The Equalizer (2021) s02e06 Episode Script

Shooter

1 Previously on The Equalizer I'm the one you call when you can't call 911.
There's something I need equalized.
This is Melody, one of my oldest friends.
You had me at "risky.
" What's the plan? How's it going, Harry? Enjoying being dead? Five years of being stuck underground It's getting a little old.
I'm asking, Rob, help me live again.
This isn't right.
I'm a cop.
You'll have your moment.
But right now, it's my turn.
So you're the vigilante everybody's been talking about.
I think your mission just came to a close.
Not saying I approve of your methods but I'm gonna look past it.
For now.
Happy to help.
Heard about Delilah.
What happened to her friend That's a terrible thing.
The last thing Jason did before he was shot was turn to me and smile.
Come on.
Stop.
Be serious.
Oh, oh Okay.
First year is paper.
50-yard line? No way! Oh, my God.
I love you.
Happy anniversary, my love.
Okay, okay, if we're doing this now, I got a little something for you.
Here you go.
Oh, God Ella? Ella?! Somebody help! Somebody! No.
You're buying me coffee? That's a first.
What's this gonna cost me? I was just being friendly, is all.
Ha.
How was the mission? I told you, I was on vacation.
Right.
And those Syrian schoolkids just freed themselves.
Well, now that you've bribed me, you mind telling me what I'm doing here? Problem I'm working.
Have you ever had an asset who had to disappear? I'm talking into the weeds.
No road home.
A few.
Ever try to bring one back? Once.
Any luck? Well, just how deep in the cold are they? The Arctic.
I've been looking for a path, but Yeah.
Well, from what I've learned, sometimes there just isn't a way back home.
Enjoy your coffee.
And another shooting claims a third life.
So far, police have been unable to find a connection - between any of the victims.
- Look, I always think of myself as being open-minded, but, baby girl, that is just plain dumb.
- Mom? - Uh-uh.
Me first.
What's going on? There's been another shooting.
Third one in three days.
Now everyone in the city is scared, except for this one, who thinks it's a good idea to go hang out with her friends.
Friend.
One friend.
I just need to go to Tiffany's house to finish a physics project.
With a sniper on the loose randomly killing people.
May I talk now? - You may.
- Okay, thank you.
All I need to do is go to Tiffany's house for a few hours.
- To do homework? - Yes.
And just chill.
It's a joint project, and all of our notes are at her house.
I mean, come on, there are 8.
8 million people in this city and only one sniper.
The chances are pretty low, if you ask me.
Okay, you can go to Tiffany's house.
- Yes! - But only if Aunt Vi or myself drive you there and back.
And under no circumstances are you to leave her house.
- Understand? - Yes.
Thank you.
Oh, you're just gonna sit there in silence and judge me? Oh, I'm not gonna be silent.
I'm gonna shout it from the highest mountaintop.
Are you crazy? Aunt Vi, you think I don't want to lock her down, too? But after everything she's been through.
Come on, at some point, we just have to let her live.
Otherwise, we're gonna be feeding the fear she's battling.
You're gonna have to drive.
Robyn.
Just be careful.
Please.
Secret meeting in a garage? I thought we were past all this.
It was necessary.
Try to keep an open mind.
Madam D.
A.
I wasn't expecting to see you so soon.
That makes two of us.
I don't take meeting with you lightly.
But the sniper took another victim today.
- So I heard.
- What you didn't hear is that, after the first shooting, a demand came in.
He wants $30 million or and I quote "New York will be raining bodies.
" Which leaves you, the mayor and the city in a no-win situation.
You don't pay, the killings continue.
You pay and It's open season for anyone with a gun looking for a payday.
Which is why I came to you.
The only way out is to find the sniper and take him down.
Which is something the NYPD, despite all efforts, haven't been able to do yet.
Any leads? Nothing solid.
Victims seem random.
We haven't even been able to firmly identify where he's shooting from.
