Move over ‘Lioness’, streaming finds new global sensation with 114-part military action thriller

Netflix has found a new use for an old military drama. SEAL Team, which originally premiered on CBS in 2017, arrived on the streaming service with all seven seasons in August, and the 114-episode series has since appeared on Netflix’s Top 10 charts in multiple countries.

According to Netflix Tudum, the complete series was released on August 18. David Boreanaz stars as Jason Hayes, the senior chief of an elite Navy SEAL unit whose dangerous assignments take the team around the world.

For viewers coming off Lioness, SEAL Team gives a different take on the military thriller. Rather than following CIA operatives, the series focuses on a Navy SEAL unit and the personal consequences that come with the job.

Netflix viewers are taking a second look at the CBS drama

The series did not just arrive on Netflix and disappear. During the week of August 17 through August 23, SEAL Team appeared in the streamer’s Top 10 in countries including France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, and Jamaica.

It continued showing up the following week, reaching No. 5 in Jamaica and No. 7 in Germany, Trinidad and Tobago. It also charted in France, Italy, Kenya, and Nigeria, while New Caledonia saw multiple seasons appear on the chart at different points.

Those are country-specific rankings rather than a measure of Netflix’s global audience, so they do not establish SEAL Team as the streamer’s biggest show worldwide. They do show that a series that ended its original run in 2024 is finding a new audience after being added to Netflix.

Seven seasons give the characters room to change

Created by Benjamin Cavell, SEAL Team follows Bravo Team as its members move between dangerous assignments and the lives waiting for them at home. Boreanaz leads the cast alongside Max Thieriot, Neil Brown Jr., A.J. Buckley, Toni Trucks, and Tyler Grey.

The military action drives the story, but the characters have plenty to deal with between deployments. Jason is trying to balance his career with fatherhood, while the rest of Bravo Team faces relationships, family problems, and the strain of constantly being sent into combat. As the team changes, those pressures follow them home.

The series ran for seven seasons and 114 episodes before ending in 2024, all of which are now available on Netflix. For viewers looking for something after Lioness, that makes SEAL Team less of a quick recommendation and more of a show they can disappear into for a while.

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