Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
SEAL Team is back, but it’s not the same.
The events of SEAL Team Season 6 set up the changes when Clay died, and Jason spat in command’s face when he received a special commendation.
Jason’s actions alone would have had consequences, but when the others stood beside him, airing their dirty laundry about being debilitated by injuries sustained on the job, the whole unit came under fire.
As much as I hate the idea that any TV show is “like a movie in long form” or whatnot, SEAL Team has always had incredibly well-connected episodes that play like a day in the life.
Since SEAL Team Season 1 Episode 1, episodes have ended in the middle of imperative scenes. It gives the show an unending sense of urgency that makes sense, given the subject matter.
SEAL Team operators are always running on adrenaline, even when they’re with their families. They don’t have an off switch because to turn off would make it too difficult to turn back on.
And I can’t be the only one who appreciates victims who truly suffer. That’s not to say I want them to suffer, but that our “entertainment” far too often depicts victims as warriors. They are not, but a SEAL Team is.
Watching Omar work with the injured mother as she cried out in pain and desperately wanted her daughter saved was unbearable. You can only imagine that anybody in a similar situation would be the same.
There’s no saving face in the midst of a terrorist act when your life turns on a dime.
Bravo has the unique capability, or so we’re led to believe, to be there for those in need in ways other teams do not.
Whether it’s because of how Jason and Mandy led the team in the earlier seasons or just due to dumb luck, Bravo is lightning in a bottle.
What Has Changed
As we said, actions have consequences, and the team is in a very precarious place.
They were already marked for deactivation, but when they banded together to make a statement, Bravo was set back even further.
Bravo is Stuck with Crappy Assignments, and Jason Takes the Blame
Literally! Bravo is in purgatory, and that doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon.
Sonny and Omar are scooping dog poop, and Ray is stuck in boring meetings in which he can’t speak his mind. Their current work is so inconsequential that Jason took off on an impromptu vacation to see Emma.
But it’s also eating away at Jason that he was responsible for his teammates’ shore duty. It wasn’t a little thing to offer his trident in return for setting them free.
Jason has come a long way, thanks to Mandy and his kids. He’s putting them first for probably the first time in his life. Yet he’s always very aware of how quickly he can fall back into old patterns.
Ray’s retiring in eight weeks, but Jason hasn’t made any plans. His fears of sliding back to his old ways had to play into his decision to return his trident, but wouldn’t retirement be better for him, too?
Maybe I don’t fully understand how it works, but leaving the SEALS doesn’t mean you leave the Navy. Jason needs to figure out what his life might look like when the Navy is entirely in his rearview mirror.
The Future of Warfare
The future of warfare is changing. Hell, it has changed. When we hear about a large-scale attack behind enemy lines, it’s usually done with drones.
But Lisa’s promotions show us the importance of fighting a larger battle. She’s making a difference, her position crucial to shifting special ops focus from the war on terror to great power competition.
The fight for world dominance is changing, and terror takes a backseat to things like election meddling, social media propaganda, and drug trafficking as world powers try to throw the US off course.
Lisa’s working her way up, but that doesn’t mean others like it. The farther she goes up the ladder with a Trident, the more pushback she receives. Lisa, though, thrives on that kind of antagonism. If I were to bet on the last man standing, it would be this woman.
She’s got the ear of an admiral, and he believes in her.
While her cohorts whinge and complain about how she couldn’t possibly know this or that since she was never in battle, others recognize her strength and what she learned from partnering with Bravo.
Emma’s worry about Brad’s SEAL Team future was tamped out by Jason, who promised it would be OK. The job is changing.
Using integrated deterrence strategies and evolving from counter-insurgency ops to full-spectrum warfare should mean the SEALs encounter fewer of the dangers that the Bravo team encountered.
A New SEAL Team Face: Drew Franklin
We’ve just gotten used to Omar, who might be my favorite SEAL at the moment, and now another is upon us.
Drew is a problem child, which is why he was teamed with Bravo — like minds and all that. Yet he was anything but eager to join the bunch of outcasts. Omar noticed his piss-poor attitude right off the bat. After all, he just went through the same thing not long ago.
You gotta wonder about a team guy who doesn’t want teammates. — Omar
SEAL Team may not be procedural in the traditional sense, but it fits in with the crowd by featuring a team with a reputation — a team that those on the outside don’t trust and don’t want to join.
It’s a tactic featured prominently on Criminal Minds and Chicago Fire, to name a couple. There is always someone on the outside looking in who thinks they know more than they do.
By the end of Chaos in the Calm, it was clear there was a decent guy hiding in there. He saved Jason’s life in Sweden and even got in a few jokes with the guys before returning to his ways.
However, with the introduction of his sister, we can surmise that he’ll soon discover what it means to be part of a team that cares for one another.
Most of these outsiders soon discover what it’s like to be on the inside, and rarely do they want to turn back once there.
Sonny Unexpectedly Carries on Clay’s Legacy
Ray called Sonny “a door-kicking Atticus Finch” when he relayed how he helped Ben.
The Sonny we knew in the past is still lurking inside him, but he’s also shown enormous growth.
Holding true to his promise to Clay, he’s there for Stella, whether stocking essentials, fixing toilets, or standing up for Ben, the man more or less responsible for Clay’s death, in court.
Wiping your slate clean is harder than it seems, though.
Sonny and Lisa were already keeping their friendship on the down low when he slugged an officer. Lisa, of course, looked into the officer for Sonny when she had the chance, and now they may both pay a price for that.
Sonny thought he was in the clear because so much time had passed. Lisa was right to be wary. There is an investigation into who assaulted the guy, and all trails lead to Sonny.
Clay had just rediscovered life and found his path when he was killed. Will Sonny follow suit? I don’t expect he will be killed, but his spirit may come under assault.
He’s worked just as hard as Clay to pull himself out of his emotional muck. Could he handle being knocked down again? Would he return from that?
What Has Stayed the Same
Of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Bravo is Still the Best
The Swedes wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what Bravo did when terrorists struck.
Bravo is normally in circumstances we could never imagine, but a terrorist attack at a shopping mall hits viewers differently. We’ll never know, but it’s debatable whether another SEAL Team could have stopped the escalation of events as Bravo did.
Embracing humanity has often seemed like a hindrance during military operations, but in this case, it made all the difference. Bravo Team cares for each other, and the people they’re tasked with protecting set them apart from the rest.
Command, though, wasn’t so impressed. They were chastised for running into the fire. Maybe the problem with the military is those in command. Who would have guessed?
That is the kind of response that Lisa and those working with her may be able to change. The military wants fewer boots on the ground, but when they are, they need support before, during, and after the mission.
Terrorism Still Exists
As much as we want to commend Lisa for helping the Navy change direction, terror still exists.
They can never wipe out the tactical expertise of SEAL Teams lest the world be left with bumbling responses like the Swedes provided during the terror attack.
As the US is moving away from tactical warfare, other nations are calling on them to show them the ropes. It took many years of brutal ops for Jason to get TBI, but it took only one battle for Clay to lose his leg.
SEAL Teams will never be out of the woods entirely. The world will always need their protection.
The premiere worked well as a two-part rollout. Sometimes, you don’t want to wait for the payoff, and it’s been so long since SEAL Team Season 6 Episode 10 that it would have been painful to wait for the dramatic conclusion of the Swedish tale.
What did you think of the premiere? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.