The SWAT Speculation Thread

[Danielg342]

Welcome to the Official™ SWAT Speculation Thread! This thread is for exactly what it says- to speculate on where the show is and where it is headed in the future.

NOTE: The spoiler tag has been added to this thread since this seems like the natural place for spoilers plus I figure it's hard to speculate without spoilers. If it's not needed then it can be removed.

[Danielg342]

So we've finished S5 and we're headed to S6. As far as I can tell, there are four storylines that remain unresolved heading into next season. They are (ranked based on what I feel are the most significant storylines):

1. Who replaces Christina Alonso? After five seasons delivering a standout performance both in front of and behind the camera, Lina Esco has departed the series. There's still a chance that Esco comes back every now and then in the future because now Alonso is officially in a relationship with Jim Street, and while I believe it's likely, it's not a guarantee. The bigger question, though, is who will replace Esco as the show's female lead? The show has a number of in-house candidates- most notably Norma Kuhling (Norah Fowler) and Brigette Kali Canales (Alexis Cabrera)- but there's also the possibility that the show will bring in an entirely new actress for a completely new character.
2. The elusive Saint and his stash houses. Saint was introduced early in S5 and, in-universe, he's a pillar of the community who can do no wrong. Hondo, however, strongly suspects Saint is up to some shady business in the drug dealing game and Hondo is out to prove it. Hondo's friend Leroy gave us a tiny lead in this direction by connecting us with one of Saint's dealers, but the dealer was shot dead after the sting operation went sideways. So, where does it go from here?
3. Hondo becomes a dad. In the S5 finale, Nichelle, Hondo's girlfriend, revealed she was pregnant, ending a storyline where she and Hondo tried so hard to have a baby. Now that it's finally happening, I'm assuming that the next time we see Nichelle (probably in the premiere, because Hollywood doesn't seem to care about correctly following timelines) the baby will be born and we'll have some cute scenes of the happy couple holding their baby. Which begins the next part of their story- Hondo and Nichelle will now have to raise that kid, which will not be easy. Can Hondo juggle being SWAT squad leader and a father?
4. Eduardo Ortiz's wrongful conviction. We met Ortiz when we first saw him take part in Deacon's prison prayer group, and since then (after much haggling), Ortiz has recruited Deacon and his wife, Annie, to look into his conviction for murder because Ortiz feels he was wrongfully convicted. The only complication is that Ortiz took a plea deal- meaning he willingly pled guilty- so overturning the conviction isn't as simple as finding new evidence that leads to a new trial. Deacon and Annie need to find conclusive proof that Ortiz didn't commit the crime just to have chance at reopening the case. To this end, Annie did interview a woman who knew the murder victim, and this woman let slip a detail that was never released to the public, indicating that she might actually be the culprit after all. The storyline sits at a place where, despite Annie presenting this evidence, the detective still won't reopen the investigation. Is this the end of the story, or is there another twist in the tale?
5. The blowback from the LAPD on Hondo for going to the press at the end of S4. S5 started by addressing this story with Hondo taking a strange sabbatical in Mexico before going back to the team demoted to the sidelines as a new team leader, Rodrigo Sanchez, took his spot. Sanchez was quite open that he was simply there to get Hondo to quit, but, expectedly, he failed at that task, moving on to another gig. Sanchez did warn Hondo- and Commander Hicks, who reinstated Hondo as Sergeant as team leader of 20-squad- that Sanchez was "only the beginning". Since then, the storyline has been dormant and left unaddressed. Does it get resolved, or is this storyline officially done?

Those are all the unresolved threads that I can think of. Speculate below, and if you can think of any other unresolved plotlines, go ahead and bring those up too.

