Aahana Swrup
Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson finds himself in an entirely new position in his career in ‘S.W.A.T. Exiles.’ After being forced to leave the LAPD in the wake of a scandal, the officer is brought back and assigned to a glorified team of elite misfits who are lumped under his leadership, mostly to improve public relations. After he assumes responsibility for this team, he begins to suspect a greater plot at play that relies on the failure of the young agents under his charge. At the same time, he remains oblivious to the mole among his ranks, Malik, who seems to be working with outside forces to ensure Hondo’s further fall from grace. In episode 2, these overarching conspiracies take the backseat as the SWAT team finds themselves on a case involving two local gangs and their rivalry. This mission becomes a great opportunity for the team leader to assess his agents and pick a scout. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Angela Pike Assigns Hondo’s Team to a Case
Hondo has his fair share of reservations about his team and their ability to step out into the field. Nonetheless, upper management doesn’t seem to care much about these things. Therefore, when a criminal development unravels, Angela Pike orders the SWAT team to serve a related warrant. Recently, a shooting had taken place at a dance club with multiple casualties, including one Mr. Kim, the leader of a local gang. This sets off an alarm about his rival gang leader, Monty, who had so far refrained from dabbling in the arms-dealing industry due to the agreement between the two gangs. Now that Kim has conveniently been assassinated, this gives Monty open rein to get into the arms-dealing business. Therefore, Hondo and his team have to search for one of the textile warehouses, suspected of housing such illegal shipments.
Since the team is still in its earliest stages, no agent has been permanently appointed as the Scout, the leader who assesses situations and deploys orders in real time during missions. Therefore, Hondo decides to use this opportunity to hold auditions for the role, starting with Jude, who gets to be the first one to take the wheel. However, the operation ends up going south when he fails to communicate properly and clashes with Cassidy, leading to a near-incident of friendly fire that would have been extremely bad for the team. On the other hand, serving the warrant itself produces no real leads as the warehouse seems to be free of any weapons. However, after the search, Monty concludes that Kim’s gang is also likely to target him as a potential suspect for the gang leader’s death. Therefore, he wants to start investing in weapons for self-defense rather than trading. His son, Andrea, who is a lawyer, isn’t so sure about this decision.
Sammy’s Scout Audition Doesn’t Play Out in Her Favor
Jude’s big mistake at the warehouse sweep ensures his disqualification from the Scout race. Meanwhile, Ethan uses dubious methods to hack into Monty’s records and gather intel on suspicious shipment activity involving the family’s textile business. The data gives him fair reason to believe that an upcoming shipment could potentially be a part of an illegal weapons trade. Therefore, the team receives its next orders, this time with Sammy serving as the Scout. She devises an impressive plan to ambush Monty and his men as they arrive on location to receive the mysterious shipment. Things unravel beyond expectations when the shipment turns out to be carrying weaponry as well as armed men sent to assassinate Monty. In the firefight that breaks out, six people die, and the gang leader sustains near-fatal injuries.
This means the team comes out of the violent altercation with no enemy survivors to question. Additionally, Malik had showcased a lack of judgment by prioritizing Monty’s protection over team protocol. Thus, Hondo deems Sammy’s leadership another failure. Afterward, her work with a weapons company to promote their product from within the precinct further draws his agitation despite the fact that it earned the team improved resources. Overall, the younger agents find themselves sick of their leader’s perpetual criticism and pessimism. As such, they decide to get together for a hangout to blow off some steam. Ethan, who turns out to be an extremely wealthy heir, hosts in his swanky apartment. During this hangout, Jude reveals that he stole their personnel files from Hondo’s office so they can each read the intel the team leader is judging them on.
Hondo Grows Suspicious of Pike and Chooses His Scout
Hondo’s already skeptical perception of the SWAT division grows due to Pike’s increased hostility towards the team. He believes that the department had only invested in the idea to watch it sink, leaving him to be scapegoated for it. Therefore, he reaches out to an old friend to look into the LAPD management officer. On the other hand, the hangout at Ethan’s leads Sammy to discover that one of the reasons Jude’s file is so heavily classified is because he was involved in an undercover mission that led to one casualty. The agent himself isn’t certain if he was to blame for the tragedy. Simultaneously, the Kim-Monty case continues as Hondo begins to suspect a single attacker behind both incidents. Therefore, he tracks down Kim’s son to try to gain some information about the night of the shooting. Once he talks to the younger man, he begins to suspect Andrea of being the perpetrator.
As a result, the team goes out on their third outing to the hospital where Monty is being treated. For the mission, Malik takes the helm as the Scout. Meanwhile, Andrea has already infiltrated the institution. Disguised as a medical professional, he sneaks his father away to an isolated ward, where he tries to finish the job and end his life. Fortunately, the SWAT team is able to pin him down before he can kill his own father. In the final showdown, Andrea reveals that he wanted to usurp his father as his successor as soon as possible so he could take over the gang and implement his new ideas. Initially, Malik tries to talk the heir down as he holds his father hostage. However, when push comes to shove, he orders Jude to take the shot, saving Monty’s life at the cost of Andrea’s. In the end, this ability to adapt shows Hondo that Malik is someone he can trust. Thus, he unwittingly ends up bestowing the role of the team leader on the mole.
Read More: Where is S.W.A.T. Exiles Filmed? All Shooting Locations
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