Hondo and the team are confronted with difficult reminders of a past school shooting as they race to prevent a copycat from re-enacting the same crime that occured 6 years ago.
Tropes
- Axes at School: The episode's plot centers on a planned school shooting by a copycat of a previous shooting, which the team scrambles to stop (with flashbacks detailing the first, heavily inspired from the real Columbine massacre.
- Dare to Be Badass: Implied in the 2013 flashback when Chris is told by Hicks there are no women in S.W.A.T. but there's nothing to stop them from trying out.
- Due to the Dead: Deacon named his daughter Lila after the last victim of the 2013 school shooting (she provided the S.W.A.T. team with intel of what was going on in the school and was killed trying to protect some of her classmates).
- For Want Of A Nail: Street invokes this to Luca, suggesting that if they'd killed the surviving shooter in 2013, they might not have gotten the intel they needed to stop the present one.
- Forgiveness: A big theme throughout this, particularly when the original shooter's mother, after seeing what Hondo did, tells him she stopped blaming him for killing her son a long time ago.
- In the Back: It's implied Hondo killed one of the 2013 shooters this way.
- It's Personal: Luca clearly despises the school shooter who survived, pointing out to Street that while he may spend the rest of his life in prison, he's still alive, which is more than his victims got.Luca: You weren't there six years ago. How can you get it?Street: I mean... I might not have been there, but I've seen my share of messed up stuff, dude. I saw my mom shoot my dad-Luca: Ok, so how can you defend this guy then!? I saw innocent kids bleeding out on the floor because of him!Street: And he's in prison for the rest of his life.Luca: The rest of his life! He's living, okay? Those kids he murdered? They're never gonna get that same chance. He should have died just like his buddy.
- My Greatest Failure: Two examples-
- The surviving school shooter clearly regrets that he allowed the ringleader to talk him into carrying out the shooting, provides them with any information he can, and even tells Luca he's grateful S.W.A.T stopped him from killing more people.
- The ringleader's mother clearly blames herself for not seeing what her son was about to do.
- Public Service Announcement: The episode ends with one, where the cast and an L.A.P.D. officer discuss how to spot potential warning signs of school shooters.
- Self-Made Orphan: The copycat school shooter murders his own mother before heading to his school.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Street has some for the surviving school shooter, pointing out to Luca the kid does seem genuinely remorseful for his actions.Street: Guy seems to be genuinely remorseful about what he did.Luca: Look, I don't care how bad he feels. He could be a living saint right now, wouldn't matter to me.
- This Cannot Be!: In the flashback to the 2013 school shooting, the main shooter's mother has this reaction when Hicks tells her that her son was not only involved, but was also killed by S.W.A.T.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: The whole team after the school shooting in 2013.
- Tranquil Fury: When S.W.A.T. arrests the man who sold the gun to their suspect and he refuses to talk without a promise of immunity from prosecution, Hondo calmly and angrily promises that unless they stop the shooter in time, the gun seller will be charged as an accessory to mass murder. The seller promptly decides to talk.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: Both Hondo and Hicks are adamant they're not going to see a repeat of the 2013 River Hill massacre.
- You Are Too Late: According to Hondo, back in 2013, he and the team were training only a few blocks from the school under attack, but several victims had still been killed by the time they arrived.