[JH Lipton]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:46 AM, Danielg342 said:

So we've finished S5 and we're headed to S6. As far as I can tell, there are four storylines that remain unresolved heading into next season. They are (ranked based on what I feel are the most significant storylines):

1. Who replaces Christina Alonso? There's still a chance that Esco comes back every now and then in the future because now Alonso is officially in a relationship with Jim Street, and while I believe it's likely, it's not a guarantee. The bigger question, though, is who will replace Esco as the show's female lead? The show has a number of in-house candidates- most notably Norma Kuhling (Norah Fowler) and Brigette Kali Canales (Alexis Cabrera)- but there's also the possibility that the show will bring in an entirely new actress for a completely new character.
2. The elusive Saint and his stash houses. Saint was introduced early in S5 and, in-universe, he's a pillar of the community who can do no wrong. Hondo, however, strongly suspects Saint is up to some shady business in the drug dealing game and Hondo is out to prove it. Hondo's friend Leroy gave us a tiny lead in this direction by connecting us with one of Saint's dealers, but the dealer was shot dead after the sting operation went sideways. So, where does it go from here?
3. Hondo becomes a dad. In the S5 finale, Nichelle, Hondo's girlfriend, revealed she was pregnant, ending a storyline where she and Hondo tried so hard to have a baby. Now that it's finally happening, I'm assuming that the next time we see Nichelle (probably in the premiere, because Hollywood doesn't seem to care about correctly following timelines) the baby will be born and we'll have some cute scenes of the happy couple holding their baby. Which begins the next part of their story- Hondo and Nichelle will now have to raise that kid, which will not be easy. Can Hondo juggle being SWAT squad leader and a father?
4. Eduardo Ortiz's wrongful conviction. We met Ortiz when we first saw him take part in Deacon's prison prayer group, and since then (after much haggling), Ortiz has recruited Deacon and his wife, Annie, to look into his conviction for murder because Ortiz feels he was wrongfully convicted. The only complication is that Ortiz took a plea deal- meaning he willingly pled guilty- so overturning the conviction isn't as simple as finding new evidence that leads to a new trial. Deacon and Annie need to find conclusive proof that Ortiz didn't commit the crime just to have chance at reopening the case. To this end, Annie did interview a woman who knew the murder victim, and this woman let slip a detail that was never released to the public, indicating that she might actually be the culprit after all. The storyline sits at a place where, despite Annie presenting this evidence, the detective still won't reopen the investigation. Is this the end of the story, or is there another twist in the tale?
5. The blowback from the LAPD on Hondo for going to the press at the end of S4. S5 started by addressing this story with Hondo taking a strange sabbatical in Mexico before going back to the team demoted to the sidelines as a new team leader, Rodrigo Sanchez, took his spot. Sanchez was quite open that he was simply there to get Hondo to quit, but, expectedly, he failed at that task, moving on to another gig. Sanchez did warn Hondo- and Commander Hicks, who reinstated Hondo as Sergeant as team leader of 20-squad- that Sanchez was "only the beginning". Since then, the storyline has been dormant and left unaddressed. Does it get resolved, or is this storyline officially done?

Those are all the unresolved threads that I can think of. Speculate below, and if you can think of any other unresolved plotlines, go ahead and bring those up too.

Who replaces Christina Alonso? I've never liked the Street-Chris hookup.  He worked a lot better with Molly Hicks, and she worked better with the poly couple until the network got cold feet about a non-standard relationship and blew it up with jealousy BS (I know a number of poly "pods" and they just don't work like that).  So I'd be happy if we never see that couple again.

 The elusive Saint and his stash houses. I would have been so happy if just once the all-knowing Hondo had been wrong and Saint really was just a pillar of the community.  But now that he's twirled his mustache at Hondo, there's no hope of that.

The blowback from the LAPD on Hondo for going to the press at the end of S4. They seem to have dropped that plot and that's fine. LAPD seeming like a bunch of schoolkids while S.W.A.T. are these shining heroes is not a good look for the LAPD, and they don't need that tarnishing in Real Life.

[Danielg342]

On 5/25/2022 at 5:02 AM, JH Lipton said:

Who replaces Christina Alonso? I've never liked the Street-Chris hookup.  He worked a lot better with Molly Hicks, and she worked better with the poly couple until the network got cold feet about a non-standard relationship and blew it up with jealousy BS (I know a number of poly "pods" and they just don't work like that).  So I'd be happy if we never see that couple again.

