Valor premieres October 9, 9pm on The CW.
Valor, CW’s effort in the military drama department, sounds and looks exactly like what would happen if a group of CW writers got together each week, watched SEAL Team and The Brave, and then got the idea that they could adapt that story onto their network successfully. I attempted to watch the trailer for Valor knowing exactly what type of show I would see even before I pressed play and after having that confirmed, I barely made it halfway through.
I occasionally like some of CW’s shows, but I also am quick to recognize them for exactly what they are; pretty people with pretty problems. Sometimes those style of shows can be a guilty pleasure or a fun watch, but often times they simply come across as shallow and poorly written. Valor looks to continue that streak for the CW. While on some level I’m curious as to how a show such as this will attempt to depict service men and women, I know I need to keep my distance because all that I will receive is over-dramaticized storylines that are never resolved set up against the afterthought of the military.
SEAL Team and The Brave, while still a basic approach to the military, at least make an attempt at showing both home life and work lives as accurately as network TV can. It is because of this reason that I will tune in for those programs over Valor. Don’t be mistaken, The Brave still has a feeling of over production that seemingly is ingrained into all NBC shows and SEAL Team is produced by CBS which may automatically scare away anyone under 65, but I have seen both of these shows and enjoy them as part of my weekly TV routine. (Full Disclosure: I love anything David Boreanaz does and would tune in every week to watch him read a phone directory. No questions asked.)
Alongside my previous points, judging Valor by its trailer tells me all I need to know; it will more than likely follow CW’s usual story arcs where the first and last couple episodes will contain most of the “good parts” with everything in between being filler. It will choose drama over accuracy and the character development will be almost non-existent.
The last point will be the most painful in comparison towards The Brave and SEAL Team because both shows feature interesting, albeit predictable, characters that you are able to track their progression as people over the course of the season. That makes all of the difference in determining whether or not to return to a show each week. Valor will be the show this Fall that I won’t even think about again after writing this piece.
I would be surprised if CW continues it after one season, but then again, their way of “fixing” a show is keeping it on for eight or more seasons and then developing a spinoff. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. For now, I will stick with Boreanaz, who’s never lead me astray, SEAL Team and The Brave as my checked box for military dramas this Fall.
TV and City 