SEAL Team star and executive producer David Boreanaz addresses Jason's potential death in the upcoming final season of the Paramount+ action drama. Set to premiere in just a matter of days, SEAL Team season 7 will focus on Boreanaz's character, Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Jason Hayes, as he struggles to maintain his willingness to sacrifice the reality of being a single father, and it will further showcase how Jason's hero complex impacts those around him.
Ahead of the season 7 premiere on Paramount+ on Sunday, August 11, Boreanaz spoke to TVLine about what to expect from the final season. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bones alum offered candid responses, explaining how he feels that he's arrived at the end for Jason Hayes. Furthermore, when asked about envisioning Jason's life beyond Bravo as he spends more time with Mikey, Emma, and her boyfriend, the star and executive producer continued to return to the possibility of Jason's death. Read his comment below:
I would say it makes him see a future that maybe he still feels a bit awkward with. Because what he thinks is working necessarily may not work. [ Laughs ] The final hook to this circle for these operators is, “How do they deal with their kills?” How that traumatically impacts them both in the missions as well as when at home. So for him to be kinda home the first few episodes, it’s going to be very traumatic, and that’s something he’ll have to lean into, in order to resolve this and let this go and heal himself. But ultimately, he may be taken by the biggest force of all, and that’s death. That’s something we have to keep on the table and wanted to keep on the table. How he gets back into the battlefield and what happens to him is going to be interesting.
Why Jason Should Survive The Very Eventful SEAL Team Season 7
Death Might Be The Easy Way Out
SEAL Team season 6 concluded with Jason disclosing his TBI, detailing how that has negatively impacted his work. Considering how Jason reveals this during what is meant to be a celebratory Navy Cross ceremony, Jason seems to be in trouble with his superiors. But then Jason's team sticks up for him, as they all reveal their own traumas. Per the official synopsis, featured below, there's even more going on in the closing season:
In the final season, Jason Hayes struggles to balance his warrior's existence with the responsibilities of single fatherhood. Ray Perry, his trusted second in command, questions whether he will be able to leave the battlefield behind as his retirement nears. Dedicated door-kicker Sonny Quinn battles against changing tides as Jason and Ray's shifting focus means that other teammates must shoulder more responsibility. Both Omar Hamza and Drew Franklin find diving into work an effective way to distance themselves from their past traumas. Vital to mission success is Lieutenant Lisa Davis, a no-nonsense officer who ushers the team into a new era of warfare against powerful rivals for supremacy on the world stage. Ripped away from their loved ones at a moment's notice to be deployed across the globe, Bravo team remains dedicated to their duties. Even in the face of overwhelming odds, they know this is the price to keep the families they left behind safe.
Despite the hectic events ahead for the SEAL Team cast, which includes Neil Brown Jr., A.J. Buckley, Toni Trucks, Raffi Barsoumian and Beau Knapp, a big question hangs around the fate of Boreanaaz's lead character Jason Hayes. A series finale death would be tidy, perhaps even fitting the protagonist's trajectory, but it would also be expected and simple.
Perhaps, the more interesting ending would be Jason reeling over the deaths that he's caused. It's not the perfect hero's ending, where Jason would be mourned and lionized. But it could be a truer goodbye for showrunner Spencer Hudnut and fellow writers to wrap up SEAL Team by saying Jason will live with his problems and also experience joy and that those two things can co-exist.
