SWAT season 7, episode 11 recap: Tan's new love interest is in danger

The newest episode of SWAT felt like it was setting up a new romance for Tan while also bringing back old characters as a way to see them one last time. Then again, considering they only found out about the renewal while filming the final episode, it makes sense how things were set up. Let’s go over what happened in SWAT season 7, episode 11.

Tan was off duty at the beginning of the episode, on a date with Olivia Navarro to a black-tie dinner with other journalists. We learned the couple has been keeping things casual, but based on the intimate moments they shared while out on the balcony, something is brewing beneath the surface.

Unfortunately, the date was interrupted when a group of mercenaries stormed into the party, looking to get into a vault that held key documents journalists used in their reports. Tan and Olivia had seen what was happening, but Tan couldn’t use his phone due to jammers. While Olivia stayed behind, Tan managed to escape and get back inside to try to take one of the men out to use their radios to call for help.

Because one of the hostages refused to use his credentials to open the vault, the men shot him and then held Olivia hostage to make another keyholder use her credentials to get inside. Tan was able to carefully take down some of the men and managed to get into contact with dispatch.

Through the investigation, they learned that the leader of the group had his own security defense firm. However, he was being investigated and likely was looking for the journalist in order to stop them from telling a story that could damage his reputation.

Olivia recognized that the journalist working on the story, which detailed crimes against women overseas, was a woman named Flora Jenkins, but she was killed before the team could get to her. Tan was upset to see that Olivia came to the crime scene and in his worry, he lashed out.

Powell clocked that Tan did have real feelings for her and told him that he shouldn’t let her go. But after everything with his divorce, Tan wasn’t quite ready. However, when the mercenaries discovered that Flora had mailed her recordings and work to Olivia, this put her in danger. Tan and the team were able to rescue her and take down the men.

Even though Olivia had been offered a job working overseas, Tan came to see her to admit that he wanted a relationship with her. They agreed to give their romance a shot. Honestly, the chemistry between them was very apparent so we hope this will be a good relationship for the both of them.

In another arc, Hondo and Nichelle’s home was broken into. It turned out to be Bruce Martin, Nichelle’s former co-worker who had tried to frame her in a blackmail case at work. He was having a hard time with alcohol issues and his wife had kicked him out of the house.

Hondo hadn’t known about what happened previously, but Nichelle did tell him that she thought she handled things. But clearly, Bruce had underlying issues that he hadn’t dealt with and now he brought it to their front door.

After going home to clean up, Nichelle was confronted by none other than Bruce himself. However, Hondo had heard from a fellow investigator that they hadn’t been able to bring Bruce in. Hondo arrived home just in time to see Bruce in his kitchen with Nichelle.

He blamed Nichelle for his issues, which is ironic considering this all began because of his actions. Nichelle still wanted to give him a chance, but he was ready to give Hondo a chance to take him out by picking up his gun. However, Nichelle managed to throw a drink in his face so that Hondo could arrest him.

The other arc in this episode involved Hicks catching up with Jack Mumford and Buck Spivey. He found out that Jack was writing a book and was going through the FBI archives. However, he seemed to be avoiding Hicks. It turned out that he had discovered an old transfer request form that Hicks signed and he thought their friendship was a lie. Plus, Buck was involved since he made the request.

While it’s unknown what happened considering this happened in 2002, it seemed that Jack had some insecurities and seeing that his friend had used the word “annoying” to describe him bothered him. 

He hadn’t seemed to change since he was recently told he was annoying and this affected him. Sure, it does stink to realize that maybe you haven’t grown as much as you did, but this is something that could have been worked out without raising a fuss.

This arc was a head scratcher, but it felt like a way to show the characters of Jack and Buck one last time. But now that we have season 8 coming, they might make another appearance. Who knows!

There are just two episodes left for season 7 so make sure to catch up on the season on Paramount+.

Watch SWAT on Fridays on CBS at 8/7c.