Last season saw huge changes, and now the sixth season of SEAL Team hits DVD from CBS Home Entertainment. For the first four seasons the show has enjoyed a pretty well-rated run on CBS’s prime time schedule. Season 5 started out exactly the same way until after the first four episodes. The series was switched suddenly from the television network to the Paramount + streaming service, and with the switch there are several huge changes. The first is in the number of episodes shot for each season. On CBS most shows run from 20-24 episodes a season. Last year because of it being a hybrid year, you got 14 episodes. Starting this season, you will get only 10 going forward. Another change is that the production values are going up, with a wider span of locations for the team’s missions. Finally, you will notice they can now do and say things they could not on network television. They make a pretty big deal of the first time they dropped an F-bomb, and there are several now as the sixth season progresses. Mostly it’s good news, with the exception of the episode count. You can judge for yourself here in the first completely streamed season.
All David Boreanaz does is create iconic television characters. He has had no trouble getting work over the years. He has had the ability to jump from one successful series to another and enjoy longevity in those roles. Unlike many actors who have had big television roles, he doesn’t get at all pigeonholed or typecast. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer he originated the role of the vampire Angel, who spun off to his own series for several years. Immediately after that he took on the role of an FBI agent and partner to the title character on Bones. That job lasted a decade. Before the remains of Bones could be laid to rest, he was already working on his next new series. Now he’s the field leader of a Navy SEAL team, and he’s going to be dodging bullets and RPG’s for the foreseeable future. CBS has a big tradition of long-running shows, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a decade from now I’m talking to you about the 16th season of SEAL Team.
David Boreanaz plays Jason Hayes. Hayes is the field commander for a Tier 1 SEAL team coded Bravo Unit. These are guys who are always on call for covert ops missions. This season the miles are starting to weigh on his mind. Jason is starting to show the wear and tear. His brothers are picking up on the fact he’s forgetting important things, and he’s putting the team in danger and finally almost getting them killed. He’s read them in, but this season will finally see that battle for Jason’s health and mind will come to a major plotline that plays out in this season’s finale.
Jason’s second in command is Ray Perry, played by Neil Brown Jr.. Ray is finding it hard to care for his family and his brothers. He’s been taken hostage and tortured, and now he’s suffering PTSD and has to work his way back. With the help of his wife he’s opening a vet center to help pick up the slack of vets getting lost between the cracks. A.J. Buckley plays Sonny Quinn. He’s the contradiction and often humor of the team. While he’s the big muscle guy and a tough fighter, he also has a lot of phobias, which include spiders, sharks, water, and heights, which are often unavoidable, particularly for a guy who jumps out of airplanes for a living, sometimes in the middle of the ocean. He’s a Texas man with a ton of pride. He’s about to suffer the biggest loss of his life this season. More on that later, but Buckley got to really show off a great range of acting chops this season. It’s a great season if you’re a Sonny fan.
One of the better stories of the others is Clay (Thieriot), who has been the POV of the show up until recently. He was the newbie back in Season 1, but that perspective has shifted back to Jason as the series has evolved. He has a father in high places who he attempts to distance himself from until his father comes back into his life with cancer and a desire to mend some fences. But now he’s married with his own baby. When the child is born premature, he promises to take leave and focus on his family until Bravo gets called on a top-secret mission. He feels he has to go with Bravo to protect the team. That top secret mission is to North Korea to help get a potential defector out of the country. That’s how Season 5 ended. They were ambushed, and Clay was badly injured. They manage to get him out of the battle alive, but not without a serious loss.
Now here’s why all of this is happening. It’s no secret that Max Thieriot has a new series called Fire Country. He plays a criminal who gets the opportunity to redeem himself as a fireman. It’s actually his show completely. He’s a showrunner as well as the star, and that means his time with Bravo Team has to come to an end. It’s a tearjerker all the way through these ten episodes, but we all knew how it had to end. They had to figure out a way to put Clay in jeopardy without making it final until it was discovered if the other show was getting picked up. It did, and the result is not one episode of the emotional trauma, but an entire season.
Clay’s replacement is Omar (Barsoumian). Jason has some trust issues that are really more about his own health. It’s creating some tension on the team, as Omar is actually doing a pretty good job. It doesn’t help that rumors are flying that at least one team is going to be broken up, and Bravo hasn’t had its usual string of good ops of late. They are also on a stressful mission to find the terrorists responsible for bombing an American ship and killing 20 Americans. Jason’s hesitations lead to a blown chance to get the guy. A second chance has to be successful, or it might be curtains for Bravo.
The Davis character, played by Toni Trucks, gets some very interesting stuff this season. They’ve been doing a better job with her as of late. In the past she was pretty much defined by the other characters, but she’s standing out now with the real top people. She’s torn with trying to help Bravo and the “big” picture. It offers the actress some really fine moments this season.
The episodes are action-packed, to be sure. The show’s ability to do battles on a television budget that look this good from week to week is pretty amazing. And now it’s only getting better. There’s plenty of battle action with explosions and helicopters and all sorts of operations. Many of the shows are ripped directly from real headlines. You will absolutely recognize some of these stories. The episodes also take some time to look at the impact on the families of the team members and how they deal with this kind of lifestyle. The new budget also means better production budgets. They actually film in Jordan this season, mostly substituting for Syria. The authenticity was always high; now it’s been bumped up a couple of notches, because now people are paying to watch the series.
There are times the show gets a little too heavy with exposition or military alphabet soup. You might want to catch up on your terms, because they’re going to use them naturally without filling you in. Obviously it adds authenticity to the show. I do hate when one character has to explain something that would really not require an explanation in this group of people. The old “as you know …” syndrome doesn’t happen here.
You get all nine episodes on three discs with a few extras. There’s the standard season wrap-up, deleted scenes, a feature on the Jordan locations, gag reel, goodbye to Clay, and a set tour. It’s a big change for the show, and I’m eager to figure out how they get out of the political mess they’re in at the end of the season. The next battle may not be fought with guns. They also cross the 100th episode this season. Don’t know where the next 100 will take us, but one thing’s for sure. Unlike many shows out there, “There’s going to be consequences. Take that to the bank.”
