As fans await the ending of SWAT, are we going to get a big wedding? The truth may be disappointing!
SWAT fans have been hit before by the show being axed. In 2023, the hit CBS police drama was shockingly announced as canceled before the end of its sixth season. The backlash from viewers was so huge that CBS had to backtrack and renew the show for a 13-episode final season.
Thanks to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, season 7 didn’t premiere until 2024 and midway through, CBS made the equally surprising announcement that the show would return for season 8. That was more striking given that the writers had clearly prepared for the show to end with sendoffs to characters.
That included Street (Alex Russell), who got a good ending as he helped a San Diego SWAT team on a case. When that team’s leader was killed in the line of duty, Street decided to take up the spot himself, bidding a farewell to the main show.
In his final scene, Street surprised Tan by revealing he was planning to propose to his girlfriend Chris (Lina Esco), who had left the show in Season 6. That was the last seen of him with the intention of fans imagining the wedding.
With SWAT coming to an end, fans are naturally hopeful that Street and Chris will make a return. A big wedding would be a perfect sendoff for the series and a nice way to wrap things up with the entire cast celebrating the big day. Is it going to happen?
Why Street and Chris aren’t coming back to SWAT
Sadly, it looks like any hopes for Street or Chris returning are for naught. The synopsis for the SWAT finale, airing Friday, May 16, indicates it’s not some huge event, just two back-to-back episodes. The first has the team taking on a crew of thieves that involves Gamble’s brother.
The actual series finale has the unit guarding a Russian mobster only to have to defend their headquarters against the man’s gang trying to break him out. Unless there’s some surprise cameo, it sounds like there’s no return for Street, Chris, Nichelle (Rochelle Aytes is now on CBS’s Watson), or Luca (Kenny Johnson has popped up on FBI: International).
Speaking to TVLine, showrunner Andrew Dettman explained that rather than go out on a true close, he thought it’d be better for SWAT to leave off with the idea of “just another day” as the team keeps going.
“Even if we’re no longer airing each week, we want the viewers to feel that Hondo and 20-Squad will go on, that 20-Squad will always be out there taking down the bad guys and protecting the city of L.A.”
Likely, the main reason we don’t see Street or Chris back is the timing. The show was deep into writing the last episodes when the cancellation came down and so wouldn’t have had as much time to pivot the last episodes into a series finale or earlier episodes to work Street and Chris in. There’s also the schedules of the actors probably keeping them from appearing.
There might be another reason, as Shemar Moore and the producers have expressed hopes that somehow SWAT might continue. The show is still a ratings winner and a big fanbase, especially since it hit Netflix. That leaves a chance, however remote, that some other network/streamer might decide to pick the show up for a ninth season. Thus, leaving it open-ended enough to continue would be great.
It’s a bit sad we don’t get to see Chris and Street tying the knot in a great finale for SWAT, but at least we can imagine the pair getting some sort of happy ending off-screen.
SWAT season 7 airs Fridays at 10/9c on CBS.