S05.E01: Vagabundo (1)

[thewhiteowl]

In the aftermath of his decision to speak out in the press, Hondo retreats to a quiet town in Mexico to reassess his life and professional future, only to find himself reluctantly drawn into one local family’s fight for justice.

[Danielg342]

Tonight on "Days of our SWAT"...

(OK, I know Shemar Moore was actually on The Young and the Restless but I think referencing Days of Our Lives works better)

So we have Hondo, off somewhere in Mexico. Where, we don't know because the town he's in, Soldadera, does not actually exist in real life. If I had to harbour a guess as to where it could be, I'm assuming it's somewhere in central Mexico's mountainous interior, perhaps near Mexico City.

Anyway, that's semantics. The real gist of this episode is that we're getting a glimpse into Hondo's struggle with his identity after his previous identity (being in SWAT) was turned upside down. He's the only cast member to actually appear in this episode- the rest just appear as text messages on a screen.

Ones Hondo hasn't bothered to reply to.

Of course, we can't have a S.W.A.T. episode if we didn't have something happen where elements of S.W.A.T. can be brought in. So the fact that Hondo sticks his nose in the town's local affairs, gets crossed up in the town's corruption led by its puppet master (played wonderfully by Timothy V. Murphy, who also played Irishman Ian Doyle on Criminal Minds), gets into a pretty brutal fight and gets into a car chase is to be expected.

The problem is in the execution.

This really felt like a soap opera episode only with guns, fights and a car chase, and an utterly predictable ending with the damsel really in distress.

All done under a rather nauseating subtext where "the American" does all the work and rescues those "poor locals in a foreign land" because the locals can't help themselves.

Blech.

Seriously, I thought by 2021 we'd be past writing the nonsensical "America saves the day" story, one that has heavy roots in racism and xenophobia.

The fact that Shemar Moore is black doesn't give the show a pass for pandering to it.

Really, when I look at this episode, all I see is Hondo having any kind of depth and any kind of actual agency. Everyone else- especially the Mexican characters- are lazy stock characters who all do nothing except wait for Hondo to steer them along.

The worst of it- which, for this show, is sadly not surprising- was brunt by the two women in this episode, who literally did nothing except sneer at the oligarch's henchmen with the daughter just being there to be captured by them and no doubt be used as leverage in the next episode.

Seriously, this episode feels like it would be bad even if it were made in the 1970s. The fact that it was made now makes it even worse.

Not that I don't mind, in principle, an episode where Hondo plays the hero. I should expect Hondo, in his own series, to take centre stage.

The problem is that the show really should have made the other characters far more useful than they were. This episode will draw comparisons to "Los Huesos" from Season Two, where it was Christina Alonso and Jessica Cortez going undercover in Mexico for a case. That episode gave the locals far more agency and didn't rely on "the Americans" to do all the heavy lifting for them.

Here, Hondo does everything, relegating the Mexican characters to do little more for him except to provide exposition or be plot devices, all with Hondo spurring them all into action.

The show can do so much better than this.

Perhaps I'll reserve my complete judgement since this is the first of a two-parter, and some elements were well done (Moore was his usual electrifying self, Val Dorantes (who played Delfina) commanded her presence and Murphy was charming), but this was not a good start.

[mommalib]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Tonight on "Days of our SWAT"...

(OK, I know Shemar Moore was actually on The Young and the Restless but I think referencing Days of Our Lives works better)

So we have Hondo, off somewhere in Mexico. Where, we don't know because the town he's in, Soldadera, does not actually exist in real life. If I had to harbour a guess as to where it could be, I'm assuming it's somewhere in central Mexico's mountainous interior, perhaps near Mexico City.

Anyway, that's semantics. The real gist of this episode is that we're getting a glimpse into Hondo's struggle with his identity after his previous identity (being in SWAT) was turned upside down. He's the only cast member to actually appear in this episode- the rest just appear as text messages on a screen.

Ones Hondo hasn't bothered to reply to.

Of course, we can't have a S.W.A.T. episode if we didn't have something happen where elements of S.W.A.T. can be brought in. So the fact that Hondo sticks his nose in the town's local affairs, gets crossed up in the town's corruption led by its puppet master (played wonderfully by Timothy V. Murphy, who also played Irishman Ian Doyle on Criminal Minds), gets into a pretty brutal fight and gets into a car chase is to be expected.

The problem is in the execution.

