‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’ Star Shemar Moore Weighs In on Episode 4’s Shocking Mole Reveal and What’s Next

Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for S.W.A.T. Exiles, Episode 4.

In S.W.A.T. Exiles, a spin-off of the CBS flagship series that’s now on Starz, Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore) has been handed a team that was hand-picked to fail. The new recruits each have their own diverse backstories and motivations, and they don’t trust their leader any more than he trusts them. As Hondo leads the team on high-stakes missions and pushes them to their limits, tensions continue to flare, especially while he’s trying to uncover which of them is a mole. While he goes through a Force Review Process that includes questioning his team about whether he committed any wrongdoing on a mission and it seems as though someone is doing everything they can to push him out, he puts his trust in one of his team members and together they learn who has been working against them.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat with Moore about what it’s been like to evolve with this character, over eight seasons on CBS and with the new transition to Starz. During the interview, he discussed how excited and optimistic he is for the future of this spin-off, what it’s like to have to stay in such top physical shape at 56, what he enjoys about working with this new team of characters and actors, digging into the darker and edgier side of Hondo, exploring the Force Review Board process and what it brought to light, learning the identity of the mole, and what that could mean moving forward. He also talked about whether he’d ever return to Criminal Minds and reprise the character of Derek Morgan.

Shemar Moore Is Optimistic About the Future of ‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’

“I’m very excited about Season 2, and then I’m optimistic for Season 3.”

COLLIDER: I always love knowing that a TV show has been picked up for the next season before I watch it because then no matter what questions are left at the end of the season and how long I have to wait for the next season, at least I know I will get some answers. Without spoilers, by the time we get to the finale of this first season, will we be happy to know that we are already going to get that Season 2?

SHEMAR MOORE: A little bit of all of the above. The way I watch TV, I’m a big Lioness guy and I wait for them to pad up because it’s just annoying to watch one of your favorite shows, and you sit there on a given night and you get through the episode, and now you have to wait a week. So, I hope people watch us week to week, but if they don’t, just pad them up. When we were shooting the show, it was a new version of S.W.A.T. We call the old show the mothership, and without that show, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to do this. We had such a great time for eight years. But while we were shooting this, even crew members and actors, everybody was coming up to me and going, “I read the script, and Hondo does this and this happens. I can’t wait to read the next one.” If you’re excited to read them and can’t get enough of it, imagine when you see it.

I’ve seen about half of the episodes, and what’s cool about this is that it’s a thrill ride, it’s signature S.W.A.T. with the theme song, and you know you’re going to get edgier action, but there’s so much storytelling. There’s the A story of us chasing bad guys, but then there’s this underlying B story of drama going on within the show and the team. It fascinates you, it makes you think, it makes you pay attention, and you can’t wait to get to the next episode. Once you get through those 10 episodes, yes, there is Season 2. We start in about a month and a half (this interview took place on September 17^th). I’m getting my Hondo back together. I’m in the gym trying to kill myself, so I can be that dude. But I’m very excited about Season 2, and then I’m optimistic for Season 3. This track is going to keep rolling, but this show is going to excite you week to week. And then, when you get to the finale, you can’t wait for Season 2.

You do spend some time in this show, including at the beginning of the first episode, shirtless and working out in some way. Are scenes good for your discipline in keeping yourself in shape for this show? Can you not slack on that when you know you’re going to have those scenes?

MOORE: That’s Sony’s fault. Sony told our showrunner, Jason Ning, “We’ve got to take his shirt off.” And then, Jason called and told me and I was like, “Dude, do you know how much work that is?” I’ve got to watch my diet. Now, I’ve got to kill myself in the gym. I don’t keep any secrets. I’m 56 years old, trying to look 30. I’m trying my hardest. I’m trying to keep my black from cracking. But to be a little more serious, every actor is vain. I want to look the part. I want to look good. I want to feel good. I’ll be honest, sexy time on TV, if that’s what the part asks for, I’ve enjoyed trying my best to do my part of that. But if you’re not in shape, and if you don’t have your legs and your back, you need to work out. You want to look good and make the babygirls scream and holler, but if you’re not in shape, you can’t do the job of S.W.A.T. The demands of us, physically, with all the equipment and the weaponry and the gear that we have to wear and the way we move tactically, just being superhero cops, if you’re not in shape and you’re working 10 to 13 hours a day, it’s a grind.

So, yeah, we want to look good, but we pride ourselves, since the mothership started nine years ago and now with S.W.A.T. Exiles, on not just being cool actors with guns. We’ve been trained by L.A.P.D. S.W.A.T., San Diego P.D. S.W.A.T., and SEAL Team Six. These are real military dudes and real law enforcement. We respect the uniform and we respect the weaponry, even though it’s all pretend and we’re shooting blanks. The biggest compliment we get is when law enforcement comes up to us on the street and says, “Thank you,” or “You’re making us look good. You’re doing a good job, with the integrity of how you move and how you speak and how you communicate.” So, we want to give you a thrill ride, but we really pride ourselves on looking like the real deal.

The members of this new team all have really interesting backgrounds. I didn’t even realize that a gun show influencer was a thing. What do you think this new team brings out in Hondo that you’ve been enjoying getting to explore? What have you enjoyed about working with this group of actors?

MOORE: It’s crazy because I’m a big believer in art imitates life. Even with the mothership show, with Deacon, Tan, Street, Luca, and Chris, and now with this squad, the chemistry and the relationships that we all built and the unique personalities and creating a brotherhood and sisterhood, that shows up on the screen. This new group, on camera and off, is so diverse in their characters, but also in their own real-life personalities. Sammy (Lucy Barrett) is from Australia, Malik (Adain Bradley) is English, and the new captain, Pike, is English. You’ve got a guy who lives in Miami, and he’s a swaggy dude, but on camera, he plays a geeky, techie guy.

There are a lot of different colors to this rainbow. And then, you’ve got the OG, grumpy old Hondo. You’ve got the OG generation, Gen X, with Gen Z, these young wackadoodle kids that are all over the place and just see the world differently and move in the world differently. It’s a very interesting dynamic. The actress who plays Cassidy (Zyra Gorecki) is an amputee. She has a prosthetic. She’s a wonderful young lady, and her story is fascinating, with her drive and perseverance as a person, which she puts into her character. So, it’s still S.W.A.T., but it’s a very different take and a very different dynamic within the team that I think is going to thrill people.

The fourth episode is particularly interesting because it feels like a real turning point for the season. We’re not really sure what to think about anyone up until that point. We see Hondo go through the Force Review Board without us knowing what really happened until the end of that episode, which makes us wonder who could be lying and even whether Hondo is lying. How did you feel about that episode and the way that it was structured? Do you feel like it was important to give viewers a deeper sense of trust, by the end of that episode, when it comes to Hondo?

MOORE: What I like about the series, in general, but that episode specifically is that it’s darker, it’s edgier, it’s dirtier, and Hondo is not squeaky clean. Hondo is willing to, and has to for survival, bend the rules, keep secrets, maybe even lie, maybe even go rogue, and not be so good. I think it’s more interesting to be flawed. I love being a hero. I love saving the day and doing well and being Superman and a cop in S.W.A.T. gear, but people are flawed. Humans are flawed. Humans have good intentions. Humans make mistakes. All that happens in trying to persevere for the good. In that particular episode, nobody could trust anybody. Hondo doesn’t know who to trust. You learn early on that he doesn’t even know if you can trust his own team.

We find out there’s a mole that’s working with the bigger machine, trying to take down Hondo and take down the franchise of S.W.A.T. They want to eliminate S.W.A.T. for political reasons. Hondo has lost a lot of his team, but you do see some of his team show up to have his back. Deacon shows up. Tan shows up. Commander Hicks shows up. Those are his allies that he knows he can trust, but with the rest of his surroundings, including his team and his senior officers, he knows he has a target on his back. Hondo has to do whatever he has to do to survive. I thought that that episode was cool because you didn’t know what was true. You didn’t know who was good and who was bad. You didn’t know who was going to stab you in the back.

Hondo Finds Trust in Unexpected Places in ‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’

“It’s fascinating that the least expected person on the team becomes the one Hondo can confide in.”

Image via Starz

By the end of that episode, Hondo knows that the mole is Malik and so does Ethan. What do you think Hondo thinks of Ethan? Why does he trust him?

MOORE: As the show starts, Hondo is trying to feel out this team. I call them the Bad News Bears or a bunch of Rugrats. He’s been dealt a bad set of cards because these kids are set up to fail and they don’t have the mindset or the work ethic of Hondo. Hondo is old school, and now he’s got to figure out and learn and blend in with the new school and get them ready in a hurry to deal with real life and death. You find out that Malik is the mole, but early on, he saw Malik as potentially the next in line that he can trust, and then that all falls apart and Hondo’s whole world flips upside down. Ethan is the oddball. He’s playing with drones, he’s fixated on computers, and he’s got an encyclopedia in his head. Hondo doesn’t know what to do with that because it’s not his nature. Opposites attract. It’s fascinating that the least expected person on the team becomes the one Hondo can confide in.

What can you say about where things are headed with this team moving forward from Episode 4? When he finds out that Malik is the mole, Hondo is just so calm, cool and collected about it, but it feels like it can’t stay that way for very long.

MOORE: Hondo is calculated, but inside there’s a lot of rage. There’s a fire burning. From one Black man to another Black man, we’re supposed to stick together. Hondo is the reason Malik has the opportunity. We’re representing for the culture. We’re representing for the people. It’s a complicated balance of staying true to the streets and staying true to the community but also fighting for all people of color and trying to create unity. Hondo is constantly under so much pressure and under the gun. When Hondo finds this out about Malik, it’s street rules, but Hondo is behind the badge. Hondo would like to do some dirty work, but he knows he can’t. How do you handle him? Do you put him out? Hondo is more calculated and more strategic and decides to use him as a tool. He also believes that deep down there’s some good. He’s just been led astray. Hondo will scold him in his Hondo away. Hondo is pissed off and lets him know, but he challenges him and says, “Do you want to earn my trust? Do you want to earn your way back? I’m going to make you work for it.” You keep your friends close, and you keep your enemies closer. That’s Hondo’s take.

I’m excited to see where the rest of the season goes because it feels like you’ve set up a lot in just the first four episodes.

MOORE: Oh, it gets crazy. We get into we get into some crazy topics, including white supremacy. We get into some stuff. The fire just keeps getting bigger as it goes.

Shemar Moore Is Game To Reprise His Role As Derek Morgan in ‘Criminal Minds’

“Anything’s possible and I’m open to it.”

Image via CBS

Could you ever see yourself reprising Derek Morgan for Criminal Minds: Evolution?

MOORE: I’ll say two things. I’m crazy busy as Hondo, chasing bad guys. We’re new to Starz, and I have a feeling Sony and Starz are not going to give me too many days off. I feel like I’m going to be out there handling business. But I’ll also say this, I treat my career like school. The Young and the Restless was high school. The mothership S.W.A.T. was college. I guess you could call S.W.A.T. Exiles grad school. But I’m not dead. Derek Morgan is not dead. Malcolm Winters is not dead. I’ve gone back to the soap opera. People are like, “Why would you go back to the soap? That was so yesterday.” And I’m like, “Because you never forget where you came from.” Without The Young and the Restless, there would be no Criminal Minds. Without Criminal Minds, there would be no S.W.A.T. And without the mothership S.W.A.T., there would be no Starz and S.W.A.T. Exiles. So, if I’m ever invited back, that’s family. It’ll always be family. It’s part of my journey. If The Young and the Restless calls and it makes sense, I like to say that I’ll go home. If Criminal Minds calls when I’m free to do it, I’ll go home. So, the answer is that anything’s possible and I’m open to it.

S.W.A.T. Exiles airs on Starz.

Release Date

September 25, 2026

Directors

Kevin Tancharoen

Cast

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  Shemar Moore

  David ‘Deacon’ Kay

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  Jay Harrington

  Daniel ‘Hondo’ Harrelson Jr.

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  Patrick St. Esprit

  Robert ‘Bob’ Hicks

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  Lucy Barrett

  Sammy ‘Sam’ Bishop