S.W.A.T. Vet Says ‘Series Finale’ Left Things ‘Wide Open,’ Even Ahead of Surprise Un-Cancellation

The S.W.A.T. Season 7 finale, which wrapped filming last week — just two days after the surprise un-cancellation news came through — as written left things “wide open” for more adventures for Hondo & Co.

S.W.A.T. showrunner Andrew Dettmann had told TVLine ahead of the seventh and “final” season, “Look, it was presented to us as definitively final. But I’ve always said, as I talk to the actors and the other writers here, everybody holds out hope. Your show’s not gone till your show’s gone, right? So, we’re approaching it to make it a wonderful farewell if that turns out to be what it is.”

Indeed, when TVLine spoke to original cast member Kenny Johnson in late March, he shared that the finale script he’d seen was “great” and won’t by any means shut down 20-Squad or anything on Friday, May 17.

“I just read the last episode, because I asked Andy [Dettman] if I could read it and so I did, and, you know, it’s a great last episode,” Officer Dominique Luca’s portrayer told me, “but it definitely leaves it open.

“There’s not a definitive ending where everyone takes off somewhere,” Johnson added. “They kind of leave it where there is definitely a possibility — if somebody wants to go on with it, or however they do it — that that could happen.”

And now, we know, it will happen.

Johnson and fellow original cast member Alex Russell (who played Jim Street) were bumped from series regular status for what then believed to be S.W.A.T.‘s farewell run, presumably due to needed budget-trimming. “I’m really excited about the episodes we have for [Luca and Street],” showrunner Dettmann told TVLine before the season began. “The idea for the final 13 was that, if this was the end for us, nobody feels like they were underserved. There are some really good episodes fo Alex and Kenny, for Street and Luca.”

As subsequent episodes played out, Russell’s Street relocated to head up SWAT‘s suddenly-leaderless Long Beach squad. Soon after, Johnson’s Luca retired upon sustaining a career-hampering injury.

It is unclear, so soon after their surprise Season 8 order, how or if S.W.A.T. will “unwind” those two character exits.

The S.W.A.T. Season 7 finale, which wrapped filming last week — just two days after the surprise un-cancellation news came through — as written left things “wide open” for more adventures for Hondo & Co. S.W.A.T. showrunner Andrew Dettmann had told TVLine ahead of the seventh and “final” season, “Look, it was presented to us as definitively…