The Best Episodes of S.W.A.T. Season 1
Every episode of S.W.A.T. Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of S.W.A.T. Season 1!
A locally born and bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he's tasked to run a highly-trained unit that's the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles.
Season 1 Ratings Summary
The best episode of "S.W.A.T." season 1 is "Pilot", rated 7.3/10 from 1399 user votes. It was directed by Justin Lin and written by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Shawn Ryan. "Pilot" aired on 11/2/2017 and is rated 0.2 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Cuchillo".
7.3/10 1,399 votes#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/2/2017
A locally born SWAT sergeant, former Marine Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, is newly tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles.
Director: Justin Lin
Writer: Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Shawn Ryan
7.1/10 1,037 votes#2 - Cuchillo
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/9/2017
Hondo and the SWAT team spread out across Los Angeles in pursuit of four escaped convicts, including a violent criminal Jessica helped bring to justice, before department rival Mumford and his team beat them to the collars. Also, Hondo’s new role as team leader is called into question when Street displays a flagrant disregard for SWAT protocol.
Director: Billy Gierhart
Writer: Craig Gore
7.1/10 895 votes#3 - Pamilya
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/16/2017
Newcomer Jim Street jeopardizes his spot on Hondo’s team when he agrees to do a favor for his incarcerated mother that endangers his SWAT career. Also, the SWAT team searches for the ruthless mastermind behind a drug trafficking ring that forces immigrants to be mules.
Director: Billy Gierhart
Writer: Samuel Humphreys
7.3/10 842 votes#4 - Radical
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/23/2017
After a domestic bomber dies in a Highland Park explosion, the SWAT team races to find the man's partner before more devices detonate. Also, Hondo reaches out to Buck, his former team leader, when he worries he is isolating himself after his recent firing.
Director: Greg Beeman
Writer: Kent Rotherham
7.3/10 844 votes#5 - Imposters
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/30/2017
When a series of home invasions are committed by SWAT imposters in an upscale neighborhood, Hondo and the team suspect the burglarized families are all hiding something. Also, when Deacon and Luca are assigned to protect a visiting professional hockey player who is receiving death threats, his penchant for trouble becomes a complication.
Director: Guy Ferland
Writer: VJ Boyd
7.3/10 775 votes#6 - Octane
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 12/7/2017
Hondo puts aside his misgivings about Jim Street's recklessness and allows the newbie to go undercover as a broker in a luxury car theft ring to bust a ruthless trafficker. Also, Hondo visits Raymont Harris, the teenager recently shot by a former member of the SWAT team, who is dealing with PTSD.
Director: Eagle Egilsson
Writer: Michael Jones-Morales
7.1/10 748 votes#7 - Homecoming
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/14/2017
When Hondo’s imprisoned childhood friend asks him to protect his son from gang violence, the favor brings SWAT into contact with a new local crime outfit. Also, when Luca’s grandfather, a SWAT legend, passes away, he struggles with his grief and a painful family secret.
Director: John F. Showalter
Writer: Alison Cross
7.3/10 711 votes#8 - Miracle
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 12/21/2017
Hondo and the SWAT team are forced to work over their Christmas vacation when a drug cartel is out for blood after their cache of gold bars is stolen. Also, Jessica draws the attention of Michael Plank, president of the Police Commission, when she approaches him with her ideas on how to improve the SWAT division.
Director: Holly Dale
Writer: A.C. Allen
7.3/10 714 votes#9 - Blindspots
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 1/4/2018
When a misconduct complaint filed against Hondo gets him taken off active duty, Deacon steps up to lead the team in finding a robbery crew that is hitting marijuana dispensaries. Also, when Tan notices a similarity between the current robberies and a case from his time with Hollywood LAPD, he asks for help from an informant with whom he has a complicated history.
Director: Billy Gierhart
Writer: Michael Gemballa
7.8/10 797 votes#10 - Seizure
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/11/2018
As the SWAT team goes inside a prison riot to rescue civilian hostages, Hondo suspects the inmates have an ulterior motive behind the uprising. Also, when Deacon’s wife, Annie, stops by headquarters to celebrate Deacon’s 10th anniversary with the SWAT division, her visit takes an unexpected turn.
Director: Larry Teng
Writer: Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
7.3/10 656 votes#11 - K-Town
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/18/2018
Hondo teams up with an old DEA friend, Special Agent Katrina “K.C.” Walsh, on a task force aimed at unmasking the secret leader of a fentanyl drug smuggling ring. Also, Jessica and Michael Plank, president of the Police Commission, begin implementing her new law enforcement community initiatives.
