SEAL TEAM: All Along the Watchtower (2019)

 

            Besides reviewing war movies, I also review war TV series.  I do this as part of my “First and Ten” project.  This is where I review the first, tenth, and best episodes.  Sometimes I find a series that has a two-parter that can be dealt with as a movie.  I have been able to do this with “Twelve O’Clock High” and “Combat!”  As I am working my way through “SEAL Team”, I ran into a two-parter that works for a movie review.

            “SEAL Team” came about when CBS decided it wanted its own military drama based on special forces operators.  It was inspired by the History Channel’s “Six” which was about SEAL Team 6.  That show blended missions with the characters’ home lives.  It was part special forces, part soap opera.  “SEAL Team” is modeled that way, too.  Ironically, “Six” was cancelled after two seasons.  This happened when the History Channel realized the show did not have any aliens, truckers, or pawn brokers.  “SEAL Team” premiered in 2017.  In 2021, it shifted to Paramount+.  The show was supposed to star Jim Caviezel, but he backed out due to creative differences.  David Boreanaz turned it down when it was first offered, but when it was reoffered he signed on. This was his first show after 12 years on “Bones”.  His character, Jason Hayes, is based on Mark Owen (not his real name), a SEAL who participated in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.  Former SEALs participate in the show.  Many of the episodes are based on their missions.  Some work as stunt men.   (In 2019, the series was nominated for an Emmy for stunt coordination.)   Others have acted in the show and have helped write episodes.

            The two-parter I am reviewing is entitled “All Along the Watchtower”.  It is loosely based on the Benghazi Incident of 2012 where an American ambassador was killed by militants and a compound was besieged.  If you have seen “13 Hours”, it makes for a good comparison to how TV handled the Benghazi Incident.  The two-parter centers around a protection detail for Ambassador Marsden (Khandi Alexander).  She is trying to broker a peace deal between participants in a civil war in Yemen.  She is ex-military and not your usual politician.  She is determined to bring the leaders of the opposing sides together to discuss peace.  Her protection detail is Ray (Neil Brown, Jr.) and Clay (Max Theriot).  It is supposed to be a lark.  They come under fire and take refuge in a compound that has a wall, but is not ideal for defense.  The rest of Bravo, led by Jason, is sent to rescue them.  They have to fight their way to the compound and it’s Alamo time.  The ambassador has to be talked out of leaving to go talk to a warlord!  She is recklessly brave.  And naïve about the situation in Yemen.  She has become a target for a large number of insurgents.

            These two episodes are characteristic of the series.  There are several running threads.  Sonny is moping around since his breakup with Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks).  He is cold toward Ray because he blames him for the breakup.  Clay is belligerent toward the new team member, Vic (Lucca De Oliveira) because he has a bad vibe about him and did not want him joining the team.  Jason is giving the new physiologist (Emily Swallow) a hard time.  She’s been brought in to help them with physical problems due to their dangerous activities.  Jason is the “rub some dirt on it” and get back in the game type.  The episodes do not continue arcs from their home life.  They are focused on the action-packed rescue.

            The two-parter follows one of the shows templates.  An easy mission becomes complicated. Numerous opponents need to be disposed of.  The team is in contact with Commander Blackburn (Judd Lormand) and Lisa Davis.  They coordinate from headquarters.  Satellite views give the viewer a perspective of what the battle site looks like.  Besides Davis, the other recurring female character is C.I.A. agent Mandy Ellis (Jessica Pare).  Usually, Mandy starts the mission with some intelligence, but in these episodes, she is with the Ambassador in the Alamo.

            A typical “SEAL Team” episode has a lot of action when the s--- hits the fan.  This one is above average in ammo-expending.  The team uses a variety of weapons, as do the enemy.  The bad guys use AK-47s, always ineffectively.  The only scary weapons the SEALs run into are RPGs and Dushku machine guns.  The second episode has a neat scene where Clay runs to an abandoned technical with double Dushkus and then slaughters a bunch of insurgents.  America, f--- yeah!  The show is not graphic, so you do not get R-rated war movie bloodshed.  You also don’t get realistic dialogue because the SEALs don’t use 4-letter words.  They don’t use a lot of military jargon or acronyms, so your average viewer can follow.  The dialogue may be tame, but it’s not lame.

  Normally, the mission involves the team going in to get something or someone.  They kill enemy as they come out in the open where they are easily killed.  Seldom do they hide behind something and ambush the Americans.  It is rare that any of the team members gets wounded.  This is not Star Trek.  There are no red shirts.  Even in an Alamo situation, none of the team gets even a scratch.  The same can’t be said for the Ambassador.  This is one aspect of the episodes that is surprising.  Usually, “SEAL Team” episodes are fairly predictable.

It makes sense to compare “SEAL Team” to its sisters “Combat!” and “Tour of Duty”.  It is better at allowing all the main team members to get some meat.  It has home front scenes, including with wives and children.  But there are episodes where the home front is not intercut to.  It has two strong female characters that are essentially part of the team.  There is more dysfunction than in the other two.  It has more action than the other two series because most episodes involve going into danger and killing.  They globe hop a lot.  The war on terrorism allows for that.  The series also has more multi-episode missions than the other two.  All three have a core cast.  ST has a more varied group of personalities and the acting is better

If you have not watched any “SEAL Team” episodes, you could get a taste by watching “All Along the Watchtower”.  It’s exemplifies a typical episode.    The series stakes a claim to the best war TV series ever made. 

GRADE  =  A-