Valiant

DVD, DS9 S6 (Valiant)

Another part of DS9 is laid to rest. I'm kind of glad they dealt with Red Squad again, and showed it up as the misguided conceit it was. I forgot that almost all of them get killed. It was a huge relief when you first get back to that Defiant bridge with proper, seasoned officers, grey in their hair, and experience in their eyes! Red Squad was a great idea, and you can't judge the crew too harshly as they were behind enemy lines without guidance, but you don't warm to them, you see the single-minded determination, but it's misguided, more about personal glory than doing the necessary job. If they'd gone back to the Federation with the battleship scans, they'd have been lauded and rightly so, but they chose to believe they were better than anyone else. That arrogance caused their destruction. Partly to blame must be Starfleet itself for allowing them to think that way, in an experiment. The price was paid.

While Watters could make speeches, he didn't care enough for his crew. A Starfleet Captain would have reassured the emotional crewmember, bolstering her confidence in herself and her superior, but he just gets annoyed. He operates on a whim, promoting or incarcerating as he sees fit. And he didn't see fit, the burden he imposed on himself driving him to drugs. It's a really sad story, and a rare example of a Starfleet horror story. The good things about the episode are the excellent battle scenes, and particularly the Valiant/Defiant as we get to see more of it, such as brig, ready room, sickbay, and especially the escape pods ejecting (though it did seem amazing that only the one with Jake and Nog escaped!).

Jake and Nog stories have moved on a long way from the fun little mischiefs of old. But this time it's Nog's own shortsightedness that causes him to miss what Jake sees all along. But there's no satisfaction in being right this time. It does seem a little unlikely that the pair would be allowed a Runabout to go swanning off in the middle of war, but I suppose they were a safe distance inside safe space when attacked. The other cast members are effectively kept in the viewers minds with cameos, and it's good that they're still willing to do things like this - in Voyager you can't imagine a later episode that doesn't involve the Captain or main cast much. Good to have a familiar face from Red Squad in Shepard, too. Maybe not one of the best stories from a Jake and Nog perspective, but still a great story, with brilliant effects.

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