S.W.A.T. is on the way back to CBS after its third season was cut short in the spring, with an impromptu finale in May that had to set the stage for Season 4. Hondo's journey early in Season 4 will take him on a blast to the past, and now showrunner Aaron Rahsaan Thomas has revealed some of what to expect for Chris, and her dynamic with Street. The new season is going to get emotional for the S.W.A.T. team members.
Chris was actually shot at the end of Season 3 while on an operation with Street, although the bullet fortunately hit her in the vest. S.W.A.T. showrunner Aaron Rahsaan Thomas revealed that her arc in will involve her being tested in new ways. Speaking with TVLine, Thomas said:
Through the course of the season we’re going to take Chris through an emotional kind of whirlwind that’s going to test her in a way that she hasn’t been tested before — and certainly, her and Street’s friendship will be affected by that.
Well, if Season 4 is going to test Chris in a way that "she hasn't been tested before," then I think it's safe to say that she'll shake off any nerves from being shot in the makeshift Season 3 finale. She doesn't necessarily love to show her emotions, even among her trusted teammates, so it should be interesting to see what's in store for her. It apparently will involve her friendship with Street.
Of course, Chris and Street's friendship hasn't been without its complications, including a kiss back in Season 2. S.W.A.T. actually revisited that moment in what turned out to be one of the final episodes of Season 3, although neither Chris nor Street gave any indication that they actively wanted to become romantic. If she's going to go through an emotional "whirlwind" and be tested in new ways, I just hope Street will be able to support her.
That said, Street may have his own issues to deal with in Season 4, and the first episode of the new season seems unlikely to focus all that much on either character. The Season 4 premiere will actually be what was intended to air as the Season 3 finale, and take the show and viewers back to the 1992 L.A. riots. The riots will be covered in the episode from the perspective of Hondo, who was a teenager at the time. Since the episode is unlikely to be set entirely in the past, Shemar Moore as adult Hondo and the rest of the team will presumably at least appear.
The flashback episode will actually air as the first of a two-hour S.W.A.T. block on November 11, with the second episode featuring the team acting as a domestic surveillance unit for the CIA, working to confirm whether or not an international crime lord has resurfaced in L.A. after being off-the-grid for years. This episode sounds like it will more or less pick up on the plot left dangling at the end of the Season 3 finale.
Check out S.W.A.T.'s big return (potentially with some changes) to CBS with Chris and Street along with Hondo and the rest starting on Wednesday, November 11 at 9 p.m. ET. For more of what's finally coming to TV in the next several weeks, check out our 2020 fall TV premiere schedule!
