Picture: CBS
Fans of the CBS series The Equalizer have had a rough month. As you may have heard, the network officially canceled the series after five seasons, with a sixth season now ruled out. If you were hoping for Netflix to be the saviour or even for them to pick up the newer seasons, we’ve got bad news: the series is about to depart Netflix US.
While never critically acclaimed, the audience for the Queen Latifah police procedural did stick around. The series, created by Andrew Marlowe and Terri Edda Miller, followed Robyn McCall who used her extensive skills to help those in need.
The Equalizer’s stint on Netflix has been incredibly short, with seasons 1-3, consisting of 46 episodes, only being added to Netflix on December 16th, 2024. We guess that this license was to help juice interest in the show ahead of its pending renewal after season 5 wrapped up.
The series was a modest success on Netflix despite only being available in the US. It ultimately spent 18 days in the daily TV charts before dropping out. The Netflix Engagement Report suggests the series picked up close to 4 million views in total, but that’s misleading given that it was only available for a couple of weeks from July through December.
Just six months after its addition, the show is set to leave, with a removal notice now confirming that your “Last day to watch on Netflix” is June 15th. The series will depart in full on June 16th.
Removal date for The Equalizer
Of course, that wasn’t to come with news dropping in early May 2025 that the show was complete after five seasons.
Speaking about the cancelations, an executive for CBS said, “The schedule is really full and so we always have to look at all of our shows, look at the aggregate information, the creative of where they are in their life cycle, what the finances look like, what the ratings are, and then we make those tough decisions.”
Reacting the cancelation news, Queen Latifah said, “Shakim [Compere] and I at Flavor Unit are always excited to bring these kinds of roles and projects to life — and then we just hope you love them as much as we do,” adding, “The Equalizer blew past every dream we had for it, and having the opportunity to do this for five seasons honestly feels surreal.”
This continues the trend of Paramount-owned series coming to Netflix for a brief period. It is slightly different from licenses from some of its peers in the US, where Netflix will often pick up shows for their entire run and for a period thereafter. Star Trek: Prodigy is another good example, given we just recently learned the first season is departing after only 18 months.
For the complete list of what’s leaving Netflix in the US in June 2025, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix. Are you disappointed that The Equalizer is leaving Netflix so soon? Let us know in the comments.