This really felt like a soap opera episode only with guns, fights and a car chase, and an utterly predictable ending with the damsel really in distress.

All done under a rather nauseating subtext where "the American" does all the work and rescues those "poor locals in a foreign land" because the locals can't help themselves.

Blech.

Seriously, I thought by 2021 we'd be past writing the nonsensical "America saves the day" story, one that has heavy roots in racism and xenophobia.

The fact that Shemar Moore is black doesn't give the show a pass for pandering to it.

Really, when I look at this episode, all I see is Hondo having any kind of depth and any kind of actual agency. Everyone else- especially the Mexican characters- are lazy stock characters who all do nothing except wait for Hondo to steer them along.

The worst of it- which, for this show, is sadly not surprising- was brunt by the two women in this episode, who literally did nothing except sneer at the oligarch's henchmen with the daughter just being there to be captured by them and no doubt be used as leverage in the next episode.

Seriously, this episode feels like it would be bad even if it were made in the 1970s. The fact that it was made now makes it even worse.

Not that I don't mind, in principle, an episode where Hondo plays the hero. I should expect Hondo, in his own series, to take centre stage.

The problem is that the show really should have made the other characters far more useful than they were. This episode will draw comparisons to "Los Huesos" from Season Two, where it was Christina Alonso and Jessica Cortez going undercover in Mexico for a case. That episode gave the locals far more agency and didn't rely on "the Americans" to do all the heavy lifting for them.

Here, Hondo does everything, relegating the Mexican characters to do little more for him except to provide exposition or be plot devices, all with Hondo spurring them all into action.

The show can do so much better than this.

Perhaps I'll reserve my complete judgement since this is the first of a two-parter, and some elements were well done (Moore was his usual electrifying self, Val Dorantes (who played Delfina) commanded her presence and Murphy was charming), but this was not a good start.

As a Black man I enjoy seeing heroic Black characters particularly Black male characters on TV and in Movies. And Shemar has always been great in this role. This "America saves everybody" plot you were complaining about has been almost exclusive to White men and I'll leave it at that. 

[Danielg342]

30 minutes ago, mommalib said:

As a Black man I enjoy seeing heroic Black characters particularly Black male characters on TV and in Movies. And Shemar has always been great in this role. This "America saves everybody" plot you were complaining about has been almost exclusive to White men and I'll leave it at that. 

I don't think the trope suddenly becomes better to use because, in this case, it's a Black American in the role instead of a White American. Hondo's still an American in a foreign land showing the clueless foreigners how it's done.

Maybe the show using this trope doesn't become as jarring if the storyline was set in Africa, or the Caribbean, or another part of the developed Western world like Canada, Australia or Europe, because at least Hondo's dealing with people who live in a similar culture to the U.S. and/or have the same connection to his heritage. Hondo in Mexico is just as different to the Mexicans as Tan or Deacon would be to them.

Don't get me wrong. I think S.W.A.T. deserves all the plaudits- and then some- for how great they've handled issues surrounding African-Americans as well as the fact the unequivocal star of the show is an African-American, which would likely be unheard of even as recently as ten years ago. I am not complaining at all about the fact the hero on S.W.A.T. is African-American. Far from it.

However, I think that just because S.W.A.T. is ground-breaking in some areas of racial depictions on television it should not get a pass where it is weak in other areas of racial depictions.

Such as its portrayals of Latin Americans.

Thinking about it, the show's issues with Latin Americans go far beyond the depictions in this episode. The show has only one Latin American amongst its cast- Lina Esco (who has Colombian roots)- and her character, Christina Alonso, has been reduced to being nothing else but the love interest of another main character. Which was the same fate for the show's other erstwhile Latin American cast member, Stephanie Sigman's Jessica Cortez, who was nothing more than Hondo's love interest until Sigman left the series after S2.

Then we get to the fact that, other times we've seen Latin American characters, they're either criminals, the victims of criminals or people who are depicted as poor. We've never had a Latin American cast in an "upper class" role such as being a business leader or a politician- they're almost always "second-class" people.

People who, further to that, are almost always only fluent in Spanish and know hardly a lick of English, as if to drive the Latin Americans' "otherness" even more.

Maybe the show's depiction of Latin Americans is accurate when it comes to how things are in Los Angeles. I also won't deny that, like African-Americans, Asian-Americans and other people of colour, Latin Americans have their own plethora of racial issues that are extremely important and definitely need dealing with.

