S.W.A.T. Season 7 premiere shocker: Is Powell really dead?

S.W.A.T. returned to the air for the first time in eight months and delivered one of the series’ most shocking twists.

S.W.A.T. Season 7 Episode 1 seemingly wrapped up with Powell (Anna Enger Rich) being killed off.

The high-stakes premiere found the team trying to locate a thermobaric vacuum bomb, but when their mission seemed over, the bomb was missing.

Powell, who had been getting close to Gabriel (Rick Mancia), caught a look at his phone and learned that he was the one who took the bomb.

Alone with him in a hotel room, she didn’t even get a chance to consider her options before he attacked her.

As the episode concluded, Rick strangled Powell, with her seemingly dead as the episode cut to black.

Powell is probably still alive

While killing such a beloved character off would send the final season in a different direction, it’s hard to believe this is truly the end.

Anna was upped to series regular before the premiere, meaning she’ll be in most of the final season’s 13 episodes.

Could that series regular promotion have been a smokescreen to lure fans into a false sense of security?

Of course, but it’s doubtful.

The fans would undoubtedly be furious if this was the end of Powell’s arc, but there’s plenty of storyline potential in her surviving this ordeal and showcasing her recovery to viewers.

Gabriel could be the final season’s big bad

There’s a good chance Gabriel is being set up as a big bad for the next few episodes, but it’s also possible this could be a season-long arc that brings the show to a close.

The team, led by Hondo (Shemar Moore), will stop at nothing to find Powell and dole out some justice on those responsible for what happened.

That may be their job, but this is personal because someone has attacked one of their own and has probably given her trust issues for life.

There’s no need to kill Powell off because there are so many ways the show could play this storyline, which all involve keeping her alive.

S.W.A.T. recently demoted two stars

While Anna is a series regular, original stars Kenneth “Kenny” Johnson (Dominique Luca) and Alex Russell (Jim Street) were recently demoted to recurring players.

They are both expected to be written out ahead of the May series finale, which is quite a significant shift for fans of the show.

This time last year, it seemed like S.W.A.T. was dead and buried after CBS canceled it after six seasons.

Thankfully, the fans went into overdrive to get the show saved, and CBS rewarded them with a 13-episode pickup with the caveat that it would be the last of the show.

Moore hinted recently that the door isn’t completely closed on a comeback down the line, leading to speculation that the series finale will be open-ended.

S.W.A.T. airs Fridays at 8/7c on CBS.