Day of Dread

**"Day of Dread"** is the twenty-first episode of the second season in the remake version of *S.W.A.T.*, and the forty-third episode overall, which was aired on May 2, 2019.

## Summary

Hondo's leadership is called into question when the squad finds themselves under internal investigation after an attempt to capture the most wanted criminal inadvertently resulting the death of a civilian.

## Recap

Hondo asking Darryl if he has everything for school, Darryl joking that Hondo doesn’t need to change his diapers; both grateful for that. Hondo praises Darryl for getting a job, reminding him that delivering pretzels and chips before the sun comes up is just his “right now” and not his future. He reminds him to stay focused; also Hondo’s mom, Charice will pick him up after school. Hondo knows how hard it has been but with both trying, they are making it work!

SWAT rolls in Black Betty, with Luca driving, chasing some of the most wanted fugitives. Hondo pulls up Bakir, Hadad is a fugitive they got close to last year but as Tan recalls there were too many civilians to do anything. Chris and Street all know how Bakir broke into the wrong house, killing a woman and her children. Hondo feels they only got lucky because he got sloppy. Jim says that pride goes before destruction. A hearty spirit before the fall; commenting that he also went to Sunday school. They suit up as Luca says the zone is straight ahead.

Deacon checks on Hondo who is inside Black Betty, but Deacon becomes concerned when they are certain that the suspect is in the building but they never cleared it; Hondo orders the team to move anyways and they breach the building.

The following morning, media is swarming the area and Victor Tan is being treated for a wound on his chest; the EMS suggesting he get an x-ray. Hicks arrives with Cortez approach the team as Hicks says they need to separate all of them. Jessica tells Hondo, he is not to have any communication with anyone on the team and he is not to tell her what happened. Hicks tells them no more talking and separates everyone, as Jessica says they are waiting for the lawyer, but Hondo doesn’t think they need one because they have nothing to hide. Jessica advises him not to be proud to protect himself.

Hicks finds out from Deacon that he and Luca were in another apartment when it happened, approximately 4 rooms away. Luca insists to Hicks that they did their job, but Hicks doesn’t need to tell him how it works with forced investigations. Hicks tries to remind Luca they are on the same side as they are fact finders, they ask and we answer. Chris doesn’t understand how everything went sideways like that, worried that Street busted his ass to get back on the team and they are going to look at him hard; Jessica feels he can take the heat. Hicks talks with Jim, telling him to give answers and not volunteer anything, even to him. Jim doubts that Hicks hates this as much as he does when there is a dead civilian. SWAT quietly looks as the coroner removes the body from the scene.

Hicks enters Jessica’s office, admitting he doesn’t trust the process as it involves humans. Jessica points out that he is more cynical than she is. Hicks informs Jessica she is being looked at for a promotion but if a wrongful death falls on someone from her team that could sink it. She is being looked at for “Director of Police Operations,” Hicks has no problem being the first person to say she might be the first female wearing the Chief badge. Jessica feels there is nothing they can do about the investigation as Hicks says, “Worry” which is his specialty.

In the locker room, Hondo is pounding his locker extremely frustrated. Hondo sits down with Sgt Nick Boyer from LAPD Force Investigation Department. Hondo waved his right for representation so Boyer immediately dives in that the investigation is about the death of teacher’s aide Keela Gleason. The preliminary reports say she died from blunt force trauma which occurred in close proximity of the stun grenade the team throws in. Hondo is taking responsibility for everyone’s action but insists this was a terrible accident and not a wrongful death. Hondo explains exactly what they did.

Deacon is up next, asked if he saw Hondo take a personal phone call while in the armored vehicle? Deacon says they were still in transit and saw he was on the phone and it seemed serious, and didn’t notice it take any effect on him. Deacon tells Hondo to hold as a mother with 3 small children comes out of her apartment. Deacon tells her to go back inside but she is persistent that he can’t tell her what to do as the kids need to catch there bus and she cannot be late for work. Deacon asks Stevens to escort her out of the building, but she was annoyed.

Chris has her interview, saying the mother was acting all self-righteous. There was another guy at the top of the stairs, who figured that the couple fighting down the hall had called 911. She demands Hondo to tell the idiot she didn’t call, which he confirms and they return in their apartment. Chris talks about the dog who was with the resident manager. Tam insists there was nothing on the guy’s jacket that stood out and that Carlton thought they were a robbery crew trying to hit him. He says this is how Hondo leads a team, quoting an instructor from tactical training who said you can do everything right and still get killed; that’s the reason they pull hazard pay.