I wouldn't be here if there were any other option.
If I would've known I was meeting with the D.
A.
, I would've wore my good shoes.
I was worried if I told you, you wouldn't have come.
It's my city, too.
I need everything you have Witness statements, police reports, - ballistics.
- Aren't you already in our system? I need what's not in your system.
With real-time updates.
We're definitely on the clock.
Damn it.
What's wrong? We're down to one bartender.
Nobody wants to come in, 'cause of the shootings.
Looks like I'm gonna have to cover the late shift.
Well, nobody wants to leave their home.
Can't say I blame 'em.
I'm glad you don't have to go outside.
Hey.
Did you talk to Bishop? Can he pull any strings? Can he resurrect me? It's a work in progress.
It may take some time.
- But, listen, we have a new client.
- Who? The City of New York.
Grafton came to me personally.
Needs our help - finding a sniper.
- Wait, seriously? One second you're behind bars, the next second she's your client? That's not weird.
It gets even weirder.
We have the full cooperation of NYPD.
Expect a data dump soon.
Cops think the killings are random, but All right, you want me to dig deep, look for potential patterns.
Yeah.
And, Mel, I'm gonna need your shooter's eye.
Takes a thief to catch a thief.
Can you meet me where the last victim was killed? Yeah.
I'm on my way.
Projectile hit the seated vic, then struck the concrete.
Given the angle, NYPD thinks the shot came from over there.
Tenth floor.
They combed the place, but they didn't find a nest.
What time was the shooting? Exactly.
8:37 a.
m.
What you thinking? Thinking the shot could've come from any one of those buildings.
But given the position of the sun, you'd have reflective flares.
Plus, there's way too much open space to dampen the noise.
Someone would've clocked the location of a shot that close.
All right.
Me? I'd give it more space.
Anything over 500 yards, you'd have variables, like gravity, the Coriolis effect.
But for a cleaner escape route, there's a tactically better, albeit far more difficult, shot.
Where? NYPD thinks it's over there.
It's actually way over there.
'Cause it's not just about taking a shot.
It's about being able to get in and get out without being detected.
From that distance, he could see people coming and be gone before they arrived.
Rob, a person capable of making that shot is no ordinary sniper.
I mean, we are talking someone with a truly elite skill set.
Someone trained to kill and disappear.
Unless we find them A lot more people are gonna die.
Great.
They found the sniper's nest, right where you said it would be.
That's why the cops couldn't find the other two.
They didn't realize how good this guy was.
Applying the same logic to the previous two shootings, I'd place the perches here.
And here.
Harry, did you find any connections between the victims? No.
I combed through all their histories.
There's no intersections.
Well, if the vics aren't related, maybe these buildings are.
You find anything else at the perch? Some pencil markings on the wall.
Shooter's last-minute calculations, maybe? Let me see.
Thanks.
Uh - Oh, God.
- What? These formulas Every sniper uses them, but I only know one person who teaches this variation.
Oh, wait, not - Yeah.
- The guy who Yeah.
W No, hold up.
You're not gonna go see this guy.
What choice do I have? It's like purposely stepping on a land mine.
Yeah.
But if he's the person who trained the shooter, I don't have a choice.
Come on.
Crisp up on that target.
Now cant your scope to the reticle and work up and down from the tallest position.
There you go.
Center mass.
Airman Bayani.
You know, think you might have made a wrong turn, 'cause this-this range is for shooters who know how to pull the trigger.
Well, I guess some things never change.
Look, as much as it pains me, Erickson, I'm here because I need your help.
Well, I can't help the helpless.
I'm working for the NYPD.
On the sniper case.
And-and they asked you? Well, uh, I guess we can rule you out as the shooter.
You're not getting away from anyone with that limp.
Yeah, well.
Badge of honor, Bayani.
You wouldn't understand.
You know, in the, uh, in the spirit of trying to keep this little tête-à-tête as short as possible, what exactly can I do to get you sorted out? Whoever is pulling the trigger they were trained by you.
