A lot is going on in the world, and this country especially, right now. With that, we are all being faced with a lot of anger, sadness and confusion, but also a lot of questions about how to move forward. You might not think that any of this would impact some of your favorite television shows at all, but it turns out that this is not the case, in at least one instance. The CBS hit S.W.A.T. deals with an elite team of police officers and how they do their jobs on a weekly basis, and executive producer Aaron Rahsaan Thomas recently came out to speak about the show's plans for Season 4.
Lots of people have been using social media to voice their opinions and get information across right now, and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas is no different. He recently took the time to post a personal message about S.W.A.T., what the show has been trying to do and how he and his team will continue when it comes time to gear up for the next season of the series. You can read the message Thomas posted to his Twitter feed, below:
When S.W.A.T. began three years ago on CBS, as writers we examined the intersection of black communities and law enforcement through the eyes of Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson, an African-American cop who has one foot firmly planted in each world. Since then we have continued to tell stories that have explored themes of race and policing in minority communities. We also asked questions about what is required to build trust and bridge these two worlds. We are watching recent events in horror and sadness along with everyone else and will continue to mine the truth about these issues in the writing of our upcoming season as we all work towards a fairer, better system. In the meantime, we encourage protestors to express their frustrations peacefully and implore law enforcement to deescalate conflicts, not exacerbate them, as people work through their understandable anger and grief.
Literally the first thing S.W.A.T. did when the show debuted in November 2017 was talk about how the black community is policed. Hondo (Shemar Moore) was only promoted to S.W.A.T. team leader in an order to appease the community and try to ease tensions between them and the LAPD after the previous lead, his mentor, shot an unarmed black teenager during a shootout. While the drama still serves up procedural goodness aplenty on a weekly basis, those behind the series have never shied away from the issues that can arise when you bring matters of race into police conduct.
Hondo is in charge of a very specialized team of officers, and has to make a lot of quick decisions about how they work, often in the very community that he grew up in. But, as Aaron Rahsaan Thomas mentioned in his tweet, S.W.A.T. (which is based on the 1970s show of the same name, as well as the 2003 movie starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell) the show was crafted from the beginning to turn the concept on its head and watch Hondo walk the line between his commitment to his community and his commitment to his job and the people who serve with him.
Thomas' words seem to reassure fans that S.W.A.T. will continue to explore those issues, as well as the problems often associated with white officers policing non-white communities in Season 4. And, honestly, it really appears that there's no better time for the show to continue to dive into those things as it gives us some weekly cases to sink our teeth into and root for Hondo and his team to find the bad guys and do the right thing.
S.W.A.T. will air Season 4 at some point in the future, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest. In the meantime, you can see what your other viewing options are with our 2020 Netflix schedule, what's new to Hulu in June, and our summer TV guide.