Chris continues, saying there wasn’t supposed to be any dogs on site. Carlton dropped the gun but it misfired as it hit the floor, shooting Tan in the chest but he is okay because it hit his vest. Hondo is asked why he didn’t reassess the plan now that they had an injured officer and lost the element of surprise? Hondo says they are the point of the stick and are trained to keep going; they were in a hot zone and didn’t have time to reassess. Hondo is questioned about the personal call, wondering if it distracted him or made him upset before the mission began. Hondo says he was a cop for a long time and a Marine before that; they were focused and motivated. Hondo says this is not a contest about getting the most wanted, trying to leave ego and pride at the door. He is asked again about the call he got.

They are in Black Betty when it reveals the call Hondo got was from his mother, who tells him something happened to Darryl while making deliveries on his job. Darryl is in surgery and no one will talk to her nor give her eye contact. She is upset thinking the job was supposed to be safe. Hondo tells his mom that he cannot do this right now; which she understands, but asks him to get there as soon as they can. He believes Darryl will survive and refocuses, telling the team to get moving.

Charice looks at the photos she has of Hondo and Darryl on her phone as Hondo returns to his interrogation, deciding to listen to his Captain and wait for his lawyer to get there. Boyer is glad the lawyer arrived, saying he needs to find the weak spots before the lawsuits get started. Boyer asks Hondo again if the call from his mother altered his state of mind. Hondo says yes, but not the mission; Boyer is not so sure.

Luca said they went with the plan, but is asked how a plan like that can end up with a civilian dead as police don’t make mistakes like that. Luca agrees, saying she can dig all she likes and begins talking about the 3 generations of his family that served on SWAT. He knows that she is not protecting SWAT nor the department. He wants her to be real with him. He adamantly tells her, they are not on the same side and this IS how he cooperates. He begins to tell his version of events, talking about his and Deacon’s part in the event. Deacon in the meantime is telling his side of things.

Deacon is corrected when he is told they “thought” the suspect was in the corner. Luca gets the agitated feeling they didn’t do anything wrong. Boyer takes a bathroom break as Jessica asks if there are any red flags in there, he says the interviews are never pleasant but no surprised yet. Jessica has the blueprints, not knowing they were out of date at the time. Jessica feels her team was given bad intel going in and they cannot wait until conditions are perfect to go in. When asked if she believes the entry was tactically justified. She says he believes it was, so she stands by him. Boyer and one of the interrogators return to the rooms.

Hondo is asked to walk through what happened again as Hicks tells Jessica this is the first time he has seen her get worked up and she took the bait. She knows, apologizing. Hicks shuts off the audio, asking Jessica if she and Hondo are involved. She says no, but he tells her to think carefully before answering when he asks if they were in the past. Hicks tells that over 30 years of being a cop, he can see it; asking again if they were ever involved in a romantic relationship and Jessica doesn’t answer.

Jim feels like he is a suspect, positive there were no tactical mistakes. He can’t figure out what happened, frustrated that she is playing divide and conquer. She is interested in how someone who washes out from SWAT is able to return. She feels he might be trying to return the favor and cover up his boss’ mistake. Jim continues to tell the story and how they couldn’t let the suspect get out of the building so they used the stun grenade, having no idea the girl was there because the room was empty earlier. She says there was too much noise to have heard if she was there, but Jim said they did a visual inspection and should have seen her.

Jim calls in the female civilian’s injuries, the suspect making fun of them killing her. Jim looks at Hondo, asking if they did this?

Hondo calls his mother, learning that Darryl is still in surgery, and they couldn’t estimate how much longer. He was shot in his side and his leg. She doesn’t believe the shooter is in custody. Hondo wants to come as soon as he can and then he is in recovery for a couple of hours; IF Darryl beats the odds again. Hondo promises he will get there as Charice says she tried to call his mother, but there is no way to reach her. She is very upset that he did everything right and look what happened; Hondo encourages her not to give up hope on him. She says she hears him before hanging up.

Jessica is told they have finished most of the interviews but they are still talking to their subject officers. Hondo and Street are good cops but lawyers are going to see reckless endangerment as a result of their actions. So unless Jessica can raise the dead, there is no way to have a different version of the story.

Hondo tells his interrogators that when Darryl gets out of surgery he has to be at the hospital, whether this interview is done or not; they use it against him, saying it looks like he rushed the mission. Hondo didn’t hurry the mission, he is just rushing them. Hondo feels he would have done the same thing even if he knew the civilian was there; reminding them that they had an option without risk and he chose the option with the least risk. He tells them to ask him a question or let him leave.

