‘SEAL Team’: Max Thieriot Return, Death & More Things We Need to See in Final Season
Bravo is about to tackle perhaps their most important mission let: their last one. SEAL Team is ending with the upcoming seventh season on Paramount+ in 2024.
“It has been a privilege to tell stories over seven seasons that honor the bravery and heroism of all who serve our country,” said executive producers Spencer Hudnut and Christopher Chulack in a statement when the news broke in November.
Added star and executive producer David Boreanaz, “I’m proud we were able to make this show to shine light in the darkness toward so many suffering today. I look forward to season seven and the opportunity to end this series with love and gratitude.”
The final episodes do have quite a bit to tackle, especially considering Jason (Boreanaz) publicly spoke about his TBI, then he, the rest of Bravo, and other SEALs went in front of command, with the others opening up about their own struggles. Below, we take a look at what we need to see after that and in general as SEAL Team says goodbye.
SEAL Team, Seventh and Final Season, 2024, Paramount+
Jason figuring out life post-Bravo
We’ve seen him try to operate not operating, and it just didn’t work. But even he knows that speaking up about his TBI might mean he won’t have a choice in the matter. “I think he’s, for the first time, really comfortable with the idea that maybe he won’t operate again. That’s really a testament to where he is with Mandy [Jessica Paré], but also all the work he’s done on himself, not just on the TBI front, but just putting Jason Hayes first,” Hudnut told TV Insider in November 2022 after the Season 6 finale.
But since it’s hard to imagine SEAL Team not having Jason leading Bravo for this last season — whatever that looks like for the team after the finale — it does allow for some time to see Jason examine what could be next, even if it’s something we only start to see closer to the end of the show.
Max Thieriot back for anything
It was a tough blow when Clay (Max Thieriot) was killed off (though with the actor leading Fire Country, it wasn’t too surprising). Production on SEAL Team Season 7 began in early December, and with Fire Country‘s filming delayed due to the writers and actors’ strikes (new episodes of the CBS drama debut in February), it might be tough to get Thieriot back for even a cameo. But we’ll hold out hope we see some sort of flashback of Clay with his brothers (while also accepting that perhaps just his photo on the bar wall will be all we’ll get).
“The idea of being able to plan ahead and figure that out just seems hard, but we’ll never say no to anything. Clay’s legacy will live on within the show,” Hudnut said after the finale. “And yeah, if there’s an opportunity where we could do something like that, I’d be all for it because he’s such a huge part of the show.”
Significant change after Bravo and other SEALs spoke up
Yes, Jason is the only one to speak in a public setting — accepting the Navy Cross — about his struggles (TBI), but the rest of Bravo and other SEALs detailed what they’ve been going through in front of command in a powerful scene to end the sixth season. That can’t be ignored. Hudnut said there was a bit of the “rogue warrior mentality” that SEALs have in that moment, “of these guys taking on command and ‘we’re not gonna make this easy for you,'” as well as acknowledged that the show is about seeing the team operating and in the field. But things have to change to return to that after what was shared — and in a permanent way. The premiere can’t have something totally different that is then reversed by the second or third episode.
Someone from Bravo dies
Don’t hate us! But these missions they go on are dangerous and we still can’t believe the team didn’t lose someone in the Season 6 finale. Hudnut admitted, “I couldn’t stomach another [loss]. The Clay decision was so painful. This is a show about war, and I think it would be naive on our part to expect there to be no more bloodshed moving forward, but the loss of Clay was just too powerful. To lose another character on the heels of that would be overly cruel and painful for all of us. That’s not to say it can’t happen down the road.” Well, it’s going to be down the road and a death could be what spurs everyone into the next chapter of their lives…
Sonny and Davis together
This one might not only take a while but also have to wait until closer to the finale. They’ve tried to be together, they’ve tried to do so in secret, and there are just these obstacles in their way. Furthermore, the EP noted, “they also know if they try it again and it doesn’t work, that’s it. And so I think they both understand that the circumstances need to be right. They both need to be in a place where not only can they dedicate themselves to a relationship, but also they don’t have to worry about outside factors like command and losing their jobs getting in the way. Just from the show’s point of view, it’s like once we go there, we have to go there. But I think those two both deep down are always hopeful that they’ll find a way to make it work.” Something tells us that Sonny (AJ Buckley) and Davis (Toni Trucks) will end the series together — there just might (still) be a long, winding road on the way there.
A sense of where all of Bravo will be after the finale
Will Ray (Neil Brown Jr.) finally retire, as he’d planned, by the end of the series? He and his wife Naima (Parisa Fakhri) opened a vet center to help fellow soldiers, but leaving behind Bravo isn’t easy. And with one more season to go, it’s impossible to imagine him not out there by Jason’s side, even after speaking out about his PTS. “This is not an easy job to walk away from. The brotherhood’s not easy to give up,” Hudnut said. “Coming out publicly the way he did… Ray certainly puts retirement in jeopardy. He may not have the opportunity to retire because of what he’s done here.”
And considering what they do, these SEALs can’t operate forever. Will anyone from Bravo leave operating behind to become a Green Team instructor?
Happiness for Jason and Mandy
Oh, it was a long and complicated road to finally seeing Jason and Mandy together, but they’re now making a relationship work. The two have talked about their future, and it does feel like they can have one, whatever it looks like, but it also seems like it’s too easy for something to get in their way — from either side. After all, she pointed out they both still have a lot of work left to do, and we can only hope that doesn’t lead to tragedy for one of them.
From TV Guide Magazine
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