SWAT season 7 finale preview: Will Hondo be able to pull 20 Squad together?

The final episode of SWAT season 7 is here after an eventful year that saw a brief cancellation followed by a surprise renewal. With season 8 now coming to CBS in Fall 2024, fans are preparing to see how the finale will end. Even though the news of the renewal came during filming for the season 7 finale episode, “Twenty Squad,” we’re looking forward to seeing how they finish things off.

When we last left off with the team, they were in disarray. Tan was standoffish towards the idea of Alfaro coming on board, especially in light of his behavior in regard to moving up the ladder. 20 Squad has always been close and the team formed a bond that had been nurtured for years. So how would a new member play into that?

Despite the friction between Tan and Alfaro, it was clear that Hondo wanted to give Alfaro a chance. But will that still happen considering Alfaro decided not to accept the invitation to join 20 Squad? How will the finale episode dive into the relationships between the team as they overcome their differences to build a stronger squad?

Plus, the penultimate episode also delved into how a shooting Hondo was involved in affected his ties to his community. After he attempted to stop a kidnapping suspect who fled towards a group of people playing basketball, Hondo shot him. 

However, due to the gun falling where no one could see it, the man was believed to be unarmed. Despite evidence to the contrary, it still doesn’t change the perception of what happened. This will also be another string that will tie into the finale.

SWAT season 7 synopsis and promo

In the season finale, “Twenty Squad,” the team will be going after a group of extremists who are intent on exacting vengeance by detonating bombs in the city. With the team being as fractured as they are, it’s up to Hondo to try and figure out how to bring everyone together so they can save the day as they always do.

Even the promo for the episode gives us very little, but it is still surprising to watch! It shows Hondo climbing a tanker truck and trying to prevent the driver from getting away. Just as one of his team members arrives to save him, the truck explodes. But will something happen to Hondo? Knowing promos, this could be showing the aftermath of the situation itself and Hondo is actually safe.

The episode looks pretty intense as it is, not only based on the case, but the continuing threads from other arcs that have been building for the season.

Things will be especially difficult given how the events of the last episode affected Hondo. With his neighborhood still not trusting him and having a difficult time putting a new team together, he’ll wonder if he truly can step up and be the team leader everyone needs. He will have Deacon there as a support system, however does this mean Deacon will change his mind about retirement?

Hopefully the finale will answer these questions for us. Plus, if there’s a chance that they left things open-ended despite the cancellation news they dealt with at the time of shooting, then we could even see previous characters such as Luca and Street make appearances, thus bringing their characters back in some capacity despite the ending to their stories.

The SWAT season 7 finale is set to air on Friday, May 17 at 8/9c. Previous episodes of the entire series are available for viewing on Paramount+.