Deacon, Victor, and Luca are frustrated in the change room, saying they all have to own that a civilian died during their raid. Luca feels they had no alternative accusing Tan of criticizing everything. Deacon thinks they should get proactive and go to the building themselves; he grabs Chris to meet them there. Their canvas turns up nothing, everyone going in again as Deacon sees the mother who says she appreciates their help and is willing to testify to anything, especially Carlton who knew all about the dope farm and always sneaking into people’s apartments; she even caught him in her apartment. Deacon’s mind is in overdrive, asking if he can check the batteries for her.

Luca arrives, seeing Deacon take down the smoke detector, revealing there is a camera inside of it and this might explain how the flashbang didn’t trip the alarm in the girl’s apartment. They all proceed to the scene of the crime, entering the apartment; searching for any more cameras or bugs. If there is a camera inside, they have no idea what it will show but Deacon says it will prove things, good or bad. Chris feels it just looks like a smoke detector to her and they could act like they didn’t know but Deacon says they need to know the truth, hiding it is not something they’d do. Tan records the search so it will be a legal documented search. Deacon finds another camera as Chris says, “It’s too late now!”

Everyone is in the room, where Hicks says they are going to share the experience together if they can excuse the interruptions. Hicks tells the investigators that they didn’t do it to her, as it is clear the suspect did it. Jessica asks if the officers are free to leave, for once, happy there was a camera. Boyer tells Hondo he hopes the rest of the news gets better for him and he leaves.

Deacon tells the team that Hadad is facing more murder charges as Tan wants to know how many life sentences can he serve, but Chris says at least there will be no more bodies. Luca learns that Hondo has been taking care of Darryl and didn’t tell them because he didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Jim feels everyone deserves a second chance, while Deacon is given the honors of ripping up the Most Wanted poster of Hadad.

Hicks admits he had to recognize the possibility of them being guilty. Jessica says her and Hondo were together before the policy was implemented and they ended it quickly. Hicks reminds her that a personal relationship will hinder a woman’s rise of power in LAPD. She apologizes as he is sorry too but since they never had this conversation there is nothing to compromise her situation.

Street finds Chris in the kitchen, who says she has nothing to say about their kiss. Street says she hardly looks at him anymore. He thought the kiss was a mutual moment they had, saying he didn’t mean to cross any lines; Chris says she did more than he and she feel guilty. She knows it will never happen again as she moved in with Ty and Kira because he made her realize that she needed to commit 100%. She tells street that they can’ t be any more than teammates as Jim says he doesn’t have a lot of friends but trusts Chris with his life. She promises to always have his back on the job but that is where it ends. She excuses herself to get home but Jim says they are not right for her and doesn’t want her to get her heart broken; she tells him it isn’t his problem.

Hondo comes to the hospital, showing his badge saying he is looking for a gunshot victim. He is brought to Darryl’s room, who is hooked up to all kinds of medical equipment and breathing machines; he hugs his mother with tears in his eyes. Hondo touches Darryl and sits by him, crying and saying, “No!”

## Cast

### Main

* Shemar Moore - Daniel Harrelson
* Stephanie Sigman - Jessica Cortez
* Alex Russell - Jim Street
* Lina Esco - Christina Alonso
* Kenny Johnson - Dominic Luca
* David Lim - Victor Tan
* Patrick St. Esprit - Robert Hicks
* Jay Harrington - David Kay

### Recurring

* Debbie Allen - Charice Harrelson
* DeShae Frost - Darryl Henderson

### Guest

* David Gautreaux - Edward Yanick
* Larry Poindexter - Sergeant Nick Boyer
* Lulu Brud - Frances
* Nitya Vidyasagar - Sergeant Wilson
* David Atkinson - Carlton
* Christian Barber - Detective Paz
* Jessica Leigh Gonzales - The Woman
* Yarett Harper - Hadad
* Chris Lamica - The Man
* Casey Ruggieri - Female EMT

## Trivia

* Larry Poindexter, who guest starred in this episode, also was in the movie *S.W.A.T.* (2003). He played LAPD Captain Tom Fuller.

### Notes

* Hondo asking Darryl if he has everything for school.
* Deacon checks on Hondo who is inside Black Betty, but he becomes concerned when they are certain that the suspect is in the building but they never cleared it.
* Victor Tan is being treated for a wound on his chest; the EMS suggesting he get an x-ray.