SEAL Team - The Cost of Doing Business - Review: "Holy Crossfire, Batman"

For me the two big questions about the season one finale were how they were going to play out the fact that Jason lied about the seriousness of his concussion and whether or not he and Ray’s friendship would survive as strong as it was at the beginning of the season.

The episode blurb’s indication that Jason would lie about the severity and symptoms of his concussion in order to go on the mission to arrest Abad Halani had me on the edge of my seat.

I kept expecting Jason to make a catastrophic error. Not only did that not happen, but the op itself turned out to be simpler than expected.

When Spenser questioned why the whole thing was so easy I expected an ambush. Abad Halani had, in fact, set an ambush (explosives buried in his underground compound), but it was for his brother Nouri’s, supporters who were out to avenge his brother’s death.

Bravo Team’s initial plan, once they realized the two factions were fighting each other, was to sneak into Abad’s compound and grab him before anyone noticed. They discovered Abad’s booby trap and decided to sit back and let Nouri’s people trip the mechanisms.

They had verification that Abad was in the compound which left them confident that when Nouri’s people breeched the compound Abad would take off though a back door and be picked up easily.

The half season long big bad was taken down much earlier in the episode than I expected. This left Bravo Team to clean up other loose ends and prep for their flight home.

I mentioned when Jason helped Ellis come up with that script to draw Hamid Gul Baladur into the open, that it felt like a hint to a post SEAL Team career with the CIA for Jason.

Unfortunately, unless Jason gets a handle on his need to charge in and get in the face of his targets, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Jason’s attempt to get the guy to confess didn’t work. (Hopefully, he didn’t really expect him to. Spies tend to be a little more subtle.)

Ellis understands subtle. Even after they dig up (literally) a hard drive containing Steve Porter’s evidence against Cutter, they don’t have enough to put Cutter away.

Ellis decides to go to Mulwray. She kills two birds with one stone. She gets Mulwray to drop his article about Ray accidentally killing the 10 year old, and she gives him the info on Cuttter. He’ll fill in enough pieces to do what Jason and Ellis couldn’t do legally.

There were several moments in the episode that gave me the impression that Jason wasn’t thinking with total clarity and a couple that had me wondering if the writers were paying attention to what they were doing.

The decision to try and get Cutter to confess, on tape, just didn’t seem to be the most clearly thought out plan. Then when he talked about murdering Cutter, without a thought for his own life, let alone what it would do to his kids, I was more convinced that the concussion was affecting Jason’s thinking more than he was aware.

Ray confessed his sins to Jason. Jason was pretty upset. Not in a screaming match way. Those are, for those seeking forgiveness, easy to deal with. You say what you have to say and put the situation to rest.

Jason, instead, seemed to shut Ray out. After sharing his theory with Ray (am I the only one that found Ray’s doubt a little odd?), Jason excluded Ray from the search for the evidence.

When Ray asked why he was excluded from the discussions with Ellis and Davis, Jason said he did it because Ray is a family man.

This is where I thought the writers either assumed we would forget that Jason has a wife and kids of his own, or it was another example of the effect of the concussion. As defined to this point, he is not the type of father who will get divorced and never see his kids again so, I can only think it’s the concussion.

Sadly, I suspect the writing staff is setting up to completely write out those kids next season. I sincerely hope they do NOT do that. That would move the character into a$$hole territory for me.

Ray was clearly angry with the way Jason was behaving. But, at this point, he clearly didn’t feel he was in a position to push the point. He did call Jason on not dealing with the concussion.

Things seemed so strained as Jason walked away that I find myself worried about their relationship as season two begins. From the look on his face, Ray seemed a bit worried about that himself.

Bravo Team headed home. Niama and kids (their daughter looks older than I thought) were waiting for Ray.

Sonny got a ride with Davis because he had bad news to share about Danny. Danny OD’d and was in intensive care. Davis went directly to his side. I wonder if they’ll still be together next season.

The moment with Sonny alone in his apartment struck me as very real. Sonny has been considered as one of the more emotional men on Bravo Team, but, for some reason, it was still a bit of a surprise to see it all land on him in that moment.

Clay reuniting with Sella was expected, but I did love the way that scene was set up and directed. There were several beats where the story could easily have proven Clay’s jealous concerns correct.

The director managed to keep it non-committal, which made the seen more interesting for me.

Jason and Ellis went for Mexican food. (Did the man even call his kids?) When Ellis went to get their food Jason went into medical crisis. I do not get why they decided to use this as a season cliffhanger. It had zero punch.

It’s not like there’s a chance that the David Boreanaz won’t be back next season. (At least I haven’t heard about in major personality issues behind the scenes.) If we’d seen the collapse of a secondary character, Sonny for instance, then I might have been invested in finding out if he’ll be okay. As it stands…it was wasted effort.

Actually, I do not believe this is a series that needed cliffhanger at all. It’s a very episodic show and those viewers who like the show will tune in for season 2 regardless.

Overall, I thought the back half of the season was better written and felt more like the show runners had a specific vision in mind.

Although, I did prefer the diversity of missions (different goals, different countries) we got while the guys were based in the States. I ended the season feeling that the rest of the characters were more solidly defined.

The last half of the season wasn’t perfect. The repetition of the ‘injured SEAL lying about his injuries’ subplot was mildly annoying and Cutter and Amy, could have been used better than they were. Neither really felt like three dimensional characters so much as plot devices.

Still, this is a series I will be back to watch during season 2. What did you think of the season finale? What did you think of the first season overall? Feel free to ramble in the comment section below.