Saving Face

**"Saving Face"** is the fourth episode of the second season in the remake version of *S.W.A.T.*, and the twenty-sixth episode overall, which was aired on October 18, 2018.

## Summary

The SWAT team works with Eric Wells, a U.S. Marshal who happens to be Nia's estranged husband to detain a fugitive who is robbing drug cargo shipments. Meanwhile, after Street caught his mother buying and keeping cocaine in her purse, he calls her out for being selfish and moves out immediately. At the end, Street express to Hondo his desire to be back on S.W.A.T., with Hondo deciding to enlist him in the S.W.A.T. academy.

## Recap

A guard getting killed when he finds an Asian crew breaking into a stationed train car; they have five minutes to clear it out. Hondo and Nia Wells are getting dressed, both acknowledging they have enough going on for this to be more than “what it is.” He suggests her morning etiquette could use some work; she learns her ex is unwilling to sign their divorce papers, he reminds her that she is legally separated which makes her a free woman. Hondo gets a work call and she tells him to stay safe.

Jessica Cortez and Robert Hicks bring Hondo up to speed on the train robbing case, adding it comes with a homicide. Deacon informs him that the crew made off with about 2 million dollars worth of oxycodone. US Marshall Eric Wells believes it is one of their fugitives on their most wanted list and specifically requested SWAT to help them.

Jessica shows Hondo the photo of Shen Kwon, who escaped custody about 6 months ago by taking a saw blade to a guard; Hondo feels this is a long way from Florida but Eric thinks this is Kwon’s MO and wants to deputize Hondo’s team. Hondo delegates with Deacon, but quickly calls Nia, who thinks this might be a coincidence. She says this doesn’t sound like Eric, but tells him to be careful and she will make some calls to see if he is tracking Hondo and her.

Officer Reese tells Hondo, Tan and Eric that a hobo named Billy swears he saw everything. He saw the van that almost ran him over, at least 4 or 5 guys. Tan is able to confirm they were speaking Cantonese as they kept saying Dai-Lo which means “boss” and is also Kwon’s alias; Billy is even able to give them a license plate photo of them van.

Eric admits he checked out Hondo’s file, and he requested him him and his team because of their fugitive recovery rate and he likes to win. He sort of berates Hondo, suggesting they should put him on a recruiting poster; but Hondo says he doesn’t do this to get famous. Eric says chasing bad guys doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for personal life, it even made his marriage suffer. Tan says the van found under a bridge, but the VIN reveals it was stolen 2 days earlier. Deacon also finds out where the torch was taken from.

At HQ, Luca and Chris tell everyone the equipment was stolen from a local trade school and they also got a list of former students; all Chinese who either dropped out or were kicked out; only one named popped out – Alec Chan. Tan says he knows the guy and runs into him every so often, but it’s hard to say if he would hook up with a bad guy like Kwon. Hondo tells him and Luca to go visit his Uncle to see what he knows about the situation.

Street is at home with the parole officer, who is doing an unannounced visit. She finds empty beer bottles in the garbage and he admits those are his as he is reminded no alcohol in the house while his mother lives there. When they go into his mother’s room, Street picks up his mom’s pillow a bag of drugs falls out of the pillow case and he quickly steps on it. She says she will be back next week as gets out of his hair.

Tan and Luca arrive in Chinatown, as he tells Luca that Uncle Yang is not related to him by blood but he grew up in the same village as his father so when his dad died, he made sure his mom and him were always taken care of. Luca asks if he has brought his girl, Bonnie around to meet him; but Tan says Bonnie is too blonde for him.

Luca realizes everything isn’t okay between Tan and his Uncle, when they enter the restaurant when Yang speaks in Cantonese with Tan – he’s telling Tan that he could have made his community proud by becoming an MIT engineer instead of this career path. He then apologizes for his rudeness and asks about this professional call. Yang denies knowing anything but as soon as Luca mentions Alec’s name, he says that Alec is a good boy who is learning about the family business from his mother. Tan says this is just a courtesy, as a warrant has been issued for the dress shop.

SWAT, LAPD and US Marshalls arrive and arrest Alec Chan for larceny, possession with intent to sell and first degree murder. Chris spots Jimmy volunteering in the armory, Hondo likes that he is settling in; but she doesn’t like that he is spending all of his free time there.

