SEAL Team - TV Series Review

David Boreanaz and Neil Brown Jr. in Phantom Pattern (2022)

Realism and Drama in SEAL Team

  • 7

SEAL Team is an action and drama television show which brings a detailed look at the professional lives and personal issues of SEALs of the Navy. It brings out the struggle between family and work responsibility in depicting the ones for whom the lead character Jason Hayes and his team fight. The clips provide the audience with an insight into the realistic training and planning phase, coupled with the actual execution of missions that exposes the military life.

The main elements are the loyalty, the sacrifice and the patriotism. The show is very serious and focuses on the physical and mental consequences of serving in the military. It achieves to blend dramatic action with psychological realism and teamwork and individuality and duty and family.

Starring David Boreanaz as Jason Hayes, the series presents a realistic picture of a SEAL who is brave, dedicated and tries to balance his personal and professional life. Neil Brown Jr., A.J. Buckley performs well, adding a sense of credibility to his parts while Toni Trucks does the same and more in her parts. It further strengthens the show and the audience’s appreciation of each SEAL’s story.

Hence, with directing from Christopher Chulack, Ruben Garcia, and J. Michael Muro, SEAL Team’s look and feel effectively appeal to the viewers. The action is pointed, that contributes to making this series look very realistic and full of life. It offers equal measures of action and drama, using a combination of both loud and thoughtful music to great effect in the show. It helps to create anticipation and amplify emotions, which are important in certain scenes of the show yet does not dominate the story.

The camera work makes SEAL Team as realistic as it can get, especially when it comes to portraying the missions of the titular team. Intentional capturing of scenes through the use of handheld cameras and close ups invites the audience and puts them right in the firing range. The setting accurately and colourfully portray the African theatre of action and the operation of the special forces and military air force. This serves to humanise the series, thus giving a befitting representation of the world of the SEALs.

Special effects are employed sparingly but accomplish great impact in portraying tactical operations and the aspect of combat. This only aids in making the series feel more immersive without getting in the way.

It also maintains the fast pace of the series and the edit is clean. Shifts between staking out and other storylines in a main character’s life keep the viewers attentive and the show coherent while tackling many themes without losing focus. The pacing is strategic so every episode is integrated with nice flow of action and stories that involves feelings.

The dialog is quite realistic and natural in portraying friendship and rivalry of the Seal team. In terms of realism, one of the show’s strengths is its dialogue It enhances the authenticity by providing profundity when necessary, and delivering sometimes profound quotes.

Any given episode may be somewhat melodramatic, and at times, detracts from the overall realism which is otherwise well portrayed in SEAL Team. Personal lives are depicted and while it is important, it has a problem of putting the plot aside especially where the show focuses more on military business. However, these cases are rare and do not really detract from the overall enjoyment of the show in question.

In essence, SEAL Team offers the audience a stunning depiction of life in the military, focusing just as much on action as it does on the human factor involved. It strikes a chord, explaining what has to be done by working citizens out there. It is a series full of passion with rushing moments to serious emotions where work relations as well as responsibilities and commitments are showcased. Should not be missed for those who like to watch military series.