‘S.W.A.T.’ Promotes Cast Member to Series Regular With Winter Finale

20-Squad is getting a permanent new member. After Chicago Fire alum Annie Ilonzeh joined S.W.A.T. for Season 8 as Devin Gamble, TVLine reports that actress has been upped to series regular as of last night’s winter finale. It was announced in July that Ilonzeh was cast as Gamble, an officer who was born into an L.A. family that was “deeply entrenched in crime, leaving her with a fierce determination to break free of her blood legacy.” After being a standout LAPD rookie, she escaped to Oakland PD when her father murdered an L.A. Sheriff’s deputy.

A decade later, Hondo recruited Gamble as 20-Squad’s newest member since the team’s roster needed to be filled “knowing her inner strength, intuition, and street smarts will make her an invaluable part of the team.” Bits and pieces of Gamble’s family has been revealed throughout the first half of Season 8 and it was not easy when rumors floated around S.W.A.T. about what her dad had done. Of course, 20-Squad came to her defense.

Meanwhile, Gamble has been trying to stay away from much of her family to no avail, including in the winter finale when she finally met up with her father, Ernie. He alluded to 20-Squad being in danger at the very end of the episode, and the midseason premiere in January will be a continuation of the winter finale. Since Ilonzeh is now a full-fledged cast member, it can be assumed that no matter what Gamble’s father is up to, she will very much stay on the team. But that doesn’t mean that things still won’t be intense with the team when the show returns.

Annie Ilonzeh’s promotion comes several months after Niko Pepaj was promoted to series regular after recurring as Officer Miguel Alfaro since Season 6. Season 7 saw the departures of original cast members Alex Russell and Kenny Johnson when the season was meant to be the final one. There’s still a possibility either one will return, especially since Russell’s Street is now engaged to Lina Esco’s Chris Alonso, who departed in Season 5.

S.W.A.T. is now on hiatus, but the procedural will return on Friday, Jan. 31 at a new time – 10 p.m. ET, taking over Blue Bloods’ timeslot. NCIS: Sydney will kick off Fridays in the New Year for its second season, while Fire Country will continue to air at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.