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 returns 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.

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.

Why Robert Killed Kovak, Ari, and Resnik

Picking Off Dave's Henchmen Made The Final Fight Easier For Robert

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 , 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.

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

Robert Is Acknowledging The Power Of Community

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.

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 ed 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 rThe 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 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 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.

How The Equalizer 2 Ending Was Received

The Movie Received Mixed Reviews

As a whole, The Equalizer 2 was not a hit with critics or audiences. Across the board, reviews of the movie were mixed. One thing most of the audience could agree on, regardless of how they felt about the movie, is that Denzel Washington gave a great performance. Of course, that is not unusual for Washington. Many also seemed to be in agreement that the end of the movie featured great visuals.

The idea of Washington’s character going through inner turmoil while the world around him is in turmoil because of a hurricane might seem contrived, but it provides a great visual for the audience. A Reddit discussion about the movie sees movie-goers saying things like, “The hurricane ghost town fight, despite its inconsistencies, was fairly unique in setting…” and “Editing was really weird in the first half but the final showdown in the hurricane was actually pretty good.”

Though the choice might have seemed overblown to some critics, audiences enjoyed the final fight of the movie in large part due to the addition of the hurricane. It also sold audiences on the idea that Denzel Washington could do a sequel to The Equalizer 2 and got audiences to return for the next installment.