Why Kenny Johnson's Dominique Luca Left S.W.A.T.
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Despite coming back from the dead several times over the years, CBS has truly said goodbye to "S.W.A.T.," as the show's season 8 finale was indeed the series finale. Thus, it's time for the gang that viewers came to know and love across more than 160 episodes to move on. In the case of Shemar Moore's Hondo, that's going to be as the head of a spin-off series in development at the network. In the case of everyone else, it's onto other projects.
For some of the show's longtime cast members, those goodbyes came sooner than expected. Kenny Johnson's fan-favorite Dominique Luca, for example, departed the series after appearing in just a couple of episodes during season 7. Why, exactly? Well, let's not forget that "S.W.A.T." was canceled by CBS after season 6, only to be brought back after fans demanded it. So, when season 7 rolled around, the show's creative team believed it was truly the end.
For Luca, that end came after he had been shot multiple times in a previous episode. While he did indeed survive, there was nerve damage as a result of those injuries, which forced Luca to make a choice: take a desk job or retire. Luca chose the latter option, with his emotional retirement unfolding in the aptly-titled season 7 episode "Last Call." That explains how Luca left the show, but why did Johnson leave? That's the more important question for viewers.
S.W.A.T tried to give Luca a proper goodbye
As mentioned, CBS had actually tried to cancel "S.W.A.T." multiple times during its run, and not just after season 6. So, when season 7 rolled around, the show's creative team truly thought this was going to be their last hurrah. As a result, they elected to treat season 7 like the conclusion to the show. That's where the decision regarding Luca came into play.
Showrunner Andrew Dettmann explained the situation to TVLine in 2024, stating that the show's creatives had wanted to give all of the series' longtime actors their due at the start of season 7. As a result, they decided to give Luca a proper send-off (even if that meant his departure from the show) and did the same thing with Alex Russell's Jim Street that same season. Here's what Dettmann had to say about it at the time:
"Looking at [season 7] being the final 13 [episodes], we wanted to give everybody their proper curtain call. So, the episodes that we have for [Luca and Street] are really focused on their characters and the evolution of their storylines. [...] I'm really excited about the episodes we have for [Luca and Street]. The idea for the final 13 was that, if this was the end for us, nobody feels like they were underserved. There are some really good episodes for Alex and Kenny, for Street and Luca."
"S.W.A.T." season 7 was just 13 episodes, compared to at least 18 for every other season. Dettmann and the team had every reason to believe this was the show's swan song. After all, CBS has become far more selective with renewals in the streaming era. (Even shows like Queen Latifah's "The Equalizer" have gotten the axe since then.) The fact that "S.W.A.T." season 8 happened at all was surprising, but Luca — and Johnson — had already moved on by then.
How does Kenny Johnson feel about his S.W.A.T. departure?
Johson went on to star in Taylor Sheridan's "Mayor of Kingstown" alongside Jeremy Renner, as well as several episodes of "FBI: International." Whether or not there were any discussions about somehow bringing Luca back for "S.W.A.T." season 8 may have been irrelevant. Johnson is a working actor and, as such, he went and found other work.
Speaking to TVLine about his final episode in 2024, Johnson explained how it felt during filming. For him, there were parallels between Luca saying goodbye to the force and the actor saying goodbye to his castmates.
"We've all been so close to each other for all this time, so every single time I eyed them it was tough because it's Luca leaving, but for me I'm losing these friends that I've bonded with for six years, every single day. There's a parallel there, obviously, but you know when it's a human experience and it's very real, I could see that there was a struggle in there for those guys, and it hurt me. It was a goodbye, but an 'I love you' to everybody. It was wild."
"That's a tough pill to swallow. I can't do a desk job," Johnson said in a different interview with TVInsider, further unpacking his departure from the show. "Luca has a hard time emotionally wrapping around the fact that he can't go out and be the best that he can at what he does. He was born into S.W.A.T. That's all he's ever known. His whole heart and conscience, I would say, is about giving and saving and protecting. And he wants to be out there actively doing it; whether he gives his life up for it or not, it's something that he does selflessly, I think. I can't do this, so I'm going to do something else."