Did ‘SEAL Team’ Just Kill Off [Spoiler]? EP Explains That Shocking Ending
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for SEAL Team Season 6 Episode 8, “Aces and Eights.”]
The members of Bravo team just lost one of their brothers on SEAL Team — but it’s not something they could have seen coming.
Clay (Max Thieriot) has been trying to figure out his next steps since losing his leg at the beginning of Season 6, and it seemed like he found his purpose helping at Ray’s (Neil Brown Jr.) vet center. But just after he’d talked a vet, Ben, down from breaking into the Air Force recruit center, then taking his own life, Clay was the one holding the gun when a security guard showed up — and the one who took a bullet to the chest as a result.
Executive producer Spencer Hudnut explains why Clay was killed off and how everyone will be grieving. (Bravo will find out what happened in Episode 9, which you can see in the promo at the bottom.)
So Clay is dead?
Spencer Hudnut: Clay is dead, yes. Clay does not make it unfortunately. And yeah, it’s super gut-wrenching. It was the hardest decision I’ve had to make at SEAL Team by far. Super painful for me. I love Max so much. I love that character so much. Such a big part of my life for the last five years. When I was watching it [being] filmed, I had to get up and walk away. I’ve watched it a hundred times through the editing process, and it’s been super painful every time. It’s really gut-wrenching, and it’s painful and shocking, and so I’m sure it’s gonna upset a lot of people, but it’s upsetting that we ever got to this point where this had to happen. But ultimately, it felt like the best decision for the show moving forward.
Is this because of Max’s availability, or did he want to leave?
No, it wasn’t that he wanted to leave. Obviously, he started developing Fire Country, and even going back to the end of Season 5, that cliffhanger was motivated by the fact that there were some questions if Max would actually even be back for Season 6, and then I wanted to do everything in my power to keep Max involved in the show. But once his show was picked up and greenlit for series, it became clear pretty quickly that this wasn’t gonna be a job share. Fire Country — he created it and is the number one — was the priority. And so once he went off to shoot that, we weren’t gonna get him back. The logistics, [and] how we would incorporate him moving forward when our shooting schedule — because we do short orders — is all over the place, it just became clear that unfortunately he wasn’t gonna be able to continue forward with the show.
Monty Brinton/Paramount+
And so, the question became how do we make his departure have the biggest impact? At that point, when his show was ordered to series, we had already been writing for two and a half months, and so we had written half the season. We didn’t have six months to figure out, OK, he’s leaving, how’s the best way to do this? He’s starring on a 22-episode CBS television show, so it wasn’t feasible to move forward with him here. We’re all so proud of him and excited for him, and the show’s so great and such a success, he’s gonna be doing that for the next four or five years, for sure.
Talk about killing him off in the way that you did. Did you consider any other possibilities?
Yes, there were a lot of ways to exit his character. For a long time, I really weighed maybe he and Stella (Alona Tal) and Brian do move out to California and live that life that they talk about in this episode. But because of his traumatic injury to his leg, he has a long road ahead to recover, and because the show is so much about vet issues and what our men and women in uniform deal with when they come home, it just felt disingenuous to send him off and just act like he’s riding off into the sunset, everything’s gonna be fine. That’s not a story worth telling, and it also didn’t feel like that would have such an impact on his teammates and the rest of our show. So, unfortunately, yeah, it felt like him dying would [have] the biggest impact.
Then it became a question of how do you do it? His story with Ben is sort of a full circle moment from his story with Swanny (Tony Curran) in Season 2 when he got involved with a vet with issues, and unfortunately, Swanny took his own life. Here, he’s able to save Ben from taking his. And so, in my mind, it’s a really heroic moment for him. He dies a hero.
It’s awful. The reality that he’d be safer on the battlefield with his teammates than at home is kind of shocking. But again, [for] our men and women in uniform, the problems don’t just exist when they’re on the battlefield. They come home with them, too. And so this was a way of really drilling that point home. Again, because we were so far into the season, there weren’t a lot of scenarios to figure out another way to exit him. But having that connection with Ben and saving Ben and letting him go out a hero was important to us.
Ray had admitted that he was worried about what the next blow would do to Jason (David Boreanaz) when it comes to his trauma, especially since Clay had been the one helping him and we’ve seen Jason blaming himself this season, so how worried should we be about Bravo 1?
