‘SEAL Team’ and ‘S.W.A.T.’ are cut from the same cloth.
Teamwork is what makes TV predictable. As in, how many shows can TV support about elite police or military teams? CBS will premiere a pair of team shows this season, “SEAL Team” and “S.W.A.T,” that even putting distance between their respective premieres on Wednesday and Nov. 2 can’t hide the fact that they’re essentially the same show.
Both are action templates, one about a SWAT team, the other about a SEAL team. Each features a he-man hero. There’s an attractive woman in a position of authority in both shows. And each show has the requisite young newbie with a rebellious, rule-breaking streak that reminds each hero of himself in his younger days.
The only real difference between the shows, aside from setting, is that one does an acceptable job with a cliché-ridden formula and the other doesn’t.
Even if “SEAL Team” weren’t the better show, it has a ratings head start with the presence of David Boreanaz (“Bones”) as Jason Hayes, leader of the elite Tier One SEAL team, who reports to bythe-book Lt. Cmdr. Eric Blackburn (Judd Lormand). Naturally, Hayes is a leader who doesn’t follow the rules, because TV leaders are boring if they follow the rules and do things by the book. Max Thieriot is the young whippersnapper, Clay Spenser, arriving with a chip on his shoulder and finding Jason ready at every turn to knock it off.
The pilot episode begins with Hayes talking to a shrink, Tony Soprano style, after his best friend has been killed while on a mission. It’s part of what SEAL teams deal with, or, in Hayes’ case, try to repress because another mission awaits.
Mandy Ellis (Jessica Pare, “Mad Men”), a CIA analyst, is often involved in calling the shots for the team. The team has the requisite level of diversity for standard contemporary ensemble action shows, and that includes relationship status. Hayes and his wife, Alana (Michaela Hayes), are taking a break from their marriage, underscoring how much of a strain it can be to be married to a Navy SEAL. Ray Perry (Neil Brown Jr.) is making his marriage work, but it’s still a challenge that he can’t be with his pregnant wife often enough.
The first two episodes of the show happen to have similar plots. The team is sent to do one thing, finds there are, respectively, a longtime American hostage and a group of civilians that need saving as well, is ordered to stay the course and follow orders, and disobeys.
Creator Benjamin Cavell and his writers pay valuable attention to character and dialogue. It may not rise to the level of “Homeland,” but at least we see the SEAL team and others as more than action figures.
“S.W.A.T,” on the other hand, is nothing but action figures, and when the characters do speak, they sound so moronic you may as well watch the show with the sound off.
Hondo Harrelson (Shemar Moore) is promoted to head his LAPD SWAT team after the team’s white leader shoots an unarmed black kid. Hondo is secretly sleeping with his boss, Jessica Cortez (Stephanie Sigman), but now that he has to report directly to her, they can’t continue their relationship. Or, sigh, can they?
Almost all the elements of predictability are in place, but what we need is a young rebel type to add ginned-up dramatic tension. Cue unintentionally hilarious chase scene where LA cops are pursuing a nutcase on a motorcycle, who skids up to the curb in front of the cop shop, pulls off his helmet and tells the cops to leave the ticket on his bike because he’s late for work.
When you stop laughing, meet Jim Street (Alex Russell), who thinks rules are to be broken. So does Hondo, but in his new job, he has to force himself to follow them. He won’t, of course.
That’s it. The action is nonstop and the dialogue is blessedly minimal.
The action looks completely fake, by the way, as if it’s all taking place on a Hollywood set and not on the real streets of Los Angeles.
Moore isn’t given any heavy lifting to do in the dialogue department, but he looks and acts the rebel hero he’s supposed to be. The show itself is flimsy and uninteresting, but given how mediocre the scripts are, it’s probably better that the writers don’t strain themselves creating actual threedimensional characters. Or even two-dimensional, for that matter.