The midseason premiere of SWAT season 8 quickly answered which of the team members was in danger. Hondo was in his kitchen when he heard a knock on his door. As he opened it without answering a phone call from his Commander, a young kid with a gun startled him at his front door.
Hondo was able to wrestle the gun from the kid, who mentioned someone named Spoke and a million dollars. When he got to his phone and learned about a bounty on someone’s head, he realized someone wanted him killed.
While the team came back to headquarters and tried to find him, he was on the run from gang members who caught up to him and wanted to get the money to kill him. Once Hondo was rescued, he was clearly shaken, especially with the worry over Nichelle and Vivienne. They were out of town, luckily, but he was terrified.
Everyone worked together to try to figure out who was after him. At first, they thought it was a past drug dealer they had shut down who went by Spoke, but he had turned his life around over the years. All they could hope for was to find the kid, Trae Williams, who had escaped Hondo’s custody after others went after him.
How did the team help Hondo find out who was after him in SWAT?
Deacon and Tan eventually found Trae and brought him into custody. Trae was a young kid who didn’t have a home with his mother, who was working two jobs. Hondo confronted him and found out that Spoke was a nickname Trae came up with for the guy who made the hit. He drove a distinctive red vehicle that could be seen on surveillance at a quick stop Trae had seen him in front of discussing the hit.
The team was able to determine the man’s name was Ameer Riles, an up-and-coming drug dealer whose brother, Malik, had been put away in 2015. Hondo himself was the one who arrested him. Malik still made money in prison, which he funneled to his brother. Gamble discovered Malik had been killed by another inmate the week prior.
When Ameer threatened the entirety of SWAT, Hondo wanted to get back out there and go after himself. But the team refused to leave him behind and were able to catch up to him at an old theater previously owned by Ameer’s parents.
Despite a lengthy battle with Ameer and his men, they were able to take Ameer into custody. Hondo was also willing to give Trae a shot at redeeming himself. He worked it out with Commander Hicks that they would lower his charges and Trae would work at Leroy’s shop. It was a touching moment to see Hondo giving this young kid a second chance to turn his life around.
We’re thrilled to know Hondo is safe and that no one else on the team got hurt. We’re already looking forward to seeing the second half of the season.
SWAT airs on CBS on Fridays at 10/9c. You can find previous episodes on Paramount+.
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