings, this one tends to be the most balanced.
Scott McCall: (Played by William Zabka) When Scott first appears in the series, he's the stereotypical bitter and rebellious son who's quite angry at Robert for thinking that after 11 years of never being around, he can just waltz back into Scott's life. Robert, however, is determined to make up for lost time. During the show's run, Robert and Scott's relationship slowly heals as Scott learns more and more about his father's past and the things he had to go through for his job. By the end of the series (or rather, Zabka's last guest appearance), their relationship was very close to being that of a normal father and son.
Sorry, I was unable to find a picture of Harley.
Harley Gage: (Played by Richard Jordan) Harley was actually a character that was brought in in the middle of season three. The episode of his first appearance was a two-parter, "Mission: McCall", in which Robert has been kidnapped and Harley, Mickey, and Scott end up having to rescue him. The real reason for this was because Edward Woodward was recovering from a heart attack at the time and was unable to appear for the episode (though he did at the end of the second part, but was shown as incapacitated). After that, Harley became a regular for the duration of the season, but disappeared by the beginning of season four.
Minor characters
Jimmy: (Played by Mark Margolis) One of Robert's friends and associates who helps him out with his cases from time to time. Jimmy appears numerous times throughout the series to aid Robert.
Pete O'Phelan: (Played by Maureen Anderman) Another friend of Robert's from the Company. She was forced to resign due to her marriage to another Company agent.
Yvette Marcel: (Played by Melissa Sue Anderson) Appearing in a two-parter, "Memories of Manon", Yvette plays the daughter of Phillip Marcel, a Canadian agent whose life is threatened during the course of the episode. It's revealed, however, that Phillip is not Yvette's father. She is actually Robert's daughter, the product of a fling he had with her mother back when they were working together in France.
Kay McCall Wesley: (Played by Sandy Dennis and Shirley Knight) Robert's ex-wife. She appears twice in the series, once in season one and again in season four.
The Fandom
I'm not going to lie. The Equalizer fandom is incredibly small. Beyond ff.net, there are only two archives for EQ fanfiction and even on those sites, there isn't a lot to be found. This is mainly due to the lack of exposure the show has gotten. A&E ran reruns for quite a while, but then discontinued them after a few years. Currently, the show is running on Spike TV at 10am weekday mornings. (Or at least it was, the reruns have seemed to have disappeared, but I don't know if this is permanent.) Edit: As was pointed out in the comments, EQ is showing at 1pm PST on the Sleuth Network. Tapes of the show exist, and hopefully they will release the show on DVD if the rumored Equalizer movie is ever made.
The Pairings
Robert/OFC: Throughout the show, Robert has the occasional fling that doesn't work out past one episode. So it's no surprise that this pairing shows up often in fanfiction.
Robert/Control: One of the more popular slash pairings in the fandom, the fiction is usually on the angsty side and almost always has Robert and Control's relationship as an established one that has been going on for quite sometime.
Robert/Mickey: Unlike Robert/Control, the fiction for this pairing tends to be a bit more on the lighthearted and cute side, usually due to Mickey's carefree manner balancing Robert's angst-ridden conscience.
Mickey/Scott: While I've only seen one or two fics for the pairing, it is out there.
Like I said, there isn’t a lot out there. The one EQ archive that's still active is Blueskydancers.com and it houses gen, het, and slash stories. FF.net also has an EQ category, but there are few stories there. For the most part though, a great deal of the fanfiction can only be found through fanzines right now.
And just in case it needs saying, this includes spoilers for most seasons.
The Equalizer
The Series
Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. An action-adventure series that aired from 1985 - 1989, The Equalizer was about a former CIA agent who decided to atone for his past with the Company by providing his services as an investigator and a protector, usually free of charge, to the public.
The Characters
Robert McCall: (Played by Edward Woodward) Robert got his start by serving in the British army alongside his father, Captain William McCall. He eventually moved to America and joined the Company after his father's death during a mission to Egypt. That was around the year 1960. Fast forward 25 years to the start of the actual show where we find a disillusioned and much wiser Robert just recently retired (rather illegally) from the Company and beginning his life a-new as the Equalizer. At this point in his life, Robert has more regrets than he has fingers to count them on, including his divorce (caused mainly by his work always coming first), his prolonged estrangement from his son, Scott, the death of his baby daughter, and the deaths of many co-workers and friends. If there was ever a character that had a good reason to angst, it's Robert McCall.
