“Valiant” is an installment that has some interesting goals but is, otherwise, a very poorly realized episode. The problem starts with the fact that its premise is simply too implausible. But the this is compounded with some poor writing, directing and acting. Ultimately, this is an episode that is entirely forgettable.

Jake and Nog are on their way to deliver a message from Starfleet to the Grand Nagus when their shuttle is attacked by a Jem’Hadar fighter. The wander into Dominion-controlled space and are on the verge of being destroyed when, out of the black, comes a ship that looks just like the Defiant, called the Valiant. What’s unique about the Valiant is the fact that it’s entirely under the command of Red Squadron — an elite cadre of Starfleet Academy cadets.

How did teenagers get a hold of one of Starfleet’s most advanced warships? They were on a training mission, eight months earlier, when war broke out. The senior officers on board were all killed and the dying captain promoted cadet Watters to captain. And for the past eight months (!) they’ve been operating behind Dominion lines, in search of a new warship.

The problems here are many. For starters, while it’s unrealistic to think that a cadet training mission would have been to “circumnavigate” the entire Federation. But wait … the original mission was for training purposes. How did they suddenly have a wartime mission? And even if that were somehow possible, while a dying captain just might promote a cadet to acting captain, the senior officer most certainly would not have ordered the cadets to continue their mission. And oh by the way … wasn’t Red Squad involved in deliberate Starfleet sabotage back in “Homefront”? How would they continue to get such preferential treatment after that?

Nor is it even remotely possible that a ship crewed by such blind zealots as those on board the Valiant could possibly survive for eight months all on their own in hostile territory … with less than warp 3 capabilities. It all makes no sense whatsoever. But that’s not the end of the problems of this episode.

What’s worse is that, even though the episode wants to portray these cadets as headstrong and narrowminded, they all come off as entirely unlikable people. Part of the problem is writing (would Watters *really* come down so hard on Jake Sisko, simply because Jake talked to a cadet?) and part of it is performance. The First Officer is about as deep as a sheet of paper.

Their actions on board ship, while clearly demonstrating group-think (and the episode really wants to be a cautionary tale about such things), border on incompetence. Even Nog gets swept up into it. What’s worse, is there are Vulcan cadets on the ship who seem to voice no objections about the illogical decisions to spend eight months hunting after a Jem’Hadar warship (incidentally, how could they spend eight months searching for a top-secret warship that never ever appears anywhere in battle during that time?).

There are a host of other problems from a bizarre Red Squad! chant (honestly reminded me of those gawdawful kids from the TOS episode “And The Children Shall Lead”) to the suicide mission Watters orders everyone to undertake to the fact that the *only* escape pod to survive is the one containing Jake and Nog.

“Valiant” just misses the mark on so many levels that it barely avoids being an abject failure. It does get some credit for its intentions, and for nice action moments. But there’s very little here worthy of remembrance.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine