The sixth season of the American police procedural television series S.W.A.T. premiered on CBS on October 7, 2022.[1] The season finale aired on May 19, 2023.
For the 2022–23 U.S. television season, the sixth season of S.W.A.T. ranked #28 with an average of 6.41 million viewers and in the 18–49 demographic ranked 39th with a 0.66/11 Rating/Share.[2]
While in Bangkok, Thailand, training alongside the Thai SWAT team, Hondo finds himself receiving a call from his old friend, Joe, with the two discovering evidence of a drug smuggling operation on the border with Myanmar, which Joe and the UN has long thought was squashed. Hondo and Joe are kidnapped by the drug kingpin, Zaw Min, who vows to kill them and attempts to have his nephew Thet shoot Hondo, but he is unable. Deacon and Tan with assistance from Thai SWAT race to find their missing colleagues. They find their location and fight their way through Zaw Min's goons and free Hondo and Joe, the latter immediately being rushed to hospital. Zaw escapes with Thet and his enforcer, but Hondo vows to uphold his promise to get him out of his predicament. Back in Los Angeles, Hicks, Luca and the rest of the LAPD SWAT team search for a criminal who has ties to Zaw Min.
Note: This is the first episode to have Rochelle Aytes (Nichelle Carmichael) credited as a series regular while the episode and "Thai Another Day" were filmed on location in Bangkok, Thailand.
Having been rescued, Hondo reunites with Deacon and Tan as the three prepare to go after Zaw Min, the drug kingpin responsible for the abduction of Hondo and his friend, Joe, with the teams soon discovering the heroin operation has ties to Los Angeles. In Bangkok, the group separates in order to track to known associates of Zaw Min, which gradually leads them to a riverside quarter where his drug operation is going down. However, the case is jeopardized when the daughter of the Thai SWAT commander is kidnapped. In Los Angeles, Hicks, Luca, Street along with the LAPD SWAT teams race to find the Thai SWAT commander's missing daughter, abducted by Zaw Min's LA associate. Zaw Min takes Thet hostage after learning of his betrayal and demands a boat. The LAPD SWAT team however rescue the Thai commander's daughter before Zaw Min can order her killed and Thet escapes his grasp as the team light him up.
Back in LA, Hondo and 20 Squad are caught by surprise when their armoured vehicle, Black Betty, is stolen when responding to a robbery. The team work with FBI agent Jackie Vasquez in their hunt for the robbers, but butt heads with her when she lets the robbers escape following a second robbery. Vasquez reveals that she has been investigating the robbers' connection to Gustaf Varner, a terrorist wanted for multiple bombings in Europe. Furthermore, it's determined that Black Betty would be utilised for another potential attack on American soil. The surviving robbers hand Varner the robbery stash, revealed to bomb materials, and a shootout ensues when the team ascend on the scene. Luca utilises a armour piercing weapon to disable Betty and stop Varner from escaping. Hondo and Nichelle prepare for their gender reveal party, which the team organises shortly after the mission, also revealing that Nichelle is expecting a girl.
Convicted murderer Alexei Roman escapes from custody under the guise of leading the police to the remains of one of his victims. The team later learns that he is on the hunt for an imperial Russian cigar box which is meant to contain diamonds he owned. They also learn that a waiter at his former club, Amber Morgan, is his daughter and had pawned the box and attempted to retrieve the diamonds, only to find them gone. Street is reunited with a former LBPD colleague, Miguel Alfaro, who has transferred to LAPD SWAT. However, he still carries a grudge against Alfaro for anonymously reporting him for corruption during their LBPD years. Despite this, they gradually overcome their past and renew their relationship. Roman heads to the home of his deceased driver to retrieve his diamonds, and Street gives chase until Roman crashes his bike. Hondo reunites with Nia and becomes hesitant about his approach in becoming a father, while Deacon gives him hope and encouragement for his newfound role.
During a flash mob robbery at a department store, the team discovers a woman, LaToya Turner, has been murdered, sending them on a race to find and stop the killers before they strike again. Deacon struggles with the fact a lone bullet from his gun might have killed Turner, but ballistics later disprove this. Instead, the team learns that Turner was hiding an escaped sweatshop worker whose brother was recently abducted by the same killers. Furthermore, a logo she recognises from the sweatshop leads them to the Tremblay clothing brand and the sweatshop leader, who is aiming to move the last workers out of LA. However, the team manages to stop them before they leave and free the brother. Hondo enlists Street to talk to Powell after she ignores orders during the operation. Nichelle faces roadblocks in her new job with COPE under LAPD rule, but overcomes it with encouragement from Hondo.
Detective Alexander Rios, who was working with Hondo on exposing Hank St. John "Saint" is kidnapped after a major raid against a Saint compound, discovering a hard-drive containing compromising evidence against Saint. The SWAT team races to find him before it's too late. Hondo also learns that Rios was kept in one of Raymont Harris' warehouses during his torture. Saint's driver is dragged in as collateral after witnessing Saint torturing Rios. Rios leads Saint to the impound lot where he stored the drive in a headrest in his car. The team arrive and disable Saint's defences before Hondo confronts and disarms him. A sudden behavioural change in Hicks has Luca concerned, only to later find out that he is preparing for a date. Street comes to a crossroad on how to keep Powell in line and goes to Deacon for advice, learning that he should learn how Powell wants to be treated as an individual rather than rehashing previous approaches.
The team finds themselves reunited with Rodrigo Sanchez when the actress he is working for, Serena Mendez, has her house broken into and she narrowly escapes death. Hondo and Sanchez' rivalry resurfaces as the two butt heads over the severity of the threats against Mendez, but ultimately find it in themselves to work together to protect her against an Israeli mobster, who broke into her house to find his hidden money which was leftover from when he owned the house. They learn that Mendez's boyfriend Cody discovered the money and spent it on an expensive car. The mobster abducts Sanchez and Mendez and demands Cody return the money. The team intervenes before the transfer and find the duos location and freeing them from their captors. With his anniversary approaching, Tan tries to find Bonnie the perfect gift. Luca learns that his mentee Kelly is moving to San Diego, which she is opposed to. Luca takes advice from Street to accept changes in life and tells Kelly to do the same, also promising to keep in touch with her.
A crew of hitmen dispatched by a cartel targets several food trucks around the city, and puzzling enough steal many boxes of avocado. The team soon learn that the avocados contain cocaine which was smuggled into the country and the cartel is seeking to retrieve them again. Additionally, they learn that several restaurants and produce businesses are targeted for the same reason. The hitmen crew abduct a driver and takes him to a food market to retrieve the remaining avocados, which escalates into a hostage situation with a 10-year-old boy being taken hostage. The team manage to flank the last hitman and free the boy. Nichelle considers getting a gun after her community center is burgled, but later decides against it. Deacon worries when his son Matthew is involved in a fight at school, learning that he fought back because a kid spoke poorly of his job.
The team are assigned to investigate a series of arson attacks which seem random at first, but they eventually learn that a former member of the Third Street Bravo gang was responsible and that he is targeting business were former members work, members who he deemed to have betrayed the gang. Cabrera uses her local knowledge from growing up in the neighbourhood to get them intel on the assailant and his gang, notably with the help of her nephew and a member of the gang who was apprehended before targeting the gang's next target. The team track the remaining gang members to a market place where a shootout occurs before they apprehend them. Luca learns that patrol officer Eva Durant is his half-sister, which he at first refused to believe, but Tan convinces him to get used to the prospect and get to know her better. Hondo prepares to meet Nichelle's parents over dinner, to which he faces resistance from her father who seems to not approve of their relationship.
A woman keeps the staff of a homeless shelter hostage, demanding her son to be returned to her. The team quickly deescalate the situation and later discover that her son, Micah, was taken from the shelter by the janitor, Liam Dunn. Furthermore, a biker gang is looking for Micah in connection to him witnessing the murder of an informant who worked for the Palmdale sheriff. Dunn is injured after a shootout, and dies after taking Micah to his hiding spot. The Palmdale detective sent to assist the team is revealed to be corrupt and turns on Tan as the two reach Micah's hiding spot, but the rest of the team soon arrives to disable the remaining bikers and the detective, thereby rescuing Micah and reuniting him with his mother. Hondo and Nichelle find themselves disagreeing over whether or not their daughter should be baptised, which Nichelle later agrees to do after Hondo figures out why he seeks it.
When a car bombing takes the life of a Ukrainian refugee, the team works with the agent Jackie Vasquez from the FBI to find and stop a group of Russian ultra-nationalists who have infiltrated the Ukrainian community and are planning further attacks. Initially they deduce that they're planning to attack the Ukrainian consulate, but the group change targets last second, to a community church instead. As the two last members are disarmed, the FBI bomb tech works to disarm the bomb, and the team deduce the code just narrowly before the bomb can explode. Meanwhile, Luca and his brother Terry fight over the fact that they have a recently discovered half-sister. Though he convinces him to accept Durant, she doesn't feel the same and begins to distance herself from them. Deacon is reunited with his pastor from his youth days over the course of the case, which also brings back old guilt from a friend's death.
