‘SEAL Team’s David Boreanaz Breaks Down the Season 4 Finale & What Jason’s Headache Means
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the SEAL Team Season 4 finale, “One Life to Live.”]
Bravo Team suffers a major loss in the Season 4 finale, which also leaves quite a bit up in the air for the remaining members.
Full Metal (Scott Foxx) does die of the injuries he sustained from an RPG when he was protecting his teammates, and the episode ends with them toasting him at the bar. It also ends with Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) suffering headaches, Ray (Neil Brown Jr.) facing his trauma and admitting he has PTSD, Sonny (AJ Buckley) a new father and considering a move to Texas — and asking Davis (Toni Trucks) to go with him, and, in happy news, what sounds like a breakup speech from Clay (Max Thieriot) ending in a proposal for Stella (Alona Tal). (She says yes!)
Boreanaz, who also serves as an executive producer, breaks down the Season 4 finale ahead of the drama’s move (after four episodes in the fall) to Paramount+ for Season 5.
Clay wonders if losing Full Metal might push Jason over the edge. Then we get that heartbreaking breakdown from Jason, that scene in a therapist’s office with Ray, and Jason talking about remembering how his fallen brothers lived. How is Jason doing mentally at this point heading into Season 5?
David Boreanaz: He’s trying to balance what life is like outside of Bravo and what life is like inside of Bravo, inside the wire, outside the wire. He’s come to some sense of, there’s maybe a possibility he could coexist with both. That’s not a guarantee right now, but I do feel after this season and where he’s heading into Season 5, he found himself more of a support kind of guy, more of a Jedi. He’s earned his wings of getting through some pain and through the work with his therapist, his brothers. [This is] a new chapter for him. That’s not to say though, that he’s not still dealing with a lot of emotional pain, physical pain as well as what we see at the end of the season finale, a glimpse of maybe the mental component. The RPG could have aggravated something with his brain. He definitely is a case study in a lot of ways and he is still trying to fully wrap himself around that.
He got a glimpse at what he’s like as Bravo 1 with those conversations with [former team member] Theo [Kurt Yaeger] this season.
Yeah, that was a big episode for his character. I think going back and checking in with somebody who — not that he didn’t remember, but just with Jason, he compartmentalizes so well and I feel like he started to open up these doors that he shut out. Instead of ignoring and overriding, he’s embracing it and trying to heal in a lot of ways. Then seeing his past brother and where he’s at is also going to make him a stronger person if he allows himself to self-heal, which is going to be interesting to see.
He also checks in with Clay, Sonny, and Ray towards the end of the finale.
It’s all about revolving and healing. It’s self-care and I don’t think Jason really does that much. He’s a team leader. When he’s out [on missions], he is a fairly strong leader. As you see from his past, it’s all Bravo in, Bravo all the time, ignore and override, but that can only work for so long before it starts to kind of seep through the cracks there as we saw in Season 4. And now heading into Season 5, we’ll see where that takes them if he continues down that path. That’s the fun kind of challenging thing to do: wrapping my brain around that slowly as we develop where these characters are going to be going, especially Jason.
Erik Voake/CBS
Jason’s headache at the end of the episode — I half-expected him to collapse in the bar and that to be the end of the season.
[Laughs]
Is that something we should be worried about, that there could be some head trauma?
Yeah, with him, those types of symptoms don’t just go away. That is definitely a little red flag for him and has been so in his past, and I’m not saying we’re going to be focused highly on that Season 5, but I think it’s a reminder to him that he is suffering. There is some damage there. How bad that is? We haven’t really [explored] that. It’s a reminder of the suffering that this character has gone through, the amount of pain he’s gone through, and the side effects of that. It’s also a reminder to the audience that Jason is not this guy that can take on all this and come out perfect on the other end. It’s a reminder of the casualties of war and how that weighs on a person who’s dealing with that.
How is Jason feeling about Bravo after the season? They’ve been divided quite a bit.
