The Brainerd Dispatch - Today's Entertainment Magazine
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Brainerd Dispatch • November 8 - 14, 2020 •20 By Rachel Jones TV Media S eason 4 of "S.W.A.T.," CBS's popular specialized-police procedural show, was originally scheduled to air midseason but, in mid-July, CBS decided to move it back to its fall programming slot because of filming complica - tions caused by the novel coro- navirus pandemic. The good news is that the wait is over. Fans of the eagerly anticipated "S.W.A.T." will be happy to learn that the new season is set to pre - miere on Wednesday, Nov. 11, with a two-hour special. Thankfully, the team itself won't have changed much when the show returns. Daniel "Hon- do" Harrelson (Shemar Moore, "Criminal Minds"), Victor Tan (David Lim, "Quantico"), Domi- nique Luca (Kenny Johnson, "Bates Motel") and David "Dea- con" Kay (Jay Harrington, "Bet- ter off Ted") are all expected to reappear. The show, which has gained a very dedicated band of followers throughout its first three sea- sons, has done so with its atten- tion to real-life events through an action-packed format. The Season 4 premiere will be no exception to its preferred "echoing real life" approach, highlighting the 1992 L.A. riots and the impact they had on young Hondo — at that time, Hondo (Donald Dash, "Rise") would have been about 17 years old. His father, the younger Dan - iel Harrelson Sr. (Rico E. Ander- son, "Truth Be Told"), will also be featured. "S.W.A.T." will be looking to the past to help determine the team's future. The 1992 L.A. riots lasted six days and involved thousands of people in Los Ange - les County as civil unrest began in the South Central region of the city, following the acquittal of four LAPD officers charged with excessive use of force in the arrest and the beating of Rodney King, and rippled across the me - tropolis. The incident, which had been videotaped, was subse- quently aired on TV broadcasts and seen by millions of people worldwide. While the L.A. riots storyline was planned long before the Black Lives Matter groups began large-scale protests following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, "S.W.A.T.'s" goal to touch on the reality of racism couldn't be more relevant given the current political climate. This season's premiere also includes a racist experience for Victor's mother, and the ongoing plotline will address the concept of gen- erational trauma by examining how the events Hondo wit- nessed in 1992 have a bearing on his teenage foster son, Darryl (Deshae Frost, "Chiefs," 2018), in the present day. Executive producers Aaron Rahsaan Thomas ("Sleepy Hol- low") and Shawn Ryan ("The Shield") put out a public state- ment in June stating that the show's team would be "continu- ing to mine current events in the writing of our upcoming season as we all work towards a fairer, better system." This statement comes on the heels of Ryan's 2017 comment that it is "possi- ble to be both pro-police and pro-truth," claiming that this is what the show has always tried to depict. As Season 4 progresses, there is also news that a dangerous in- ternational crime lord is back in town — can the S.W.A.T. and the CIA put their teams together to bring him to justice? As if that weren't enough drama, the trail- er shows heated protests, mask- clad characters and danger that could shut down the city, not to mention Hondo's haunting re- minder that if we want to see change, we need to be the change. One storyline that fans are ea- gerly awaiting in the upcoming season is that of Tan (Lim) and Bonnie (Karissa Lee Staples, "The Lottery"), who finally got en- gaged near the end of Season 3. Can Bonnie really handle the stress of Tan's job? Interestingly, the show's cast initially trained with real S.W.A.T. officers and, to maintain credibil- ity, the show frequently consults directly with police and S.W.A.T. advisers. Despite this, there has been some debate among fans — particularly those with a background in law enforcement — as to the accuracy of the po- lice and S.W.A.T. team's behavior in the show. Actual police procedure, of course, is much more complicat- ed than the average person real- izes, and it would be almost im- possible for any show to docu- ment it perfectly. While the show, by its very nature, does take lib- erties for the sake of entertain- ment, every inaccurate detail can really distract from the storyline — especially for viewers with a background in law enforcement. Despite this, many of the show's fans remain hopeful that Season 4 will bring a new level of real- ism. Others, however, are not so keen on that approach, prefer- ring that the series stick to pro- viding entertainment over au- thenticity. Perhaps Ryan was thinking about "S.W.A.T.'s" authenticity- seeking fans in 2017 when he said that he felt that it was pos- sible for television to "tell a story about what works about the sys- tem and what doesn't work about the system." He then add- ed: "You may watch and think we failed, but the honor is in the attempt." Fans of this Primetime Emmy- nominated show have a lot to look forward to this season as the series looks to history for an- swers. Don't miss the Season 4 premiere of "S.W.A.T.," airing Wednesday, Nov. 11, on CBS. Effects of the past Season 4 of 'S.W.A.T.' looks at 1992 riots Feature Story this week David Lim, Shemar Moore and Kenny Johnson in "S.W.A.T."