You probably weren’t expecting to come out of Valor‘s premiere with “Hello, My Baby!” stuck in your head, but that turned out to be one of many surprises hidden up the new CW series’ camouflaged sleeves.
The military drama, which debuted Monday, introduced viewers to Captain Leland Gallo (played by Sleepy Hollow‘s Matt Barr) and Chief Warrant Officer Nora Madani (Blood Drive‘s Christina Ochoa), the only two soldiers who returned home alive from a retrieval mission in Somalia. But neither the cowboy with a penchant for rough sex nor the pill-snorting pilot with a shady past are particularly thrilled about being rewarded with the Flying Cross for Valor — and for good reason.
You see, there were a few minor details that Gallo and Nora forgot to mention in their debriefs, like how they discovered that the “prisoner” they were retrieving was actually an American soldier thought to have been killed in action in 2014. And that a mysterious baddie named Richard Lasky was the reason that soldier was taken captive. And that Nora killed Richard while the unidentified soldier ran off into the night.
But let’s get back to “Hello, My Baby!” for a minute… One of the soldiers still in Somali custody, Jimmy Kam (Shades of Blue‘s W. Trè Davis), used the classic ditty to infuriate his captors, who believed that music was an offense to God. And under his captors’ orders, he also called home and essentially corroborated the lies that Gallo and Nora fed their superiors, adding to the mystery of what the frog is really going on.
But Valor is about more than just military conspiracies and Michigan J. Frog jams. This being The CW, every character — from the dutiful soldiers to the CIA big wigs — is beautiful. Sexual tension abounds!
Your thoughts on Valor? Grade the premiere below, then drop a comment with your full review.
I gave it a B. I’m still not sure about it though. It got me semi-interested in the characters and story. I’ll give it a couple more episodes before I decide if I’m sticking with it or letting it pile up and maybe getting to it later.
Nice chemistry between Ochoa and Barr. Other than that…
The central mystery holds zero intrigue. The CIA handler is preposterous. As crazy as it sounds, I wish this show were more CW-esque and was a soap at a military base.
I found it to be exactly that CWish and soapy lol
Sorry just not believable. I have watched 3 new military shows and this is by far the worst. Seal Team on CBS and The Brave on NBC is by far superior to this show. For a first episode it was boring and not well acted. Some of the scenes was so inferior. And again Hollywood once again can’t be original and not have another bi racial relationship and than have a Victoria Secret Model looker running the OP who is also interested in the black lieutenant.
Won’t be watching and be waiting for a show like Riverdale.
Are you implying that beautiful girls can’t be in the military?
Well, he’s super racist so it follows he’s also super sexist.
Frequency was better than this. Just sayin’
Last nights episode of The Brave was awesome whereas Valor kinda bored me. I think Seal Team is my favorite of the three.
Well if it would let me post links, I’d post a link to youtube- /watch?v=YPWjenUst2I
I hate it when Hollywood makes military movies where they allow actors to violate Army Uniform regulations just look cool. The leading Valor male actor had long hair and a beard and the female had long pony tail. Valor was not realistic and boring.
Awful. Female lead is overacting so hard. Bleh
Kinda agree. I wouldn’t say awful but yeah the female lead was a little rough. Didn’t care much for her acting style in Blood Drive either. I wasn’t really all that impressed with Matt Barr either and I usually like him.
I would have graded it but I couldn’t even make it through the 4 minute trailer. I don’t even blame the actors, the writing was cringeworthy.
Not a single person in the cast interested me enough to even give it a shot. Watching Seal Team and The Brave – both are excellent so far.
I thought the show was awsome and can’t wait to see it when it comes back on tonight i give it 5 stars
I thought it was OK. Matt Barr was the best part, though. I have to say that of the three military shows, Valor is my least favorite and The Brave is my favorite.
My husband and I binge-watched Valor! Unlike other shows, there is a twist and plots that aren’t obvious but tie together in the final episodes. We found ourselves wanting to know when the next season will begin. I appreciate shows that don’t spoon feed you the plots and Valor slowly unravels the layers. Of course, it hasn’t been renewed. Hope Netflix picks it up and continues the story. Could be great!
I agree with you. It is a good, good series and the plots and subplots help to make it that way.
I enjoyed this series very much. Would certainly hope that it is renewed.