Max Thieriot to Star in CBS Pilot ‘Cal Fire,’ But ‘SEAL Team’ Doesn’t Have to Lose Clay

Best case scenario: We may be getting double the Max Thieriot on our TV screens.

The SEAL Team star is set to play the lead in the CBS pilot, Cal Fire, that he’s executive producing, Deadline reports. Bode Donovan is a convict who’s looking for redemption and a shortened prison sentence, so he joins a firefighting program in his small Northern California hometown. According to the character description, he “had so much promise and then life knocked him down. He has the soul of an artist, the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a second chance with Cal Fire. Bode is driven by misplaced guilt, but he can’t wallow in his past. Because the present hit him right in the face.”

So what does that mean about Thieriot’s future on SEAL Team? According to Deadline, while Thieriot is not yet signed on for the upcoming sixth season, that doesn’t mean he won’t and the plan seems to be that if Cal Fire is ordered to series — remember, it’s only in the pilot stage now — he will do both shows.

And the now-Paramount+ drama already has ways built in to make that happen. After all, the sixth season’s pickup is for 10 episodes (it is now a streaming show) and Thieriot’s character was at a crossroads before Bravo came under attack. In the Season 5 finale, after spending too little time at home with his newborn son before another op took him out of the country, Clay told Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) that he planned for it to be his last mission. His plan was to put up for Green Team after so he could be there for his family for the near future. Jason voiced his support and promised he and Bravo would be there whenever he wanted to return. So if he survives that explosive cliffhanger without any serious wounds, it’s possible that Clay follows through with that plan and returns to Bravo as Thieriot is available.

Related

'SEAL Team' Movie Coming to Paramount+, 'NCIS: Sydney' Set for Australia

But it’s also possible that he doesn’t just walk away with minor injuries. After all, Bravo was in the middle of an ambush, under heavy gunfire (and an RPG!) and backup too far away when we last saw (and heard) from them. As Boreanaz pointed out to TV Insider, “it’s war and everybody, including myself, is open to an X on their back and in the line of work that they’re in could be killed or injured, so it opens the [door to] who may survive, who may not survive, who’s gonna be injured. Is that injury gonna be of significant value? Is it gonna be for significant time? How does it impact the team? What does it do to Bravo?” Clay could easily be forced off Bravo (for now), and SEAL Team could check in with him in physical therapy as he recovers, as works with Thieriot’s schedule.

But, of course, this is all speculation and depends on whether CBS orders Cal Fire to series and if Thieriot signs on to return to SEAL Team. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.