Enemy of the State | Law & Order
SEAL Team is about to unleash its seventh and final season and David Boreanaz is sharing what may be in store for his character and why he thinks it’s a good time to end!
The show has had an interesting journey. Premiering on CBS in 2017, the series focuses on a Navy SEAL team undergoing dangerous missions across the world. Boreanaz stars as Bravo Unit’s team leader Jason Hayes. Partway through season 5, the show moved to Paramount+ which allowed them to take on more adult situations like language and violence.
The series has done well, with season 6 ending with Jason speaking out at a medal ceremony on his injuries and the toll they take, which the military ignored. That could get him in hot water as season 7 begins, which is confirmed as the final year.
Fans may be saddened by that but, speaking to TVInsider, Boreanaz shared that even if the show was getting an eighth season, he’d still likely be leaving as he believes this is a perfect sendoff point for Jason, who’s still dealing with his health and mental problems. The man has faced up to his issues even as he’s determined not to let it change him as a team leader.
“For us, it’s like, alright, the trauma is your first kill. How do you deal with that? So starting the season it was like, okay, this is the perfect way to wrap that cycle up for this character. For me, I knew that that was the right way and I knew going in before the writers’ strike that I was done. I had expressed my interest not to do the show anymore. I was finished regardless of even if they wanted to do two more seasons, one more season, I was done. So then the writers’ strike hit and it became six months later and that had already been decided.”
Boreanaz shared how he simply felt the toll of so many years on the team has become too much for Jason. It’s not just the loss of teammates or the cost it’s made in his personal life. Jason has always seen some of his faith in the military tested by the higher-ups making controversial decisions on political grounds and often feeling they’re not making as much of a difference as he’d like.
It also makes sense Boreanaz might have been wanting to leave. The man has been on TV almost continuously since his breakout role as vampire Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff along with starring in the long-running FOX drama Bones. With SEAL Team requiring so much physical work, the actor deserves a break. 