SEAL Team season 6 saw production break ranks in a shift from network TV to streaming service Paramount+, causing fans to wonder if they should dig in or pop smoke. The sitrep at the end of season 5 puts fans waiting for SEAL Team season 6 firmly on their fourth point of contact. Clay Spenser, portrayed by long-serving actor Max Thieriot, disclosed thoughts of separation in the season finale, citing his duties on the domestic front.
Though family calls, fate may have other plans. Spenser and the men who serve with him fall victim to an ambush with an uncertain outcome, leaving Clay (and for a while, SEAL Team season 6) as a possible expectant. Fans remain in a state of profound VUCA: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.
Where—or whether—the operators will return for a sixth sortie remains to be seen, but those waiting for SEAL Team season 6 might find the following books, motion picture offerings, and podcasts just the thing to keep them occupied while they wait to hat up.
Ship’s Log (Read)
1. Hunter Killer, Brad Taylor
Not to be confused with the movie further down in this list that shares the same title and nothing else. This is the 14th novel in the battle-hardened and action-ready Pike Logan saga. As the story opens, Logan, head of the elite counterterrorism unit known as Taskforce, finds himself in the crosshairs of a
2. Trap the Devil, Ben Coes
The seventh book featuring Dewey Andreas opens with menacing understatement. The Speaker of the House is found dead, robbed of life by a drowning that was anything but accidental. Shadowy figures near power within the Military-Industrial Complex have decided to seize control of the US
3. Use of Force, Brad Thor
When the body of a high-value target is found washed up on an Italian beach after a freak Mediterranean storm, the intelligence community erupts in frenzied conjecture. The corpse is identified as a key suspect in acts of international terrorism who had disappeared years earlier. His sudden reappearance—even
4. Sins of the Flag Bearer, Jack Thorlin
Thorlin, the Atlanta-born writer behind the perspective-shifting Sins, has a classic thriller-author pedigree. A mechanical engineer with a law degree from no less than Harvard, the soft-spoken southerner (without the slightest trace of the Georgia accent readers may assume—but which hasn’t been heard in a
5. Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben
Best known for authoring the hit Netflix mystery-thriller The Stranger, this book appeared the year after the novel that would become the miniseries. It’s worth revisiting even if you caught it when it first went to press, as it has certain elements uncommon in the genre, like the woman protagonist at the center of
Fire Watch
1. Hunter Killer
In the unforgiving waters beneath the polar ice cap, an American nuclear submarine shadows its Russian counterpart, a newly launched attack sub about which little is known. The pair play a tense and perilous hide-and-go-seek that men who served both nations have been engaging in since the first Soviet
2. Lone Survivor
Set in the Afghan theater of 2005, a four-man SEAL team deploys with one objective—eliminating high-value target Ahmad Shah, leader of the Taliban. Mark Walhberg puts in a solid performance as Marcus Luttrell, and the mission (like everything in the perpetually wartorn nation) quickly gets more complex,
3. Hanna
Another unlikely protagonist is the center of the action here, this time with Saoirse Ronan playing the title role. Raised by her father (played with masterful restraint by Eric Bana) in the wild Finnish countryside, Hanna has all the skills needed to be an assassin at an age when most young women are just learning
4. Without Remorse
This may have been a much bigger deal than it is, had COVID-19 not shuttered the theaters it was supposed to have premiered in. It’s a solid sleeper hit on Amazon, where it keeps company with other Clancy assets like John Krasinski’s Jack Ryan. Clancy’s John Clark, played in an energetic and fierce approach by
5. La Femme Nikita
This one’s a bit different. The French production features a brutally violent opener that sets the stage for an unexpected rebirth. Nikita, played by the multi-faceted and unflinching Anne Parillaud, kills a French cop in a pharmacy robbery gone wrong. Sentenced to death, she finds herself reborn as an assassin trained
The Bosun’s Call (Listen)
1. Cleared Hot
Andy Stumpf became the first E-6 selection commissioned through the Limited Duty Officer Program in Naval history—after an already storied career full of challenge, achievement, and sacrifice. Carrying out mission count in the triple-digits in his 17-year stint, Andy has the stories—and the scars—to show for it.
2. SOFREP Radio
The hosts—a former SEAL sniper and Ranger/Green Beret—look at the world around the operator. Brandon Webb (the SEAL) and Jack Murphy (the Ranger) take a frank and piercing look at statecraft, spycraft, diplomacy, and the military tactics necessary when all else fails. Listen here.
3. What a Hell of a Way to Die
This is a little different than most military podcasts. While most career military are more conservative-leaning, Nate and Francis, who host WaHoaWtD, are pretty damn left of center. It’s interesting to hear a different perspective on military culture, defense developments, and issues affecting military veterans
4. The Scuttlebutt: Understanding Military Culture
A lot more goes into military life than guns, guts, and glory—most armed forces members don’t touch a weapon after basic unless they need to maintain qualification in its use. This podcast showcases some of what typical enlisted men and the officers who lead them go through daily. Even for civilian listeners, it
5. Bombshell
This bi-weekly podcast comes directly from Washington DC and presents insider expert conversation about foreign policy ins, outs, and oh shits. Never dull, the show features surprising takes on issues and situations most of us never learn.
What’s Next for SEAL Team?
Recent reports indicate SEAL Team season 6 will be happening on Paramount+ and that Max Thieriot will likely return. The show proved to be the most popular of Paramount+’s original content offerings. The men of SEAL Team will be back to execute more missions—and find out who the hell was behind that cliff-hanger ambush.
