S.W.A.T. Finally Comes to an Explosive End After Cancellation Drama: How Shemar Moore’s Team Bid Farewell in Series Finale

S.W.A.T. is taking its final bow.

On Friday, May 16, the CBS procedural aired its series finale after the network cancelled and then walked back its decision to take the series off three separate times times.

The action packed episode saw Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore) and his team respond to one final terrorist threat when a crew of ex-pat Russian mercenaries called Red Sword held the city of Los Angeles hostage with invisible mines dropped by remotely controlled drones.

In a video sent to S.W.A.T., Red Sword revealed they’re responsible for planting undetectable mines all around the city. In exchange for bomb coordinates, the group demanded the return of their leader, Dmitri Rykov, who is currently being held by the CIA. It turned out that Rykov and Red Sword are more dangerous that first believed.

CIA agent Owen Briggs (Jordan Belfi) told Hondo that S.W.A.T. will have no jurisdiction with it comes to Rykov and revealed that in 48 hours, he will be handed over to the Russian government in exchange for 10 American citizens.

Despite his original stance, Hondo eventually wore Briggs down and allowed him to speak to Rykov on car drive to the location he’d be held until the drop.

“Listen Rykov, the people of this city got nothing to do with you or your problems back home, yet they’re being killed and maimed,” Hondo pleaded. “Tell us how to find Red Sword, or at least instruct them to give us the location of the buried land mines.”

But Rykov was unyielding, and Hondo received a phone call from Deacon (Jay Harrington) who told him that Red Sword had rigged their drones to create makeshift missiles. Sure enough, Hondo surveilled the area and spotted a drone coming straight for their vehicle. Though they were able to swerve away in time, the second car in their entourage wasn’t so lucky and the scene ended with Briggs with a gun wound and two Red Sword soldiers dead.

Back at headquarters, Hondo got Rykov into an interrogation room. He tried appealing to his humanity and his loyalty towards his men, but quickly learned that the Russian simply considered Red Sword soldiers as disposable.

After a brief conversation with Briggs, Hondo discovered that Red Sword was anticipating that Rykov sell information to the Russians about their involvement in setting fire to their Minister of Defense’s home and killing his sons. The information mean the death of them and their families.

“I’m giving you one last chance,” Hondo said, barging back into the room. “You think you’re playing both sides… Well, I got news for you. Your team knows what kind of man you are. They don’t respect you. They hate you. They’re not trying to save you, Rykov. They’re trying to kill you.”

Suddenly, Red Sword launched a full scale attack on headquarters, driving their make-shift drones straight into the building. The group entered the building with a singular goal of killing Rykov. The explosions knocked both Hondo and Rykov to the ground and barricaded them in the interrogation room.

As the situation grew precarious, Rykov pleaded, “Take these off,” gesturing to his handcuffs. “You need my help, I’m useless without my hands!”

“I don’t need a damn thing from you,” Hondo replied, before breaking a window and instructing him to climb out. They nearly ran into trouble until Gamble (Annie Ilonzeh) unexpectedly saved their lives. The trio retreated into the locker room where they ran into the rest of the S.W.A.T. team. As they discussed how to evacuate the building, Hondo gave a rousing speech about defending their own.

“We’ve been chasing these bastards all day, and now we know where they are,” he said. “I don’t know about y’all, but when somebody shows up to my house uninvited, I don’t slip out the back. I throw him out the front door. That’s the only way to end this. We got to take the fight to them.”

“Red Sword thinks they have the best team in the world? They got no idea who we are,” he added.

During a tense stand off, Rykov found the keys to his handcuffs and ran away from the gunfire, with Hondo chasing after him. Hondo eventually captured Rykov, throwing him from the second story to a boxing ring below.

“I think I’m still in shock. Never imagined this could happen here. It’s gonna be tough to recover,” Tan (David Bradley Lim) said, to which Deacon replied, “Nah, it’s just a building. It’s the people inside who matter. Fresh coat of paint, and we’ll be back in business in no time.”

Because Red Sword flew all of the drones into the S.W.A.T. building, the team didn’t have to go far to collect them and dig through the hard drives to figure out the locations of their mines. Rykov’s transport back to Russia, on the other hand, was expedited one day.

The series finale ended with a two-week time jump, which showed how the team was faring since the attack. Tan accepted a job as the liaison to the mayor and Miguel was frustrated that the gym hadn’t been repaired yet. Gamble decided to stay in Los Angeles after a heart-to-heart with Hondo.

At the end, Deacon called team meeting where he revealed how he was spending his bonus from his luxury mall contract. He handed out black boxes to each squad member which contained a special watch with the engraving, “20 squad, stay liquid.”

“I hope this will always be a reminder that every minute spent together on this team, is the greatest gift of all,” Deacon said.

“I don’t know what to say, D. This team wouldn’t be what it is without you by my side,” Hondo admitted.

“That goes for all of you, when I think about what we’ve been through together…” he continued before he was interrupted by a robbery in progress. “What are we waiting for? Gear up. Let’s go save this city.”

The team embarked for another mission and tapped the S.W.A.T. seal for the last time.