“Shock is your first kill. How do you deal with that? Starting the season, it’s like, ‘Okay, this is the perfect way to end that cycle for this character,’” the star and executive producer shared with TV Insider. “I knew it was the right way, and I knew I was done before the writers’ strike. I had expressed my desire to not do the show anymore. I was done regardless of whether they wanted to do two more seasons or one more season, I was done. So then the writers’ strike hit and six months later, it was decided.”
So how did he know he was done?
“A couple of things. My body physically and mentally found a space in sync with the character and knew that it wasn’t going to continue,” he explained. “And I just felt like that was something that I was very clear about and it made sense and it just naturally resolved. So it wasn’t really a hard decision to make. It was just a natural progression into being an agent, what he’s faced with, how he goes through certain things.” He continued, “We were looking at Jason’s character in a slightly outside direction. We were looking at a season where he was marginalized and he was operating at the behest of everyone else and that didn’t fit his character. I didn’t want to put on that uniform and be on the sidelines. And I knew from the very beginning when we were doing that specifically, this wasn’t something I wanted to continue, with a character like this who is on the sidelines.” That’s not his character, that’s not his motivation. And I think the way that this plays out is a testament to the fact that we really wanted to shoot this series and actively thought that this could be the one bullet that ends it for him forever.”
That echoes what he’s said before, that the battlefield could be Jason’s “ultimate endgame.”
While he was previously on the sidelines and not supposed to be managing Bravo, he remained focused on Bravo. “He did,” Boreanaz agreed. “And that’s it. It’s about controlling the spear. Where do you go with it? How do you steer it? Where do you put your guys?”
That goes back to what he loves and respects about his character. “He’s a really instinctive person who goes by his gut. He takes chances. He’s very impulsive, but he always finds a way out, which is what I love about that character,” the star said. “That’s something I really appreciate and love. I love the fact that it’s fun to play him, but the one thing that’s difficult about playing him is the depth of the TBI, the PTS, the nightmares. That was very difficult for me and I’m just glad I got through it, I did it. And now I can let go.”
Does this mean he’d rule out playing Jason again in any future revivals? “I don’t want to spoil the ending, so he might not be able to do it,” Boreanaz cautioned.
However, he did point out that any revival wouldn’t necessarily take place after the series ended. “I think the idea of a movie was always on the table because you can do these stories at any time, from Black Hawk, it could have been two years ago, it doesn’t really matter. We went back and did a great episode about 9/11, which I think was just a great tribute to everything about that event and how it pushed these guys into their positions in their careers as operators and the sacrifices they made. But yeah, there’s always the possibility, I guess,” he admitted.
How do you think SEAL Team will end? Would you like to see some sort of revival after the series ends?
