SWAT season 7, episode 8 recap: Deacon makes a decision

SWAT has been dealing with many changes so far, and the latest episode tackled whether Deacon would follow through with his plans to retire. Plus, Zoe struggled with nerves over meeting the son she put up for adoption and Tan met someone new. Find out what happened in the episode, “Family Man.”

At the beginning of the episode, Hondo was with Nichelle when he learned that Deacon was going to retire. She had been having lunch with Annie when she told her what was going on. Before Hondo had a chance to talk to Deacon at work, they were called to a hostage situation at a diner.

Two brothers, Jeb and Grant Weber, had gone to the diner to take a waitress named Kat Beeman back to their father’s house. Calvin Weber was a man who was sure the end of times was coming soon and had begun storing away food and weapons. Now, they believed everything was coming soon. 

Grant was taken into custody, but Jeb had escaped with Kat. At the house, she begged them to let her go, but Jeb refused. Inside the house as well were Jeb’s sister, Beth, her boyfriend Adam, and his two kids from a previous marriage.

The team needed to figure out how to get inside Calvin’s home despite it being surrounded by an electric fence. At one point, Tan found a reporter, Olivia Navarro, lurking, and she would soon become beneficial in helping the team. This is especially true when Deacon got held hostage once they made entry but were overtaken when two of the agents left to take hostages to safety.

Having learned information about the home thanks to communications between Olivia and Calvin in forums for doomsday preppers, the team figures they could damage the fuse box to be able to get inside the house. They just need to be able to use a code to help Deacon understand the plan.

Deacon was also instrumental on the inside. He had been able to convince Beth to help him, tapping into giving her the knowledge that Adam shot his ex-wife to take the kids. Plus, he had seen bruises on her and knew that she was also in danger. 

Luckily, he can get her to break the fuse box, but they are caught. Deacon overpowers the men just long enough for Beth to break the fuse box so SWAT could come in.

Once the case was over and the suspects apprehended, Deacon told Hondo that he would be retiring. But he would still be around to help Hondo get the team prepared for his departure. 

Elsewhere in the episode, Zoe was excited to meet her son, but she was worried about whether he would like her. Officer Alfaro tells her that she is pretty cool and that her son will be able to see that. When she gets to the restaurant to meet Thomas, they are both nervous. But eventually, they are able to talk and get to know one another.

Tan also had a new development in this episode. He hit it off pretty quickly with Olivia, the reporter he first had an encounter with before she aided them with the investigation. This is the first time since his divorce he has shown interest in someone, so we’d like to see if anything happens there.

With the recent news that the show has been once again renewed for season 8, we’re interested to see exactly what they will do to finish off the stories and how they could lead into the new season. Since they are finishing up the season, nothing will likely change. But no matter what, the story will at least give us a chance to send off some characters and perhaps welcome new ones in the future.

Watch SWAT on CBS Fridays at 8/9c. Catch up on previous episodes on Paramount+.