He and Clay always had an up-and-down relationship, but I think the respect and bond were so clear throughout this season, particularly in Episode 6, that talk they had on the hill. I don’t think he’d ever admit it, but Jason admires Clay in so many ways, and Clay so looked up to Jason. And Jason’s faulted himself for Adam [Michael Irby] dying even though he wasn’t on the mission. And I think, yeah, this is a real threat to Jason. What’s good for Jason is that he’s opened himself up to people, [and] people understand what’s going on with him. He’s torn down the walls he built up in the past. He has a good support group.
But that survivor guilt will be spread not just to Bravo 1, but everybody on the team in some way will feel they could have done more for Clay. We’ll be exploring that in those last couple [of] episodes. Everybody’s gonna feel the loss but feel some guilt as well.
Monty Brinton/Paramount+
Especially since Bravo just almost lost him, but he lived, and I am so worried about Sonny (A.J. Buckley).
Yes, Sonny is the closest to Clay. Clay’s really his brother. The episode where they went up to the cabin, we got to see how strong that bond is and how strong that friendship is. So yeah, you’re not alone. I think there are several people within the Bravo family who are gonna be most concerned about Sonny. Sonny really felt like he was Clay’s caretaker after the injury, and so to have not been around, Sonny will feel some responsibility, some sense of, “if I wasn’t in Syria, I could have prevented this from happening.”
It’s gonna be a struggle for all of them. Obviously, these guys have all dealt with losses, the loss of a teammate before, but they’re almost wired to be able to handle it when it’s on the battlefield and makes sense to them. But this is so tragic and, again, the nature of what happened, and they’re not gonna get a full picture of it for a while. And so it’s really gonna be confusing, and it just makes it all the more upsetting for them.
How will Stella handle the grief, and how much will we see? Because they had just been talking about their next chapter.
It’s obviously gonna be such a blow to Stella. We really were with Stella every step of the way in Episode 601 when she was dealing with the news of the injury. We actually went about it a little differently in these next few episodes, but I think her reaction on some levels will surprise people. She’s gonna be devastated, she’s gonna be crushed that she’s lost her husband. But she’s gonna have a perspective that is really valuable to some members of the Bravo family.
Ray is planning to retire, but there have been moments where it feels like he might be reconsidering. Is what happened to Clay going to play a role in that decision, whether it’s that he wants to stay for Jason or he more than ever sees the good he can do back home with the vet center?
It’s a good question. Unfortunately, with the connection between the vet center and Clay’s death, Ray’s gonna feel guilty about that on some level, and it taints the vet center on some level for Ray. I will say that the domino effect of Clay’s death and the choices that other Bravo members make will impact Ray’s decision moving forward in terms of not only whether or not he wants to retire but whether or not he’s able to retire.
SEAL Team, Sundays, Paramount+
Don’t Miss a Thing!
Get absolutely everything about SEAL Team in your inbox!
Conversation29 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Comments are closed on this story.
-
O
It was bad when Clay lost his leg, but killing off his character is even worse. Bad decision and i am very disappointed you decided to do this.
13
-
B
it wasn't what spencer Hudnut wanted, it's what he had to do with fire country taking off and now making it to a series. Max couldn't be in two places at once. Google it, that's what i did and I learned a hell of a lot just by reading the thought process behind why they did what they did,
2
-
-
C
My fear is that the stupid writers have given yet another black eye to the police. That security officer or cop, just killed an innocent person in this instance. This is a slap in the face to those who supported this show then it left and moved to paramount+. I am devastated. I understand the portrayal of "DEEPER MEANING" but I think they shot themselves in the foot with this one. I'm still in shock.
10
-
B
Absolutely Spot on Boss. Me and Wife Too!!
-
-
P
I am DEVASTATED 💔. I know his new show was picked up for a full season, but they didn’t have to kill off the character
7
-
G
should had let Stella and Clay ride off in the sunset TOGETHER...and return once in a while.....very disappointed.
6
-
B
Killing Clay was just wrong in so many ways. We need heroes alive more than ever during these difficult times.
7 1
-
B
Spot on Mosk 👍
-
-
O
A tragic ending for a great character. I think the message here is that our veterans are selfless people who serve their county with honor and need to receive the help they need and to be treated like the heroes that they are.
5
-
C
As soon Clay got the call i had American Sniper movie flash backs, i totally predicted that would happened and said it to myself, if Clay dies i will stop watching the show. Thanks for ruining my favourite show.
4
-
B
Absolutely Brother. Couldn't say it better.
-
P
It really did seem like an obvious Sniper situation was coming.
