'Seal Team' Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Jason struggles to find calm in the chaos, Bravo Team go on deadly mission to stop weaponized Ebola
How do you recover from trauma?
It's a Herculean and painful task. But the first step to start that journey is to accept that you need help. And this theme of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and the following recovery is what encircles the latest episode of 'Seal Team'. Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz), who refuses to acknowledge that he has a personality apart from the Bravo Team that he fearlessly leads, struggles to come to terms with his vulnerabilities.
He wants to believe that he is the alpha-male, who is just focussed on sleeping with a woman (Emily Swallow) that he is just attracted to, rather than accepting that he might have actual complicated feelings for her. Is he the calm in the chaos, the therapist asks him. Jason doesn't know how to answer that.
The show took on the idea of toxic masculinity with much finesse, which was one of the finer parts of the episode. Jason's therapist tries to make him realize that the more he hides behind the of 'big, tough man', the more it harms him. There's so much more to him than Bravo Team and it's about time he addressed his problems, which contrary to what Jason believes, cannot just be 'fixed' miraculously.
Meanwhile, the Bravo team has a deadly mission that involves them protecting aid convoys in an Ebola zone, after a warlord steals samples of a virus that can be used as a weapon. Clay (Max Thieriot) acts up, and Blackburn settles him well.
There is a threat of them being exposed to the virus, though they're all well covered up. After several gun battles, everything 'seems' to be hunky-dory. Admittedly, it was fun seeing Ray (Neil Brown Jr) take charge, though we do miss Jason in action.
Lisa (Tony Trucks) is having problems of her own, as she tries to move on from the break-up with Sonny. Not just that, Lisa doesn't spend much time with the team anymore and has gone into a strange shell of her own, and talking to her estranged sister clearly does not help. Things take a darker turn for Lisa in the episode, when two men try to make a pass at her in a bar and she hits out. However, she attacks a police officer as well, thinking that he's also a predator.
While the action in the episode was intriguing and thrilling to watch, it was more interesting to know about Lisa and Jason, and their deeply-embedded pain. Lisa is a brilliant character, as she is a woman trying to move on from a broken relationship, and feels like someone who is lost and alone in the world. Jason is learning that it is not a weakness to talk about pain, and there is definitely no quick fix.
The ninth episode of 'Seal Team' titled 'Kill and Cure' dropped on CBS on December 4.