Well, that explains why they're so accurate.
Ah.
You know, I've trained snipers for 30 years in every branch of the military.
Turned out hundreds of elite combat sharpshooters and some not so much.
In order to hit those shots, they'd have to be at the top of their game.
- Mm-hmm.
- That means logging hours.
And you have the only long-distance range in New York.
No one is thinking that you're involved, I just need you to email me a list of every ex-student who's been through here in the past year.
That almost sounds like an order, Airman.
- You know what? - What? Your chevrons are hanging in a moth-filled closet somewhere, and I left this little power dynamic years ago.
So you can either give me what I need or I can get a bunch of cops to start digging around here.
Off the top of your head, how many illegal firearms do you think they'd find? I need that list in 30 minutes.
You could have been something else, Bayani.
You had the skills, just just not the guts.
How'd it go? As delightful as expected.
But Erickson just emailed me the list.
How about you two? Any luck? Oh, yeah.
Harry? So, we, uh, went with your hypothesis about the two potential perch locations.
And it took a while, but we found one common denominator.
All three buildings were serviced by the same commercial janitorial company, Clear Green Cleaning.
Well, that explains the sniper's access.
That's what we thought, so I hacked the mainframe, and, uh, managed to get this list of all their employees.
Just forwarded you Erickson's list of ex-students.
It's cross-referencing.
Got a hit.
Silas Furlong.
Oh, wow.
Former Air Force sniper.
You know him? No.
How many tours? Five.
Two in Iraq, three in Afghanistan.
Man, all in 15 years.
He just left three years ago.
How was he discharged? Honorable, but ODPMC.
- Mental issues? - Yeah.
Looks like they showed him the door after a few questionable kills.
Yeah, I know a lot of vets who cycled out like that.
Had a hard time adjusting.
How's it been since he's been home? Not great.
That's a long fall, from sniper to a janitor.
Looks like things fell apart quickly after the discharge.
His wife divorced him within the year and then she filed a restraining order filed against him, which he violated and for which he was arrested twice.
She got full custody of the kid with no visitation.
So he comes home, loses it.
Can't do what he's good at, so, doesn't fit in.
Family life starts breaking down and out comes his rage.
And he starts expressing it the only way he knows how.
Right, but what's-what's with the ransom? I mean, he's trying to punish the city? He's lashing out at the people in charge? I don't know.
But divorce Means a sad dad apartment.
Yeah, he rented this one six months ago.
Let's go.
What about him? No, I heard all he's about is Call of Duty.
I could deal with that.
You're a little cray today.
Your Mom's never gonna know we went out.
No, it's not that.
I mean, don't you feel a little weird being out here with a sniper running around? Please.
My mom says you have a better chance of being hit by lightning.
Yeah, you don't know that.
Oh, my God.
Hey.
You all right? Uh, yeah.
Jason! No! Dee, are you okay? Oh, God.
Oh, God Clear.
This look like a single guy's place to you? Looks like someone recreating what they lost.
Yeah.
I see his personal effects, but where's his gear? Where's everything else? Maybe he has a storage shed.
Got it.
"Shooter terrorizes city.
" Looks like we're at the right place.
It's his D.
O.
P.
E.
book.
All the data on his previous engagements.
He logged a bunch of hours.
Meticulous, too.
It's him.
Logs on the last three shootings.
And he's researching a place on the East Side.
I know that intersection.
That's the falafel place everybody goes to.
Dante, we found him, and we found his next target area.
I'm gonna send you the address.
You need to get some units down there now.
Rob, these calculations.
Given the wind conditions and the position of the sun, if he's looking for the perfect time to shoot, it's in the next 15 minutes.
Clear the area! Clear! Take cover! Clear! Get down! Get down! Get to cover! Get to cover now! Grab her legs.
It's okay.
I know where he is.
Go! Hold on.
