The BEST episodes of S.W.A.T. season 1

Every episode of S.W.A.T. season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of S.W.A.T. season 1!

This series features the missions of the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Weapons and Tactics team. They are a team of highly trained and heavily armed police officers who's purpose is to make coordinated assaults on armed and dangerous criminals in sensitive situations and defensible locations.

Last Updated: 11/1/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
Share:
Blind Man's Bluff
star
7.30
20 votes

#1 - Blind Man's Bluff

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/19/1975

While leading the team in the rescue of several women being held hostage by two known killers in a massage parlor, Hondo is grazed by a bullet across his temple. He refuses to take time off for tests until dizziness and blurred vision force him temporarily to relinquish his command to Lt. Purcell, an officer whose methods and personality have a demoralizing effect on the S.W.A.T. team.

Directors: George McCowan
Writer: Walter Black
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Death Score
star
7.16
25 votes

#2 - Death Score

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/7/1975

A terrorist group takes a professional basketball team hostage and demands money.

Directors: Phil Bondelli
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Jungle War
star
7.12
25 votes

#3 - Jungle War

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/31/1975

Bo Pritchard is a veteran police officer who also served with Hondo in Vietnam. Having completed S.W.A.T. training, Pritchard all but begs Hondo to give him a chance to work on the team until "Deacon" Kay recovers. But going into action with Hondo recalls memories of jungle warfare to Pritchard whose hostility and resentments eventually pull him into an emotional breakdown.

Directors: George McCowan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Sole Survivor
star
7.00
16 votes

#4 - Sole Survivor

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/26/1975

After making a careful study of S.W.A.T. methods, Frank Hunter, a recently dismissed parole officer, recruits a group of ex-convicts with special skills. Then, after setting off a series of false S.W.A.T. calls throughout the city, Hunter and his well-armed specialists help themselves to a fortune in rare gold coins from a heavily guarded rare coin auction.

Directors: Earl Bellamy
Writer: Sean Baine
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Pressure Cooker
star
6.97
36 votes

#5 - Pressure Cooker

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/17/1975

Hondo and his men have been working around the clock on cases such as a food market heist and a kidnapping investigation, when lady journalist Meredith Cooper reports, with police department approval, to spend several days with the S.W.A.T. team. Ms. Cooper's presence creates problems. Her beauty is distracting. Her manner is pushy and her opinion of policemen is anchored somewhere below sea level.

Directors: George McCowan
Writer: Walter Black
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Death Carrier
star
6.97
29 votes

#6 - Death Carrier

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/10/1975

In a period of a year, model Janet Warren dated three young men, and each has been killed by a sniper's bullet. Police have been unable to find motives or suspects. Since Janet is the only link, Hondo assigns officer Jim Street to pose as the beautiful girl's latest boyfriend in a plan to draw out the sniper who apparently has Janet under constant surveillance.

Directors: Harry Falk
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Bravo Enigma
star
6.93
15 votes

#7 - The Bravo Enigma

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/28/1975

The team must find an elusive assassin who is unaware that he is spreading a deadly disease.

Directors: Phil Bondelli
Writer: Herb Bermann
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Omega One
star
6.91
22 votes

#8 - Omega One

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/12/1975

Student protestors steal guns and seize control of a nuclear reactor.

Directors: Earl Bellamy
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Killing Ground
star
6.86
92 votes

#9 - Killing Ground

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/24/1975

Street's partner, officer Rob Duran, is killed in the premeditated police assassination by two brothers bent on revenging their father's death. That and subsequent police killings serve to shape the psychology of Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson's newly formed Special Weapons and Tactics team, "S.W.A.T." The team's task is to combat high risk, contemporary, urban crime as a strike force. The team consists of James Street, David "Deacon" Kay, T.J.. McCabe, Dominic Luca, and Harrelson. "S.W.A.T."'s first assignment is an acid test of their ability to survive as individuals and as a team. Their rigorous training is literally a fight against time.

Directors: Harry Falk
Writer: Rick Husky
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Coven of Killers
star
6.81
75 votes

#10 - Coven of Killers

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/3/1975

Three members of Joey Hopper's "family," including newcomer Judy Collins, engineer Hopper's escape from a prison's hospital ward. After executing an assistant District Attorney, Hopper sends a recorded message to "Hondo" that he will be the next victim and that he also intends to punish the jury that found him guilty of other homicides. Russ Collins, owner of an underground newspaper which has published sympathetic articles about Hopper, refuses to admit knowledge of Hopper's whereabouts until "Hondo" informs Collins that his daughter has become a member of the treacherous cult.

Directors: George McCowan
Writer: Skip Webster
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Steel-Plated Security Blanket
star
6.80
20 votes

#11 - The Steel-Plated Security Blanket

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/5/1975

As Hondo Harrelson and the S.W.A.T. team investigate the theft of an armored car, T.J. McCabe is spending his lunch hour with his fiancée, Susan, who is public relations representative for the Miss American Beauty Pageant. As Miss New Mexico tries on the crown and scepter, the armored car thieves attempt to steal the jewels, taking Susan and Miss New Mexico as hostages.

Directors: George McCowan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Hit Men
star
6.68
25 votes

#12 - Hit Men

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/24/1975

Vincent Ritchie, serving a prison sentence, agrees to expose the secrets of a crime syndicate before a Senate committee when he learns of "family" plans to insure his permanent silence. As he is transported with a police escort from the penitentiary, Ritchie is gravely wounded in an ambush attack which claims the life of a police officer. While doctors fight to save the convict's life, Hondo's team and other S.W.A.T. units station themselves throughout the hospital, awaiting an expected attempt to finish Ritchie off.

Directors: Harry Falk
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV