Checkmate

**Checkmate** is the sixth episode of the sixth season in the remake version of *S.W.A.T.*, and the one-hundred-twelfth episode overall, which was aired on November 18, 2022.

## Summary

When a cop on the verge of shutting down a major drug operation is abducted, Hondo and the squad race to save one of their own before it's too late. Also, Luca grows concerned about sudden changes in Hicks' behavior.

## Recap

Some old toys and clothes made its way to Hondo’s door. Deacon was the one who gave them away. His family was done having kids. The stuff was taking up space at his place and now it's time that they go home with someone else. Deacon gave the stuff to Hondo and Nichelle. Their baby daughter will be equipped with a whole bunch of stuff. Most of them were never worn or even played with because kids grow up so fast. By time they got them a new stuff toy, they were onto dolls. They also grew as in actually grew up so fast that the three were baby clothes that had never been worn and so Nichelle loved her gift.

No one say it's out loud, but baby girl clothes are so much better than baby boy clothes. It's like the manufacture didn’t think a little boy should look cute. They save all the tutus and headbands and just wonderful array of colors for girls. Its why girls look prettier at that stage. It's because they’re dressed so well. Nichelle has everything she can to make her own daughter look beautiful. She happily thanked Deacon for the gift and she would have gone through the bags of stuff with Hondo only he got called to work. Hondo and Deacon were notified when a LAPD detective was abducted from his car. And it was personal for Hondo because he knew the detective.

It was Detective Rios, a friend of Hondo. Hondo was the one who put Rios on Saint’s tail. He told him that Saint was dirty and that if he kept going after him that eventually he’d shut down Saint’s entire operation. Rios took it from there. He looked into Saint. He found the stash houses. He found a laptop that was heavily encrypted and he found a flash drive that would decrypt the laptop. Rios was on the way to deliver the flash drive to the tech department when he got kidnapped. Saint’s people had to be behind it. Hondo believed Saint’s people had to be behind it. He later confronted Saint and he got in his face.

Hondo wanted to push Saint into confessing. Only that doesn’t show so well to a 2022 audience. They just saw a cop badgering a successful black man and it didn’t matter that Hondo was black too. Hondo may have ignored that, but Deacon was looking out for him and he told Hondo to back down because they wouldn’t get anywhere with Saint. Saint likes to look three moves ahead. Its why he made sure he was with a councilman when Hondo came looking for him. The councilman later complained to the mayor about Hondo’s conduct. Hondo then had to deal with the interference from Hicks.

Hicks was asking Hondo about it when Hondo snapped at him. He said that Rios could already be dead by time they find him and he unfortunately said this quite loudly. Rios’s wife overheard them. She broke down in tears knowing that even the police thought her husband was a lost cause. Things also got worse from there because the laptop went missing from evidence. Street and Powell were in the building when it happened. They followed the guy that took the laptop and they stopped him before he could drive away. And the guy that tried to give Saint back his laptop was Officer Charlie Rios.

Charlie was the detective’s son and he had gotten a ransom video from Saint’s people. Not that they could prove it was Saint’s people and the video said the detective would be killed if they didn’t get the laptop back. He explains that he was trying to save his dad and everyone wanted the detective to come out of this safely. SWAT looked at the video. They were able to determine it was filmed at Raymont Harris’s warehouse. Hondo went to Raymont, who had gotten business up and running. Hondo told him Saint was into something bad but Raymont told him that his newest warehouse was given a day off by Saint’s people, though starts to consider.

Hondo and his team went to the warehouse. They found out they were too late. Rios had already been moved and that’s because someone with Raymont had tipped off Saint. It was a girl named Phoebe, who was the sister of Saint’s driver Marcus. They thought Saint was a literal saint, since he's helping pay their father's medical bills. Phoebe was told the truth about the man, and she tried to warn her brother about him. However, her brother is determined to prove them wrong by spying on Saint but Marcus ends up realizing the truth and was taken hostage while eavesdropping, though not before he told Hondo he saw Saint with Rios, confirming the truth to Raymont and Phoebe. Having confirmed Rios is alive, Hondo promises Phoebe that his team will save her brother, before he has his team move out.

At the warehouse, the pleading Marcus is taken before Saint who bitterly reminds him of his order to stay put. Regardless, Saint uses Marcus as leverage to get Rios talking, knowing a cop wouldn't let an innocent civilian die. Indeed, when Saint threatens Marcus with a gun, the frantic Rios immediately reveals he stashed the flash drive in his car. Pleased, Saint decides to move out and throws both captives in the van.

Saint's group head to the lot, where the car was placed and kill the lot worker to get in. After Rios directs them to the flash drive's location, Saint procures it and orders that Marcus and Rios be executed with their bodies dumped so it won't be tracked to him. However, Hondo and his people were able to track Saint’s car to the parking lot. There they took down Saint’s people and rescued both Rios and Marcus.

Saint tries to flee and not wanting to spend the remainder of his life in prison, he shoots at Hondo but the latter subdues him and arrests Saint. They got the flash drive; Hondo tells him without a doubt they can now prove he is dirty.

At HQ, it is reported Saint's arrest is not what people wanted to hear, as there were already stories that Saint was arrested because of a political witch hunt. People have to mourn the person who they thought Saint was and not who he truly is.

Rios is hospitalized and is reunited with his family. Hondo thanks him for his efforts and lets him know his son is looking at a reprimand, due to his actions being out of distress, something that relieves him.

## Cast

### Main

* Shemar Moore - Daniel Harrelson
* Alex Russell - Jim Street
* Kenny Johnson - Dominique Luca
* David Lim - Victor Tan
* Patrick St. Esprit - Robert Hicks
* Rochelle Aytes - Nichelle Carmichael
* Jay Harrington - David Kay

### Recurring

* Anna Enger Ritch - Officer Zoe Powell
* Lombardo Boyar - Det. Alexander Rios

### Guest

* Michael D. Aguilar - Charlie Rios
* Carl Lumbly - Saint
* Peter Arpesella - Ellis
* Kristopher Charles - Lucius
* Porter Duong - Vika Sloan
* Aaron Bledsoe - Raymont Harris
* Joy Brunson - Phoebe
* Spence Moore II - Marcus
* Hope Diaz - Maria Rios

## Trivia

* Annie Kay has been mentioned but didn't appear in this episode.
* When Luca is confronting Hicks at the end of the episode; while adjusting his tie Hicks suffers a continuity error where his collar is flipped down in one shot, and back upright the next.