'The Chickens Come Home To Roost': Lorraine Toussaint Discusses 'The Equalizer' Season Finale

(CBS) - The Equalizer airs its season one finale tonight at 8:00PM ET/PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Already renewed for a second season, tonight's finale will put the finishing touches on the show's successful first season and promises to leave fans on the edge of their seat waiting for The Equalizer's sophomore run.

CBS' Matt Weiss spoke to Lorraine Toussaint who plays Aunt Vi to discuss working alongside Queen Latifah, getting picked up for season two and what's in store for tonight's finale.

MW: Hello Lorraine, great to see you today and congratulations are in order with The Equalizer being picked up for a second season! What was that moment like when you got the call and you found out you were all coming back?

LT: When you've been doing this as long as I have, there's a sixth sense while you're shooting a project and you kind of hope it plays itself out the way you think it is. Even by the fourth episode when we aired and the ways in which our audiences responded, it was not necessarily surprising. It was still thrilling to know that they were enjoying the product that we were providing.

MW: Queen Latifah and yourself are both such incredible actors with successful careers. What's it been like working together on the show?

LT: It's nice working with a peer, this kind of mutual respect between us. There's a genuine affection also. I've always admired her work and the work ethic and her sense as a businesswoman and the ability to reinvent herself. These are all qualities that I have in my life; we seem to be well met. The affection that you're seeing on camera is really genuine. I'm very, very fond of her.

MW: Speaking of that on screen connection, you play Aunt Vi of course and I know you're only one season in, but what are some of your favorite things about her so far?

LT: I like how many levels she has. She actually has a lot of them. In season two, you'll see more of her personal life again. Her rather eclectic personal life, which we've actually just touched on one of the episodes this year. She's well read, well-traveled.

She's the Auntie that every teenager should have. She's the soft place to land. She's the one who can tell your secrets to because she's done it all. She's way cooler than I am. I get to indulge my wannabe coolness playing Aunt Vi.

MW: [Laughs} I'm sure you're selling yourself a little bit short there.

LT: Maybe. I have a 16-year-old at home. It keeps me humble. [Laughs]

MW: What was it like coming in and preparing for this role with the situation being so different due to the pandemic?

LT: We were sort of in the high point of the pandemic so the set looked very different. Shooting looked very different. The protocols were very different. How we shot, and under what conditions we've been shooting doesn't even look like what we've been accustomed to. That took a bit of getting used to.

We shut down several times and we'd pick it up again. It was just shut it down, pick it up, shut it down, pick it up. But we made it, here we are. Now we're looking at the season finale and a very exciting season finale I might add.

MW: Right and the perfect lead in for my last question here, you made it through all those protocols and like you said the season finale is this Sunday. What are fans going to see? What can we expect?

LT: We are going to see Robin's past come crashing into her personal life. The chickens come home to roost some very, very bad guys from her CIA past find her at home. For the first time, we see her home life in danger. We see Aunt Vi and Delilah in danger and there's nothing more fierce than a mama bear who's protecting her cub.

We see a level of equalizing from Robin, a level of vulnerability from her. Also, in this episode, in all these characters, we all have a lot of stake in the finale, which makes a really great drama.

MW: Perfect. Can't wait to see how it all unfolds and looking forward to seeing you all back for season two. Thank you so much Lorraine and all the best moving forward!

LT: Thank you so much.

The Equalizer airs on CBS Sunday night, May 23rd at 8:00PM ET/PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.