‘SEAL Team’: 8 Burning Questions for Season 7
The future of SEAL Team‘s Bravo is very much up in the air right now, but at least we’ll get to see what’s next since the Paramount+ drama has been renewed for a seventh season.
And that comes after its sixth ended on quite the cliffhanger. Bravo 1, Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz), while receiving the Navy Cross for his selfless actions saving his team in Mali, spoke up publicly about his TBI. And as he was about to face the consequences of his decision, Ray (Neil Brown Jr.) joined the meeting to tell the higher-ups of his PTS… and then the rest of Bravo and other SEALs walked in to disclose what they, too, have been hiding that should bench them as well.
“At the end of the day, if we get to make more SEAL Team, that’s fantastic. I really feel like our fans who have made this trip over to Paramount+ with us deserve the opportunity to see these characters through their journeys,” showrunner Spencer Hudnut told TV Insider after the Season 6 finale, before the renewal. “This is not the intended ending of the show. If at the end of the day, the brotherhood, the guys stepping up for Jason and showing that love and connection they share, is the last thing we do, I’ll be OK with it, but there’s a lot more story to tell and we’re hopeful that we get to do that.”
But what comes next for Bravo after that cliffhanger isn’t the only question we have for a seventh season. Scroll down for more.
SEAL Team, Season 7, TBA, Paramount+
What will Bravo look like in terms of operating?
While that final scene of Season 6 did “tip everything on its head a little bit,” Hudnut pointed out, “at end of the day, these guys operating, these guys being out in the field is usually the engine of the show.” That means that the beginning of a seventh season will have to address how Bravo can move forward operating as they have in the past. Will Jason be able to be Bravo 1? Will the team look the same as it has in seasons’ past? Or will they need to have someone else along, given what everyone just confessed to? And even if they do get to business as usual, how might spinning up or deploying be different for them in terms of how they deal with it — as a brotherhood, as individuals, and during and after the missions?
Will Jason or anyone else face any significant consequences?
Chances are if anyone does, it will be Jason, given how publicly he spoke out about his TBI at the medal ceremony. (Command can easily keep what the others said quiet, for only those in that room to know.) Still, whatever happens, Hudnut noted that Jason “knows the consequences of this situation, and I think he’s, for the first time, really comfortable with the idea that maybe he won’t operate again.” Given that we doubt that will happen while SEAL Team is still airing — things just seem off when Jason’s not operating — it could be interesting to see how he deals with those two parts of himself: the one OK with not operating again and the one that still needs to, with the truth of his TBI out.
Will Ray's retirement plans have to change?
Ray had revealed his plans to retire, and he and his wife Naima (Parisa Fakhri) opened a vet center to help fellow soldiers. But because he spoke out about his PTS, how might those plans have to change? And might he decide that retiring isn’t something he’ll do as soon as he thought he would? “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.”
Will Sonny face consequences for punching Colonel Decker?
Davis (Toni Trucks) finally got the answers Sonny (AJ Buckley) kept pushing for all season regarding their mission in Mali, and it turned out that what went wrong — leading to the ambush and Clay (Max Thieriot) losing his leg — was a colonel failed to change comms channels as frequently as protocols dictate. Furthermore, he was nominated for a promotion. Sonny then tracked him down and punched him. But his mistake while doing so, off base, was using his rank. If they figure out it was Sonny, that’s a career-ender. “That will be a threat to Sonny moving forward, and how he either has to deal with those consequences or is able to avoid those consequences will be a big part of what he’s doing next season,” the showrunner teased.
Will Clay ever be seen again?
While SEAL Team killed off Clay with Thieriot busy with Fire Country (already renewed for Season 2), there are always flashbacks, filming of which could be scheduled around the actor’s work on the other show. “We’ve done things like that in the past,” Hudnut acknowledged. “I just think part of this decision was that just to finish Max’s work this season was such a struggle. 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. 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.”
Will Sonny and Davis ever make a relationship work?
The back-and-forth of that relationship has been so frustrating to watch at times, but it’s impossible to deny that the two care deeply about each other. Still, their jobs continue to keep them apart. “It’s so clear deep down what they want, and obviously with their roles in command, they’re always gonna have that hurdle,” the showrunner said.
The other problem? “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,” he continued. “Just from the show’s point of view, it’s like once we go there, we have to go there.” Still, that begs the question, would that be something we’d see onscreen for a significant period of time? Or would it have to wait for one of them to be moving on — and therefore involved in a different way, such as with Jason and Mandy (Jessica Paré) — or even at the end of the series, if that’s on their own terms?
Could Bravo lose another brother?
Despite being pinned down in the finale, all of Bravo made it out alive because, as Hudnut explained, “I couldn’t stomach another [loss]. The Clay decision was so painful” and “just too powerful. To lose another character on the heels of that would be overly cruel and painful for all of us.” That being said, he added, “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.”
What’s going on with the SEAL Team movie?
In February 2022, it was announced that a stand-alone SEAL Team movie was being produced for Paramount+, from the series creative team of Boreanaz, Hudnut, and Christopher Chulack. Nothing has been said since (including at the time the renewal was announced), nor has Hudnut had anything to share about it. So not only are we wondering if that film will happen, there’s also the question of when it would fit into the series. Would it be before the seventh season? During the season? After? Instead of?
