Does Jason Leave SEAL Team? What Happens to Him In the Show, Explained
David Boreanaz leads SEAL Team as Jason Hayes, but does the actor stick around for the whole series?
SEAL Team’s Jason Hayes has an interesting arc over the series’ seven seasons on Paramount+.
David Boreanaz stars in the series as Jason, the leader of the elite Bravo Team of Navy Seals who are tasked with some of the most dangerous worldwide military missions.
Season 7 of SEAL Team is currently airing on Paramount+ and will be the last for the hit TV series.
Did David Boreanaz Leave SEAL Team?
David Boreanaz has starred in over 110 episodes of SEAL Team since its premiere. The actor has outlasted many of his fellow cast mates, including Michaela McManus who starred as his on-screen wife.
While Boreanaz has managed to star in the action-packed show for seven years, he admitted he had hit his limit as Jason Hayes in an interview with TV Insider, saying “[he] was finished” even before it was announced that SEAL Team would end with Season 7:
“The trauma is your first kill. How do you deal with that? Starting the season, it was like, ‘Okay, this is the perfect way to wrap that cycle up for this character.
I knew that that was the right way and I knew going in before the writers’ strike that I was done. I had expressed my interest not to do the show anymore. I was finished regardless of even if they wanted to do two more seasons, one more season, I was done. So then the writers’ strike hit and it became six months later and that had already been decided.”It’s unclear to what extent Boreanaz’s departure from SEAL Team would have impacted its future, but the effect of the 2023 WGA strike meant that the actor was able to see out the entirety of the show.
As for why Boreanaz was eager to leave, the actor revealed to People that “my body just can’t do it anymore.” The SEAL Team actors went through a vigorous training regime throughout the series’ seven years in order to authentically replicate the tasks of their characters.
“There were no shortcuts,” Boreanaz said of the grueling production, which resulted in him undertaking four MRI tests in four months.
Similar to the actor who portrays him, Jason Hayes has been through a lot in SEAL Team. He’s lost his wife, struggled with the death of his team member, Clay, and has left and returned to lead the Bravo Team.
In Season 7, Jason is dealing with the Season 6 reveal that he has a serious brain injury that could impact his position as leader of the team. As Boreanaz told TV Insider, Jason is “questioning his purpose and where he belongs” this season, which is either at home with his family or in the line of duty.
Jason’s fate will be decided when the final SEAL Team episode releases on October 6, but it’s unclear whether the Bravo Team leader will even make it to the end.
When asked about returning for a potential spin-off series as Jason, Boreanaz hinted that “he may not be able to do that,” calling into question whether his character will get a happy ending at all.
