‘S.W.A.T.’: Anna Enger Ritch and Annie Ilonzeh Tease Powell and Gamble’s Hiking Trip Gone Wrong in ‘Out-of-Pocket Episode’ (Exclusive)

Tonight’s new episode of S.W.A.T. will center on Powell, Gamble, and their hiking trip gone wrong, and Anna Enger Ritch and Annie Ilonzeh spoke to PopCulture.com about what’s in store. In “High Ground,” airing at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, “During a hiking trip, Powell and Gamble stumble upon an illegal weed farm and find themselves taking on a dangerous cartel.”

The episode will really mark the first time that Ritch’s Zoe Powell and Ilonzeh’s Devin Gamble are hanging out together, just the two of them, since Gamble joined the team at the beginning of Season 8. The episode, in one word, was described by Ritch as simply “Girls.”

“Girls-centric episode,” she continued. “It’s kind of an out-of-pocket episode for S.W.A.T. where you find Powell and Gamble out on a hiking trip, and they come into a situation. They find a young girl pregnant in a dire situation. And we find out there’s an illegal grow farm. There’s cartel. They have to dial in and become resourceful and save these women that are very injured.”

Leaving the comfy confines of S.W.A.T. HQ and the bustling city of Los Angeles, Ilonzeh said “being in the wilderness” was both her favorite part and the most challenging aspect of filming. “I am not your camp glam kind of woman,” the Chicago Fire alum said. “But with the support of Anna, for sure. I mean, honestly, it felt like going to the playground every day. It was just in the wilderness. But our cast and our crew are so strong that especially our crew, they were doing things that as much as you wanna be like, ‘Oh my god. Are those bugs?’ Or like, ‘I’m just gonna be real.’ Or, ‘Oh, I might roll my ankle.’”

“They’re bringing carts and trailers and all these things up a hill, up a mountain with insane terrain,” she continued. “I didn’t really have much to complain about in terms of the workload to do. We got to have a lot of fun. We’ve got people that surround us that are so talented and just badass. And so if you see us looking badass, there’s a team behind us that are 10 times more badass.”

“We’re all in it together, and it’s just such a supportive environment that it makes whatever challenging situation we find ourselves in just a lot of fun,” Ritch added. “It’s like summer camp for adults and so fun,” at least minus the cartel and the guns and whatnot. Also, just like summer camp, the experience probably bonded the duo more than ever before, especially since Ilonzeh admitted that they are “Women Crush Wednesday girls every day of the week. So to work with Anna in this episode day in and day out, first and last out, it was such a dream. I felt like I was on a date with just my dream person.”

“I adore her,” Ilonzeh expressed. “I adore her talents and her and her hard work and her generosity and her support and to be able to come to work every day and be in awe and find something new that you’re just like, ‘Wow. I wanna be like that.’ I can only imagine what the viewers see when they see her being Powell and how inspired and motivated they are. Like, ‘I wanna be that girl when I grow up,’ and how she represents that for so many people.”

“I 100% echo that exact same sentiment to Annie,” Ritch shared. “You guys could only be so lucky to know her. You’ll see the camaraderie on screen is a direct result of it. I’m so grateful to be in the middle of it.”

Additionally, the episode will not only be an intense one for the S.W.A.T. officers but an emotional one as well. With Gamble being new to the team and basically with a target on her back due to her dad being a criminal, it’s been tough for her with people looking at her, graffitiing her car, calling her out, and more. But she’s been able to lean on 20-Squad for support, and they have been more than willing to step in for their family member, and it will really come into play in tonight’s episode.

“It’s so interesting. This juxtaposition where you’ve got her involvement, adjacent of all the involvement with criminals and her involvement with good guys that take down criminals,” Ilonzeh said. “And she has a hard time balancing out the two, coming to terms with the fact that she holds two families in her heart: 20-Squad’s family and her actual family. And that tug of war comes up a lot in these episodes. And, also, I think the lack of trust of what family truly means and what it could represent.”

“20-Squad shows her, but she beats her head against the wall and tries to discount sometimes that family can actually be reliable, dependable, and that’s where Powell comes in in this episode specifically and drills it into her without mentioning words that family is legit,” she continued. “They’re real. They’re honest, and, ‘We’re not going anywhere. And that’s what we’re gonna do for you, Gamble, as 20-Squad.’ So it’s quite the roller coaster ride, and those ebbs and flows we’ll see throughout the season, too, moving forward that she dips down again and questions what family means and comes out on the other side. So, that juxtaposition has been fun to play with and dip in and out of each side.”

This will surely be an episode that fans won’t want to miss, and it sounds like it will be an exciting and nerve-wracking ride. A new episode of S.W.A.T., “High Ground,” airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.