Spoilers ahead for the Season 6 finale of SEAL Team, “Fair Winds and Following Seas.”
SEAL Team's Season 6 finale was definitely one of the show's most emotional installments. In it, the team finally made their way home and were able to fully process Clay’s death. On top of that, they had to deal with the fact that their brother is gone, and his wife is now left without a husband and their son without a father. Of course, the series had one more shocker in store before the credits rolled, and it could change things in a big way moving forward. Now, showrunner Spencer Hudnut has provided some insight into the rationale behind the development.
After getting back home to Vah Beach, Jason was awarded a medal for, ironically, saving Clay during the ambush in Mali. Although Stella told him that what happened to her husband was not his fault, Jason decided to use his speech to come clean about his TBI, as he knew it was the reason that Clay was keeping a close eye on him. Command was not happy about what he said, and he lost his officer status (and will likely lose much more). Spencer Hudnut told TV Insider that this professional sacrifice had definitely been in the cards for a little while:
We knew that Jason was gonna have to shed this TBI secret at some point, and the idea of him almost sacrificing himself for the greater good of the other operators we always liked. Because of everything he’s done for his brothers, returning that to him just felt like a really powerful moment.
Jason’s TBI has been a prominent storyline for a few seasons now, and he initially hid it from his team. Clay was the one who had been trying to talk some sense into his Master Chief and took it upon himself to have his six in the field to make sure that he had his head on straight. Having Jason finally open up about it -- and to a wide audience that includes his bosses, no less -- really brings things full circle. It also sheds more light on a real-life military subject, an approach that lead actor David Boreanaz thinks is the reason critics overlook the show.
But that wasn’t the only shocker. In the final minutes, Command had a chat with Jason about his stint at the ceremony. Soon, Ray came in and came clean about his PTS, which resulted from his capture. And then there was the rest of Bravo and other SEALs, who came forward about their own personal struggles in the field that they’ve been hiding. Spencer Hudnut further explained what the end was all about and how it could set up a potential seventh season:
What we’re doing a little bit with Jason coming out about the TBI and these guys coming into command and throwing it in their face is tapping into [the fact that] there’s a little bit of these operators going rogue that has always been a part of the SEAL community. These guys have the rogue warrior sort of mentality. So there’s a little bit of that at the end here, of these guys taking on command and ‘we’re not gonna make this easy for you.’
The scene was definitely powerful, given how surprising it was to see Ray chime in alongside a bunch of other SEALs. During his interview, the show's EP, also revealed that the remaining SEALs were all veterans, which really reflects what Jason (and the series as a whole) has been trying to bring attention to:
An added element of that scene that makes it even more powerful for those of us who were there when we did it is the guys who come in who are not part of Bravo are actually veterans. It just gives it a little more punch that the veterans associated with our show really wanted to give voice to this idea of we really do need to do a better job of protecting our protectors, as Jason said.
The fact that actual veterans were incorporated into such a powerful scene makes the episode that much sweeter. Paramount+ has had an impact on SEAL Team’s direction and, as a result, the series has been able to get into the nitty gritty of military life. When the show moved to streaming, David Boreanaz was excited partly because of the way the cast and crew would be able to tell even more authentic stories about the brave men and women who risk their lives for the U.S. All in all, the writers and producers definitely seem to be doing their best to respectful, and this finale further proves that.
I'm very eager to see how the series moves forward following Jason's revelation and the SEALs' reaction to it. The show has performed well at Paramount+, so one can only hope that it won't be too long before a specific decision is made. In the meantime, there's plenty of room to speculate as to what might happen next.
And of course, you can also fill your time by streaming all six seasons of SEAL Team using a Paramount+ subscription.
