There's a lot I liked about the episode, including how Cadet Captain (Aka "the bloke who looks like Chris Pine who looks like William Shatner" or "Captain Gunho" cuz that's faster to type) could not be overrode by Nog.
The setup and climax are both somewhat contrived, as the cadet would be told to take the ship home if he were to be killed. It's a powerful enough war ship and not a cruise holiday vacation liner.
And how could the Dominion ship manage to not shoot the other pod? (Or "The Rule of Main Cast Members not being blown to bits(tm) during midseason".)
But those aside, there is an interesting theme or two being explored that more than make up for the brushed aside opening an denouement: Ego, Icarus & Daedalus, drug use (uppers) to get through harsh times, chain of command, how captains become great (though Jake's reasoning wouldn't be listened to by any number of reasons)
I also liked how Jake and the crewmember he talks with (who looks surprisingly a lot like Tilly) is followed up by what would be a cliched offsreen event had they talked after Captain Gunho hold him not to because we knew Jake would. This brings up two if not more interesting concepts in play in this episode) An innovative and handling of an important subplot to bypass expectation.
It's also an interesting scene as we see just how war impacts the not fully trained, which reminds me of WW1 doughboys, Vietnam soldiers, and everyone in between - if not more. Captain Gunho was right, just as Picard was to Wesley in "Contagion" over the deaths of the Yamato crew (about being trained to put emotions aside).
One really wants to feel for the Squadron as they realize their intel wasn't perfected. The heart sinks as the ship survives unscathed and all heck breaks loose.
The ending is unintentionally hilarious as Nog reminds Jake to cover both sides of the story but is adamant in that Captain Gunho is a bad, bad captain while returning the lapel pin in knee-jerk emotive disgust, without thinking of the other side - it'd be easier if Jake's new colleague had died with everyone else. The captain was flawed. He wanted his TEAM to still have greater glory (ego). He made a very bad and stupid decision (a risk that would help not just the war but the sheer awesomeness of Red Squad), or others, but he wasn't overtly evil as such - scene set pieces would show him being more than a young adult popping pills and wanting to keep "RedKangs Squad the best" true to its myth. He wanted to find a way to end the war but all he did was prolong it. As well as not transmitting the ship weakness to Stafleet Command for further analysis, which was an interesting omission that also reminded why they're cadets.
It's not without its faults, certainly, it's only a 43 minute episode that had to put in constraints somewhere, but what it does focus on allows much food for thought and makes it easy to forgive the opening and endings, both rushed to focus on the meat in the middle of this sandwich of an episode.
9/10
The setup and climax are both somewhat contrived, as the cadet would be told to take the ship home if he were to be killed. It's a powerful enough war ship and not a cruise holiday vacation liner.
And how could the Dominion ship manage to not shoot the other pod? (Or "The Rule of Main Cast Members not being blown to bits(tm) during midseason".)
But those aside, there is an interesting theme or two being explored that more than make up for the brushed aside opening an denouement: Ego, Icarus & Daedalus, drug use (uppers) to get through harsh times, chain of command, how captains become great (though Jake's reasoning wouldn't be listened to by any number of reasons)
I also liked how Jake and the crewmember he talks with (who looks surprisingly a lot like Tilly) is followed up by what would be a cliched offsreen event had they talked after Captain Gunho hold him not to because we knew Jake would. This brings up two if not more interesting concepts in play in this episode) An innovative and handling of an important subplot to bypass expectation.
It's also an interesting scene as we see just how war impacts the not fully trained, which reminds me of WW1 doughboys, Vietnam soldiers, and everyone in between - if not more. Captain Gunho was right, just as Picard was to Wesley in "Contagion" over the deaths of the Yamato crew (about being trained to put emotions aside).
One really wants to feel for the Squadron as they realize their intel wasn't perfected. The heart sinks as the ship survives unscathed and all heck breaks loose.
The ending is unintentionally hilarious as Nog reminds Jake to cover both sides of the story but is adamant in that Captain Gunho is a bad, bad captain while returning the lapel pin in knee-jerk emotive disgust, without thinking of the other side - it'd be easier if Jake's new colleague had died with everyone else. The captain was flawed. He wanted his TEAM to still have greater glory (ego). He made a very bad and stupid decision (a risk that would help not just the war but the sheer awesomeness of Red Squad), or others, but he wasn't overtly evil as such - scene set pieces would show him being more than a young adult popping pills and wanting to keep "Red
It's not without its faults, certainly, it's only a 43 minute episode that had to put in constraints somewhere, but what it does focus on allows much food for thought and makes it easy to forgive the opening and endings, both rushed to focus on the meat in the middle of this sandwich of an episode.
9/10
