It’s been yet another rough year for CBS fans and it’s sadly gotten rougher.
After weeks of negotiations, CBS has announced that it will not be renewing The Equalizer for a sixth season with the show’s upcoming season 5 finale now set to serve as the series finale. That’s right, The Equalizer has officially been canceled with CBS bringing an unexpected end to the Queen Latifah-led drama in a move unlikely to sit well with fans.
News of The Equalizer’s cancellation comes right on the heels of CBS announcing it would not be proceeding with the previously planned spinoff set to be led by Titus Welliver. While the spinoff’s cancellation wasn’t the best sign, when word broke that CBS was not proceeding with the spinoff, reports suggested that CBS was in negotiations to bring The Equalizer back for what was expected to be a 13-episode final season.
Instead, it seems CBS will be ending the show without giving it a proper farewell season, which is a true shame for the fans who have followed along over the show’s five seasons. Not only is CBS not planning on bringing the show back, but it seems the show will also not be shopped around by Universal Television, meaning the season 5 finale on May 4 will be the show’s final episode.
Of course, sudden cancellations without proper endings are nothing new to CBS.
This season, CBS has canceled a handful of hit series in recent years, including this season, and the cancellation of The Equalizer is sure to give fans flashbacks to last year’s cancellation of NCIS: Hawaii. Ahead of the show’s cancellation, all reports suggested that a renewal was imminent, only for NCIS: Hawaii to be canceled abruptly in the end, forcing the show to end without a proper conclusion.
The Equalizer was the final show on the bubble for CBS, and with its cancellation, it now joins FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted, SWAT, and Poppa’s House in the cancellation column. The cancellations came with much surprise to fans as the shows seemed to be performing well, but it seems that CBS was simply once again forced to cancel shows performing well in order to make room for new series. This plan was one that did not sit well with fans, but it’s proved successful as new CBS originals Matlock, NCIS: Origins, and Watson all performed strongly this season and secured renewals for the 2024-25 season.
The good news is that Deadline reports that the creative team behind the show crafted the season 5 finale to work as a possible series finale. This should hopefully mean we won’t see the show end on a major cliffhanger, which is a silver lining for fans, as there is nothing worse than your favorite show ending with a ton of loose ends.