Good points, but you didn't answer the question. I asked who will replace Lina Esco as the show's female lead. Do they go in-house and promote some recurring cast members to the main cast or do they bring in a whole new actress?

OK, my turn:

On 5/24/2022 at 4:46 AM, Danielg342 said:

1. Who replaces Christina Alonso?
2. The elusive Saint and his stash houses.
3. Hondo becomes a dad.
4. Eduardo Ortiz's wrongful conviction.
5. The blowback from the LAPD on Hondo for going to the press at the end of S4.

1. My real preference for a female lead character would be someone who is a detective assigned to the SWAT units, because one of the show's more annoying habits is having characters pull leads out of their rears. I mean, I get that the show is called S.W.A.T. so the SWAT team should be front and centre and do the bulk of the work, but they do need to do a better job making the investigative process more believable. A detective character would go a long way towards that.
   1. That said, I do suspect CBS is going to want to have a woman on the SWAT team, and I wouldn't blame them for wanting that. So, I guess, this means I'd like two new characters- one, a detective and second the replacement for Alonso on 20-squad. To the latter I see no one else I'd like more than Norah Fowler. Not just because Norma Kuhling is a fantastic actress and really looks fit enough to be a real SWAT member herself, but also because Fowler brings something extra to the SWAT table with her medical skills. I don't know how many times that skill will be needed but it's still useful for the team to have.
2. I hope there's something to Detective Rios shooting the drug dealer dead, because, otherwise this story has no legs. It's kind of dragged and the only thing moving it along are Hondo's suspicions, which gets tiring after a while. I'm also not sure if I want this storyline to continue beyond next season. I mean, I think Carl Lumbly is great as Saint, but I don't think the character is worth becoming some elusive multi-season baddie. As long as it's wrapped up by the S6 finale, I'll be OK with it.
3. I don't think of this as a storyline that will have a lot of drama in it, because it's not that kind of show. The worst it could possibly get is that the baby is born with Down's Syndrome or some other kind of birth defect because the chances of that are high with parents as old as Nichelle and Hondo. Maybe Hondo and Nichelle will brood over whether or not to keep the baby but you know they will. Other than that, I can't see the storyline being anything more than some amusing bits where Hondo deals with changing a diaper for the first time or stumbles into work because the baby kept him up all night. I'd also imagine we're getting some scenes where Hondo asks Hicks and Deacon for advice since they've both raised kids. That would be the extent of it.
4. This storyline seemed to have reached an endpoint but it still hasn't technically ended. I don't know if there is another twist in the tale and I'm not sure I'd want one. This is kind of like the Saint storyline where the show has stalled as many times as they can get away with it- the next time they visit the storyline, Annie has to have something that will reopen the investigation for the LAPD. We've already established that Ortiz is likely innocent and we know who the real culprit is- let's get to finally securing her arrest.
5. The Sanchez storyline was, in itself, a bore and I can't see anything that would improve the storyline after that (especially since Sanchez left on such a whimper). The only way this storyline could have some legs is if it's combined with the Saint storyline and becomes a new obstacle for Hondo to secure Saint's arrest and conviction. It'd be believable since, in universe Saint is "the good guy" and Hondo is "the bad guy", but this would also mean that it would need to resolve itself next season for it to work since they've stalled on it enough already.

[nittany cougar]

16 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Good points, but you didn't answer the question. I asked who will replace Lina Esco as the show's female lead. Do they go in-house and promote some recurring cast members to the main cast or do they bring in a whole new actress?

OK, my turn:

1. My real preference for a female lead character would be someone who is a detective assigned to the SWAT units, because one of the show's more annoying habits is having characters pull leads out of their rears. I mean, I get that the show is called S.W.A.T. so the SWAT team should be front and centre and do the bulk of the work, but they do need to do a better job making the investigative process more believable. A detective character would go a long way towards that.
   1. That said, I do suspect CBS is going to want to have a woman on the SWAT team, and I wouldn't blame them for wanting that. So, I guess, this means I'd like two new characters- one, a detective and second the replacement for Alonso on 20-squad. To the latter I see no one else I'd like more than Norah Fowler. Not just because Norma Kuhling is a fantastic actress and really looks fit enough to be a real SWAT member herself, but also because Fowler brings something extra to the SWAT table with her medical skills. I don't know how many times that skill will be needed but it's still useful for the team to have.

