Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, a Los Angeles native has been promoted as a SWAT team leader following the termination of his previous leader, William "Buck" Spivey, due to accidentally shooting an unarmed black teenager. To fill in the void left by Buck, Hondo's team gets a rookie SWAT member at Buck's recommendation, Jim Street, a new transfer from Long Beach, but matters are complicated since he is a lone-wolf type cop.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Luca cracks a smile when Street makes a wisecrack at Mumford's expense.
- Badass Biker: Street's Establishing Character Moment firmly shows him as one.
- Big Damn Heroes: Hondo, Luca and Chris save Mumford and his team from being killed in an ambush.
- Car Fu: Street stops the last group of bank robbers from escaping by smashing the car he's driving into the side of their van, totalling the vehicle.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Street's response to Hondo helping him take down the last of the robbers who had Street on the ropes is to snark "I would have had him."
- Cowboy Cop: Street has this in spades.
- Death Glare: Street gets a wealth of these from the minute he walks into S.W.A.T. headquarters.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: The episode's villains are a group of former soldiers stoking racial tensions between black and white communities in LA to overstretch LAPD's resources to stop the cops responding to a series of bank robberies they have planned.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Buck's reaction to accidentally shooting an unarmed teenager while in a firefight with a suspect.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Hondo feels his promotion to team leader is a political gambit by Hicks to defuse racial tensions in the city.Hondo: Hicks doesn't want a team leader, he wants a mascot.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When a sniper starts shooting at protestors, Street goes haring off in the direction of the shots to try and stop the sniper escaping, heedless of the danger to himself and others. Hondo and Deacon both chew him out afterwards for his recklessness.Hondo: First rule of S.W.A.T., Street. Never be in a hurry to die.