Yeah, there was a sense of division amongst them. They’re always there to have each other’s back regardless, through the adversities and the conflicts. I think he feels a little bit better in regards to seeing where they were in the beginning of the season. I feel like he knows now his place a little bit better, how he can balance that. He morphed into, while he was there on a mission, checking in with his brothers, making sure they’re OK, and there’s more to it than just going out and leading. He’s gotta be a full-rounded leader. At the end of the season, there is some sense of, we went through the fire and we came out the other end a little bit better.
CBS
What is Bravo going to be like moving forward? They just lost Full Metal, Sonny’s now a dad and thinking about leaving, Ray’s facing his trauma, Clay’s married…
I always say the show is a show and it’s a workplace show and we don’t like to sugarcoat it. We like to dive into the stories that are going to remain truthful as best as we can. And because it’s a workplace show and what they do, not everybody is guaranteed to come out all rosy and with a nice bow on the package. We go to those places and we show the mental breakdowns, we show the physical breakdowns, and nobody’s safe. That’s the reality of this show whether you like it or not. It’s just the way it is. Characters come in and leave and they will come in and they will go. So I would say that nobody’s safe on the show like this.
Something this finale showed is just how good SEAL Team is at those quieter, heavy, emotional moments like we got in the second half of this episode and balancing those with the action scenes like in the first half. It also seemed to set up the series continuing to lean into those more emotional moments maybe more than in the past?
I think that there’s a balance there. I think you can marry the two seemingly better as we go forward. If you can take a look at the season and say it was a little bit more emotional than the other seasons, I would tend to agree with you on that, regardless of the environment and how we had to pivot to tell these stories amongst where we could go and couldn’t go due to this pandemic. We adjusted more towards character study and emotional moments that really raised the bar as far as the characters were concerned. But I think there’s a balance there. I think that you can still have that within the mission, the ops that they go on, and the training cycles with these guys. I think we’ll continue that even more as we progress, especially starting in Season 5, which is going to be around the corner before you know it.
Sonja Flemming/CBS
Was there anything planned that was scrapped, like a major cliffhanger, just in case you weren’t renewed?
No, we shot it for the way we wanted to shoot it. There were a lot of open-ended questions. If we had not have come back, I don’t think it would have done service to the show, the characters, or to the fans especially to leave them hanging like that. So I don’t think that would have been the best. We didn’t write the episode knowing that we were coming back or not going to come back, we just wrote the episode.
SEAL Team, Season 5, Fall 2021, CBS and Paramount+
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Comments are closed on this story.
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G
Seal Team has really evolved. The battle scenes are great, the characters have become deeper with every episode. They have moved past the cliches and showed us what David Bowie said - we can all be heroes. EVeryone who supports a family and works in a high-stress job faces the reality that every day can be the end. The job an end, or your life can - accidents happen, heart attacks happen. Stress changes your body and your mind. I don’t know the average career of top operators, but I suspect 5 years with one team is at the long end of the spectrum. Losing Full Metal was sad, and a bit of a cop out - he had the fewest connections outside the team.The actors did superlative jobs showing these warriors in pain, and from personal experience their struggle with asking for help was incredibly real. Aging and vulnerability are part of life, and coping with it is a challenge for every man or woman who lives under the pressure of leading their own team - be it at work or at home. Seal Team is a series that grows every year. The finale came in hot and left the field full of craters we’ll enjoy watching them negotiate,
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J
To be honest, I don't recall seeing Full Metal before he got injured. I' didn't even realize he was on Bravo... I thought he might have been on the other team that Bravo was working with. So teasing that Bravo suffers a "major loss" does sort of feel like a cop-out
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G
Nah, FM was an integral part of the team. He was the strong silent type, but active in every op, and always in the background. He had the fewest spoken lines, probably just a few less than Brock. A great soldie - well drawn. A lot of military men aren’t talkative or garrulous, they train hard and do their job. FM was in that mold. Fell bad for the actor - that’s a big paycheck to lose.
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J
Thanks. You're right, Full Metal was so "low key" he just flew past my radar.
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P
Was he written off by choice, and wasn't he former military.
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S
Liked your comments. It pretty much covered it all. Having lived the life of a military Spec. Ops soldier’s wife for 30 Years, it is one of the most stressful careers that the whole family lives mentally and physically. The ups and downs of each mission is lived both on the battle field and at home. So the support and communication is so important. The finale of the season was played out so well.
