SEAL TEAM Stars Preview Season 3

SEAL TEAM is taking a big step with its third season, as the CBS drama filmed on location in Serbia for parts of the first couple of episodes back.

“The most exciting thing [about the trip], I think, is just to do something really different,” Judd Lormand (Blackburn) says.

“It’s exciting for them because of their schedule,” A.J. Buckley (Sonny) replies with a laugh to Lormand and co-star Jessica Paré (Mandy).

“I get to see how the radios work in Serbia,” adds Lormand.

In the season premiere, “Welcome to the Refuge,” Jason (played by David Boreanaz) leads a mission to Serbia, as the team tries to track down an organization that has been linked to bombing at military outposts.

“I think it’s really cool to expand the universe for SEAL TEAM, to have CBS take us out there,” Buckley says. “I think the viewers will appreciate the different topography, because the landscape is such a character [in] how the missions are planned and how we get in and out.”

“This is something about shooting in a different city,” adds Paré. And for her character, Mandy, season 3 will find her facing new challenges now that she’s been demoted. “That’s new and more fun to do. That’ll be a change for me and for the character.”

The drama is coming off of a serious and heavy season, as the show tackled family upheaval post-death, multiple near-death situations, issues with the VA, and inter-team issues.

“I think the biggest thing was honoring the stories we’re telling,” Buckley says. “We all hold each other accountable…because it’s our duty, as you know, the only military drama on TV right now to tell the story of the real sacrifices that they go through.”

“There were times last season that were tough,” Lormand adds. “The first couple off with Adam[‘s death]. Jason’s wife[‘s death]. Later in the season, where you’re dealing with the issues with the VA. And so I [would] get the scripts and it was so heavy. But at the same time, I think a lot of us went into it enthusiastically because we realized that these are the stories that need to be told. You suck it up and go and do it.”

“I think Max [Thieriot] knocked it out of the park with the VA episode,” Buckley continues. “I thought that was one of the most powerful episodes of the year. I got to hang out with some veterans over the hiatus, and everyone was like, ‘Thank you so much for putting that out there and showing how flawed the system is, and how hard it is for these warriors to come back. It was a real honor to hear the response that people had to that episode.”

Going into season 3, “I think we’re going to see more of who our characters are, which is so important,” Lormand says. ” You can only get so invested in the action and the drama to a certain point without knowing who they are. And we’re going to explore more about who they are, what they’re going through, and all the decisions that they have to make in everyday life and at work and that sort of thing. And mix it with all the action.”

“There’s some traumatic things [they’ve dealt with] that even though they’re suppressed, they’re still there,” Neil Brown Jr.  (Ray) says. “And they may start to billow up when you have someone like Jason Hayes—he’s at the tail end of his operational career.”

But viewers will get to see a lit bit of lighter things in the premiere. While Paré and Lormand were excited about a certain car chase, Brown Jr. is getting to do something a bit different.

“The fans are going to love me as an undercover taxi driver,” he says with a laugh. “Ray is one of the guys who went to SEAL Team spy school. So he is a spy; he’s trained in espionage. And so he’s undercover as a taxi driver in Serbia.”

SEAL TEAM, Season Premiere, Wednesday, October 2, 9/8c, CBS

RELATED:

• SEAL TEAM: ‘Ignore and Override’ Photos
• SEAL TEAM Season 3 Premiere: ‘Welcome to the Refuge: Part 1’ Photos
• SEAL TEAM Season 2 Finale: ‘Never Out of the Fight’ Photos
• CBS Renews SEAL TEAM
• SEAL TEAM: ‘My Life For Yours’ Photos
• SEAL TEAM: ‘Rock Bottom’ Photos

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