In the “Chinatown” episode of The Equalizer, McCall (Queen Latifah) and Mel (Liza Lapira) along with a jaded ex-cop (Perry Yung) search for the killers of a beloved Chinatown baker. The Asian American bakery owner was the victim of a hate crime masked to look like an accidental electrical fire. Meanwhile, Aunt Vi (Lorraine Toussaint) feels slighted after Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) cancels on her to go shopping with her friends. Lapira, who is of Filipino, Spanish and Chinese descent, shared her own personal experiences with the episode’s writer, Zoe Robyn, to help shape this week’s story. “It was an incredible privilege to collaborate with Liza in writing this episode," Robyn said. “To have someone share their lived experience with you is such a gift. Liza told me lots of personal stories, and what surprised me most was her humor, even when talking about the hard stuff. The fact that young Asian people are banding together all over the country to chaperone their elderly neighbors safely to and from the grocery store comes from the same place. It’s this attitude of resilience, and solidarity, and really badass strength in the face of hate, and it absolutely had a huge impact on our story-telling.” Lapira drew from personal experience about a scene in this episode of The Equalizer. “Mel has a scene where she talks about her mother being harassed—attacked really—in a crowded supermarket and that comes from a version of that, that happened to my mother and I when I was very young,” says Lapira. “The idea of being surrounded by people and yet completely alone was an important dynamic to talk about. The strategic choices those attacked then have to make, and the anger of a young child who rages against not only the attacker but the bystanders looking on and doing nothing. How that forms a young child to resolve to be different. Zoe did a brilliant job of integrating that into Mel’s origin story. Mel decides, at a very young age, to never be one who doesn’t stand up and help. “My hope is that more Asian American artists-—writers and actors—have a seat at the table in a real way. Not just for lip service or for appearances, but being empowered and actively listened to. This is inherently a collaborative art, and the more voices in the room, the better the finished product will be,” say Lapira. New episodes of The Equalizer premiere on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Episodes can also be streamed lived or on demand on Paramount+. Next, The Equalizer‘s Lorraine Toussaint on Keeping Secrets, Law & Order and Black Lives Matter
