Chicago Firefighter Veteran Annie Ilonzeh Reveals ‘Surprising’ Details About Her New S.W.A.T. Character and Why Shemar Moore’s Hondo Hired Her
Production began on S.W.A.T. Season 8 last July, and 20 Squad will look a little different when the series returns in October. The CBS procedural that’s been saved twice said goodbye to not one, but two main characters in Season 7, which was supposed to mark the end of the show. With Street and Luca no longer on the team, the team struggled to find new members to fit into the family. Now it’s been revealed that one of those new additions is Chicago Firefighter Veteran Annie Ilonzeh, who discusses her new character and why Shemar Moore’s Hondo Hired her.
It was previously announced that Annie Ilonzeh would return as Devin Gamble, a “striking LAPD rookie” who left for Oakland because of a crime committed by her father. Now that 20-Squad has a few open spots, Hondo is picking Gamble for the team. Ilonzeh told TV Insider how far the two characters have come, and it’s clear that for Sergeant Shemar Moore, this recruitment has been a long time coming: Hondo saw that spark, that ‘it’ factor, when she was a rookie in the LAPD over 10 years ago and said, ‘I want her on 20-Squad.’ [Back then] he took Gamble under his wing. When her father’s dark past exploded, Hondo decided, ‘let me protect you,’ and brought Gamble to Oakland so she wouldn’t have to deal with the backlash.
In the Season 7 finale of S.W.A.T. (which was not changed due to the cancellation), Hondo tells Commander Hicks about how he doesn’t just want people to fill out his team. When it comes to any team he leads, he wants to make sure it’s a good fit, as he wants Squad 20 to have a family dynamic on and off the field. Even before Hondo took charge of the team, he knew he wanted Gamble to be a part of it, which shows from the start how special she is. There’s also the fact that Devin is a “cool person and a hard worker. She’s super cool,” according to Annie Ilonzeh, as if she could bring a lot to the team. It seems like fans will learn more about Gable’s backstory with each episode, and seeing how she fits in with the rest of the team also reveals that her S.W.A.T. character will have an interesting dynamic with one particular character in the long-running procedural: Her family, who will be making an appearance later in the season. We’re going to see the tug of war. The audience is going to understand why Gamble is so hard on herself and determined to be the best SWAT member on the 20-Squad. There’s a lot to do with her dad and what he did, who he was, and a kind of redemption arc. . . . Deacon and Gamble have some great conversations about their dads. It’s really surprising — similar situations with their dads. She’s gaining people’s trust, and it’s interesting to be shown with that kind of shadow cast over her.
It’s interesting to hear that Deacon is going to bond with Gamble, in some way, especially since he was originally going to retire from the 20-Squad at the end of Season 7. As a fan, I’m looking forward to seeing them bond with their dads, especially since fans don’t know much about Deacon’s parents. While his father may not have been a notorious criminal, there do seem to be some similarities and possibly open wounds from Deacon’s childhood.
S.W.A.T. has definitely entered a new era, and I’m excited to see if Hondo’s decision to add Devin to the team was the right move. Fans will soon see who the character is when Season 8 premieres on Friday, October 18 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS as part of the 2024 television schedule. In the meantime, you can watch the episodes with a Paramount+ subscription.
