‘SEAL Team’ Season Six Premiere Leaves Major Character With Life-Altering Condition

SEAL Team Season 6 began with an emotional premiere that answered a big question right off the bat. Would Max Thieriot’s character be killed because of his commitment to another CBS series? Thieriot also stars in Fire Country, a new firefighter drama inspired by his real-life experiences in Northern California. The SEAL Team premiere helped explain how Thieriot could do both shows. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The episode picked up right where the Season 5 finale ended, showing the aftermath of the ambush in Mali. Clay Spenser (Thieriot) was injured, with his right foot completely blown off by an RPG. Clay managed to reset his fractured leg using a makeshift split. He tried to rejoin Bravo Team, even tossing grenades and using his sidearm.

Meanwhile, Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) got around the canton and took out as many enemy soldiers as he could. He even used a pen laser to make an enemy convoy to help their air support take them out. After the action, the team was taken back to a hospital in Germany, where Clay teetered between life and death for the rest of the episode. The broken leg was just the beginning of his injuries, as he also suffered internal injuries and bleeding, and was in danger of losing his spleen. Sadly for Clay, he needed his right leg amputated below the knee because of an infection.

Clay faces a “huge emotional and physical struggle” and “a journey of incredible highs and incredible lows” for the rest of the season, Thieriot told TVLine. Clay already had plans to leave Bravo Team to spend time with his newborn son Brian and Stella (Alona Tal). However, the character will still be an important part of the show.

“We’ll see the struggles of somebody who’s coping with losing the best job and life they ever wanted, at a young age,” Thieriot said. “It’s a lot… He goes through a lot this season,” the actor later said. “I would argue he goes through more this season than any character has gone through on that show.”

Although Thieriot committed to acting on both shows, he knew Clay could die. “Clay’s death, I think for everybody, has always been on the table,” he told TVLine. “The same can be said for probably almost every character on the show.” When asked how he could handle starring in two fall shows at once, Thierior exclaimed, “I’m an ambitious guy!”

SEAL Team debuted on CBS in 2017, but transitioned to Paramount+ during Season 5. The upcoming Season 6 will run just 10 episodes, with each published on Sundays. Meanwhile, Fire Country will debut on Friday, Oct. 7 at 9 p.m. ET as the lead-in to Blue Bloods. The series stars Thieriot as a young convict who joins a prison-release firefighter program that just happens to be fighting fires near his hometown. Thieriot is an executive producer on the show and he co-wrote the pilot. Fire Country will also be available to stream on Paramount+.