It’s been an exciting start for the new series S.W.A.T. Exiles. We’re getting to know the new team for Hondo (Shemar Moore) and all the threats they face on the job and from those working the job. That continues in episode 3, “Burn Zone,” which continues the case-of-the-week and the larger storylines.
Rough traffic
This week, we begin with a man, Walter Kovac (Rob Nagle), who is in traffic when he snaps. He’s stuck in a line not moving and the sounds of jackhammering set him off. When he gets out of his vehicle, he gets heckled by the crowd and hit with some sort of sandwich. So, he returns to his vehicle, calmly retrieves a handgun, walks back into traffic and opens fire.
That puts the squad on the case. Turns out that Walter is having a bad go of things. His wife died. He lost his job. And a fire claimed his house. Now, his insurance company has continually denied his claim and it’s caused him to snap. He heads to the insurance company and takes out the executive who denied his claim, grabbing a laptop along the way.
That leads the team to dig in and try and discover what he might find. Ethan (Freddy Miyares) plies his skills to digging in. And what he finds ends up shifting things. Turns out the insurance company tried to cover up the cause of the fire, then denied all the claims. They did it to try and protect a power company CEO. But now that Walter knows the truth and is armed with the means of making a bomb, he aims to settle the score.
The team shows up in time to square off. Walter tries to makes his move but it doesn’t pan out. It does put Sammy (Lucy Barrett) in position to have to take a shot. She hesitated the last time, but she’s on it this time. The threat is neutralized, and the city is saved.
Team dynamics
Hondo still has his suspicions about Commander Pike (Lenora Crichlow). He has his investigator (Will Yun Lee) both following her and digging for information. But so far, it’s come up empty. As she heads out to shoot some pool, Hondo follows her. She clocks him and he’s forced to come and have a chat.
Turns out she has known he was following her. He shares why—and his suspicions about her getting him fired the first time. She admits that he wouldn’t have been her first choice, but their future—and the future of S.W.A.T.—is tied together. So, that means they are on the same team—or at a minimum she’s not working against him.
As the episode draws to a close, it’s a successful outcome. The problem is the report on the previous mission. Commander Pike got word there is a problem with the report and goes to Hondo. He admits he left something out to protect a team member and didn’t tell Pike because of her ominous warning. She’s not happy, but they have a bigger problem. He knows there is a mole on his team.
Meanwhile, the team dynamics are continuing to improve. Whether through training or successful missions, they’re getting to know each other better. Jude (Ronen Rubinstein) is crashing at work, so Ethan offers him a room. Sammy stops by to blow off steam and ends up hooking up with Jude. That might be a little too close and might make for some awkward moments and team dynamics moving forward.
Final thoughts on this week’s episode
The format remains similar to the original show, and the cases have been interesting enough. I like the team dynamics that are forming and seeing Hondo pushed a little out of his comfort zone. It will be interesting to see where they go from here, and how long it takes to find the mole.
S.W.A.T. Exiles airs Fridays on Starz. Check back next week as we recap what’s next.
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