Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0
3
If, after SEAL Team Season 7 Episode 4, you, like me, are still trying to wrap your head around what is different this season, I may have stumbled upon an answer.
When you look back and look at what hasn’t been for the first four episodes, you can see a trail of clues as to what might be.
To risk sounding like Kamala Harris being unburdened by what has been, Bravo team is adrift, and with it, its final season.
(Michael Moriatis/Paramount+)
A Tale of Two SEALs
It’s also possible that I’m looking for more with so few episodes remaining. Hoping for closure for any series is always a desire, but when you’re talking about a military show, what does that even look like?
Thankfully, Ray’s retirement is looming, which gives us a good idea of what a person in a healthy, loving relationship may find after 20 years of service.
On the flip side, though, we have Jason, who shows the damage that can be done by serving your country.
Ray has a supporting wife and a new business venture that ties him directly to the work he’s done for decades. It gives him purpose. He sees light at the end of the tunnel.
Jason has no such endeavor lined up. Although he could probably retire or is at least close to it, he hasn’t shown any desire to let go. He’s tied up in what was and sees how many lives it claimed.
(Trae Patton/Paramount+)
What’s Going On with Jason?
What’s frightening about Jason is that he keeps everything buried deep inside. He’s bottled himself up to the point that people are guessing his moves based on past behavior, and they’re getting it wrong.
His relationship with Mandy is a saving grace. Someone else may not be as forgiving of his faults. But he’s hiding things from her, too. You’d think that with as much as she has seen and suffered herself, he’d share more freely of himself. Not so much, from what we have seen.
On the one hand, the military that gave them life for decades is on the way out. It’s under new management to deal with new enemies. The mission focus remains, but the reasoning behind the missions has changed.
They’re being asked to learn from the ground up but produce the same results. It’s not easy for those making the decisions, and it’s even harder for those taking orders.
Bravo escaped SEAL Team Season 6 with their jobs intact, but their pride was wounded as they were grounded and given menial shore duties. Being sidelined so soon after losing Clay wounded the team.
So, what does this mean for Bravo and specifically for Jason?
(Michael Moriatis/Paramount+)
New War, New BRAVO
After having their feet held to the fire for so long, finding their way back is tough. For the most part, they’re making the best of it. Sonny took Clay’s death hard, but he’s turned that into something positive.
Who would have guessed that Sonny would make such an effort to make Drew a part of the team? But if Sonny is bringing Drew into the fold, Jason is making excuses for him.
Things change. New war, new BRAVO.
Jason Hayes
Jason is in the middle of something significant, and flippant remarks like the one above don’t help.
SEAL Team had to bring in a replacement for Clay, but I get the feeling that Drew represents something larger in the scheme of things, as if he’ll be instrumental in whatever it is that Jason needs to discover about himself to move on.
That popped into my head when Drew astutely observed that Jason was spooked, and Sonny realized that Drew might have been the one to see it because he’s gone through something similar.
So, they’re tied together in some way. Hopefully, it won’t take the whole season to discover what it is.
(Michael Moriatis/Paramount+)
Just Who Is Jason Protecting?
Jason kanked (never heard of that phrase before, but I liked it… whether it’s spelled right is another story) the Myanmar op just before go time because it didn’t feel right to him. Specifically, the potential loss of life was unacceptable.
That’s a valiant effort, but not if it puts your team at risk. Bravo scrambled to come up with something that made Jason comfortable with the op, but it started falling apart almost immediately. That it didn’t tank isn’t a testament to his leadership but to the capabilities of his team, including Drew.
Ultimately, Jason’s concern for civilians could have been disastrous for his team, and it was under the guise of protecting the team that he called for change in the first place.
That didn’t escape Ray, and he called Jason out on it, but until Jason is willing to talk with someone about what’s going on in his head (it’s NOT TBI related), this will continue.
I don’t know who you’re protecting out there, but it wasn’t Bravo.
Ray Perry
Our happy ending for SEAL Team requires Jason to find peace with his existence, including all of the losses he’s experienced over the years and the parts he’s played in them.
It also demands that Ray retires, switching his focus to helping other souls like Jason’s — lost after years of death and destruction in his wake.
I also wonder if Jason’s newfound need to protect civilians is also due to Clay’s death. Clay died as a civilian, after all, at the hands of another veteran. You just never know what will flip the switch.
(Michael Moriatis/Paramount+)
Thankfully, It Wasn’t All Dark and Pondery aka Random Thoughts
I can’t lie; part of the reason I can’t stand LCDR Kirkpatrick is from other roles Derek Phillips has played, particularly Billy Riggins on Friday Night Lights. But he won me over when Lisa won him over.
I was kind of lost on the “target package” and how and why Bravo is playing with the DEA in the first place. So much jargon, so little time.
With all of this focus on Drew this season, it will be criminal if they don’t bring in Kirk Acevedo to play a relative. It’s like Beau Knapp went to Kirk Acevedo School to play this role.
Sonny’s random conspiracy theories, including the flesh-eating coconut crabs that ate Amelia Ehart and that Stevie Wonder can see, in addition to his hazing attempts, were bright spots in an otherwise dreary episode.
It was a bummer to hear that Hannah is engaged and her fiance is close with Leanne. I was kind of hoping that they might find their way back to each other. Sonny and Lisa? Never going to happen.
(Trae Patton/Paramount+)
This is the first time I’ve noticed during an op that nothing looks foreign — not the street signs, the roads, or even the light switches in the factory. And would Myanmar workers really walk off the job if the payroll truck didn’t show up?
How did they find a dive bar in Myanmar? Bravo always finds a dive bar that looks suspiciously like all the other dive bars they frequent.
Your Turn!
First of all, thanks for reading! I appreciate it, and your comments have been most welcome.
What do you think is going on with Jason? Do you have any ideas where the season will take him?
Does the final season feel as unmoored to you as it does to me? Sound off below!
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