6 hours Ago By Yahoo News Canada
S.W.A.
T. Seaosn 8 is coming back in full force for its winter premiere on Friday (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), which also marks the 150th episode of the show. But aside from the thrilling story with Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson (Shemar Moore), Victor Tan (David Lim), Robert "Bob" Hicks (Patrick St.
Esprit), Zoe Powell (Anna Enger Ritch), Devin Gamble (Annie Ilonzeh) and Miguel Alfaro (Niko Pepaj), Jay Harrington, who plays David "Deacon" Kay, took a seat in the director's chair for this week's episode. Season 8, Episode 9 picks up where we left off in the previous episode, after Gamble finds out from her incarcerated father that there's a bounty on the head of someone on 20-Squad. The core conflict of the episode is centred about the race to find out who is being targeted.
"It was a little tough, because on paper she never fully expresses her frustration in words, and to get the information from her father, it's disappointing that that's the information, and we don't know who's at risk and who's being threatened," Annie Ilonzeh told Yahoo Canada . "But it is informative too. How mad can she really be at him? It's not personal, per se, he just got the information, but she's still just disappointed with him as a whole, and not just him, but her brother a little bit.
...
I think at the end of the day, when you see people, especially your family, disappointing you in such big areas of your life, you still root for them. And so I just didn't want it to come across like all she was was super frustrated. Once we know who the target is it's so much more important for her to figure this out, .
.. but also figure it out with team, and not get too in the weeds with the emotional part of it.
" Ahead of the episode's premiere, Shemar Moore said he's "really proud" of Harrington directing this milestone episode. "I tease Jay that ..
. when he directs, it's the one time he gets to be my boss," Moore said. "I'm just a proud big brother, because he's so comfortable as a director.
" "He loves doing it. I think he has more fun directing than he does acting, and he's a wonderful actor. .
.. He loves the show, the style of the show, and then he has his own ideas to enhance all those elements.
But with him there, he's so comfortable, we know we're in good hands. We know we're going to maintain the integrity of the show with his ideas and how he wants to direct. .
.. I know what I'm doing in regards to performance and my character, but he may see something, he may see a colour that I'm not thinking of, or he may see an angle or a narrative that I'm not thinking of.
" In addition to the trying to discover the details of the bounty, Harrington's character Deacon has his own conflict with Tan, because they don't see eye-to-eye on Tan's approach to the S.W.A.
T. academy. "I guess Tan's style isn't for everybody," David Lim said.
"It's been great. I've really enjoyed having this storyline this season that's kind of been arcing for the first half of the season." "You're going to see even more of that kind of butting of heads between Tan and Deacon.
But for me, it's been great because I've been able to kind of step into a bit more of a leadership role with the Tan character. He started many seasons ago as this young, ambitious, eager officer trying to prove himself, and now he's one of the more senior members on the team, so it's been fun to portray that." 'Watching real people that just take on extraordinary situations and prevail' With this week's episode and beyond, a core tenet of S.
W.A.T.
is pairing these thrilling, life threatening situations for 20-Squad with deep dives into who these characters are out of uniform. It's the mix that has given the show a loyal legion of fans who can't get enough of the show. "You hear that theme song, you know it's going to be a thrill ride.
That's our signature," Moore said. "So we will never lose sight of that, whether it's helicopter stunts, motorcycle chases, hand-to-hand combat, car chases, blowing up stuff." "We're also topical.
We talk about human trafficking. We talk about Black Lives Matter. We talk about school shootings, suicide by cop.
...
We've got to keep our characters rough and tough, but human. We've got to have some kryptonite. We've got to have some heart.
We've got to be scared. We've got to be unsure. We've got to have some weaknesses.
But the team comes together and they overcome. ..
. You feel like you're watching real people that just take on extraordinary situations and prevail." 'Not this bravado character that we're so used to playing' Annie Ilonzeh highlighted how much she appreciates getting "real depth" to for her character Gamble, which includes showing her personal family dynamic and how that intersects with her job.
"I'm still figuring out Gamble. It's so sensitive and important to me to not miss those beats, especially coming into an established show," Ilonzeh said. "And everybody knows, fans and audience members, know these characters so well, and I want her to still represent S.
W.A.T.
and also be individual and very unique, but to make sure that I hit the tone of the show, but also like fit in with the family." For Anna Enger Ritch, much of Powell's person story in Season 8 was focused on her unique and complicated relationship with her son Thomas, another example of that "out of uniform" exploration of these characters. "When we're donning the uniform .
.. there's a lot of bravado that comes with that," Ritch said.
"There's a lot of strength and oftentimes it's this real masculine energy." "So to tap into our personal lives, Powell specifically, she so tries to be so tough all the time in her day-to-day life and her day-to-day job, and you really get an opportunity to see her vulnerability and what really matters matters to her most on a personal level. And I think it's just for me, as an actor, it's really fun to get to tap into the other side of that, the opposite end of the spectrum.
What's it like to be so uncomfortable and nervous, and not this bravado character that we're so used to playing as our S.W.A.
T. characters." From vulnerability to strength, and everything in between, it's that interwoven storytelling that makes S.
W.A.T.
and its characters so beloved..