Meanwhile, Alec insists he is the middle man trying to plead with Victor, saying he knows him. Eric wonders how low Alec plans on getting. Alec tries to get a “get out of jail free” card from Tan, but he is furious that Alec would sell pills to kids in their neighborhood. Alec claims some guy named Joey found the drugs in a landfill in Riverside; Hondo congratulates him for having the dumbest story ever. Chris found a tracking app that Chan put on a box car that shows Kwon’s next target.

The crew is busy working on the next box car when SWAT surrounds the train, the crew scatters but they are incapable of getting them as a train separates them. Nia calls Hondo, revealing that Eric called, asking for a job closer to home; she isn’t sure what to think as she is sure he respects law enforcement. Hondo wants to know what kind of game he is playing and why is he dragging Hondo and his team into it?

Karen Street returns home, where Jimmy is waiting for her. She talks about gluten free food and how she didn’t know what that was before prison. Jimmy confronts her with the bag of drugs, she claims it to be Trevor’s, some guy she met from NA. She swears that her and Trevor is done and she would never risk going back to prison; he asks if she would submit to a drug test and if she has nothing to hide to show him her purse.

He finds another bag in her purse and is furious that everyone warned him; he’s angry at himself for choosing her over SWAT as she only cares about herself. She says she did 17 years for him and this is how he treats her? He says that she made him a part of his own father’s murder. He is done carrying any more of this guilt about her. He leaves her money for groceries and will keep paying rent for her t have a place to stay but he can’t have her in his life if he wants to straighten out and get back on SWAT.

Jessica and Hicks are told they need to turn down 4 officers from SWAT to patrol instead of the 6 they really need to balance the budget. Hicks is able to negotiate to 3, but they are told they don’t get to pick a recruit from this year’s academy; Hicks tells her when Hell freezes over as every year since 1967 they have picked a recruit. Again, they are told to send down 4 and they will get to pick one, Hicks agrees!

Tan meets with his Uncle Yang, trying to convince Alec to help them catch Kwon and he will make sure he gets a reduced sentence. Yang comes down to interrogation, telling Alec that if he doesn’t help the police he will be punished for Kwon’s crimes and his mother doesn’t deserve this hurt. Alec says the shipping manager at the Ports is the one who sells Kwon the info on the freight cars and he knows his name.

Hondo shuts the doors in the kitchen, confronting Eric about why he is really here; telling him to man up and he is only here because of Nia. Eric smirks, saying Hondo and Nia must have had some interesting phone calls today. He saw them leaving Nia’s hotel together, Hondo informs him how out of policy he is right now but Eric tells Hondo he is just the “rebound guy” as Hondo says him and Nia are just fine with what this is; knowing he is the one moving her on from Eric to whoever she will be with next. Eric says just because the papers are drafted, does not mean it is over, Hondo asks about Eric’s girlfriend and says they are going to close this case but after this he is to never come near him again and if he threatens Nia in any way, he will wish he didn’t.

SWAT busts into an underground casino and find the shipping manager, Aaron who admits he saw Kwon a couple hours ago and emailed the list to him; Hondo tells him to forward it to him too. They are back at HQ and figure out that Kwon is now getting desperate so he will start hijacking trucks. Chris made a Top 5 list carrying the highest priced list. Eric compliments SWAT on their work and tells them all to move.

Before they leave, Jessica informs Hondo they are losing 4 people, but asks him not to tell anyone yet. Hondo stops Deacon, saying he has a paranoid request asking him to keep an eye on Eric. Hondo promises to fill him in later, but asks him to keep an eye on his 6. Jimmy nods at Hondo, but Hondo only puts on his glasses and walks away.

Luca goes undercover as a trucker, when suddenly a tow truck cuts him off, they open fire but the windshield is bulletproof. SWAT rolls up and a shoot out begins, Chris and Tan are able to take down 2 of the suspects, leaving Eric and Hondo to work together. Hondo keeps calling out for Deacon, who doesn’t respond for a bit, but finally says he had a malfunction. They find a homeless man inside a tent, who says he didn’t see anyone.

