David Boreanaz on Bravo 1’s Fate in ‘SEAL Team’ Final Season

SEAL Team returns for its seventh and final season this Sunday, and David Boreanaz, the series star, hints that this could also signal the end for his character, Jason Hayes, aka Bravo 1, in what might be an appropriate conclusion to his story.

When asked if the series would have a happy ending, Boreanaz told Parade, “As far as a happy ending is concerned, what’s happy to the authenticity of the character? Dying on the battlefield? Having the flag wrapped over the coffin, maybe being wheeled off, understanding what that sacrifice is? Sounds about right for Jason. Let’s see what happens.”

SEAL Team has always been a tear-jerking series, depicting the loss of team members, strained marriages, and the mental struggles that arise from such high-stakes roles. The aim has always been to honestly portray the lives of SEAL Team members, and that remains the same for the final season.

“That’s the reality of it,” Boreanaz continued. “I think that’s bittersweet in its own way, right? Because you’re ultimately sacrificing for protecting and serving the country without any kind of an agenda. That’s what I love about our show, this is not a political show, never has been. Early on, I remember a press conference where a reporter asked about political views. No, we’re not, this is what we do. This is the get-the-job-done, mission-succeeded, boom, capture, kill, zero footprint. That’s how we are. Those are the types of characters that we are.”

As the final season begins, Boreanaz shared some insights on what viewers can expect:

“In preparation, before the season even started, it was imprinted on me saying, ‘For me, the character’s done, I’m done playing the series, I’m done with the show regardless if you want to go on or not.’ I had made that decision early on. Then the writers’ strike hit, and some months passed by. I had come to that fruition before it even started.”

This last season allows for a full exploration of Jason Hayes’ character. “We’ve studied the TBI, we’ve studied the PTS, we know that the greater of it all is what does the first kill mean to an operator, how does he handle that, how does he handle that going forward, how does that haunt him, how does he deal with that trauma?”

Boreanaz emphasized the central theme for Jason Hayes this season: “If I say the theme of this season going into the end of the series is you never leave a brother behind, that was very important. Never leave a family behind, never leave a balance behind, never leave yourself behind, be self-aware in your role as a special operator, how do you handle that trauma?”

The upcoming episodes will show Jason grappling with his inner turmoil, thinking he’s in control, but consistently being thrown off balance. His relationships, especially with Mandy (Jessica Paré), highlight his struggles. “You slowly see those flags in his relationship with Mandy and how that develops and how she sees that and how she’s scared he’s going to go back to his old ways,” Boreanaz explained.

The final season examines his journey from being a pivotal battlefield figure to dealing with his darkest moments. “Ultimately the battlefield, we’ve always said this is where these real men die. That may be a payoff for Jason, he may not make it,” reveals Boreanaz.

Returning this season, viewers catch Jason at the beach with his family, grappling with ongoing changes. Boreanaz pointed out, “Jason’s character, through the exercise in working on the TBI and understanding how he’s healing from that, it gets catapulted into the imbalance of him, thinking that where he is with his family is the right place to be. That starts to crumble around him.”

Jason’s evolution remains central. “We see those edges fall apart. The audience, we’ve got to earn that to see that and the character’s got to go through these little details in order to get there. So, it’s really self-examination of the trauma and how the ultimate trauma of it all could do him in.”

Bravo team’s adaptation to a new era of warfare becomes pivotal. “I think that the adaptation is always the consistency and the discipline of how they were trained and how they operate as a team,” Boreanaz explained. The addition of new characters, like Beau Knapp’s Chief Special Warfare Operator Drew Franklin, brings fresh dynamics.

“We see that progression with Bravo this season. I know specifically for Jason going back into the brotherhood on the teams and on the front, it becomes conflicting for him because the evolution of the new warfare he struggles with that in a lot of ways,” he said.

The season introduces Dylan Walsh as Captain Walch, adding complexity to Jason’s interactions. “Dylan, the cake eater, respectfully with the general’s responsibility of moving things around, it was a joy to see that character,” Boreanaz noted. “Jason gets a little frustrated with him and then Blackburn’s [Judd Lormand] kind of like being Switzerland in between. It’s a great triangle combination that happens.”

The series finale’s nature remains ambiguous, according to Boreanaz. A potential movie could explore different timelines. “A movie down the line is something you could do with this show because you can present a mission in between any of these seasons. You could say, ‘Okay, this movie is going to take place before the end of Season 1 or at the end of Season 6.’ That’s the military. That’s the creative aspect of how we can take that anywhere. That’s always a possibility and something I think I wouldn’t take off the table.”

Boreanaz concluded by reflecting on SEAL Team’s unique storytelling. “For the character itself, there is no wrapping a bow on the authenticity of a show of this magnitude. We’re not a network show. We’re on a streaming platform. We moved to where we felt as though we would be best served as far as telling these types of stories.”

The seventh and final season of SEAL Team is scheduled to premiere Sunday, Aug. 11 with two new episodes, followed by weekly releases until the series finale, totaling 10 episodes in the final season.

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