When a shooting occurs at a rehab center, the team finds themselves searching for Tim Spragg, a man seeking revenge against the centers and the personnel responsible for his brother Adrian dying. Searching for the root of his revenge spree, the team learns from Adrian's therapist that he blamed himself for his drug addiction and his brother as his main source of motivation. After shooting up another center, Tim goes after Adrian's soccer coach who supplied him with pain killers he got addicted to, taking him and his football team hostage on their bus. Powell takes the reins of negotiating with Tim, notably sending him a video of Adrian recounting his path to becoming sober; and talking him down until the team can enter the bus from the roof and disarm Tim. Deacon is caught off-guard when Annie allows their daughter Lila to drop off her school soccer team. Luca asks Hondo to recommend Durant for a promotion, something he later learns she doesn't want and comes to accept her decision.
SWAT races against time to stop a violent rampage across Los Angeles that has links to a hostage situation that took place three years ago, (during "Lion's Den"). Hicks faces up to the choices he made during the siege. Meanwhile, Tan learns from Street and Cabrera that Bonnie has been cheating on him.
With Luca in San Diego and Tan benched after getting into a bar fight, 20-Squad, along with Rocker and Miguel Alfaro, investigates when a new drug hits the streets of Los Angeles. They soon find themselves racing to save a fellow officer whose life is in danger.
With Street on personal leave, Hondo, Deacon and Luca participate in Patrol Day on Hicks's orders. With Hondo partnering with Powell, Deacon with Alfaro and Luca working with his half-sister, Officer Eva Durant, the three groups head across L.A., only for Hondo and Powell to investigate the murder of a young African-American man while Deacon and Alfaro investigate a stolen necklace that soon turns into a case of man trying to rescue his wife, who's been kidnapped by a street gang. Meanwhile, Tan who's still suspended, investigates the circumstances that led to his wife having an affair that ruined their marriage.
When classified information falls into the wrong hands, 20 Squad races to stop a plot targeting former members of the military from occurring. Meanwhile, Luca faces a challenging decision when his father, Carl is hospitalized after suffering a heart attack.
As 20-Squad reluctantly joins forces with the FBI to arrest a criminal who's on the FBI's Most Wanted List (the criminal having shot dead an FBI agent ten years ago), Hondo and Nichelle face a challenge when Nichelle goes into labor three weeks earlier than expected.
When a group of men attack an armored truck, stealing a necklace, 20 Squad investigate and discover it's connected to a Quran that was stolen by an American soldier while he was in Syria.
The team race to identify a group of people who are holding the family of a prison guard hostage. Meanwhile, Tan finds himself struggling with a personal decision.
Hondo helps his former Marine squad leader and longtime friend, Danny Wright, search for Wright's missing daughter. Meanwhile, 20 Squad find themselves racing to stop a crew whose vicious home robberies are targeting the elderly.
Note: This episode marks the directional debut of Jay Harrington (David "Deacon" Kay).
Hondo and his team teams up with the DEA, led by Special Agent Mack Boyle, to conduct a massive gang sweep in Los Angeles, only to discover that the Zamora Cartel, a dangerous and vicious Mexican drug cartel is in the city and putting many lives in danger. Meanwhile, Hicks marks an important anniversary. (Part 1 of 2)
Note: This episode begins 2 parts that concludes on the Legacy.
Continuing from the previous episode, Hondo and his team, with the DEA, race against time to stop Sancho Zamora, the head of Zamora Cartel who started a war in the streets of Los Angeles against those who killed his son and heir. (Part 2 of 2)
Note: This episode concludes 2 parts that begins on the Forget Shorty.
This episode marks the final appearance of Alex Russell (Jim Street) and Kenny Johnson (Dominique Luca) in the opening credits and also as a series regular.
Production
Development
On April 8, 2022, CBS renewed the series for a sixth season.[26] On May 5, 2023, S.W.A.T. was cancelled after 6 seasons. On May 8, 2023, CBS reversed their cancelation by renewing S.W.A.T. for a seventh and final season of 13 episodes.[27]
Casting
On May 22, 2022, it was announced that Lina Esco who played Officer III Christina "Chris" Alonso for the past five seasons, would be leaving the series.[28] The actress confirmed her departure from the series in order to pursue other job opportunities. This is the first season that Rochelle Aytes was promoted to series regular for the season while Alex Russell and Kenny Johnson departed at the end of the season as series regular.
Release
The sixth season of S.W.A.T. premiered on October 7, 2022.[1] The series returned to Fridays at 8:00 p.m. leading into new series Fire Country and Blue Bloods.
The season aired on Sunday nights in the UK and Ireland on Sky Max at 9pm and on weeknights im Croatia at 9:50pm as double feature on Doma TV.
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of S.W.A.T. (2017 TV series) season 6
