As SWAT: Exiles begins, we get shots of a mission gone wrong as Hondo works out, talking about how one mission can turn the world upside down. He grabs a drink from the fridge, and the show seems to quickly reveal that his job isn’t the only thing Hondo has lost, as we see a chart on the fridge that reads “Vivienne’s Days with Daddy,” hinting his marriage has also ended since the events of the SWAT series finale.
After being pushed out of SWAT, Hondo has taken a job in private security, but it’s clear his heart is not in it, and we’d never expect it to be. As he prepares to head out, he’s greeted by a familiar face as Hicks comes to see Hondo and welcome him back to SWAT. Turns out another raid has gone sideways, and they are planning on dismantling SWAT.
We finally learn how much time has passed with confirmation that it’s been two years since 20 Squad was disbanded and Hondo left SWAT. As he chats with Hicks, it becomes clear that there is no love lost for the department after what it put Hondo through, but what we didn’t anticipate was for there to also be tension between Hondo and Hicks.
It seems Hicks didn’t exactly have Hondo’s back, and Hondo sees this invitation to come back to SWAT to lead a new unit for exactly what it is: a PR stunt, one he wants nothing to do with. Hicks doesn’t back down, reminding him how he used to say SWAT stood for something as he invites him to come rebuild it.
After a revamped intro, we begin to meet the key players in SWAT Exiles who will make up Hondo’s new team, Squad 44.
SWAT Exiles introduces viewers to the new recruits
First, we meet Sammy “Sam” Bishop filming a GRM video before she heads out to find the rest of her team to introduce them to her followers. This is when we meet Ethan Cole, a tactical analyst and drone reconnaissance specialist, who seems to be a bit of an introvert who is most passionate about science and technology.
Bored by the science lesson, Sam keeps it moving and finds Cassidy Han getting ready for shift in the locker room. Once Sam clocks her bionic leg, she quickly dubs Cassidy the bionic queen as she tries to get her to introduce herself to her followers. Enter Jude Callen, who turns the feed off and makes it clear this is a locker room, not a content farm.
After meeting the team, we cut to Hondo outside in his truck preparing to enter the SWAT headquarters as we flashback to the night of the raid gone wrong and watch as Hondo attempts to get an injured Nico out of the crossfire, but it’s too late as he’s been shot and seems to die in the raid.
As Hondo makes his way inside, he’s greeted by Clinton Myers, his new section commander, who is stretched thin but grateful Hondo is here. SWAT’s HQ has gotten quite a downgrade since the original series and is operating out of a rundown building far from the original HQ.
The pair wander into the room where they hold press conferences and find Deputy Chief Roman Carrero addressing the media. He’s the one backing the reform unit in the department, news he announces at the press conference, much to Hondo’s surprise. Hondo assures the media he’s going to do the job right and with purpose as he expresses excitement in meeting his team and trusting the process.
Cut to Hondo’s new team, who are waiting to meet their new team leader. Jude isn’t quite a fan of the idea of them dusting off an old relic to join this new team, as Cassidy reminds him Hondo is a legend. It’s a sentiment shared by the final member of the team, Malik Anderson, who makes it clear to his new team members that he came here because of Hondo, pointing out the respect he has that Hondo was the only one on his team who didn’t turn off their body cam—footage that was leaked after the failed raid, with Hondo suspected for leaking it.
That’s when Hondo enters the room to address his new team, making it clear there is no room for ego on his team as SWAT is about showing up when it counts. He orders everyone outside to perform a PFQ to put their skills to the test and pushes them hard with his series of drills.
After a grueling day of training, we cut to an ambush as a pair of armed men crash into a car. They exit the vehicle and kill the driver before the passenger takes off into the night.
The following morning, Hondo briefs the team on traffic cam footage confirming four Los Emperados assassins entered LA, killing a civilian and attempting to capture another off the street, and if this goes live, their training will become a reality, and they need to be ready for that call.
He walks the team through a hostage center drill to test them in a field drill, challenging them to adapt and be prepared for anything to come. While the team are skilled as individuals, they're not a team. Malik challenges Hondo after, pressing him on breaking trust before it was earned. Malik points out that this was supposed to be different and Hondo was supposed to be different, as he makes it clear he didn’t come to survive Hondo’s past but to serve. If that makes him the problem, he’s good with walking away.
Malik’s words seem to strike a chord as Hondo reflects back to when he first met Nico two years earlier and how excited Nico was to roll with SWAT. Nico asks Hondo for some tips, and he reminds him that a clean entry is everything. As Nico turns to leave, he drops a poker chip he and his cousin used to bet with—the same poker chip Hondo has been fidgeting with at various points in the episode. Their conversation ends with Hondo making Nico a deal: if Nico makes the cleanest entry, he gets the chip, but if he loses, Hondo holds onto it until he buys him a beer.
We return to the present day as Sam comes in to offer up some tips on his leadership style and gives him a book on teaching old dogs new tricks as he sends her away.
Hondo turns to an old friend for help
After work, Hondo catches up with Deacon and talks through his struggles to put this new team together as a working unit. Deacon reminds him how they both had to change and meet one another halfway as he points out to Hondo that perhaps that’s the job now: showing them how to do it.
