Peace Talks – The episode opens with Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore) and Commander Robert “Bob” Hicks (Patrick St. Esprit) awaiting the arrival of Office Zoe Powell (Anna Enger Ritch). After not reaching her on the phone, Hondo decides to visit her room.

Officer Victor Tan (David Lim) shows up late for an early morning session at the gym with Sergeant David “Deacon Kay (Jay Harrington). When he admits to becoming too reliant on Dominique Luca’s (Kenny Johnson) wake-up call, Deacon asks how Luca and Street are making out (Alex Russell). Tan says the Long Beach crew has started referring to Street as Hollywood while Luca is enjoying the nightlife in London more than the counterterrorism training.

Deacon and Sergeant Donovan Rocker (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) end up facing off in the boxing ring after he makes a crude remark about Deacon’s age and Deacon. Despite Deacon holding his own and against his wishes, Tan steps in after Rocker hits him with an illegal elbow.

When Hondo doesn’t get a response from Powell’s room, he flashes his badge to get the maid to let him in. When Hicks joins him it doesn’t take them long to discover that something amiss, despite the room being cleaned. A further examination reveals blood, scuff marks, and a piece of a broken vase.

Hondo discovers Powell’s passport in the room’s safe right before Officer Gabriel Bautista (Rick Mancia) and Captain Olvera (Angela Alvarado). Olvera doesn’t take it well when Hicks openly blames Bautista and demands she get forensics onsite to process the room. After some reluctance, she agrees to issue a missing persons report but wants her department’s resources set towards recovering the stolen bomb from the Verdugo (Anthony Aguilar) case.

Before their shift starts, Tan apologizes to Deacon for the way he handled the gym situation. Much to his surprise, Deacon blames himself and chalks his reaction up to fear of getting old. Their happy reunion is interrupted when Tan receives a call from Hondo, updating him on the Powell situation and requesting him rundown information on a Sacramento police exchange program Bautista was enrolled in.

Hicks continues to beat himself up for inaction when they receive word from Tan with an address for Bautista. The address leads them to Bautista’s grandmother (Alma Martinez) who doesn’t think twice about inviting them in for coffee. A chase ensues when Hicks spots Bautista retrieving a shovel from a nearby shed. After Bautista’s escape Hondo and Hicks reach out to Tan once again with updates and the request for him to track down information on the Panaderia Casa Bautista, the family bakery Bautista’s family runs. Deacon joins the conversation to reveal that Bautista has a history of taking evidence from crime scenes.

Bautista arrives at what appears to be an abandoned bakery where he sets out to bury Powell. Much to his surprise, Powell regains consciousness while he’s prepping her grave. He quickly grows tired of hearing her beg and attempts to hasten her demise, which leads to her eventual escape. Although he spends several unsuccessful minutes looking for her, his buyers show up.

Hick’s anger boils over to the point where he begins to take it out on Hondo. As he and Hondo go back and forth, Deacon calls with a possible address for Bautista’s family bakery. While hiding in the back of a delivery van at the abandoned bakery, Powell not only witnesses the sale of the bomb, but she overhears one of the terrorists mentioning Isabella Pearl (Lena Georgas) after Bautista is executed. As one of the buyers searches for the keys to the delivery van, Powell finds paper and a pen that allows her to leave her badge and a note with the name Isabella Pearl.

It doesn’t take Hicks and Hondo long to find the note when they arrive at the bakery. Just as quickly, Tan and Deacon track the name back to a charitable foundation that focuses on environmental issues. Although Tan doesn’t know how it all ties together, he claims to have a friend named Tessa who volunteers at the foundation.

The terrorists make a stop at what appears to be a bar. When they meet with someone out front, Powell uses one of the buyer’s phones to snap photos and send them to Hicks and Hondo. While she’s doing this, the buyers kill whoever their contact and appear to retrieve a crate and work uniform from inside.

As the bomb is transferred to one of the crates, Captain Olvera calls Hicks and Hondo and all but accuses them of murdering Bautista. Much to her surprise, Hondo admits to being there and shares what he knows about the bomb. Despite the urgency and new information, Olvera claims her commanding officer is going to have them arrested if they don’t return to the station in the next 30 minutes. When they hang up, the text from Powell comes in to reveal that the buyer’s stop was at a wine shop (Vinoteca Santiero). Hicks forwards the text to both Deacon and Olvera.

Tan and Deacon track Isabella Pearl to a spin studio where the receptionist (Sydney Bollenbeck) informs them that she’s just finishing up a session. It’s mere seconds later when they learn from Isabella that her billionaire ex-husband had a house in Mexico City named in her honor, Casa de Isabella Pearl. After Deacon relays the address to Hicks and Hondo, they learn they are just a few minutes away. A call from Commander Faria (Demian Castro), informing them of arrest warrants in their names complicates their rescue attempts, but Hicks and Hondo decide to proceed to Casa de Isabella Pearl.

Upon arrival at the residence, the terrorists’ intention to disguise themselves as waiters and pant the bomb during the event, now taking place, becomes evident. Powell is already on her way to stopping the attack, as she has already disabled one of the men and taken his gun. The other two with the bomb, however, are already inside setting up by the time Hicks and Hondo arrive. While Powell finds and fails to stop the installation of the bomb, Hicks and Hondo learn that the event at the house is Adam Pearl’s attempt to broker peace between the Colombian president, Carlos Rubio, and the leader of a FARC dissident group, Alvaro Mendez so he can begin work on his new battery factory.

Olvera intervenes when Commander Faria has Hicks and Hondo arrested. It doesn’t take them long to locate and eliminate the terrorists as well as the bomb. With the bomb safely disabled, Hicks and Powell resolve their issues. Hondo thanks Olvera for her department’s assistance and apologizes for causing her problems with Faria. With the positive press attention the case is getting Faria is more than willing to wipe her slate clean. The episode ends with Deacon’s restitution, as he fakes a shoulder injury to get lure Rocker back into the boxing ring and knocks him out.

S.W.A.T. Review

I’ll have to admit that I was taken by surprise by Powell not being dead, but that was the only thing the episode had going for it. From the infantile story to the careless way Powell escaped at the bakery, everything about the episode couldn’t have had a more basic feel. I honestly don’t even know how to describe some of the action scenes. I wasn’t a Jet Li or Jackie Chan reenactment, but if you watch Hicks’s shootout with the terrorists and the way he weaves in and out behind cover is awful.

I also understand the difficulties that these shows often face with timing and due process and try not to dwell on that too much, but at least space it out a bit. There are several scenes where Hicks and Hondo request information from Deacon and Tan and literally seconds later, they’ll have all the answers. I’d have to give the episode a 4 out of 10.

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