Control: (Played by Robert Lansing) Robert's link to the Company post-retirement. While Control usually shows up to ask Robert for a favor or vice versa, Control also plays the part of Robert's best friend who sits around Robert's apartment, drinking and reminiscing about their past (which usually ended with Robert angsting even more). Control also has this habit of popping up everywhere Robert is. Did I mention the subtext between Robert and Control? Yeah, there's subtext. A lot.
Michael "Mickey" Kostmayer: (Played by Keith Szarabajka) A recurring character on the show, Mickey is occasionally called in by Robert to help him with a case. On a couple occasions, he has to bail Robert out of a jam (though it sometimes went the other way). Mickey, like Control, still works for the Company with whom, it seems, he's always in trouble. Personality-wise, Mickey is the anti-Robert. While Robert is off in the corner angsting, Mickey's making amusing cracks about the situation. Of all the pairings, this one tends to be the most balanced.
Scott McCall: (Played by William Zabka) When Scott first appears in the series, he's the stereotypical bitter and rebellious son who's quite angry at Robert for thinking that after 11 years of never being around, he can just waltz back into Scott's life. Robert, however, is determined to make up for lost time. During the show's run, Robert and Scott's relationship slowly heals as Scott learns more and more about his father's past and the things he had to go through for his job. By the end of the series (or rather, Zabka's last guest appearance), their relationship was very close to being that of a normal father and son.
Sorry, I was unable to find a picture of Harley.
Harley Gage: (Played by Richard Jordan) Harley was actually a character that was brought in in the middle of season three. The episode of his first appearance was a two-parter, "Mission: McCall", in which Robert has been kidnapped and Harley, Mickey, and Scott end up having to rescue him. The real reason for this was because Edward Woodward was recovering from a heart attack at the time and was unable to appear for the episode (though he did at the end of the second part, but was shown as incapacitated). After that, Harley became a regular for the duration of the season, but disappeared by the beginning of season four.
Minor characters
Jimmy: (Played by Mark Margolis) One of Robert's friends and associates who helps him out with his cases from time to time. Jimmy appears numerous times throughout the series to aid Robert.
Pete O'Phelan: (Played by Maureen Anderman) Another friend of Robert's from the Company. She was forced to resign due to her marriage to another Company agent.
Yvette Marcel: (Played by Melissa Sue Anderson) Appearing in a two-parter, "Memories of Manon", Yvette plays the daughter of Phillip Marcel, a Canadian agent whose life is threatened during the course of the episode. It's revealed, however, that Phillip is not Yvette's father. She is actually Robert's daughter, the product of a fling he had with her mother back when they were working together in France.
Kay McCall Wesley: (Played by Sandy Dennis and Shirley Knight) Robert's ex-wife. She appears twice in the series, once in season one and again in season four.
The Fandom
I'm not going to lie. The Equalizer fandom is incredibly small. Beyond ff.net, there are only two archives for EQ fanfiction and even on those sites, there isn't a lot to be found. This is mainly due to the lack of exposure the show has gotten. A&E ran reruns for quite a while, but then discontinued them after a few years. Currently, the show is running on Spike TV at 10am weekday mornings. (Or at least it was, the reruns have seemed to have disappeared, but I don't know if this is permanent.) Edit: As was pointed out in the comments, EQ is showing at 1pm PST on the Sleuth Network. Tapes of the show exist, and hopefully they will release the show on DVD if the rumored Equalizer movie is ever made.
The Pairings
Robert/OFC: Throughout the show, Robert has the occasional fling that doesn't work out past one episode. So it's no surprise that this pairing shows up often in fanfiction.
Robert/Control: One of the more popular slash pairings in the fandom, the fiction is usually on the angsty side and almost always has Robert and Control's relationship as an established one that has been going on for quite sometime.
Robert/Mickey: Unlike Robert/Control, the fiction for this pairing tends to be a bit more on the lighthearted and cute side, usually due to Mickey's carefree manner balancing Robert's angst-ridden conscience.
Mickey/Scott: While I've only seen one or two fics for the pairing, it is out there.
Like I said, there isn’t a lot out there. The one EQ archive that's still active is Blueskydancers.com and it houses gen, het, and slash stories. FF.net also has an EQ category, but there are few stories there. For the most part though, a great deal of the fanfiction can only be found through fanzines right now.