I think that Fowler is the best bet to replace Chris.  They have shown some of her back story already, and I think there is a lot to work with.  We know that she served in Iraq and she has a child.  One scene alluded to the father of the child, who I gather was killed in action.I like her overall demeanor and her desire to fit in with the team. Plus, she is friendly with Luca, and they could use the friendship as a way to get people more into that character.

[Raja]

On 5/27/2022 at 3:24 PM, nittany cougar said:

I think that Fowler is the best bet to replace Chris.  They have shown some of her back story already, and I think there is a lot to work with.  We know that she served in Iraq and she has a child.  One scene alluded to the father of the child, who I gather was killed in action.I like her overall demeanor and her desire to fit in with the team. Plus, she is friendly with Luca, and they could use the friendship as a way to get people more into that character.

The big problem besides already disqualifying her is the racial balance. For a show representing a mostly Latinx department with Chris gone the missing representation will show. On the other hand switching one Latina for another is to on the nose.

A side scene for Luca's Medal of Valor is probably a sure bet.

[Danielg342]

On 5/30/2022 at 7:57 PM, Raja said:

The big problem besides already disqualifying her is the racial balance. For a show representing a mostly Latinx department with Chris gone the missing representation will show. On the other hand switching one Latina for another is to on the nose.

A side scene for Luca's Medal of Valor is probably a sure bet.

Maybe there can be a double casting with a Latina character becoming the team's detective and Fowler joining the team. Or the show could hire a Latina actress for a new SWAT member and Fowler becomes the team's detective after learning the job in the off-season.

I like Fowler, so I'm hopeful she can be around more often next season.

[Maverick]

 I wish they would bring back Will Wheaton's tech guy on at least a semi regular if not regular basis. 

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

 I wish they would bring back Will Wheaton's tech guy on at least a semi regular if not regular basis. 

Maybe they will- he was well-received. I would welcome Wil Wheaton's character- Evan Whitlock, according to the SWAT Writers' Room- as the team's tech guy because I'm tired of TV shows making their tech people "cutesy" or "quirky" (or both). Whitlock was simply a professional and Wil's natural charisma made him very watchable without the character needing any "quirks". I don't know if the show would have room to make him a major character but I suppose he wouldn't need to be- if he was just a recurring character that would be enough for me.

[Danielg342]

From the thread S05.E22: Farewell - S.W.A.T. - PRIMETIMER:

@nittany cougar @mojoween

Quote

I feel like a show about law enforcement needs representation of the women in law enforcement. I guess Lina was that representation, but if they knew she was leaving, they should have added more development of the new SWAT members.  I feel like the writers' attitude is that, as long as there is a woman, it's all the same, but it's not to me.  Nichelle is a supporting character, so she cannot really fill the gap left by Chris.

I would agree that I don't see how Nichelle becomes a more central character because she's more involved in Hondo's story than anything else. She also doesn't even work for the LAPD and doesn't seem to have that skillset or desire, so I don't see how she would fit into most episodes.

Maybe this is why Brigette Kali Canales was thrust on us so suddenly at the end of the year, so the show could say they have a "ready" replacement for Christina Alonso. I don't know how well it worked, because the episode where Alexis Cabrera went rogue and insubordinate really didn't do the character any favours. We've already had the "maverick team member" storyline before with Street and that was poorly done, so I would not want to see it again.

I don't know why this show is so bad with its female cast members. We've already burned through three main female cast members in five years- Stephanie Sigman, Amy Farrington and now Lina Esco. I think it's a pity Esco is leaving now because it seemed like the show may have- finally- figured out what to do with her character. I don't even know how easy it will be to replace her. Esco turned in a one-of-a-kind performance that will be a difficult bar for anyone to reach.

