S.W.A.T. takes on healing divides
Show starring Shemar Moore confronts racial tensions and delivers thrilling ride
It is no small irony that Shemar Moore plays S.W.A.T. team leader Daniel (Hondo) Harrelson in the remake of the popular TV series.
After all, the Los Angeles special weapons and tactics division was headed by infamous chief Daryl Gates, who militarized the police against his citizens in unprecedented ways. Particularly, it seems, citizens of colour. Gates was forced to resign in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
If S.W.A.T. (an acronym for special weapons and tactics) was seen as a tool of oppression by the Black community (including a famous shootout with the Black Panthers) then the new, reimagined S.W.A.T. is all about healing racial divides.
“I’m half Black and half white. I lived my whole life as a youngster not knowing whether I was Black or white,” Moore said in an interview in Toronto.
“And here we are, back in 2017, and we still have all these racial and fearbased issues about immigration. It’s the reality of what’s going on.”
The original series starring Robert Urich aired more than three decades ago in1975; a movie followed in 2003 starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell.
The new show (debuting Nov. 2 at 10 p.m. on Global TV) is helmed by Justin Lin of Fast & Furious and Star Trek: Beyond fame — a director who understands the anatomy of an action scene.
Like any number of slickly made CBS procedurals, including Criminal Minds in which Moore used to star, S.W.A.T. delivers on the thrill ride. And despite the attempt at a story arc imbued with a social-justice theme, it is almost entirely predictable in pace and plot. Moore says when he was approached about doing the show, he hesitated at first.
“I wanted to know how they were going to approach it. If it’s just something glitzy and glammy, then I don’t want to do it. I wanted to do something that has some grit.”
The tall, charismatic Moore is obviously excited about the new project. And he is very much the star. It is much less an ensemble cop buddy show than a starring vehicle, since he commands nearly every shot with his co-stars, who include Jay Harrington ( Code Black) and Lina Esco ( Kingdom).
In the premiere, Hondo is promoted after the team leader (Canadian actor Louis Ferreira), who is white, accidentally shoots a Black teenager.
“It’s dealing with real-life issues we can understand or all relate to on some level, no matter what colour we are,” Moore says.
“Hondo is from the streets of Los Angeles. The only reason he joined the force is because he felt that he was oppressed by the police. So, he’s making a change from within.”
What’s also back, and not unwelcome, is the pounding theme song by Rhythm Heritage that made it to the top of the Billboard charts in 1976, this time remixed with a little added bass and ready for the nightclub.
“We’re bringing that franchise and theme song back to life,” Moore says.
“We don’t want to preach to people. This is not about putting Black people in charge. It’s about inspiring diversity. It’s about opening minds.
“The new generation might not know about S.W.A.T. But everything comes around. We brought it back in a way that’s recognizable and now we can use it as a vehicle to do something profound.”