I Watch TV: SWAT Season 7

 

SWAT Season 7

Picking up from the last season, Powell joins 20 Squad officially, and Anna Enger Ritch who plays her gets onto the opening credits. She, Hondo and Hicks are the main characters in the opening two episodes, as they go down to Mexico City to pick up a witness; this rapidly spirals out of control with corrupt police and a giant bomb being sold off.

Back in Los Angeles two members of the squad are away, Street at Long Beach*, Luca in Germany. It turns out that this is their goodbyes; they’ve already been excised from the opening credits. Street (Alex Russell) returns for one episode, Luca (Kenny Johnson) for two, before leaving the team.

That’s five episodes and there’s only thirteen in this season. No room for a recurring villain (an eco-terrorist is in two episodes) and barely enough for a recurring love interest for Tan. The team is then down to four full time members, Hondo, Deke, Powell and Tan. Then Deke gets called in while off-duty on the first day his wife is in court as a lawyer, and one of their children needs something at school. He decides to retire.

This has them bring in some other SWAT to help out. Rocker, the leader of 50 squad rides with them a couple of times. Cabera, who seemed to be in contention to join 20 Squad as well, she is sometimes there, curiously unremarked on, her deal never being made explicit. And young, arrogant, light-hearted ambitious Alfaro keep volunteering. But Tam and Powell turn against him, not for his skills, but his attitude. SWAT is family, and they don’t like his vibes, he’s seeing 20 squad as a place to make his mark on the way up, not as a place to stay.

At the end of the season the show circles back to where it began. In the opening episode Buck, the previous leader of 20 squad, accidentally shot a black teenager and is removed, the choice of Hondo, a black officer, to replace him is at least partially political in nature. Chasing one of the eco-terrorists Hondo shoots him on a crowded basketball court. His gun flies from his hand and one of the onlookers loudly declares that Hondo shot an unarmed man. The video goes viral and the black community turns against him.

But this is where the short nature of the season works against it. Hondo has one episode of being hated, of Alfaro sharing a video remix, a brief moment of them considering how this initial impression has gone out in the world so that everything after, including the review board clearing Hondo, is tainted. And then we’re done with it.

Despite changes in personnel and it’s continuing willingness to engage with the problems of policing, race and politics, SWAT keeps returning to the status quo. Kicking in doors and shooting the bad guys. This is the same conclusion I’ve had every season. And I had thought this was the end, closing on a high note, saving the city and bringing in new cops for the future. Setting things right for their families in various ways (after a rather sad divorce Tam has a new girlfriend, Powell connects with the son she gave up for adoption, Hondo’s married with a child and getting on with his dad, Deke finding balance in his family). But no, it got uncancelled. Guess they’ll be back.

Watch This: Still good action, some nice characters, and an occasional firm grasp on real world issues
Don’t Watch This: A slight but definite turn towards cops good, the public fools, and a reliance on stereotypes

* And so. The City of Los Angeles is not the only city to be incorporated in Los Angeles county; the Greater Los Angeles area spreads beyond Los Angeles county into other counties, including other cities incorporated within them. The Los Angeles Police Department only covers the City of Los Angeles, so these other cities have their own police forces. In addition the county has it’s own police force, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, who run jails and prisons. Plus California has it’s own state police force, including the CHiPs, the Highway Patrol, having jurisdiction on state roads. Plus various US national police forces, the most prominent being the FBI. Anyway, Long Beach is the second largest city in Los Angeles county!