• S.W.A.T. ended its eight-season run Friday with a two-part finale.
• The ultimate episodes see Shemar Moore's Hondo query the loyalty of Annie Ilonzeh's Gamble after her brother will get blended up in a carjacking plot.
• An explosive firefight with vicious Russian mercenaries decimates the SWAT headquarters.

This text incorporates spoilers for S.W.A.T. season 8, episodes 21 and 22, "Journey or Die" and "Return to Base."

After a number of cancellations and resurrections, the CBS motion collection S.W.A.T. has locked and loaded for the final time.

Based mostly on the 1975 collection of the identical title, S.W.A.T. was developed by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and The Defend creator Shawn Ryan, with Shemar Moore's Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson Jr. main a Particular Weapons and Ways unit of the LAPD comprised of savvy, combat-experienced misfits like Jay Harrington's David "Deacon" Kay and David Lim's Victor Tan.

Whereas a number of of the present's preliminary leads had moved on, season 8 supplied a possibility to deepen the tales of its newer recruits, together with Zoe Powell (Anna Enger Ritch), Miko Alfaro (Niko Pepaj), and particularly Devin Gamble (Annie Ilonzeh), a key determine within the collection' two-part finale.

All through season 8, Gamble had struggled to reconcile her duties as an officer together with her household's deep felony historical past — her father's legacy because the assassin of an L.A. sheriff didn't do her any favors on the drive. Throughout the ultimate episodes, her previous comes again to hang-out her when her twin brother, Leon (Nick Creegan), will get blended up in a violent carjacking ring wreaking havoc on town.

The ultimate episodes additionally resolve the story of Deacon's stalker, Heather (Yael Grobglas), and ship a balls-to-the-wall firefight with a Russian mercenary group that just about reduces SWAT's headquarters to rubble.

Beneath, we break down the S.W.A.T. ending, from Gamble's household woes to the group's future combating the worst the Metropolis of Angels has to supply.

What occurs with Deacon's stalker?

A number of episodes again, Deacon saved a sports activities agent named Heather who went on to make a transfer on him. Being married, he turned her down, however she persevered. In "Journey or Die," she turns into an actual risk, approaching his daughter on the playground and breaking into his home.

After wanting into her previous, Deacon learns that she ruined the wedding of a earlier obsession by sneaking into his home whereas his household was touring, taking provocative pictures in his clothes, and sending them to his spouse. With Deacon's spouse and youngsters out of the home, he worries she'll do the identical to him.

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And, yep, that's precisely what she's doing. He catches her in one in every of his gown shirts taking pictures on his mattress. "I needed to shock you," she says. "You need this simply as a lot as I do."

She's livid when extra LAPD officers arrive to assist Deacon. "You have been supposed to avoid wasting me," she says earlier than threatening to inform his spouse. However he's received nothing to fret about, as he did nothing unsuitable.

What have been the carjackers after?

Led by greasy psychopath Torque Vaughn (Ryan Donowho), the hijackers of "Journey or Die" are on a mission to steal the posh automobiles of fentanyl kingpin Rico Castro, who lately fled the nation attributable to authorities closing in on his operation. Torque is after one automobile particularly, because it incorporates a supercomputer stuffed along with his smuggling routes, contacts, and stash home areas. It's that information he hopes to promote to the best bidder.

Torque is described as a real monster, a gifted and elusive hijacker and assassin who faked his personal dying a decade prior. Hondo is especially incensed by Torque's return — after Torque killed a teenage lady years in the past, it was Hondo who needed to inform the household. He's devastated on the considered the mother and father discovering out that Torque remains to be alive.

How does SWAT take down the hijackers?

Together with some old school police work, the group is ready to be taught of Torque's plan by convincing his girlfriend that he was setting her as much as take the autumn — simply as he'd achieved with earlier paramours. After crashing an change with a neighborhood drug seller — $10 million for Castro's contacts — and chasing Torque by the again alleys of L.A., Hondo places a bullet between Torque's eyes.

How was Gamble's brother concerned with Torque?

When SWAT finds Leon, Gamble's brother, at a storage the place Torque was hiding out, they believe him of being concerned with the carjacking operation. He denies any involvement — and is upset when his sister fails to defend him — nevertheless it's later revealed that he helped safe some hijacking provides for Torque and his crew. As cost for his companies, Torque gifted Leon a Lamborghini they stole from Castro.