Director: Omar Madha
Writer: Craig Gore
7.3/10 618 votes#12 - Contamination
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 2/1/2018
Hondo and the SWAT team join forces with the FBI on a manhunt to find members of a militia group planning a domestic terror attack by weaponizing cyanide. Also, as Jessica’s new police initiatives with Michael Plank, president of the police commission, move forward, she braces herself for the negative impact the plans could have on her relationships within the department.
Director: Elodie Keene
Writer: Robert Wittstadt
7.1/10 552 votes#13 - Fences
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 3/1/2018
Hondo and Jessica’s secret relationship comes to a crossroads when Michael Plank, the president of the police commission, discovers their affair. Also, when Hondo and the team assist with the federal investigation to bring in an undocumented fugitive, they find themselves at the center of a citywide immigration debate.
Director: Alex Graves
Writer: Sam Humphrey
7.6/10 610 votes#14 - Ghosts
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 3/8/2018
Hondo and the team go on the hunt for a serial killer who escaped justice two years prior by faking his death. Also, Hondo worries that Buck Spivey, the team’s former leader, is spiraling into depression in the aftermath of being fired from the department.
Director: John F. Showalter
Writer: Michael Jones-Morales
7.6/10 562 votes#15 - Crews
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 3/29/2018
The job becomes personal for Hondo when his criminal informant friend is killed while seeking information about a robbery crew that a joint SWAT and FBI task force is trying to capture. Also, when the FBI task force leader acts erratically, Jessica worries the woman’s behavior will endanger the team in the field.
Director: Hanelle M. Culpepper
Writer: VJ Boyd
7.6/10 560 votes#16 - Payback
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 4/5/2018
When a young heiress, Juliette Carlton, is kidnapped for ransom, Hondo and the SWAT team go on a citywide search to bring her home before she is harmed. Also, the team worries that Mumford is moving too fast when he announces he’s getting married for the fourth time.
Director: Billy Gierhart
Writer: Alison Cross
7.6/10 558 votes#17 - Armory
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 4/12/2018
As Hondo and SWAT work to de-escalate a hostage situation in which an ex-convict is holding a local family captive, the mission takes a dangerous turn that impacts the team. Also, when Street tires of his complicated romantic entanglements, he agrees to let Chris make over his online dating profile.
Director: Rob J. Greenlea
Writer: Craig Gore
7.5/10 539 votes#18 - Patrol
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/19/2018
Hondo confronts his long-held resentment towards his ailing father, Daniel Harrelson, Sr., when he and his sister, Briana, try to convince their dad he’s no longer well enough to live alone. Also, when the SWAT team works as patrol officers for a day, Chris is partnered with Mumford, who intends to make her a surprising offer.
Director: Norberto Barba
Writer: A.C. Allen
7.3/10 507 votes#19 - Source
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 4/26/2018
Jim Street debates whether or not his mother, Karen, should live with him upon her prison release after Hondo and Chris warn him against it. Also, Hondo and the team are assigned to protect Irina Zemanova, a high-profile Russian journalist visiting Los Angeles, from being assassinated.
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
Writer: Michael Gemballa
7.5/10 502 votes#20 - Vendetta
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/3/2018
Hondo’s life and career are endangered when his bosses and his godson’s kidnapper, Jae Kim, discover he’s been secretly surveilling Kim with the help of retired DEA agent Katrina Walsh. Also, Street and his newly paroled mother, Karen, both have trouble acclimating to her prison release.
Director: Billy Gierhart
Writer: Kent Rotherham
7.4/10 517 votes#21 - Hunted
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/10/2018
Hondo and Deacon must apply all their SWAT training and skills to evade a gang of armed mercenaries hunting them in the Angeles Mountains following an ambush. Also, Chris oversteps in an attempt to help a female SWAT trainee she suspects isn’t being evaluated fairly.
Director: Nina Lopez-Corrado
Writer: Matthew Browne
7.6/10 536 votes#22 - Hoax
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/2018
A fake 911 call puts Hondo and the SWAT team on the hunt to stop a white supremacy group from executing bombing attacks on local communities. Also, Street’s relationship with his recently paroled mother, Karen, jeopardizes his career, and Jessica is thrown a curveball by her colleague, Michael Plank, president of the police commission. Hondo’s father, returns Daniel Harrelson, Sr. 1st.
Director: Billy Gierhart
Writer: Aaron Rahsaan Thomas