Wow. The events of Season 7, Episode 6 of SWAT will change the team forever, and fans are potentially saying goodbye to one of the show’s most beloved characters. The episode began with a happy reunion among some of the main characters, and potentially ended in tragedy. In between was an action-packed hour of TV that invoked moral questions about the role of family and parents’ responsibility for how their children turned out.

Warning: Spoilers for SWAT ahead.

SWAT Season 7, Episode 6 recap

SWAT logo and stars Shemar Moore and Kenny Johnson with LA skyline background.

The episode begins with inmates being transported on a prison bus. A fight breaks out, and then the driver loses control and the bus crashes over the side of a mountain. We see Hondo (Shemar Moore), Cabrera, and Tan (David Lim) going for a jog and as they finish up they get a broken radio call distress call over the radio asking for assistance.

They go to the scene of the crash and find that for inmates had escaped, but one is located nearby and appears to have been killed by the others.

Luca (Kenny Johnson) is back from counterterrorism training in London, and is teaching Kelly how to drive. She confides in him that her mother has yelled at her repeatedly, and Luca promises to keep his voice down and under control. However, he snaps when she doesn't wait for him to give the all-clear and nearly causes an accident at a left turn onto a busy intersection.

Each prisoner has different motives, and one is a serial killer

The team tracks down one of the escaped inmates, Diane Madden, who killed her abusive husband. They believe Diane is going to visit her estranged son, who is in the custody of his grandmother. The escaped convict beats the team there and holds the grandmother at knifepoint.

Deacon convinces her to release the hostage, as it is clear that she doesn't actually desire to hurt anybody and just wants to see her son. Meanwhile, the rest of the team tracks down Tina Carter, the other inmate presumed to still be in LA who has stolen a luxury car.

Black Betty has trouble keeping up, but Luca, being the excellent driver that he is, reverses and changes course to intercept the fugitive. They take her into custody and learn that serial killer Jolene Jefferies did not skip town, as they see footage of her murdering a book editor.

Tina agrees to help in exchange for better accommodations in prison, and shares that the editor was involved in a book written about Jolene. The team races to warn the author and take him into productive custody, but Jolene beats them there. He fought back and she escaped, but not before taking documents that included the identities of confidential sources. The team learns that Jolene’s mother was one of the sources, and they deduce that is where she is headed next.

The team arrives, and Jolene is holding her mother hostage. Honda attempts to talk her down and when she is kill her mother, Deacon takes a shot and ends the standoff. Annie is frustrated that Deacon didn't answer her call and she had to leave court to take care of their sick son, and Deacon attempts to make it up to her after work. He tells his wife that he is planning to talk to Commander Hicks about retiring so that Annie can follow her dreams and pursue a career in law.

A devastating event could change the team forever

At the end of the episode, we’re thrown for a shocking surprise. Luca takes Kelly for another driving lesson, and they stop for ice cream. Luca witnesses a robbery in progress, gets Kelly to safety, and then engages the two gunmen.

However, he doesn’t see a third shooter who catches him off guard and shoots him in the chest. Luca is struggling to reach for his gun, as the shooter walks up to him and appears to execute Luca with a headshot. The shooters run away, and Kelly comes up to Luca sobbing and pleading for help as he appears unresponsive, but we are left with a cliffhanger for the time being.

SWAT Season 7, Episode 6 review

Well, if there were any hopes of a spin-off or an eighth season being surprisingly picked up, it's safe to say that those hopes are likely dashed after the events of Season 7, Episode 6. The episode was engaging throughout, and the change of direction in the case of the week certainly kept viewers on the edge of their seats.

The show did a great job of tricking us into thinking that Jolene had skipped town and was headed out of state, only to reveal that she was the most dangerous of the three suspects and was planning on killing again.

Jolene's family situation and the reasoning behind her rampage is certainly emotionally complicated. It's easy to understand how her childhood and her mother's past life led her down the road it did and helped turn Jolene into the serial killer that she became. The team did a great job of allowing her to express her anger verbally in a way that prevented immediate bloodshed while Deacon lined up a shot, and Luca's genius laser pointer move helped Deac pull off a last-second shot that saved her mother’s life without mortally wounding Jolene.

The last 30 seconds of the episode are what viewers will be talking about until the next episode airs and possibly throughout the rest of the season. We don't know for sure that Luca is dead, but all indications point in that direction.

If Luca dies, it will change SWAT forever. Does Deacon reconsider his retirement? Does Luca's death drive the rest of the team toward retirement? Do we get to see Chris again at the funeral? What will happen with Kelly?

One thing is for certain: it was a brutal ending for his character, and it was awful for Luca to be killed right in front of Kelly after they had grown closer together and had helped each other through so many tough times. It's tough knowing that Luca is likely dead because he tried to selflessly go after the criminals alone while off duty and without backup.

If he had the team with him, it's unlikely that the third shooter would get the drop on him. Even if Luca did get shot, it would have been almost impossible for that shooter to walk up on him after he was wounded and execute him with a headshot. We’ll learn Luca’s ultimate fate in Episode 7 and see the fallout for Kelly and the rest of the team.