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G
After reading your comment, I have nothing further to say other than, you nailed it! I agree with everything. Can't wait for Season 5. #Bravo #Beastmode
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R
Great episode that could have been made even better by the appearance of Mandy. Bring her back for Season 5!
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R
Amazing show!!! This is a wonderful tribute to the men and women who give up so much for our freedom. Can’t wait for season 5.
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P
Excellent finale! This has been my favorite show (and the only thing I still watch on TV) for the past 3-4 years! Keep it up, guys! <3
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G
Loved the finale. Felt like we got back to what hooked me on originally. The only thing that could make it better is to bring back Mandy and Blackburn. Just felt like all season we were teased with Mandy themes & the finale came full circle to what she had in the premiere. That little bit of Blackburn we got just wasn’t enough either. Hope season 5 they work something out to incorporate both back in somehow. Show just wasn’t the same without them.
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G
I think Mandy got some movie roles. Never forget her “Zouzou” scene in Mad Men!
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J
I almost didn't recognize Blackburn without his beard!
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J
Very good finale. The- scene with Jason in the therapist's office was deep... and then we see that Ray is there too. Those- speeches, and Ray's "spilling" of guts to Naima (sp?) were very emotional. (I would have thought that Ray & his wife would have gone home to continue their talk & healing.
I normally don't like "personal drama" in my workplace shows, but this was done very well, and is an important aspect of these operator's lives, to the point that the psychological is closely aligned with the- physical.
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G
Just curious... Why was Bravo team clean shaven when they returned home? Great finale!
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P
My thoughts as well.
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G
I think they had to shave to be in uniform for the burial at sea.
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G
Exactly. Navy regs. Respect for the fallen.
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C
So glad it got picked up, hope it runs for another 2-3 seasons,( or more) if they choose to.😊
When David put out plea for it to be picked up, I responded, because on Wednesday night, nobody calls, makes noise, or anything, they know My Boys are on! This is the "show", besides NCIS NEW ORLEANS, I think CBS messed up on not renewing, but thank goodness, Seal Team has a new home.Will be waiting for new season❣
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P
Yep, liked NCIS NO as well.
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O
Excellent finale! Season 5 can’t come soon enough. Hoping to see Pepper next season. Love the characters and the actors.
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O
Great finale but Mandy needs to come back!
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B
Really well done finale. Closes all the right holes so we can have some optimism over Ray/Naema, Sonny/Daughter, Clay/Stella during the off-season and tees-up expectations for Season 5 perfectly.
Well done.
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G
I think it is time for Jason to have a real love interest that works. Someone at his side who is not military to help him through whatever he is going to have to deal with re: this headache. They have fleshed out private lives for the other characters. I also have a suggestion. There is a daytime actress named Sharon Case who would fit the part perfectly. Whoever it is, I hope it is not a CIA agent or anyone like that.
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O
Awesome & touching episode! 😥 Loved it. 😊 But I definitely teared up a cuppla times. 😢 That means real acting & story portrayal. 😊 Loved every season & can't wait for the next. 😊
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G
The finale was one of the best I have seen bar none. Full of emotion, energy and great acting. As a combat veteran I can relate to the scene with Ray and Jason in the therapist ofice
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O
I LOVE this show. It is done so realistically. I had a relative who was married at different times to two men who were stationed at VA Beach. I know she would love this show as well so I always have her on my mind when I watch 'my guys'. I've visited Norfolk Naval Station and even got a personal tour of a ship by one of the sailors. I went where tourists never get to go. I can totally understand Sonny's claustrophobia. He's my favorite. Just love his sense of humor. Keep up the great work. I'll be tuning in to see you this fall!!!
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R
I love Seal Team. Great finale. Please can Sonny and Davis find a way!! So glad for the wedding and Bravo 1 and 2 working hard to resolve their internal issues. So sad about Full Metal, one of my favorites.
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P
It was so good to see the guys all clean shaven, especially Ray's beautiful face. They all looked good. To bad that I will not be able to watch once they switch to paramount. Loved Seal Team.
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