'SEAL Team' Season 3 Episode 16 Review: Is Lindell trying to split up Jason, Ray, Clay and Sonny's paths?
Spoilers for 'SEAL Team' Season 3 Episode 16 'Last Known Location'
What happens when your head and heart clash? 'SEAL Team' reaches an emotional pause and a cluster of conflicts as the Bravo Team gets set for a three-month deployment in Afghanistan. It isn't easy to leave your close ones to go to a war zone and the episode masterfully pieces the complexities of human emotions together.
There's a reason why the episode is titled 'Last Known Location' and it hits you right in the beginning. The hour-long episode begins on an action-packed note when an enemy vehicle attacks the team. In the moment of crisis, Eric Blackburn (Judd Lormand) tells them to get back to their last known location where they will be picked up. However, the enemy doesn't leave their side. Later, Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks) signals a chopper, which shoots the two enemy vehicles and makes a landing to get the Bravo Team back in the safe zone.
Ready to be gone for three long months, the Bravo Team say goodbye and pack their bags for the deployment. While Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) discusses with Natalie Pierce (Emily Swallow) how the two will manage three months of staying away, Ray Perry (Neil Brown Jr.) goes back to move into his new house with his family before the mission. "I don't know how this works — us, seven thousand miles apart," Natalie tells Jason, to which he replies, "We will make it work." Sadly, their plans backfire.
Moreover, tensions flare out on the home front as Sonny Quinn (AJ Buckley) faces disciplinary action when Captain Lindell (Jamie McShane) tells him to go to an armory school in Texas for the bar brawl. Moreover, Lindell suggests Jason step aside and consider the next phase of his career. If that was not all, Clay Spenser sets his mind towards a new career path after Lindell's directions. But should he say yes to STA-21? That question needs some pondering over, but it's "now or never."
At the barbecue, Sonny takes Clay's case and blatantly asks him, "How the hell did Lindell find out what happened in DC?" He blames him entirely and even thrashes him at the get-together. When the question of STA-21 arises, Clay says, "I haven't said yes." But Sonny counters, "You haven't said no, either," and adds, "Bravo has been just another rung of the ladder, isn't it?"
If Clay and Sonny's conflict wasn't enough, Jason's head goes for a toss with his newfound love. Natalie asks Jason out for dinner but things only spiral downwards when Natalie takes Captain Lindell's (Jamie McShane) side in him stepping aside from the Bravo Team.
When she starts talking about the scars on his body, he tosses money on the table and walks away. Next morning, Natalie apologizes and tells him that wasn't how she wanted their last dinner to be like, but Jason is still enraged and drives away. Like always, he pushes her away. Is this an end for Jason and Natalie? If it is, of course, it will be another big blow for Jason — especially his mental state — but fans' hopes of Jason and Mandy getting together could come true.
It is heartwarming to see Davis have a heart-to-heart talk with Mandy Ellis (Jessica Paré) as the two women hit the gun range to vent out their feelings. Meanwhile, Ray's plan to move to the new house fails and his daughter is heartbroken. She says, "What if you die after that? The new house will have no memories of you." It is these dialogues and moments that bring out the essence of 'SEAL Team' and make you realize how difficult the lives of soldiers can be.
Directed by Larry Teng and written by Stephen Gasper and Dana Greenblatt, the episode is another brilliant addition to the series. The Bravo Team seems to be sliced into different directions, as Jason, Ray, Clay, and Sonny seem to wander off on their own paths. Doesn't it make you wonder if it is all a part of Lindell's agenda? Only time will tell as the CBS series drops more episodes every week at 9 pm ET.
