Resilience pays off.

That was the main message to take from The Equalizer Season 1 Episode 3, which found Robin trying to save a man who was failed by the system.

The wrong person being sent away for crimes is hardly new, but by biding his time before making his escape from prison, Dale kickstarted the unraveling of the truth.

This further shows that Robin's form of justice is working better than anything else right now. Had she not been online awaiting a new mission, Dale would probably have been sent back to his cell to rot until his death.

I appreciated the way Robin was conflicted about taking on the case. Had she failed to believe Dale was innocent, she would have never given the case the time of day.

The media had skewered Dale to the point that his own son deemed him the villain in the narrative, and it made for quite the tearjerker of an episode.

Geraghty's introduction, however, could have been handled better. I'm all for developments that make sense, but being rude in the hospital to Robin before being revealed as the mastermind behind the murder and the cover-up was too on the nose for me to take seriously.

It was obvious Felicia was hiding something during her first scene. Still, the overall case was decent. She was way too worried over the case, despite her probably putting away hundreds of thousands of people in her career as a judge.

Dante: This equalizing you're doing. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to come after you.
Robin: I'd be disappointed if you didn't.

Permalink: I'd be disappointed if you didn't.

Another thing that crossed my mind when all of it was said and done: Felicia was in a position of power and could have probably gotten Geraghty taken down much sooner.

She had connections, and the threats from Geraghty would have been no match if the law saved her family. Then again, he did murder at least two people that we know of.

Did Felicia think she was doing everyone a favor by sending Dale away for a crime he didn't commit? She single-handedly buried him several years ago and was prepared to do it all over again.

Her poor excuse for remorse was even worse. The only positive is that she got caught in the end and will likely be facing a hefty stretch behind bars.

Geraghty's takedown lacked the emotional punch you would expect after such a big crime. He needed to be ridiculed in front of everyone, and the way he was arrested was more frustrating than anything.

If the writers wanted him to be this big, bad villain, they should have owned and made his takedown much more spectacular.

He rolled over and accepted defeat way too easily. Maybe I expected too much, but the installment dialed back the action in favor of fleshing out the characters.

It was only a matter of time before Dante and Robin worked much closer together, but I'm not particularly fond of the tension brewing between them.

The show is strongly suggesting that there are romantic feelings between them, and I would have preferred a more original way of increasing the drama.

If you watch The Equalizer online, you know Dante has been a by-the-books kind of man since we first met him, but I did like the debate he had with Robin about what she's doing.

Had Robin not intervened and broke some laws along the way, Dale would have been left in jail. Robin's observation that she broke about the same amount of laws as the police department broke when it buried the case was right on the money.

Dante could have exposed Robin to the D.A. or his colleagues, but instead, he sees the value in keeping her around as either someone who can help on impossible cases or someone he could one day get closer to romantically.

Robin: I'll bring the M&Ms: Merlot and myself.

Permalink: Merlot and myself.

I'm fully prepared for a case that puts the two of them on very opposite ends of the law. There has to be a turning point in their relationship, and it should be coming soon.

Robin is still trying to pick up the pieces following those bad dreams, and that could explain why she wanted to regain some normalcy in her life.

Setting up a playdate for teenage daughter did seem a bit out there, but when the layers were peeled back to reveal that this was something Robin wanted, it strongly suggested Robin is hurting more than we know.

There are many unanswered questions about what really made her exit her job, and there weren't even any appearances from William during "Judgment Day" to dial up the intrigue.

Melody: So Geraghty and Cooley knew each other. He's friends with her son.
Harry: Yeah, they both graduated ... to murder.

Permalink: Yeah, they both graduated ... to murder.

As a whole, the episode was decent, but it lacked the excitement of the first two. I know we can't have balls-to-the-wall action every episode, but some of the developments during this hour were too slow to care for.

As much as I love Mel and Harry's relationship, would it hurt them to have some disagreements? It's starting to come across as the writers don't know what to do with them besides being sidekicks.

Every single scene involves them praising each other and embracing by the time it's over. That was nice at first, but it's starting to drag the show down a little bit.

What did you think of the case? Do you think Robin and Dante are headed for romance? What are your thoughts on the way Mel and Harry act around each other?

Hit the comments.

The Equalizer airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.