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SWAT Season 4: Renewal means the LA Riots episode can happen

by Callum Gunn

The SWAT Season 4 renewal isn’t just great for the series as a whole. It means we’ll get the LA Riots episode that’s previously been teased.

Just like so many other TV shows, SWAT Season 3 is coming to an unexpected and abrupt end. However, the season is just one episode shorter than planned, while many other shows have fallen two to four episodes short. There were some big plans for the intended Season 3 finale, which means the SWAT Season 4 renewal is far more excellent than it initially seems.

Of course, we’re stoked that SWAT has been renewed for a fourth season. This was a show on the line, but it really does suffer from a bad timeslot. Hopefully, CBS will fix that for the 2020-2021 season, especially with how the show has picked up in recent episodes. Since the police suicide story, the show has had some of the best episodes of the series ever. And they were only going to get bigger.

A focus on a real event

According to TVLine, the intended Season 3 finale was going to incorporate the LA Riots. There were going to be flashbacks between an incident in the present and Hondo during the LA Riots. It’s certainly going to be important for those in and around LA, but it’s also an episode that touches on real history, reminding us that there are real cops out there dealing with the situations that we see our characters in.

As long as Season 4 was confirmed, showrunner Shawn Ryan shared that the episode would still happen. It may be the SWAT Season 4 premiere or it may be an early episode of the season. Either way, it is most definitely going to happen.

From the sounds of things with the Season 3 finale, it may work best as the premiere of the new season. It turns out that the cliffhanger at the end of Episode 21, titled “Diablo,” would take us into a story in the following episode. However, the writers could decide to take the A-story from the episode and fit it into the premiere in another way. The storyline involving the riots can then be pushed a little later.

Hondo in the riots

What’s not clear is how Hondo is involved in the riots. All we know is that we’ll see a teenage Hondo with his father during the terrifying time. It’s possible that this will be what makes him into the cop that he is now.

Either way, it’s exciting to know this can now happen. Now we just need the lockdowns to be lifted so filming can happen again.

What are you excited to see on SWAT Season 4? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

SWAT Season 3’s finale will air on May 20 at 10/9c on CBS. You can watch the entire series on CBS All Access, which is available through Amazon Channels.