The end of SEAL Team is finally here, and the series finale is as emotional as anyone predicted. Paramount+’s military drama, created by Benjamin Cavell, premiered in September 2017 and ran for seven seasons before concluding in October 2024. The journey was rough, but in the end, every SEAL Team character got a happy ending (and, surprisingly, no one died despite a close call in Afghanistan).
All season long, Jason Hayes has been struggling with what war has done to him. He essentially believes that he is only a killing machine for the U.S. government, and Jason resides to accept that fate. He thinks that war has the last word. Thankfully, Jason comes to his senses by the hour’s end because of Mandy Ellis’ and Ray Perry’s advice. However, while many expected Jason to die in the SEAL Team series finale or, at the very least, resign from the Navy SEALs, his mission isn’t over and the show closes with David Boreanaz’s character remaining as Bravo 1.
How Jason Finally Forgives Himself & Why He Stays With Bravo
After killing the terrorist during the two-part SEAL Team season 7 premiere, Jason grows distant from his family and friends. He is consumed with guilt for what he has done and how many people he has killed as a Navy SEAL. Especially after his run-in with Ross Curtis and seeing what war turned him into (a traitor), Jason is resigned to the fact that he is just like Curtis and can’t be forgiven. However, after talking with Mandy and Ray in episode 10, Jason tries to atone for his sins by visiting the wife of the first man he killed.
While in Afghanistan on a separate mission, Ray and Sonny Quinn accompany Jason to the village where the woman lives. Unfortunately, “The Last Word” doesn’t show Jason’s entire interaction with her, but he describes what happened to Ray and Sonny afterward. Jason tells the two men he feels “humbled” by the conversation.
The woman told David Boreanaz’s SEAL Team character that she doesn’t blame him for what happened to her husband because, the way she sees it, if her husband had killed Jason, she wouldn’t want his family to blame him for Jason’s death. His blood would have been on the Taliban’s hands. So, she doesn’t forgive Jason because she doesn’t hold him accountable for her husband’s death, and she believes everyone can be reborn. The interaction between Jason and the Afghan woman seems to change his perspective, and he’s finally able to forgive himself.
After his conversation with her, a weight lifts off of Jason’s shoulders. His mood noticeably changed when he’s back in the United States as he has come to terms with his role as a Navy SEAL. As a result, Jason doesn’t leave Bravo. Instead, Jason continues leading the elite team of Navy SEALs (which still includes Omar Hamza and Drew Franklin) on missions overseas as the SEAL Team season 7 episode fades to black.
Does Jason Kill Curtis During The SEAL Team Series Finale?
Before Jason’s penalty in the series finale, the episode has to pick up from where SEAL Team season 7, episode 9, left off. Jason and Drew are on a mission to assassinate Curtis for his treason against the United States. Bravo 1 and Bravo 6 find him in a small village, but Jason is unable to pull the trigger. He puts his gun down and starts to walk away before Drew completes their mission and kills Curtis.
Drew follows through because he wants revenge for Curtis’ involvement in trying to kill his brothers and because leaving him alive would have ended Jason’s career. The newest member of the Bravo Team in SEAL Team season 7 is ultimately able to do something Jason isn’t. Jason probably didn’t pull the trigger because when he looked at Curtis, he saw his future self. However, Jason’s feelings about war having the last word fortunately changed by the hour’s conclusion.
Bravo’s Final Mission In Afghanistan Explained
Bravo returns from their mission in Honduras at the beginning of SEAL Team season 7, episode 10, just to get deployed again quickly afterward. Their op involves traveling to Afghanistan to infiltrate a former high-ranking Taliban official, Ahmed Amir, who was exiled for siding with the northern alliance. Bravo is also giving $150 million to hand over to Amir to help spread his influence. Essentially, the Navy SEALs are assisting the U.S. in supporting an agency regime change to fracture the Taliban and curve China’s influence in Afghanistan.
Bravo’s mission is successful, and after it’s completed, Jason meets with the wife of the first person he killed. However, on their way back, Taliban soldiers attack Jason, Ray, and Sonny, significantly outnumbering them in personnel and weapons. It seems this is the end of the road for them, but that shockingly isn’t the case. Jason, Ray, and Sonny don’t join Clay in the SEAL Team deaths as they somehow made it out alive. The episode never shows their escape, and viewers don’t learn how they survived. Ray injured his arm, but other than that, he, Jason, and