It is a devastating revelation for Gamble, who believed in her brother's innocence and was engaged on repairing her relationship with him. After discovering the Lamborghini, she tries to arrest Leon, pulling her gun on him. However Leon gained't submit. "You’ll be able to't rat out your individual brother," he says. She will be able to't carry by with it, and he escapes.

What's the cope with the Russian mercenaries?

S.W.A.T.'s ultimate episode, "Return to Base," facilities on the Crimson Sword, a gaggle of masked, rifle-wielding Russian terrorists who use superior drone know-how to plant a whole lot of land mines in parks and playgrounds all through Los Angeles. They'll deactivate the mines in change for the discharge of Dmitri Rykov (Alexander Sokovikov), a Russian mercenary in CIA custody.

The CIA refuses to offer him up, as they plan to change him for 10 harmless American hostages in Russia. As Hondo tries to get near Rykov to be taught what he can about Crimson Sword, he comes to comprehend that the group doesn't wish to save Rykov — they wish to kill him.

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Why? It's a bit advanced. Mainly, Rykov, who was beforehand exiled from Russia, needs to get again within the good graces of the Kremlin by sharing the intel that Crimson Sword is chargeable for burning down the home of Russia's Minister of Protection. Whereas the minister was away on the time, each of his sons died within the assault. Crimson Sword needs to make sure that data by no means reaches the ears of the Kremlin, lest they be wiped off the map. As such, they wish to be sure that Rykov by no means makes it again to Russia.

What occurs to Rykov?

After an assault on a CIA convoy, Hondo brings Rykov again to a SWAT interrogation room. This brings the wrath of Crimson Sword on their headquarters, with the mercenaries utilizing makeshift drone missiles to bomb the constructing. This results in a standoff with SWAT and Crimson Sword, throughout which Rykov manages to flee Hondo's custody. After SWAT wipes out Crimson Sword and Hondo defeats Rykov in hand-to-hand fight, Rykov is returned to CIA custody and exchanged for the hostages.

Does Gamble go away the SWAT group?

"Journey or Die" ends with Gamble admitting to Hondo that she let her brother get away after studying of his affiliation with Torque. "So long as I'm right here, I can't be an excellent sister or an excellent cop," she says, telling him that she plans to go away the group and transfer again to Oakland. "Perhaps that's for one of the best," Hondo says, livid.

Whereas Hondo is ok with Gamble's departure, the remainder of the group isn't. When Tan asserts to Hondo that she's household, Hondo replies, "No, her household is her household. She made that completely clear."

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He modifies his tune, although, after Gamble saves his life in the course of the Crimson Sword raid. She occurs to be within the workplace to assemble her belongings when the mercenaries storm SWAT headquarters, and instantly leaps into motion, saving Hondo and Rykov from an encroaching soldier.

Within the aftermath of the firefight, Hondo admits to being a poor chief and asks Gamble to remain on the group. "This job asks quite a bit from all of us. Each day. However what it requested of you simply isn't truthful," he says. "You shouldn't have to decide on between this job and your individual blood, and I shouldn't have put that on you, not the way in which I did. This group couldn't have made it by the yr with out you. You’re the lacking piece. We are able to't lose you. L.A. is your house, Devin. It's the place you belong."

How does S.W.A.T. finish?

S.W.A.T.'s eight-season run ends with Deacon gathering the group to offer them a gift. He lately fell into an excessive amount of cash when his non-public safety agency was contracted by a neighborhood developer, and he needs to spend a few of it on the folks he loves.

He provides Hondo, Tan, Gamble, Zoe, and Miko every a watch. "Just lately, a smart man jogged my memory that SWAT officers are all the time working on borrowed time," he says. "I hope this can all the time be a reminder of each minute spent collectively on this group. It's the best reward of all."

As development crews work to rebuild their headquarters, a name is available in about an armed theft with officers underneath fireplace. "What are we ready for?" asks Hondo. "Gear up. Let's go save this metropolis."

As they go away the constructing, they every place a hand towards the SWAT brand on the wall.

The place can I watch S.W.A.T.?

S.W.A.T. is streamingon Paramount+.

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