S08.E21: Ride or Die/S08.E22: Return to Base

[Danielg342]

The series finale

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"Ride or Die" - When an auto carrier truck gets hijacked by a high-speed crew, Hondo encounters a ghost from his past - a violent car thief thought to be long-dead. As the brutal road warriors tear across L.A. in pursuit of a mysterious $60 million car, Hondo's old rivalry reignites, and he's forced to confront a long-held fear. Also, Gamble is thrust into a personal crisis when her brother, Leon, becomes tangled in the investigation, putting Gamble's SWAT future in jeopardy

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"Return to Base" - The SWAT team undertakes its final mission when a violent crew of ex-pat Russian mercenaries holds Los Angeles hostage after planting hundreds of hidden explosives across the city in a bid to extort the release of their brutal leader, Dmitri Rykov. When Rykov is brought to SWAT for safekeeping, SWAT HQ comes under attack, forcing Hondo and 20-Squad to fight for their very survival

 

[Danielg342]

I'll give the finale this much- at least the writers resisted the attempt to "go grand" and do something completely wild for the series finale.

Of course, how much of that was due to actual restraint from the writers and not due to the logistical concern about not knowing this season was the last season is an open question.

Still, for those who had fears that perhaps the show would end on a cliffhanger or do crazy things like killing off characters or reveal this was all Buck's very bad dream...well, the way the finale went should allay those fears.

Also, seeing some good, heartwarming character moments- like huggy Zoe showing some actual emotion and warmth for what may be the first time she's done so ever since she started on the show, as well as Deacon's gift to the entire team and Hondo coming around on Gamble- was also a joy to watch.

We needed more of those this season, to be honest.

That, really, is all the good I can say about the finale. Truth is, the finale was more of the same from this past season- rote, forgettable cases with canned, contrived drama, only this time it was on a grander scale with the haunting visual of SWAT HQ being almost blown to dust.

So while I can give the writers credit for not being stupid with the finale, I still have to ding them for basically going through the motions with its final episode, just like it had all season.

That said...no matter how infuriating this show may have been in its final years, this is still a show I will miss. I went into this because I loved Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds and thought of him- essentially- having his own show was intriguing.

There was a lot CM wouldn't really allow Morgan to do that I hoped S.W.A.T. would bring out.

Bring out it did. In fact, it went over and above all of my expectations.

At its best, this was a show that wasn't afraid to provoke, to ask questions, to challenge conventions, to dare to tackle the hard issues and to show that a policeman's and a policewoman's job wasn't always easy.

More importantly, this was a show grounded in characters. Characters who, when the show was at its best, were well-written and complex, with the characters behaving like real adults instead of saying or doing stupid things just because the writer "needs drama".

Yeah, we're probably not awarding this show prizes for character development or incredibly intricate plots. A lot of times things were messy and people still did things that didn't make sense.

...but, even at the end, I still had a reason to care for all these characters and the situations they went through, and while a lot of the writing in its later years left a lot to be desired, at the very least, I can say this show kept it real from day one all the way to the end.

So, if this is the final hurrah- which I suspect it is, because I think the current attempts to save the show are nothing but Hail Mary's at this point- at least I can say the writers and the producers and the actors and everyone else who worked at S.W.A.T. have something they can be proud of producing, from start to finish.

To cap off the realest show on television, I only have one thing left to say:

Stay liquid, my friends.

[Raja]

12 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I'll give the finale this much- at least the writers resisted the attempt to "go grand" and do something completely wild for the series finale.

The question is did they have a heads up that would have enabled them to go more all out than normal?

I see you made it to the end, I dropped out years ago and only turned this on when Peacock wouldn't load for me.

The day after I saw a TV chase with the CHP after a rifle armed robber using 10 cars I turned onto a truck hijack by too fast and furious copy cat crew with an armored personal carrier used for a chase and not one back up car. With 2/3rds of the squad unknown to me and Deacon having a stalker I was just thinking get to the action scene. And please make it more real than the first police interception attempt.

[milkyaqua]

I was fine with the finale and like others, I didn't really watch this season.  TPTB managed to get the show another season but last season would have been a better series wrap-up and it seems like it was written that way.  So this truly needs to be the end for this show.

[Snazzy Daisy]

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“This team wouldn’t be what it is without you by my side.”

You damn right, Hondo. 💪🏼

I will miss Deacon the most, Mr. Salt & Pepper!

[Quark]

This show started off really well, but then kind of went down the drain when certain characters left.

Will still miss this show though - had a lot of eye candy.

[mojoween]

The S.W.A.T. I will miss has Hicks, Hondo, Deacon, Tan, Luka, Chris, even stupid Street, and my beloved Jessica.

This season totally phoned it in and it didn’t help when semi-regulars like Rocker was off flying helicopters for the LAFD and Nichelle was running a medical clinic in Pittsburgh.