‘S.W.A.T.’ Says Sad Goodbye to Fan Favorite Character

Shemar Moore, Alex Russell, Kenny Johnson, David Lim

It had already been revealed that for the seventh and final season of S.W.A.T. that both Alex Russell (Jim Street) and Kenny Johnson (Dominique Luca) were going to be moved from series regular to recurring status for the final 13 episodes of the cop drama, but for some reason, it never occurred to me that we would only see Russell one final time and that’s in tonight’s “End of the Road” episode.

Why is Alex Russell leaving S.W.A.T?

When the season started, Parade spoke to Shemar Moore (Hondo) and he reassured us that everybody’s going to get their time to shine in this final season, and tonight is Russell’s turn. So, break out the hankies as Russell has his swan song.

“I always say, ‘Look, I may be the face on the poster, I may be the lead of the show, but it ain’t all about me and it shouldn’t be all about me,” Moore said in that interview. “I do what I need to do and I’m proud to do it, but this season everybody’s going to get their shining moment. Everybody. And that’s the way it should be because we worked our tails off to make this show. We’re going to shine as a unit and everybody individually is going to get to show out, do their thing, so the audience can see them get their moments.”

Related: Shemar Moore Says in His Heart, Despite Being Canceled, He's Ready for More Seasons of S.W.A.T.

So far this season, Street’s absence has been explained as him having been loaned out to the Long Beach Police Department’s 30 Company S.W.A.T. team to put them through drills that he had learned with the LAPD. And he’s still there, but when an LAPD officer is killed while in Long Beach, a joint investigation got underway.

LAPD officer Owen Green stole a major load of armor piercing tungsten bullets from the evidence room for Sonny Allen, a major drug dealer who hadn’t been seen in Long Beach in 10 years since he killed a cop. But now he’s back and he was recognized by Barry Jones (Brian Letscher), the head of 30 Company, at the scene of the crime where Green’s body was found.

So, Hondo and Jones’ teams work in tandem to catch Sonny and recover the lethal bullets.

Hoping to get a lead, Street visited an old CI, who told them about a biker, Iron Mike, who modifies guns, and a biker bar where they could find him. It took a motorcycle chase, but Street and Tan (David Lim) managed to arrest him, and Iron Mike—after he was threatened with being tried for the death of a cop with a gun that he modified— revealed that Sonny wants to restart his drug operation and he has recruited his former Spine Cutter gang members.

Related: Fans Demanded It! All About S.W.A.T. Season 7, Which CBS Canceled Then Renewed

Meanwhile, Hondo felt that something was wrong. He had met Green at his graduation and felt he was the perfect rookie. He felt something was off even more so when Green’s Captain showed Hondo the footage of the theft, showing that Green swiped into the room using his own ID and didn’t try to hide from the cameras. Finally, Deacon (Jay Harrington) and Tan received the information from Green’s cell phone, and they realized he was being blackmailed. Sonny had threatened to kill his family. Even so, Green was still a cop. He put a tracker in the bullet boxes, so the team was able to locate the abandoned industrial building where Sonny took the cargo.

But when Hondo, Jones and their teams arrived, the building was empty. They were cautious because their vests and shields wouldn’t protect them from the bullets. While inside, one of the bikers making his escape sprayed the building with bullets. Jones got shot and was rushed to the hospital.

In his stead, Hondo and Deacon encouraged Street to pull 30 Company together, which he did. And when Commander Hicks (Patrick St. Esprit) discovered that all the drugs that had been confiscated by the LAPD were being sent to Miller’s Crematorium that day to be destroyed, they realized that that was the target that Sonny was going to hit to get enough drugs to get him back in business. And since the drugs would arrive in an armored truck, he needed the armor piercing bullets.

Street and 30 Company arrived just as Sonny and the Spine Cutters were stealing the truck. They managed to kill several of the gang members, but Sonny got away in the back of the truck as one of his gang drove them away. Street raced after the truck, opened the back door and jumped in. He and Sonny went at it—hand-to-hand combat.

In the interim, 20 Squad arrived and made a barrier to block the truck, so Sonny was arrested.

Related: S.W.A.T. Star David Lim on How What You Don't Know Can Sometimes Lead to Success

Back at LAPD S.W.A.T. headquarters, Hicks broke the news that Jones didn’t make it. Street volunteered to tell 30 Company.

What happened to Jim Street on 'S.W.A.T'?

Later, Street was sitting inside headquarters when Hondo found him and Street told him that he was moving to Long Beach permanently to take over for Jones.

Hondo said, “I never thought that the screw up I had to fire would be the hardest one to say goodbye to.”

Street asked Hondo to break the news to the team and left, but before he got on his bike, Tan stopped him.

Earlier, Street had told Tan that he had thought that Long Beach was the place where bad things happen, but now he thought it was awesome. So, Tan wasn’t surprised to learn that Street was leaving.

Street reassured him they would still see each other often, he wasn’t leaving Los Angeles, and then he threw out—a nice tease for Chris (Linda Esco) fans, “Chris and I will have you over in a couple of weeks for an engagement party. Just don’t say anything to Chris.” Which meant he probably hadn’t asked her yet.

S.W.A.T. airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams next day on Paramount+.

Next, Shemar Moore on the Importance of Tackling Everyday Issues on S.W.A.T.