Is Jessica Paré Reprising Her Role as Mandy Ellis During Season 5 of 'SEAL Team'?

Actress Jessica Paré portrayed the role of Amanda “Mandy” Ellis since the drama series SEAL Team debuted in 2017. Mandy was introduced as a Clandestine Operations Officer who was serving in the Special Activities Division of the CIA who’s assigned with the Bravo Team as an analyst and CIA liaison. However, by the end of Season 2, she gets demoted to an interrogator because she gave up the location of a CIA asset. Throughout Season 3, Mandy tried her best to navigate her new reality.

Unfortunately, in the SEAL Team Season 4 premiere, Mandy tells her teammate and beloved friend Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) that she’s made the difficult decision to leave her life of service, meaning she would end her work with the Navy SEALs team. SEAL teams’ showrunner Spencer Hudnut released a statement to Deadline about her departure. Spencer stated, “Over the last 3 seasons, we’ve seen how war takes a toll not just physically but mentally and emotionally."

He goes on to say, "For Mandy’s story arc, it was finally time for her to retire and leave this life of service, but this does not mean we won’t potentially see her again later.” Mandy came back for Episode 10 and is back in Season 5. During Episode 4, which aired on Oct. 31 on CBS, team bravo finds their former member Mandy in grave danger while trying to stop terrorist attacks in West Africa. Keep reading to find out what happened to her and if Jessica will be making an appearance during Season 5.

After a terrorist attack by latter-day Isis disciples in West Africa, the Bravo team is set to take out three high-value targets who serve as the organization's mastermind. While carrying out this mission, Jason finds the photo of Mandy and realizes that she's being held captive by this terrorist organization, SGS. In Episode 5, Jason's focus remains on Mandy.

When the team is dropped onto the commuter train to disable the suicide bomber, Jason focuses on the last of the three SGS HVT's in hopes that he knows something about where Mandy is. There are so many questions about her being one of the SGS's captives. They are wondering how and why she got tangled up in this. Is she back at the agency, or did she never leave and instead was given a new cover? Jason wonders: Did Mandy lie to him?

It's obvious that something isn't right, and that notion is proven when Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks) discovers that Mandy's files had been redacted when she sneaks onto Carl's (Maximilliano Hernandez) laptop. The man in the photograph with Mandy is a powerful warlord whose compound was overrun by SGS two weeks ago, and Jason is wondering what she was doing with him when that happened. The only way all of these questions will get answered is if they find her.

To do that, Bravo needs to be on the op going after Saidou Boukare (Sallieu Sesay), the last remaining mastermind. Jason ends up getting his team on the op. Before Bravo and the Ground Branch team moves out, Jason is given a device that can pull data off any other devices in the area; hopefully, this will provide him with a lead on Mandy.

Hopefully, fans will get to see Jessica Paré make an actual appearance. We know fans are dying to witness Jason coming to Mandy's rescue. One fan after watching Episode 4 took to social media and tweeted, "JASON GO GET YOUR GIRL!!! #SEALTeam." Another tweeted, "Mandy looks rough! Jason needs to save her!" And another shared, “Holy s***t that’s Mandy now what will they do! I have a feeling this op is going to take a turn somewhere else! GREAT EPISODE!!”

Only time will tell if she comes back this season, and as the season unfolds, it will be interesting to learn exactly what happened to Mandy.

The first five episodes of Season 5 are available to stream on Paramount Plus. Beginning Sunday, Nov. 7, all-new episodes of SEAL Team will drop Sundays on Paramount Plus.