‘To See It End Was Tough’: ‘SEAL Team’ Alum Max Thieriot Reflects After Series Finale

On the heels of SEAL Team’s finale, Max Thieriot is looking back at his time on the military drama. Before the actor starred in and created Fire Country, he starred as Clay Spenser on the CBS-turned-Paramount+ series. Due to his obligations to Fire Country, Thieriot exited SEAL Team midway through Season 6, with the series killing him off. While he hadn’t been on the show for a while, now that it’s officially done, he told Deadline just how hard it really was to leave the show that made such a big impact on him.

“To see it end was tough,” Thieriot shared. “Also it was difficult leaving that show, it has such an incredible cast and crew and just really, really wonderful people. There’s definitely a major case of FOMO where I really felt like, what are these people who I spent every day with, what are they doing? The show was a really incredible experience, one because I got to know everybody over at CBS Paramount and join the CBS Paramount family, and obviously, where those relationships and those friendships have taken me now has changed my career forever.”

“But, the show also left a huge impact on me,” Thieriot continued. “It was a really humbling experience to get to work with all these veterans and to get to tell these stories that, I think, were really important and needed to be told to support the military community. I think that show did an incredible job of bringing a lot of things to light and bringing awareness for people, and to be able to be a small part of that and to tell some of these really impactful stories was life-changing for me.”

While many people were likely hoping that Thieriot would still return for brief cameos after his exit, that did not happen, and it’s not so surprising considering how busy he’s been with Fire Country. At the very least, the series did frequently bring up Clay and still include his wife, Stella (Alona Tal) and their baby son, Brian, every once in a while. Of course, Thieriot had a good reason for not returning, and at least the show meant a lot to him.

SEAL Team ended on Oct. 6 after seven seasons and 114 episodes. While it was hard to tell how the show would end and if anyone else would die, surprisingly, Bravo came back whole, even if some members went their separate ways after their final mission as a full team. Even though Max Thieriot couldn’t return to SEAL Team, perhaps some SEAL Team stars could pop over to Fire Country for a bit.