Which only further means that the show should definitely not get a pass for its problematic portrayal of Latin Americans. It deserves every bit of criticism for "othering" Latin Americans as any other show that does the same thing, because the problem is still there even if it's progressive in other areas of its depictions.

[Danielg342]

The more I think about this episode, the more I think about how I would have done it differently.

What we could have had was a story where Hondo was still on the ranch but this time we see that he's already met Isabel and Delfina Reyes and has already started to bond with them (I mean, really, if he had been living at the ranch for months he should have met his neighbours at least a few times). Perhaps Isabel and Hondo have some sparks (the actress who played Isabel, Pilar Padilla, is Shemar Moore's age) and the burgeoning romance is the reason why Hondo gets to learn more about the Reyeses' issues.

This deep dive is how Isabel learns he's a former SWAT commander (something he's told no one else) and how Hondo eventually learns of about the overtures of Arthur Novak. Hondo begins to suspect that Novak's henchmen actually murdered Isabel's husband, but Hondo is reluctant to act on it (though it eats at him inside). Isabel, knowing his past, eventually prods him to look in to what happened to Mr. Reyes, causing Hondo to bow to his instincts and agree to investigate. Hondo recruits the young officer (who is perhaps Delfina's love interest) and the two of them investigate the murder of Mr. Reyes.

Which is how the shenanigans start.

Maybe it's not much different from the story we did get, but I think this is a bit more coherent than what we did get. Plus it gives the Reyeses (and perhaps the young officer) a bit more agency in their own story, which was what was badly needed.

[yourmomiseasy]

1 hour ago, Danielg342 said:

The more I think about this episode, the more I think about how I would have done it differently.

What we could have had was a story where Hondo was still on the ranch but this time we see that he's already met Isabel and Delfina Reyes and has already started to bond with them (I mean, really, if he had been living at the ranch for months he should have met his neighbours at least a few times). Perhaps Isabel and Hondo have some sparks (the actress who played Isabel, Pilar Padilla, is Shemar Moore's age) and the burgeoning romance is the reason why Hondo gets to learn more about the Reyeses' issues.

This deep dive is how Isabel learns he's a former SWAT commander (something he's told no one else) and how Hondo eventually learns of about the overtures of Arthur Novak. Hondo begins to suspect that Novak's henchmen actually murdered Isabel's husband, but Hondo is reluctant to act on it (though it eats at him inside). Isabel, knowing his past, eventually prods him to look in to what happened to Mr. Reyes, causing Hondo to bow to his instincts and agree to investigate. Hondo recruits the young officer (who is perhaps Delfina's love interest) and the two of them investigate the murder of Mr. Reyes.

Which is how the shenanigans start.

Maybe it's not much different from the story we did get, but I think this is a bit more coherent than what we did get. Plus it gives the Reyeses (and perhaps the young officer) a bit more agency in their own story, which was what was badly needed.

Does it really give the Reyeses more agency?  Or does it just make them love interests to the heroes?

I felt bad for the towns people having their businesses destroyed by fights and car chases.  

[Danielg342]

13 hours ago, yourmomiseasy said:

Does it really give the Reyeses more agency?  Or does it just make them love interests to the heroes?

I felt bad for the towns people having their businesses destroyed by fights and car chases.  

I would have liked to have seen a better and deeper connection to the Reyeses than what we did get.

I would have also liked to see Isabel and Delfina be the ones who push a reluctant Hondo to action. Maybe the episode starts with Hondo revealing for the first time that he was once in SWAT which causes Isabel to reveal her issues and pressure Hondo to action. Eventually he relents.

[Daff]

On 10/2/2021 at 12:20 AM, mommalib said:

As a Black man I enjoy seeing heroic Black characters particularly Black male characters on TV and in Movies. And Shemar has always been great in this role. This "America saves everybody" plot you were complaining about has been almost exclusive to White men and I'll leave it at that. 

Richard Roundtree, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, only a few of many…..over many years…..

[misstwpherecool]

First SWAT episode I liked especially after the preaching last year.  I thought it was well done regardless of some story issues like the over done car chase. Even the ending got it right. At times I thought I was watching a movie especially with the scenery.  I didn't expect much but was pleasantly surprised.

Edited October 4, 2021 by misstwpherecool

[Snazzy Daisy]

The scenery in this episode is spectacular, it’s like watching a different tv show. Horse riding with a view, wow Hondo, very Clint Eastwood! 😱

Another reasons why I like this episode - it is not preachy, no extreme wokeness etc. and there is no forced romance.