Just breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Hang on.
Hang on, hold on.
Excu Move.
Move, move, move! Move, move, move, move! If it wasn't for you, she'd be dead.
Yeah, well, we didn't get Furlong.
Still a win.
We know who he is now.
We'll find him.
Well, given his mindset, I would get the wife and kid into protective custody.
Already have units on the way.
Madam D.
A.
I hear you found the shooter.
The mayor's very relieved.
Well, don't breathe yet.
Job's not done.
Furlong knows you're coming, which means any guardrails he had left are gone.
You don't think he'll run? I mean, if I were him, I'd You'd what? I'm sorry.
Excuse me for a second.
Dee, you good? Ms.
McCall, it's Tiffany.
What's wrong? There's something the matter with Dee.
We're at the park across from my house.
You need to come now.
I got to go.
- What do you think that's all about? - I'm not sure.
Well, find out.
I want to know what she thinks he'll do.
In the meantime, release his photo to the press.
I want everyone in the city looking for him.
Is she all right? No.
But she's calm for now.
I've never seen her like that.
The shaking, the look in her eyes.
What happened? A post-traumatic stress reaction.
A bad one.
Jason.
The shooting.
This whole sniper thing must have triggered her.
Or maybe I missed the signs.
I should've known this would be possible, I should've gotten ahead of it.
Honey, stop beating yourself up.
We see it now.
How do we help her? What do we do? She's gonna need professional help.
Or this could get worse.
Okay.
Then we get her the help she needs, Mama.
Thanks.
Yeah, we will.
How's Dee? She sounds pretty shaken.
So is Robyn.
I told her we'd check in on them, but the best thing we can do for her right now is find this guy.
Any news? NYPD's got nothing.
What about you? I mean, what would you do next? Anybody can get inside this guy's head, it's you.
I don't want to.
I've known snipers like him.
In the field, they try to take away all ambiguity.
The tell you, "Shoot them or they'll shoot you.
" You're told they're targets, not people.
You do that long enough, you either compartmentalize and hang on to your humanity, or switch off a part of your brain and lose your soul.
Furlong is the latter.
I could see it in his eyes.
What? H-He saw you? Just for a second.
You know what? It was weird, 'cause we have never met, but there was recognition on his face.
Well, I mean, do you think he knows you? We both trained under the same guy.
- Oh, boy.
- And I was a rarity behind the scope.
Women still are.
It gave us a certain notoriety.
Okay.
Someone else is closing down the bar tonight.
- Harry.
- What? The-the guy is a killer.
I mean, do you think I'm overreacting? No.
No, it's okay.
I love that you worry about me.
Okay? Don't ever stop.
I won't.
You've reached the NYPD tip line.
If you're calling about an incident in progress, please dial 911.
It seems like you now know who I am.
So now the game is gonna change.
If I don't get my money in 12 hours, I'm gonna escalate Dee's up.
We talked a bit.
Seems like she's doing a little better.
Well, she's shifted from the impact stage, which is where anxiety dissipates.
But it also means she's likely to slip back into denial.
And I'm not gonna let that happen on my watch.
Got to take this.
Hey.
You took off pretty fast yesterday.
Everything okay with your kid? Seen enough mothers get calls like that to know what one looks like.
It's gonna be fine.
Thanks.
Speaking of family, we've got Furlong's.
They're a little shaken, but seem okay.
What'd they say? Wife's shocked but not surprised.
She noticed a shift in his personality after his last deployment.
Well, did she give you anything regarding his whereabouts? Nothing of use.
She hasn't been in contact with him recently.
The reason I called there's been a new threat.
Listen.
It seems like you now know who I am.
So now the game is gonna change.
If I don't get my money in the next 12 hours, I'm gonna escalate the punishment.
If I can't have my kids, then New York sure as hell can't have theirs.
He's going after kids? Furlong sent an email with instructions on the ransom drop, the pressure on the mayor is too much, he's decided to pay.
