‘The Equalizer’: Tory Kittles Says Dante Is ‘Completely Caught Off Guard’ by Family Secret

You know what they say: There’s nothing like a dangerous situation to bring estranged family members together. Well, at least maybe that will be the case on The Equalizer.

In the May 5 episode, “Condemned,” Dante (Tory Kittles) and his father Big Ben (Danny Johnson)—whose relationship was already intense before the latter canceled plans with his grandkids at the last minute—are ambushed by a group of suspicious attackers, and a major family secret is revealed. Robyn (Queen Latifah), of course, races to help.

Below, Kittles previews trouble and possible change ahead for Dante and his father, as well as that family secret.

Dante and Big Ben spending time together seems like it can only end badly, and now you add them being ambushed to the mix. How would you describe their relationship going into this tense situation?

I really like how you just framed that: Dante and Big Ben being together can only end badly. That’s very well put. Dante has been struggling with himself about how much to let his father back into his life, how much to let his father back into his kids’ life, and it hasn’t ended well for him. Sort of like in his childhood, growing up with Big Ben, he’s always been a disappointment. He’s always let Dante down, and even though Dante hopes that he’ll change, the pathology seems to be the same as he’s now let his kids down and he’s letting Dante down, but Dante’s still trying to be there for him. It’s that familial relationship where you can’t pick your family, you just have to deal with them.

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What is it going to take for that to change? Can anything change that?

I think in this episode, we actually get to see some of that began to happen. They connect on a deeper level, and some family secrets are revealed in this episode. As much as Dante wants to hate his father, he’s still his father and he can’t. He’s still holding out hope that they can have a relationship, even if it’s solely for the benefit of his kids. And that’s something that plays out over the course of the next episode.

Preview how they end up being ambushed.

Big Ben reaches out to Dante to take him to the funeral of his former partner. And while they’re on the way to the funeral, they are attacked, they are ambushed, and they’re on the run from these suspicious guys and they don’t know where it’s coming from. But what we find out is that it’s actually Dante and Big Ben’s pasts colliding and coming back to haunt them both in this moment.

What can you preview about that family secret and how Dante is going to react?

I can tell you that this family secret completely upends Dante’s thinking about his father. It throws him for a loop. He’s completely caught off guard, and he does not know how to deal with it.

And of course, it’s coming at the worst possible time.

Absolutely. It comes at the worst time. [Laughs]

That’s TV. What else would you expect?

Well, that’s good writing.

The Equalizer, Sundays, 8/7c, CBS