Am guessing this storyline will be wrapped up by next episode, hopefully with a happy ending for the Reyes.

[Danielg342]

41 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Am guessing this storyline will be wrapped up by next episode, hopefully with a happy ending for the Reyes.

I'm going to guess- based on the promo for next week and the fact we're only getting four episodes before the winter break- that these four episodes will be a mini-arc that will be resolved by Christmas. The Reyes storyline may be completed next week but I'm not sure- something tells me Hondo will bring in his pals back in L.A. before it's all said and done.

[Snazzy Daisy]

24 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I'm going to guess- based on the promo for next week and the fact we're only getting four episodes before the winter break- that these four episodes will be a mini-arc that will be resolved by Christmas. The Reyes storyline may be completed next week but I'm not sure- something tells me Hondo will bring in his pals back in L.A. before it's all said and done.

Wait, what? Winter break comes early, in October? How many episodes will there be for season 5?

[Danielg342]

3 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Wait, what? Winter break comes early, in October? How many episodes will there be for season 5?

This is what I've got from TVLine- the show has four episodes in October, takes a November break, and then comes back in December before shifting to Sunday some time in midseason.

There's no firm episode count yet, but Shemar Moore posted on his Instagram account that he was told the show was getting at least 20 episodes. My guess is that the show will produce at least 16 episodes this season, because that's how many they need in order to hit 100.

Just looking at the calendar, there are three Friday dates in December before Christmas, and there are 18 weeks from January 30, 2022 to May 29, 2022. I picked January 30, 2022 because that's the likely date for the AFC Championship Game, and networks love using football to prop up their shows. That leaves 20 weeks to air 14-16 episodes (because CBS is not going to counter program the Super Bowl). So after it comes back there will likely not be any more breaks.

That's just speculation, though. The only things I do know is that the show starts on Fridays before moving to Sundays. After that, I don't really know. I'm fairly certain that the shift to Sunday will take place after the AFC Championship Game because other networks have done that too and I doubt that CBS will want a Sunday program to air against football (especially since I'm sure much of the show's target demographic also watches football).

Beyond that, I don't know.

What it means for the stories is that I suspect the October and December runs will be serialized to a degree- maybe with a cliffhanger ending at the end of the December run that gets resolved on the first Sunday show- before going back to the "Case of the Week" format when it comes back.

[Snazzy Daisy]

1 hour ago, Danielg342 said:

This is what I've got from TVLine- the show has four episodes in October, takes a November break, and then comes back in December before shifting to Sunday some time in midseason.

There's no firm episode count yet, but Shemar Moore posted on his Instagram account that he was told the show was getting at least 20 episodes. My guess is that the show will produce at least 16 episodes this season, because that's how many they need in order to hit 100.

Just looking at the calendar, there are three Friday dates in December before Christmas, and there are 18 weeks from January 30, 2022 to May 29, 2022. I picked January 30, 2022 because that's the likely date for the AFC Championship Game, and networks love using football to prop up their shows. That leaves 20 weeks to air 14-16 episodes (because CBS is not going to counter program the Super Bowl). So after it comes back there will likely not be any more breaks.

That's just speculation, though. The only things I do know is that the show starts on Fridays before moving to Sundays. After that, I don't really know. I'm fairly certain that the shift to Sunday will take place after the AFC Championship Game because other networks have done that too and I doubt that CBS will want a Sunday program to air against football (especially since I'm sure much of the show's target demographic also watches football).

Beyond that, I don't know.

What it means for the stories is that I suspect the October and December runs will be serialized to a degree- maybe with a cliffhanger ending at the end of the December run that gets resolved on the first Sunday show- before going back to the "Case of the Week" format when it comes back.

I see. Not looking forward to the long hiatus. Thanks for the info D! 🙏🏻 

[Raja]

The networks might also be thinking about banking episodes in case of an upcoming strike.

[DanaK]

Some reality show was supposed to be shown in November in SWAT's timeslot but that got canned due to protests (it was about a competition for activists but they were supposed to advance via social media engagement) so I don't know what they have planned in place of that

[mythoughtis]

This show is called SWAT with SWAT officers in LA.  I’m not interested  in watching Hondo in a telenova, or getting involved in a situation in foreign country.  I’d also like to know where the character, an inner LA city kid, would have learned to ride a horse that well.