S.W.A.T. are called in to provide protection to the memorial service of a local singer and outspoken activist against the L.A.P.D. after word of a planned attack reaches them.
Tropes
- Avenging the Villain: The real villain of the episode is targeting the memorial is because he's furious they can spend so much money on an event like that when his own father got hounded into an early grave for refusing to pay a fine for being drunk and disorderly.Mitch: The city can kill my dad for a couple thousand bucks, but they can spend millions on a memorial for what?! Some singer?!
- Being Personal Isn't Professional: Deacon refused to provide security for a concert by Rhodium due to his disapproval of her criticism of the police, but insists that he won't let his personal feelings get in the way of doing his job to the best of his ability as a S.W.A.T. officer.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Hondo and Deacon touch on this in an argument about Rhodium's activism against the police; Deacon argues that there are still good police officers who take their job seriously and it's unfair to tarnish the entire police force with the same brush as a few bad cops, while Hondo points out the African-American community does have some legitimate grievances against the police force.
- At the end of the episode, Deacon and Monica's mother reach a mutual respect for each other; she admits she was too quick to judge Deacon like other police officers she and her daughter have encountered, while Deacon concedes they do have legitimate reasons to be distrustful of police, as well as apologising for the fact not all L.A.P.D. officers hold themselves to the same standards of behaviour he does.
- Everyone Has Standards: The gun dealer who supplied the shooter initially refuses to talk with S.W.A.T., citing his client's rights under the Second Amendment, but when Chris points out the guy is planning to attack the Rhodium memorial, the dealer immediately becomes willing to co-operate, saying his daughter and grandkids are going to be in attendance and he doesn't want them getting hurt.
- Freudian Excuse: Rhodium's (real name Monica) reason for being extremely outspoken against the police was because at the age of 15, she saw her first boyfriend gunned down by police when they assumed he was pulling out a gun when all he was doing was rearranging his trousers. Monica's mother explains while he survived, he was left in a persistent vegetative state and one of the first things Monica did upon cutting a record deal was paying for the best medical care for him.
- No Body Left Behind: In the final shootout, the bomber is throwing white phosphorous grenades when Hondo shoots him in the shoulder while holding a primed grenade. He drops it into a bag full of them which promptly explodes, blowing him to bits.
- Oh, Crap!: Hondo and Deacon's reaction when they realise the shooter has access to white phosphorous.
- Also Street, Tan and Deacon when the shooter starts firing white phosphorous grenades at their car.
- Red Herring: There are two before the main villain is revealed;
- A group of anti-Black Lives Matter protesters are initially suspected, but it turns out they've got no bigger plans than just painting some slanderous graffiti.
- A young man whose sister was a cop killed in the line of duty and who'd been extremely vocal in criticizing Rhodium on social media is also suspected after it turns out he has military training and rented an Air Bn B with a perfect view of the memorial parade, but it turns out he was planning nothing more extreme than hanging a defamatory banner.
- You Are Too Late: The main villain's motivation is because his father cut off his ankle monitor while drunk and then challenged the police to arrest him for it. The guy was driving back to his father's home to try and talk him down when he got caught in traffic, by which time his father had already been killed in a shoot out with the L.A.P.D.