Hondo can’t help but feel whether he was brought in and set up to fail as the conversation shifts to Deacon asking about what Hondo did with his mom’s place. We quickly learn that Hondo’s mom has passed, and our suspicions from earlier are also correct that he and Michelle have since divorced. Deacon reminds him that he’s still standing, which tells him one thing: he’s not done yet. Their conversation is interrupted as Deacon’s kids call him in, but his advice was exactly what Hondo needed to hear.
After Deacon leaves, Hondo gets a call from Ethan, who began running analysis on the assassins and thinks he’s figured out why they’re here. When Hondo meets up with him at HQ, Ethan explains that the man the shooters tried to take was a man named Carlos Vaminez, ex-Los Emperados Sincario, who disappeared back in 2016. Ethan has tracked his patterns, and he should be heading to a job site to collect his paycheck before disappearing. Hondo prepares to roll out, but Ethan points out they’ll need a third to improve the odds of capture, and Hondo has him call in Cassidy.
The following day, Cassidy, Ethan, and Hondo head out to surveil the job site, and sure enough Carlos shows up. Unfortunately, he spots Ethan on the roof and takes off. After Cassidy slips up, Hondo gives chase and eventually catches up to Carlos, and a struggle ensues before he brings him in.
Jude and Sam aren’t happy when they roll into HQ and discover they were left off the crew. The pair quickly realize they need to stand out loudly and prove themselves, so they approach Hondo about the chance to take a run at Carlos to rattle the cage and get intel out of him. The pair convince Hondo to give them a chance, and they head in to speak with Carlos.
The duo prove to be quite a team and quickly deduce that he’s got a daughter, and she’s why he ran. Carlos admits that he left the life of crime after being ordered to kill a woman and another baby, so he skipped town, changed his name, and started a new life. He begs them to let him go so he can meet up with his wife and daughter and protect them from those coming after him.
Following the interrogation, Hondo talked to the DA and got Carlos released while sending some patrol units out to try to find his wife. Unfortunately, the assassins find them first and abduct Carlos’ daughter.
After the abduction, Ethan manages to track down footage that proves the girl has been taken and is being used as bait. Hondo walks the higher-ups through the intel they have, but they’re not eager to sign off on SWAT being called in as Hondo presses that he knows what he’s taking about. Due to exigent circumstances, command signs off and makes it clear that this is Hondo’s op now.
Hondo suspects he has a mole on the team, and he's not wrong
With the green light having been given, Hondo rallies the team and makes it clear to them that he saw exactly what Command saw: flaws, rejections, and reasons to pass them over. They then paired them with him, and now command has greenlit this op without confirmation or backup, which is when it finally hit him: they didn’t set them up to succeed but to burn together. He admits they’re about to walk into something so real, but there is a little girl’s life on the line, so he’s asking them to roll with him not for the badge or for him but because SWAT means showing up when no one else will and encourages them to prove command wrong.
All four recruits are still standing suit up, and the team prepares to roll out; that’s when Malik returns and surprises Hondo. He informs him that Ethan filled him in and he wanted to show up and help. Hondo orders him to gear up, and he joins the rest of the team as they head out to the site where the assassins have taken Carlos’ daughter.
Upon arrival, Ethan deploys a drone to give them eyes inside the building, which gives them confirmation the girl is inside along with the assassins, and they’ve got company as Carlos has arrived.
44 Squad breaches the building, and Sam works to get Carlos to safety with Jude giving coverage before Hondo sends Jude up to higher ground. Hondo and Ethan follow after the assassins as Jude makes his way up the stairs to the third floor. He’s attacked by one of the assassins, and a struggle ensues before Jude is able to get his sidearm and shoots the man.
Back inside, Hondo and Ethan reach the girl and the assassin running the show. Hondo is able to distract the man, giving him just enough time to draw his sidearm and kill the man in execution style, saving the girl’s life in the process. While the unit still has a long way to go before they’re a team, it’s a start, and Hondo is ready to rise to the challenge.
After the mission, Hondo heads to the graveyard to visit Nico’s gravesite and return the poker chip. Hondo tells him he stumbled on entry, but he’s working on it. Hicks arrives shortly after, and we learn that they pushed Hicks out right after bringing Hondo back.
Hondo points out how Hicks’ name was on every personnel file, which is how he knew, as he’d never have given him that team, not like that. Hicks suggests the files were doctored. Hondo asks about his contacts downtown and suggests this whole thing was a setup: he’s done being a pawn.
As the episode ends, we see Malik rolling up to meet with a woman who informs him he’s late. Our mole is quickly revealed as Malik notes that Hondo doesn’t deserve the badge or command, and he is going to make sure the whole world knows it. And just like that, we know who our mole is, but the question we look forward to finding out is why Malik is set on bringing Hondo down and whether he’ll actually succeed in doing so.
SWAT Exiles is off to an amazing start, and the premiere was an exhilarating thrill ride! We're eager to see how the season progresses and whether this team can come together to truly become a unit that could rival 20 Squad and why Malik is so set on bringing Hondo down!
Don't miss new episodes of SWAT Exiles Fridays on Starz and the Starz App.
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