Shemar Moore's S.W.A.T. Spinoff Will Be
Shemar Moore's S.W.A.T. Spinoff Will Be "Heartbreaking" For Original Squad
S.W.A.T. Exiles brings with it some heartache for Hondo's original squad.
Shemar Moore's return to his long-running portrayal of Sergeant II Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson Jr. is just a little over a month away, as S.W.A.T. Exiles will debut on Starz and all Starz platforms on Friday, September 25. The premise of the spinoff will see Hondo team up with a new generation of recruits to protect the city, dealing with generational divides and personality clashes along the way.
Moore is not coming to the spinoff alone, though. He'll be joined by other S.W.AT. actors. Jay Harrington, David Lim, and Patrick St. Esprit will reprise their respective roles as Deacon, Tan, and Hicks. The trio will be back in a guest-star capacity. A new and potentially worrying update reveals what those characters could be doing when the spinoff arrives in a few weeks.
As part of Matt's Inside Line newsletter, veteran journalist Matt Webb Mitovich answered a reader's question about whether Hondo's original squad is still intact heading into Exiles. Mitovich, who has seen episodes of the spinoff, offered a direct response and previewed that heartbreak was ahead. His full response is below:
I just started diving into screeners for the Shemar Moore-led offshoot, which bows on Starz Friday, Sept. 25, and the answer to your Q is a big nnnnnnnnope. Far from it. Also, brace yourself for a heartbreaking reveal in the opening 75 seconds.
The tease that there is heartbreak ahead for Hondo's 20-squad, possibly even a character death that brings familiar faces back together, helps to explain why Hondo would be in such a different phase of his life. S.W.A.T. Exiles has been compared to Top Gun: Maverick because it brings Hondo, representative of the older guard, in with a younger team.
That younger team includes Lucy Barrett (Deep Water), Adain Bradley (Warfare), Zyra Gorecki (La Brea), Freddy Miyares (When They See Us), and Ronen Rubinstein, who played T.K. on 9-1-1: Lone Star. These new additions can be seen in the gallery above, with lots of focus on how the upcoming Starz Original will transition Hondo into a leader in difficult and unenviable circumstances.
But just like the Top Gun sequel, it could be the case that loss or some other tragedy spurs Hondo to embrace, even with some reluctance, his new leadership role. That remains speculative, however, with concrete plot details about Exiles likely having to wait until a little closer to the debut date.
S.W.A.T. Exiles hails from Sony Pictures Television, with former Lucifer showrunner Jason Ning as showrunner and Shemar Moore among the executive producers. It's already renewed for season 2, and it seems like there will be an inciting event that will leave long-time fans of the franchise talking.
S.W.A.T Exiles debuts Friday, September 25 on Starz.