-
-
B
I knew Clay would be leaving as soon as I saw the promo for that other show he was doing. Sad part is the other show is so far terrible. I hate to say it, but that show puts me to sleep. Max is better off on ST and should have stayed there. I would guess there are only a few more seasons, if any, of ST then he could have gone to the other show. Seal Team is the best show on TV in a very long time. To bad Max is gone.
4
-
G
Terrible, terrible. Yes, as he had lost a leg and then to be shot. What's wrong with this picture. Stella has already been thru hell with the baby andClay.. now this. I have been an avid watcher but now forget it.
4 1
-
B
Same ere Krissy. Terrible indeed.
-
-
P
I feel like Spencer being written off was inevitable. I'm glad they didn't have him commit suicide or disappearing after his breakdown. The fact that he died, heading in the right direction, helping someone makes the loss feel a little bit better...I wasn't expecting some sort of Hallmark Channel fairytale ending, but a little positive closure is appreciated, it is fiction after all.
2
-
O
Why couldn't you either just have him on once or twice a season(he could've been a marksmanship teacher or get a different actor to play his part like other shows and movies do? Or do your filming and air showings the other half of the year?
1
-
O
You lost this viewer. Figured out what was about to happen and turned it off. Will not watch again. Too gut wrenching and stress of life is enough right now for everyone. After going through so much with Clay and Stella, a happy ending for them would have been nice.
1
-
O
I can't believe you just killed off Clay. Want be watching anymore.
2 1
-
B
Very WRONG move. My last Seal Team episode - EVER. You're not moving the show forward - you are ending it. The female character that's suffered the most gets to find out that no woman should ever be with a Special Ops military fighter? Got to be the among the dumbest plot fails ever. 👎👎👎👎👎
6 5
-
G
I think you may be missing a central point that the writers of this excellent show have made throughout the series: combat takes a heavy toll on those in the field and at home. No one, absolutely no one, who has been in combat escapes unscathed. My time was over 52 years ago in Vietnam, and I continue to live with it every day.
10 2
-
-
O
I am a few years late on watching season 6 of Seal Team but I am very disgusted. A naval office would have cameras in front of it which would have revealed Clay was trying to help a Veteran and the Security Guard shot him in a frenzied state since Clay never raised the gun. I have to say this is a terrible way to kill off a character and then taint his character by letting his death go with no legal recourse against the security guard. The writers just justified all the senseless killings in the world and I wonder how many egos swelled watching this. I am done streaming.
-
O
I used to despise Stella, but she became one of my favorite characters. This decision absolutely destroyed her character arc and made her progress feel pointless. Clay represented so much of different themes of the show and now that he’s gone the show has no impact.
-
O
I learned that helping people makes you a sucker and that there is no life waiting for you outside of teams… jeez
-
O
I think killing Clay was the wrong move. He always represented hope in the show, and his healing arc with amputation felt so important to explore, even if from a distance. It's a topic that just doesn't get covered enough. There could have been ways for him to "ride off into the sunset" and still be impactful to the storyline. A lot of soldiers struggle to transition to civilian life, and he could have continued to inspire that hope, being with his family. Although Clay's death did move the main story forward, it seemed really dark to have him die because of a misunderstanding. Yes, it happens, but it just felt forced.
In my version of things, he watches the other soldier get shot and/or arrested, and it spurs him into a new mission to make sure it never happens again. He and Stella DO move, but for a nonprofit job position that allows him to expand on his new mission, write a book, and further awareness around vet health. They get real time together, and his recovery isn't easy, but the love of family helps him pull through. We get to hear about snippets through the other characters, and it gives them hope to keep fighting for what they believe in. Clay could return for a few special episodes (if Fire Country is cancelled) to help the guys navigate something that really only he has the insight to help with. And at that point we could see the full arc of the man he was always trying to become. It's a much more hopeful arc, and I think it's needed in these trying times.
-
R
It sucks i get it but it sucks so far fire country is pretty good and ill still keep watching seal team
-
C
Damn after everything Clay had been thru, I thought he would have just had a happy ending, this and Walter Goggins death on Six are so unexpected.
-
B
Totally unacceptable Hudnut. I suppose you will be killing off Sonny next? You have just assured that the wife and I will not be watching future reruns of Seal Team. And that is really saying something, as we have watched them over and over in between Episodes. Why could't you phase him out by letting Stella, Bryan and him move off genius? Anything but KILLING him! Anything with your name on it in the future is going to piss me off. You truly blew it this move Spence....Norm in Texas
-
P
You, are ridiculous.