Speaking of Farrington's character, at one point (I believe it was in the second episode of this past season) Hicks told Luca that he still hadn't found a replacement for Cortez, Sigman's character. Could Luca be moved to the desk so that SWAT brings in two new members, not just one? It'd sure be a way to bring in both Norah Fowler and Cabrera, at least.

[mojoween]

Wait was there a resolution to Piper?  She was there and then … gone.  I don’t remember them saying that she took another job or something.

She was one I did not like at all at first but grew to like.

The show needs to do a better job with the replacement for Chris.  Chris was competent and badass.  But then they give us SWAT lady with surprise hearing loss and SWAT lady who does well in training, then in the field is allllll over the place.

Edited June 3, 2022 by mojoween

[Danielg342]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Wait was there a resolution to Piper?  She was there and then … gone.  I don’t remember them saying that she took another job or something.

She was one I did not like at all at first but grew to like.

I don't believe they ever did mention what happened to Piper Lynch. Amy Farrington appeared- if memory serves me correctly- in the first two episodes of S4 and that was it, and I don't believe she had a major role there. Since S4 started shooting deep in the throes of the pandemic, my guess is that she tried to make it work but couldn't, and now she's not yet comfortable with returning. News articles and her social media accounts still call her a SWAT cast member, so maybe she'll come back for S6.

It's a bizarre situation. I'm like you, I grew to like her towards the end of her run because the character was getting some depth and seemed to have some sparks with Hicks. I'm not sure how well she actually fit with the cast so I won't miss her too much if she does, in fact, leave, but I think it's strange how the show has seemingly forgotten Lynch's existence.

[Danielg342]

As stated in the Media thread, we have more on-set pictures regarding the filming of S6 in Thailand, likely to start the season.

From what we can see in the pictures, it looks like we've got Hondo being held captive by a militia that's making him march through the river. I don't know if the elephant is part of the scene, but I imagine the elephant is (make your "elephant in the room" jokes now, people) because I can't see why the crew would go to all that trouble to bring an elephant to the shoot unless they were using the animal. There's a few people marked as "stunt" people along with the various camera operators and grips.

I'm assuming the man in the red shirt, the man in yellow with the gun (who, upon closer inspection, could be Nutt Devahastin from David Lim's photo) and the man standing beside Hondo with his hand up are all actors appearing in the scene. The man in green looks to be a captive as well, because he's also wearing what I assume is a prop rope that Hondo is also wearing- Hondo has his rope ready for the shot while the other man does not.

So, I'm going to guess that, to start S6, we have Hondo and Nichelle on vacation in Thailand (Rochelle Aytes was in David Lim's on-set photo posted earlier), probably on their honeymoon and, at some point in the episode, either both or just Hondo gets caught in some kind of criminal activity necessitating Thai SWAT and our SWAT heroes to come rescue him. I'm assuming this case has some link to Los Angeles because I'm not sure the LAPD could show up to a foreign country without that link, though I guess just going there to rescue Hondo could be enough.

Now, if that is Nutt in the river with Hondo, there's the possibility that this is an undercover operation and Nutt's character is part of the sting. However, for that to be Nutt in this scene, I have to rectify why he's wearing a yellow shirt in the river with Hondo but, in Lim's picture, he's wearing his official SWAT uniform, while Hondo is wearing the same clothes he had on in the river.

What the case could be about, I don't know. The show either seems to do cases with the drug trade or the weapons trade, although Thailand is also known for being a hotbed for human trafficking. That could be the angle the show plays here, and maybe the man in green (or the man in red) is involved somehow, because I doubt Hondo or Nichelle would hire a prostitute (although, I guess you never know...).

The other question I have is what to make of Hondo in this scene. Lim's picture was the "wrap-up" picture, and Shemar Moore appears in that picture as he does in the scenes in the river, boo boos and all. So likely the river scene- or the one right after it to film SWAT's rescue effort- was the last scene they shot in Thailand before wrapping up. Now, I do know that filming scenes is not necessarily done in order, so I can't say for sure the episode ends with a beaten- physically and mentally- Hondo, but it's sure a curious look.