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Anna Enger Ritch, who made her S.W.A.T. debut as Officer Zoe Powell late in Season 5, has been promoted to series regular for the CBS crime drama’s seventh and final season, TVLine has learned exclusively.

“There’s always gossip…,” Ritch tells TVLine of when she first heard the very good word, “but I did not get final confirmation until right before we started production, after the [WGA and SAG-AFTRA] strikes.”

In Part 1 of S.W.A.T.‘s Season 7 opener, airing Friday, Feb. 16 at 8/7c, Hondo (played by Shemar Moore), Hicks (Patrick St. Esprit) and Powell head to Mexico City to retrieve a fugitive who slipped from Hondo’s grasp 10 years ago. But when “trouble ensues, as it always does on S.W.A.T.,” Ritch quips, Hondo finds himself once again on the killer’s trail, desperate to fulfill a decade-old promise.

Filming the two-parter marked Ritch’s first trip to Mexico City, where she was moved by “how gracious and kind the people were — some of the most welcoming and hospitable people I’ve ever met.”

Having previously popped up on S.W.A.T. some 17 times, what does Ritch like most about her  TV alter ego?

“Oh, she is unapologetically herself,” the actress says with a chuckle. “She’s headstrong, she’s courageous, and she’s also a ride-or-die. When you get her to buy into anything, she’ll go to war with you.”

Anna Enger Ritch, who made her S.W.A.T. debut as Officer Zoe Powell late in Season 5, has been promoted to series regular for the CBS crime drama’s seventh and final season, TVLine has learned exclusively.

“There’s always gossip…,” Ritch tells TVLine of when she first heard the very good word, “but I did not get final confirmation until right before we started production, after the [WGA and SAG-AFTRA] strikes.”

In Part 1 of S.W.A.T.‘s Season 7 opener, airing Friday, Feb. 16 at 8/7c, Hondo (played by Shemar Moore), Hicks (Patrick St. Esprit) and Powell head to Mexico City to retrieve a fugitive who slipped from Hondo’s grasp 10 years ago. But when “trouble ensues, as it always does on S.W.A.T.,” Ritch quips, Hondo finds himself once again on the killer’s trail, desperate to fulfill a decade-old promise.

Filming the two-parter marked Ritch’s first trip to Mexico City, where she was moved by “how gracious and kind the people were — some of the most welcoming and hospitable people I’ve ever met.”

Having previously popped up on S.W.A.T. some 17 times, what does Ritch like most about her TV alter ego?

“Oh, she is unapologetically herself,” the actress says with a chuckle. “She’s headstrong, she’s courageous, and she’s also a ride-or-die. When you get her to buy into anything, she’ll go to war with you.”

And with which character does Ritch think Powell enjoys the most fun dynamic? “Commander Hicks! He’s my best friend, he just does know it yet,” she says with a wink.

“But really, everyone,” she says, turning serious. “It’s difficult coming into this type of show, especially as a female when it’s so male-heavy, but everyone on the cast was super-welcoming. I feel like I got adopted by a bunch of big brothers!”

Ritch’s previous  TV credits include The CW’s Walker (where she has played Julia Johnson), CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans and NBC’s Chicago Med, plus episodes of CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 reboot and Syfy’s Superstition.