Hondo and Deacon continue to search the scrap yard, where it turns out that Eric saves Hondo’s life, shooting the final suspect from behind Hondo’s back. Eric tells Hondo he runs a tight team and he knows why SWAT would give him one. Eric says he still loves Nia and would like another chance with her. Hondo reveals he met a woman who was finalizing a divorce with an ex who had another lover; Eric could have been a man who could have talked to him instead of sizing him up. Hondo says he isn’t in his way, he is taking his cues from Nia; not Eric!

Hicks and Jessica gather SWAT together, announcing they have no other choice but to transfer 4 people back to patrol. They know it sucks, but patrol is important work and they still represent the city’s finest; effect immediate DeAndrea Sagwell, Griffin Blondwell, Rinaldo Sibal and Jeremy Tiller are going back to patrol but they are bringing in one recruit, so if they have friends on the force, let them know this is not the year to do it. Chris looks at Jimmy who also looks at Hondo, very disappointed.

Tan tells Luca that police in China don’t get the same respect they get here; they are like garbage men of society. He reveals his dad’s dream was to go to MIT, marry a Chinese girl and spit out a bunch of kids. Tan was good at math, but didn’t want to be a nerd; his Uncle was right about one thing, he needs to see his mother more often. He says King’s Palace is the best place for seafood, Luca tells him to call her up and he is treating for dinner.

Jimmy stops Hondo before he leaves HQ, he initially has a hard time finding the words, but finally tells him that he moved out and told his mother its better if they are apart. He admits Hondo was right all along although he always wanted to believe the best in her and he resented Hondo all along for seeing her for who she really was.

Street apologizes for letting him and the team down, and hopes one day he will become the man Hondo wanted him to be. Hondo says Buck pulled strings for him the first time, but he can do it right and earn himself a spot. Hondo will get him into SWAT academy but Jimmy needs to ask himself how badly he wants this and then kick ass and prove it. Hondo knows he can do it.

## Cast

### Main

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

### Recurring

* Sherilyn Fenn - Karen Street
* Nikiva Dionne - Nia Wells

### Guest

* Michael Trucco - Marshal Eric Wells
* Sumalee Montano - Gwen Miller
* Anthony Ma - Chan
* Jim Lau - Uncle Yang
* Nicki Micheaux - Leah
* Andrew James Allen - Billy
* Lee Dawson - Barlow
* Treisa Gary - Officer Reese
* Starr Gilliard - Homeless Woman
* Robert Michael Lee - Aaron Cho
* Will Leong - Kwon
* Mike Randleman - Clem

## Trivia

* In the third to last scene, the D team is dressed in civilian clothes and ready to head out after the departmental meeting. In the next scene with Tan and Luca in the locker room, Tan only has one button done but within two seconds no buttons are done and he does them up. Why would he undo them between the meeting and the locker room only to redo them? The locker room scene was probably intended to be before the meeting scene.

## Quotes

**Jim Street**: What's that?
**Karen Street**: Okay. Look, so...
**Jim Street**: WHAT"S THAT?
**Karen Street**: It's been hard for me. I everything's so different since I came back from prison.
**Jim Street**: How are you even getting the money to buy this? Every single person that I trust told me they warned me that one day, you were gonna drag me down with you.
**Karen Street**: I would never do that to you.
**Jim Street**: What do you mean, you'd never do that to me? If your parole officer had found that before I did, I'd be fired. I chose you over SWAT. But you only care about yourself.
**Karen Street**: Don't you dare say that. I did 17 years for you. Your father was a monster, and he would've killed us both. And-and I saved I saved your life, and this is how you treat me now?
**Jim Street**: You made me a part of my own father's murder. I mean, yeah, he was a monster, but you kept him around us, until the day that you made me help you kill him. I mean, what does that make you? I'm done. I'm done.
**Karen Street**: What?
**Jim Street**: I'm done carrying around any more of this guilt about you. That's for groceries. I'm gonna keep paying rent so you got a place to stay.
**Karen Street**: Wait, wait, wait! Wait, Jimmy, where are you going?
**Jim Street**: I can't, I can't have you in my life anymore.
**Karen Street**: Wha...?
**Jim Street**: Not if I'm gonna straighten out, get back on SWAT.
**Karen Street**: Jimmy, I love you...