‘SEAL Staff’ Boss on Seeing Max Thieriot Once more & Why No One Died in Season 6 Finale

SEAL Staff ended its sixth season, leaving us questioning the place Bravo goes from right here, contemplating that your entire workforce — and different SEALs — spoke up as Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) confronted command after going public together with his TBI.

However we’ve extra burning questions for a possible Season 7 than that. (The sequence has but to be renewed by Paramount+, neither is there any phrase about that film that was introduced in February). Was the episode by which Clay died the final time we’ll see Max Thieriot? What modified on account of killing him off? We turned to showrunner Spencer Hudnut to get solutions to these and extra.

Is it attainable we’d see Max once more in a flashback sooner or later?

Spencer Hudnut: We’ve completed issues like that previously. I simply assume a part of this resolution was that simply to complete Max’s work this season was such a battle. The thought of having the ability to plan forward and determine that out simply appears arduous, however we’ll by no means say no to something. Clay’s legacy will reside on throughout the present. And yeah, if there’s a chance the place we may do one thing like that, I’d be all for it as a result of he’s such an enormous a part of the present.

How a lot would Stella (Alona Tal) be a part of Season 7?

I feel she will certainly be a part of it. In making that call, if Clay and Stella drove off from the sundown, you [would] lose each these characters. One of many outstanding issues concerning the army is the way in which this household and neighborhood come collectively and exhibiting that, exhibiting how folks step up in instances of tragedy. One thing we’ve form of misplaced on this nation is that sense of neighborhood. Highlighting that and exhibiting these folks coming collectively for one another, which is what makes the better army household so particular, is one thing that we positively wish to do. And I feel there are issues we wish to do with Ben [Joey Pollari] that’ll clearly tie in together with her. So yeah, my hope is that we see a good quantity of her.

Monty Brinton/Paramount+

Is there something you possibly can share about the way forward for SEAL Staff that’s new since we final spoke?

No. As I speak about Season 7, it’s all hopeful. It’s solely in my head. So I hope for everybody that we’ll get excellent news prior to later. On the finish of the day, if we get to make extra SEAL Staff, that’s incredible. I actually really feel like our followers who’ve made this journey over to Paramount+ with us deserve the chance to see these characters by means of their journeys. We on the present actually need to have the ability to ship that to them. So yeah, this isn’t the meant ending of the present. If on the finish of the day, the brotherhood, the fellows stepping up for Jason and exhibiting that love and connection they share, is the very last thing we do, I’ll be OK with it, however there’s much more story to inform and we’re hopeful that we get to do this.

What else are you able to say about your plans for a Season 7?

We’re so early within the course of. Due to the uncertainty round Max, we began the season with Clay dropping his leg. Sadly, we killed Clay within the eighth episode. There was a darkish cloud over the season in lots of methods. Clearly, there’s at all times gonna be adversities, there’s at all times gonna be traumas. It is a present about battle and its impression on the women and men who battle it and their households. However I feel transferring ahead, we wish to present hope. These guys have gone by means of a lot. We wish to spotlight their victories. This was a really arduous season, not simply from a manufacturing standpoint however on the viewers. And my hope is that perhaps a Season 7 might be somewhat lighter, have somewhat extra hope, and see our characters proceed to work in the direction of getting themselves into higher locations.

What are you able to say about your plans for Clay and for Bravo that you simply needed to change since you needed to write him out?

Going again, even from the beginning of the present, it felt like — I typically speak about this with Chris Chulack as a result of from his ER days — to us, Clay was virtually just like the Noah Wyle character [Dr. John Carter]. It’s from his POV of him becoming a member of Bravo workforce. It felt like he would clearly at all times have an enormous position within the story and no matter occurred with Bravo workforce. So yeah, it’s dramatically impacted my roadmap of the place I assumed this is able to be going. However in a method, as a author, you form of like these challenges. You want to color your self right into a nook after which get your self out of it.

Jason will at all times be the heartbeat of the present. That was by no means gonna change. And so I feel there’s lots of good story to inform. As I preserve saying, it’s unlucky that we ever bought on this scenario with Max, however we’re very happy with what he’s doing [on Fire Country], and we’re enthusiastic about what we will now do at SEAL Staff. So it’s lots of good things nonetheless forward for us, hopefully.

Did the plan for Bravo, generally, this season keep just about what you had? Or did you alter something due to writing out Clay?

If Clay had pushed off into the sundown, I feel it is likely to be arduous for a few of these dominoes to fall the way in which they did. There wouldn’t be a battle to choose up for Clay [for Jason]. So no, all of it form of had a domino impact. I feel it could be arduous to get these characters and Bravo workforce into this example had Clay not died so tragically, and so it positively had an impression.

So the op and the place Omar (Raffi Barsoumian) landed with the workforce would’ve stayed the identical, although?

Sure, we have been at all times gonna be in Syria. The hunt for the overall was at all times gonna be the identical. Omar got here in earlier than we knew Clay’s destiny for certain. We knew Clay wasn’t gonna be on the workforce. However there was a world clearly the place Clay was gonna work his method again. With him being the star and govt producer of a 22-episode community present, that wasn’t ever gonna occur. So it had an impression on how we ended for certain.

And Omar is now a everlasting member of Bravo if there’s a Bravo?

Yeah, he proved himself to his Bravo teammates. I feel Omar hopefully proved himself to the followers. We hinted at a pair issues about his backstory, however transferring ahead, we’re gonna get to know Omar on a way more private degree. And he and Jason fashioned a bond in the previous couple of episodes. I feel he’s a part of the Bravo household transferring ahead.

Did you ever contemplate killing off one other member of Bravo within the finale? They didn’t have a lot cowl through the shootout…

No, they didn’t. Yeah, they have been clearly in jeopardy, however I feel seeing them come collectively was at all times the purpose. No, I couldn’t abdomen one other [loss]. The Clay resolution was so painful. It is a present about battle, and I feel it could be naive on our half to anticipate there to be no extra bloodshed transferring ahead, however the lack of Clay was simply too highly effective. To lose one other character on the heels of that may be overly merciless and painful for all of us. That’s to not say it may’t occur down the street.

With these characters that we’re invested in, we’ll proceed to indicate them battle, but additionally hopefully overcome any obstacles of their method and hopefully get them to locations the place they’re joyful of their lives.