As SEAL Team ends its seventh season on Sunday, Lisa Davis has to wonder exactly what her longtime lover, Sonny, did to pave the way for her big promotion to assistant admiral.
Rumor has it that Sonny leaked his medical kit idea to the Navy, rather than make them pay for the invention. But an epilogue reveals that Sonny actually ‘confessed to hitting Colonel Decker in that parking lot after the Mali mission, causing his Trident to go missing.
On the plus side, while it briefly appeared that Sonny was leaving Vah Beach to be closer to his daughter, he and Davis were last seen driving to D.C., with all their belongings in the car and holding hands.
TVLine spoke with original cast member Toni Trucks about Davis’ incredible seven-year journey, where things ended with the character, and all the practice that went into the recent #Savis dance scene (albeit to no avail).
What was your reaction when you got the script for the season finale? Oh, I was nervous, because after 114 episodes, how could I be satisfied, right? And I really didn’t know what I wanted. So when I read it, there was a big disconnect between my character and Sonny, where you felt like they were going to go their separate ways, and I was sad to read that. But when I got to the last two pages and saw them really trying, where they go to D.C. together, actually holding hands, I was relieved. I was happy. I didn’t think I was going to feel that way, but I did. Now, whether it lasts or not is up to the imagination, but I think they were worth really trying.
I told [showrunner] Spencer [Hudnut] that Lisa’s storyline was one of my favorite parts of the final season, and I’m sure you have to love it because of her. I really did. I really, really, really did. I love seeing Davis in difficult spaces, and Spencer did a great job of constantly putting her in spaces that she had to navigate. The show pays homage by having a real love for all the women in the military who are navigating these male-dominated spaces, their prestige, but I didn’t want it to always be easy and fun and have her have the support. I needed them to show the wisdom that was needed.
How did you first get introduced to this role in 2017? Not like that. [Laughs] I don’t know what it’s going to be like. I mean, Davis starts out packing parachutes and making sure the guys have their favorite candy bar on the mission, you know? It’s pretty mundane.
You’re like Blackburn’s right-hand man. Totally. I’m Blackburn’s assistant. So every season it just makes me more and more excited that they actually have some vision and a plan for her, and especially one that has a lot of potential for promotion. Going from a junior officer to a lieutenant is like such an accomplishment, you know? We keep slipping through promotions, to the point where we have to mention them and go, “Hey, congratulations! By the way, we have a mission.” We don’t have time to catch up with them, but it’s really, really, really cool.
Have you ever had the experience of people coming up to you on the street and thanking you for giving women this role model, giving women in the military this role model? I have, and it’s so fun. I love when they come up and say, “Oh my gosh, I just love your character. She’s so cool.” A few years ago, maybe in season two or three, someone posted on Instagram that they dressed their daughter as Lisa Davis for Halloween, and I was like, “That’s it. I’m out. I can die now. I’m a Halloween costume.”
Wow. I think the interaction with the military community is probably the biggest gift that comes from this. It enriches our performances and makes the stakes so much higher, knowing that we’re plugged into this real, living, breathing community. Making them proud and having them check in on our work every week is a wonderful, rewarding, sometimes frustrating experience.
When you’re reading the final script, and all these distractions are sneaking up on you…. Ray ends up getting Jason’s job, Jason stays at Bravo, Sonny doesn’t give his medical kit to the Navy and turns himself in…. They all come so fast and furious! Like, if we had the choice, we probably would have had five more episodes to really flesh out all those stories, but yeah, I was also slapped in the face, and I like that it leaves something to the imagination. Because, for me, I’m going to miss playing this character, and I know it sounds silly, but in a way, I’m going to wonder about her. Like, “What is Davis doing?”
