Chinese thugs kidnap the wrong kid, believing the captured tyke to be the son of a wealthy Asian man who has perhaps been doing business overseas that is not exactly "legit". Of course someone like The Equalizer (Edward Woodward, always in fine form) has the ability to uncover such improper business practices and "encourages" Mr. Lin (Tzi Ma) to cooperate by providing $100,000 as a "taste" to satiate their momentary appetite. Mrs. Tom (Lauren Tom) is the mother of kidnapped tyke but after the first exchange Lin isn't prepared to part with anymore money. McCall (Woodward) wires some of the money and learns of the thugs' whereabouts, right above a vegetable/fish market store in Chinatown. McCall will align himself with a "live wire" former member of "The Company", Kostmayer (Keith Szarabajka, who would become a series regular), a "guns-a-blazin'" kind of guy. Anyway, the episode further establishes the "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" association between Company Man, Control (Robert Lansing, always fun to see, even if for just a few minutes) and McCall as the former wants information on a peculiar character named Cyprus. So McCall wants weaponry and Kostmayer in exchange later when needed to enter the dangerous territory of the Chinese thugs holding the child captive, wired with explosives (while they have machine guns). I failed to mention him last time, but Steven Williams (many might know from The X Files) is Lt. Jefferson Burnett of the police who always appeals to McCall to not "keep him out of the loop" when at work. This is an uneasy alliance, the two have different methods to achieve the same result, but often McCall gets the job done while Burnett gets to clean up the mess. "China Rain" doesn't really have a mind-blowing plot and is rather simple in approach and payoffÂ…McCall uses his expertise in espionage to throw the police off momentarily while he moves in with Kostmayer to go after the kid. You see a number of "toys" used in the field by McCall and Kostmayer is certain to be an interesting contrast to his "old man" boss. What this episode continues to do is show that Equalizer is quite a hero for those who have few places to turn because the usual victim has little money or resources while he seems to have them in abundance. Again, McCall meets someone nefarious from the past in order to get closer to the kidnappers (Joe's Boys is what they are called), and his knowledge of Lin's own activities, obviously lucrative and illegal in equal measure, further proves he can dig up plenty of dirt if needed to get a response from those not exactly willing to "share the wealth" when called upon. Watching Woodward walking amongst the mostly Asian crowd in lively Chinatown at night is quite a nifty sequence.
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