Boreanaz’s ‘SEAL Team’ Needs a Big Boost
The new series “SEAL Team” is typical CBS: by the numbers, safe, and predictable enough to please even the most casual viewer.
That’s not to say the military drama, starring David Boreanaz (late of “Bones”), isn’t worth it. In a practical way, it follows a formula that doesn’t surprise or disappoint. You know what you’re getting — and if you’re okay with that, you’ll keep watching.
Boreanaz plays Jason Hayes, the tough, bearded commander of Tier One, a top-tier Navy SEAL team that risks life and limb on covert operations around the world (usually counterterrorism). Jason is a troubled soul; A previous operation he oversaw claimed the life of a fellow SEAL, a good friend, and he struggles with that guilt while dealing with his estranged wife and abandoned teenage children (he loves them, but the job comes first, and that fact bothers him). In the opening credits, Jason and Tier One are tasked with capturing “high-value target” Abu Samir Al-Masri—an ISIS commander hiding in Liberia—and bringing him back alive. Jason’s team includes all the requisite types: his best friend Ray Perry (Neil Brown Jr.); unorthodox trainee Clay Spenser (Max Thieriot), whose father, a former SEAL, has been labeled “PNG” (persona non grata) for writing a book about his experiences; loyal but self-destructive Sonny Quinn (A.J. Buckley); tough, matter-of-fact CIA analyst Mandy Ellis (Jessica Pare); and logistics officer Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks). And I should mention Tier One’s German shepherd, who is trained to sniff out trouble and is considered a valuable member of the team (he accompanies Tier On on every mission).
“SEAL Team” spends much of its opening episode introducing its main characters by emphasizing their most salient traits — a common practice for most TV series (both comedies and dramas). Sometimes, that’s enough for a show to succeed if viewers take these characters at face value. If you like broad, military-themed dramas — without the pathos and suspense of, say, “Homeland” — then “SEAL Team” is the show for you.