No, this is wrong.
We know who he is, we have his family.
He'll never be able to disappear, so the money is useless.
Drop's got to be a diversion.
From what? He's in endgame now.
He knows he's cornered.
He's gonna go out with a bang.
If he's not going to the drop, where is he going? Well, if the drop is way out in Brooklyn, then it stands to reason that That whatever he's planning will be as far away as possible.
All right, pulling up every office building serviced by Clear Green Cleaning.
There must be three dozen, Rob.
Filter by places with locations near groups of children.
Parks.
Schools.
That sort of thing.
You really think he'd kill a child? I think he's pathological, potentially suicidal, and he blames the city for taking away his own kids.
So, yes.
There's still too many.
Yeah, it's 18 buildings spread out over all five boroughs.
There's no way to cover that large of an area.
Rob? Maybe Furlong's wife can help.
Do any of these seem familiar? Any that might hold significance for your ex? I told you, I don't know him.
Not anymore.
The man I loved The man I met in sixth grade Is gone.
The man who came home, I don't even recognize.
I want to help you, Detective, but I don't know any of these buildings.
Hi.
It's okay.
We're done.
Is Daddy taking me to the playground? Which playground, sweetie? That's Daddy's building.
When we works there, he takes me to the park up the street.
And then we get ice cream.
This park? You sure? Uh-huh.
Thank you.
I don't do for you, I do for me And all this beauty I possess inside, I let it rise Electra tries to shock the world But here these girls with dreams I like it.
It's got kind of, like, a new jack swing kind of vibe.
Hey.
What you thinking? How I humiliated myself in front of all my friends.
Everyone's gonna say I'm a freak.
What are they gonna say? It doesn't matter.
None of them are perfect, right? And let me tell you something.
If they're your real friends, they'll understand.
I got to take this.
I'll be right back.
You got to teach me.
I just can't get it right.
You'll get it.
What's up? Think I've got the sniper's next location.
There's a park outside near one of the office buildings where Furlong used to take his daughter.
Fits his line of thinking: if he can't go there with his kid, then nobody can.
You need to get a show of force over there A.
S.
A.
P.
I already called the D.
A.
They've got all available resources at the ransom drop and the mayor won't divert them on a hunch.
You can't be serious.
Until we have something concrete, we're on our own.
I'll text you the address and meet you there.
You two, clear the park.
You two, come with me.
Building's three blocks down.
Let's go.
Get everyone - out of the park now, let's go.
- Detective Dante.
For your safety, we got to clear the park.
Move it.
Sorry, have we met? We have a mutual friend.
So, where is she? She's taking care of something.
It's just us.
Understood.
The serial killer.
It was you at my house that night.
You fired the shot that took him out.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Of course not.
Hey.
Hey, it's the right building.
Furlong crossed the lobby 20 minutes ago.
I'm texting you a pic right now.
Facial rec has him at a 78% match.
Uh, yeah.
That's one of the janitors.
I keyed him up to the tenth floor.
This side faces the park.
Hold up.
He's in this one.
You sure? It's booby-trapped.
- Sloppy but effective.
- How do we get in? We don't.
I get the bomb squad down here.
- How long will that take? - 20 minutes.
The Las Vegas sniper killed 60 people in less than ten.
We can't wait.
Where are you going? Hey.
What's going on? Nothing, baby.
Let me hear some more of your music.
No.
Was that about the sniper? I heard you on the phone earlier.
Are you working that case? If something's happening, you should go.
Look, there's always something happening.
I just want to be here with you.
Mom, you do not need to babysit me.
I am fine.
I'm over it.
Yeah, that's what you're saying, but you're not.
Post-traumatic stress is real, and it's serious.
I know.
But just listen.
I understand that I've got an issue, and I appreciate you being here for me.
But I also know that we're not gonna fix my problems in the next few hours, and there's a whole city that needs your help.
Right now.
Okay? So go help them, and come back to me.
