SEAL Team Season Was ‘90% Written’ When Cancellation News Hit: ‘I Had Three Acts to Land the Plane,’ Says EP
No easy days for a SEAL Team showrunner.
Speaking with TVLine ahead of this Sunday’s series finale on Paramount+, SEAL Team showrunner Spencer Hudnut detailed how at the time that the “final season” news got handed down, back in November 2023, he was nearly done writing Season 7.
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Some “rejiggering,” including a new fate for a key character, quickly ensued.
“When we broke this season, at the point it was 90% written, I did not have an inkling that this would be the last one,” Hudnut shared as part of our in-depth Q&A, publishing Sunday. “It really wasn’t until very late in the process that I realized this was going to be it, and I really only had three acts of the final episode to ‘land the plane.'”
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Fortunately, the first stretch of Season 7 had already set many of the main characters — David Boreanaz’s Jason, Neil Brown Jr.’s Ray, AJ Buckley’s Sonny and Toni Trucks’ Lisa — on certain, possible life-changing trajectories. So Hudnut and his writers simply had to commit to the bit and efficiently wrap up those arcs as planned — or in at least one case, alter a character’s fate.
Jason, Ray et al “were definitely ’rounding third base’ in their stories and their careers, so we didn’t have to do too much rejiggering…,” Hudnut said. “But certainly for Jason, it was a different ending than where I intended at the outset of the season.”
How do you think SEAL Team‘s seven-season run will end on Sunday? Hit the comments with your final predictions!
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