SWAT changes things up this week by sending Hondo and Deacon out on their own, turning what should have been a simple meeting into a fight for more than just survival. There’s conflict in the woods, and conflict back at SWAT HQ, but the resolutions to both remind us how special this show is – and how deserving it is of its second season renewal.
Chris, Luca, and Erica:
The conflict at SWAT HQ comes about when Chris accidentally reveals to Hicks that Luca’s been feeding her SWAT training scores. She’s angry that Erica hasn’t made SWAT while there is still an empty space to fill. While ranting to Hicks, she quotes Erica’s scores – scores she shouldn’t know. Hicks berates Luca for revealing the scores to Chris, and it creates tension between the two team members. It follows them into another scene, but Chris won’t allow it to fester and apologizes to Luca. She finds out what he knows about the incident that created the reg flag on Erica’s record. And there’s a nice moment where Chris tells Luca his father was on the committee that chose her. Luca knows Erica deserves that spot, just as Chris deserved hers. Digging deeper, Chris discovers it wasn’t Erica who didn’t restrain a suspect who then broke free – it was her partner, but she took responsibility for it. Chris will put this right. By episode’s end, she has, and Erica makes SWAT. I couldn’t be more excited for season two.Tan, Chris, and Jessica:
I always enjoy the combination of Tan and Street, and they’re teamed up this week, out on the streets, tracking down members of a gang. They're a good match, a solid duo, but Tan still feels underutilized. Where in the past, in television history, characters like Chris and Jessica might have been overlooked in the male world of SWAT, how Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan’s SWAT utilizes these characters makes me proud to be a fan. I’m now just waiting for a little more Tan backstory, a little more insight into his life.
Hondo and Deacon:
The teaming up of Hondo and Deacon this week allows for some truths to come out. In the pilot episode, Hondo was promoted to leader of the team over Deacon and it’s something that still weighs on Deacon’s mind. He questions when – if – he will ever have the opportunity to lead a team. This team should be his.On the job, Deacon keeps it from interfering, but out here, in the wilderness, with possibly more survival skills and knowledge than Hondo, the two inevitably clash. It’s just the two of them. Hondo is injured and he’s using his Marine skills to get them to safety, still acting as leader. Deacon is fighting it, feeling confident in his own skills that Hondo should be following his lead for a change.
This confrontation has been simmering since the pilot and hopefully now that it’s out Deacon can start to move on from it.
“I’m not bitter,” he tells Hondo. “It kills me that I feel this way at all. I don’t want to.”
After the power struggle, when they’re being fired upon, Hondo asks, “What do we do?” in a simple, but effective way of showing Deacon he appreciates his skills too and is willing to relinquish some control.
Back safe and sound at SWAT HQ by the end of the episode, in the locker room, Hondo and Deacon have an honest conversation, and Hondo is his big hearted self as he tells Deacon he hopes he gets his chance. It’s a nice moment for the two, but even nicer is the final scene, of Hondo eating dinner with Deacon’s family.
Because that’s what SWAT is. Family.