Alive.
No, I need everybody here right now.
Clear all the pedestrians from this street.
And get all those kids to safety.
The woman who was with me Where'd she go? Where are you hiding? Figured you'd show up.
Put it down.
Put it down! You can't shoot the park from here.
No? This isn't about kids, is it? It's about killing cops.
Do you know what it's like to be arrested? To be torn away from your kid? It was all a ruse.
The message, the drop.
You wanted us to find that building, to think you were in that room.
Get them all rushing there into a situation that you control.
They'll stage down there.
Away from where they think I am.
It's a perfect angle from here.
You're drawing them into a kill box.
They treated me like a criminal.
After everything I gave my country.
This is payback.
You know, Silas, you don't have to do this.
Killing innocent people is not payback.
Nobody is innocent.
You never learned that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know all about you, Melody Bayani.
Going through sniper school, Erickson used you as a cautionary tale.
Told us how you froze.
You were given an order to take out the enemy, but you didn't have the guts.
It's almost embarrassing they sent you after me.
Yeah, Erickson loves that story.
How the woman froze.
You want to know the truth? I didn't take that shot on purpose.
It was a bad call.
The target was just a kid.
The daughter of a local who had wandered too close to our position.
But Erickson panicked.
So I said that I froze.
I don't shoot innocents.
But Erickson You know his ego He couldn't stand it.
So he smeared my name.
He left me to rot at some Podunk base.
And you know what, I might have.
Only, the Taliban got bad intel that we had a weapons cache.
They stormed the base, and let me tell you something, I took plenty of hard shots that day.
Classified shots.
I had 17 confirmed kills.
- 17 confirmed snipes? - No.
14 snipes.
The last three Well they were all close-quarter! I don't freeze, either.
Thank you.
Ooh, but I totally had that.
No doubt.
Wait a minute, how'd you know I was here? Thank your friend for me, will you? Don't mention it.
Or her.
To anyone.
Explosive's been disabled.
Scene is secure.
Thank you, Detective.
And thank you.
The city's grateful.
If there's ever anything you need Oh, I'll be sure to let you know.
Actually, what would you think about coming into the fold? Working with us, in an unofficial capacity.
Thanks.
But that's not me.
But if you're ever in trouble, you know how to find me.
Oh, sweet mother of God! That's spicy! That was torture.
Oh, come on, it's not that spicy.
No.
Seeing you on that roof.
Knowing I couldn't be there to have your back was torture.
I know.
You don't need my help.
No, I I get it.
I would feel the same if the situation was reversed.
In a way, I know I've had it easy.
You know, I know you're always here, always safe.
And I want you to go out into the world.
I do.
But if I'm honest it'll be an adjustment.
Hmm.
Oh, hey, I meant to ask you something.
Why didn't you tell that bastard Erickson what really happened? I mean, this guy has no idea, uh, like, insanely impressive career you went on to have.
How could you not just want rub that in? Because I take perverse pleasure in knowing that he was wrong about me.
Besides, if I was never on that base, I would've never have pulled into military intelligence and I might not have met this handsome face.
Mm.
I'm really glad You didn't shoot that woman.
For both of us.
- Cheers.
- Mm-hmm.
Still shaking? It only happens occasionally.
Like you said, Mom, I'm gonna be fine.
Because I have you.
Listen, baby.
I'm always gonna be here for you.
But you need more than me.
You need professional help.
Come on, Mom, a shrink? Post-traumatic stress is no joke.
Let me tell you something, everyone needs help from time to time.
Even me.
You had this, too? And with the kind of secrets we're carrying, we can't just talk to anyone.
They need to be someone in my community.
Someone you'd be safe telling everything to.
But in the meantime, I've asked a friend over.
He's someone who who's helped me through some rough patches of my own.
You mean a friend from the C He's family.
As a matter of fact, he met you just after you were born.
Hey, Delilah.

Previous EpisodeNext Episode