In this week’s episode of S.W.A.T. Season 8, Episode 13 (Friday at 10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT on Global in Canada and CBS in the U.S.), the women on 20-Squad are set to take the lead. On a hiking trip Zoe Powell (Anna Enger Ritch) and Devin Gamble (Annie Ilonzeh) discover an illegal weed farm, resulting in them having to take on a drug cartel.
“That is probably one of the most badass episodes,” Annie Ilonzeh told Yahoo Canada. “I think it’s the first of S.W.A.T. history.”
‘S.W.A.T.’ doesn’t make its characters stay in their box
A consistent element of S.W.A.T. is that, while fans love watching characters like Hondo (Shemar Moore) and Deacon (Jay Harrington), the women on 20-Squad are really high on the list of interesting characters.
The series creates a space for Powell and Gamble to be tough and badass, and lean into their femininity, and be vulnerable. They’re more three-dimensional than we’ve historically seen in this TV genre.
“That is such a big thing for me, is not being in that box,” Ilonzeh said. “I will be honest, there was a part of me, initially, I was like, OK I’m going to get hit over the head with like, ‘Well, don’t forget to do these things,’ … because this is an established show. But it doesn’t mean that there’s an established equation that I have to follow or that Anna has to follow.”
“I’ve been on other procedurals and you know that you have to hit certain marks. And tonally, it’s great for an audience to know that they’re going to come to something that they can rely on, and so we definitely take that into into consideration, for sure. But in terms of being able to let my shit fly and be what I want to be, and make Gamble this particular individual that is flawed and is dysfunctional, and professional and compassionate, and all the things that, not just as a woman, but certainly as a woman, that we are hit with every day from the moment we wake up, … it makes me feel good that she’s that one of one. And I think that with every character on this show.”
Ritch echoed Ilonzeh’s statements, saying that “there is no box” that these characters are instructed to fit into.
“I think everyone’s strength sometimes looks a little different,” Ritch said. “So it’s really a gift with the writing and the writers and the directors that we’ve had, they just sort of allow it to surface when it does.”
“Your power just comes in at random spots, and there’s no box to check, or I don’t feel like I have to adhere to rules. … It feels like we’re given a lot of freedom, which is such a gift.”
Going one step further, the writers of S.W.A.T. even proactively ask for thoughts and opinions from the actors to inform each episode’s story.
“Some of the writers, Ryan Keleher in particular, was like, ‘What do you like? Who are you? What’s going on with you?'” Ilonzeh highlighted. “It’s a true testament to say about a writer, producer, because they don’t have to do that, and they very much care, and are trying to align my vision and my voice with a character that technically they have written as established.”
“But they’re like, ‘No. You are the creator of this person, … so let me know what you want to do.'”
