When news broke that SEAL Team would end with its seventh season, it wasn’t too much of a surprise.
The CBS-turned-Paramount+ drama has been slowly preparing for the end of its run over the last few seasons, with the character arcs slowly but surely reaching their final stages.
Paramount+ shared the first two episodes of SEAL Team Season 7 with critics ahead of its launch, and it’s fair to say that these installments have a sense of finality.
Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) has always been the heart and soul of SEAL Team, even though the character has made countless questionable decisions over the years.
The first two episodes of the final installment find Jason reflecting on his career, thanks in large part to his decision to go against Command and reveal the truth about his TBI.
Due to those actions, there were always going to be mass changes in the show, but the series is better for it because it has added realism and heightened stakes.
David Boreanaz delivers his best work yet
Boreanaz gets some of the best material of his career as he plays this hardened Navy SEAL, who’s now thinking about where his career goes after facing so many challenges.
Jason’s years serving his country could be coming to a close.
Overall, Bravo Team is under an intense microscope because many people don’t believe it’s as functional as it once was.
They’ve defied the odds in the past, but the team’s future is very much at stake because there’s this growing unrest at Command because they also opened up about their own ailments to defend their team leader.
As a result, SEAL Team Season 7 feels like the natural next step for the show, flawlessly setting up the conflicts to come for the final eight episodes.
Drew Franklin (Beau Knapp) is some new blood, drafted in as a new team member pretty quickly, but his past gives him a reputation.
From his first scene, Drew solidifies himself as one of the season’s most engaging characters because, behind his tough exterior, he’s struggling with what it means to serve his country.
Drew has a storied past that the show wastes no time delving into. Many series add unnecessary characters in their final seasons, but it’s apparent that Drew will have a lot to do before the finale.
It also means that Omar (Raffi Barsoumian) is no longer the newest member of Bravo Team, which is a nice change of pace because he grapples with what’s next for his career.
One thing that the SEAL Team has always done so well is tip the hat to the past and the team members who came before the current team. The show may have lost Max Thieriot’s Clay Spenser, but he remains a talking point.
Clay is not forgotten
Of course, Sonny (A.J. Buckley) and Stella (Alona Tal) were the most affected by Clay’s death, and some fantastic scenes between them early on set up their final arcs very well.
It’s commendable that the show has kept Clay’s memory alive throughout the final chapter because he could have been a distant memory if a time jump was thrown in.
One of the biggest questions going into the final season was the status of Davis (Toni Trucks) and Sonny’s relationship because they’ve faced many bumps in the road.
The good news is that the final season wastes no time establishing where they’re both at romantically.
There are also plenty of great moments for Davis because her career has grown considerably over the years.
She has consistently advocated for Bravo Team, but her final arc promises that things are moving significantly differently.
There’s no telling where her storyline will end up, which adds to the unpredictability of SEAL Team Season 7.
My biggest concern with the early episodes is that Dylan Walsh doesn’t get much to do with his new role.
We meet him as Commander Walch, a man who has many thoughts about the Bravo Team and how they’ve managed to skate by despite their decisions over the years.
We’ve met characters like Commander Walch before, but the hope is that he can break free from the archetypes of the people who have opposed Jason’s way of ruling the team in the past.
The worry is that it will be a retread of previous plot lines, and with just 10 episodes, there’s not a lot of time to devote to storylines that have been utilized in the past.
If the first two episodes are proof of where SEAL Team is headed, it very well could be one of the few shows that get their final seasons right.
Characters reaching natural next steps in their arcs is the only way for a show like this to end, so hopefully, SEAL Team Season 7 has started as it means to go on.
SEAL Team Season 7 premieres Sunday, August 11, on Paramount+. Stream Seasons 1-6 on Paramount+.