PATRON TIER LIST - DS9 S2E19 - Blood Oath
TIER RATE Star Trek DS9 S2E19 - Blood Oath
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Comments (27)
I really enjoyed this episode the first time I saw it way back when, but I tended to skip it on the rewatch, so this was only my second time seeing it and... wow... talk about rose-tinted glasses. I mean it gives us some background on Dax and some characterization for her. And gives us some idea of just how long Klingons can live, and brings back more actors from the original series than any episode so far has brought back... but the episode just isn't all that good. I gave it a B-tier, but it's a low B. Because of how much I enjoyed I the first time I bumped it up a bit.
Love the Dax development. Love the Klingons coming to DS9. Love the Kurosawa. Not so keen on motorcycle bad guys. A great A.
I have mixed feelings about this one. It is great fan service, but it highlights some of the problems I have with TNG era Klingons. I know I am in the minority, but I have come to loathe what the Klingons have become. To me, Kor was always the model Klingon. Of course, he was the original, and John Colicos did such a great job in Errand of Mercy. On the other hand, Koloth never appealed to me much. With William Campbell playing the part, I just could not help seeing Trulane. Then again, his episode was a comedy, so much of that can be forgiven. Michael Ansara's Kang was a big step forward again. The movies further developed the Klingons and TNG did try to take them to a new level in the early seasons, only to have Ron Moore destroy everything that had been established. By season 2 of TNG in 'A Matter of Honor' a Klingon was "his work, not his family." A strong foundation had been laid, but Moore then made a mockery out of all that came before. Family suddenly became all that mattered to Klingons and Moore turned a once dignified race into a bunch of drunken, clumsy dolts, with no sense of honor at all. All they did was fight amongst themselves. One came to question how these incompetent fools ever established an empire to begin with. I totally despise Ron Moore's Klingons. It was great to see the original actors return to reprise their old roles here. Of course, Kor had to be corrupted to become a "new" Klingon and simply filled the role of the town drunk, bearing little resemblance to the disciplined, honorable villain Star Trek fans came to love and respect. Kang was nothing but a defeatist here, but Koloth at least gained a greater sense of honor and purpose than we saw in his original version. This episode did have some serious flaws, especially with the final assault on the Albino, but I was able to enjoy it. I'm probably being a bit generous, but there was enough nostalgic value and decent DS9 character material here to salvage a low A rating. The new Klingons still suck though!
I also have real problems with how limited and repetitive the Klingon culture became in TNG. It would have helped to feature non-warrior/politicians as well, to give us some contrast and unpredictability. The Romulans also suffer from being confined to certain kinds of plot (devious chess players basically).
Having all three Klingon actors is incredible. But the Albino story is dogpoop. Nobody cares about the Albino. He's boring. And the whole story pivots on him as a threat and he puts ya to sleep. If Dax and our Klingons had ANYTHING else to do, this would be an easy S. Unfortunately its a B minus.
Its a total C. What's the point of hiring John Colicos if you aren't going to let him be a nogoodnik?
S-Tier baby!!!!
C-tier. I like that they brought back some TOS Klingons and the first half is fun seeing them interact, but the actual assault on the Albino's compound puts me to sleep every time I try to watch it. Just does nothing for me. TNG ain't the only series with banger Klingon stories, this is just one of the weaker ones for me.
With each Dax episode we see more how there is a blend of two beings, Jadzia and Dax. Jadzia is the less sure, Dax is confident. Trill are fascinating. I loved TOS Klingons since Kor in Day of the Dove. The trill stuff and my Klingon boys get high marks. The plot was just okay. Overall a solid B
A for me, i used to think similar to Josh and Alex, but like many episodes it's grown on me over the years.
IMO, this would have been a great episode even without the original three. I only docked it a grade for a kindof crappy final fight, as many Star Trek fights are.
A low B-tier for me. Purely because of the 3 'notorious' TOS Klingons showing up in the 24th century for one last time (?). Plot is very meh; it's mostly just fan service imo. [points finger] "Oh cool! It's what's-his-name from TOS!" [gleeful look on face]
One of the reasons we ADORED this DS9 TOS Tribute in 1994, is because unlike Josh & Alex who watched TOS Episodes "ONE TIME" in syndication we had watched these beloved TOS Episodes 10X or more growing up. So I don't blame you guys for not having the investment the synidcation fans had watching these time & time again growing up, you just lacked the ZEIT GEIST of the original fandom of TOS in synidcation, so it MEANT MORE TO US, than Josh & Alex watching the Episodes "ONE TIME" upon review. This is easily an "A" episode, I can only not rate it "S" compared to what comes later with Klingons, but no spoilers! My TOS journey was from 1972 when I was 4 until I stopped watching syndication upon leaving for College in 1986 when I was 18, so I had a 14 years investment in TOS, by the time 1994's DS9 Tribute to TOS came out.
Had to go with A. Recently re watched it myself and it didn't land the same for me. But I loved Odo's change in attitude once he realized he had in lockup. Instant respect.
Bereaved Battlemaster Buried Beloved Baby Boy. Bygones Be Bygones? Bullsh1t! Better Begin Believing Brave Besties' Battleplan: Brutal Blows, Breaking Bones, Bloody Bat'leths. Bye-Bye-Bino!
Easy Banger. It's not perfect, but the fact they got all the OG Klingons from TOS back. Kor (Errand of Mercy), Koloth (The Trouble With Tribbles) and Kang (Day of the Dove) makes it unique!
One of the early season DS9 classics. The wordless final scene conveying everything through just looks is one of DS9's best closings, IMO.
❤️ 💖 One of my favorites. S-TIER!
I understand your criticisms, but it's still an S for me. Love this episode. There's a book called "Forged in Fire" that shows the events with Curzon, Kang, Koloth, and Kor. It includes Captain Sulu. It was a good book.
Pre-season 3, this was one of the more enjoyable episodes. I agree with your rating.
I remembered this as an awesome episode, but it fell a bit flat on the rewatch, going down to a very solid B for me.
A strong B for me. A unique type of revenge-plot story and good backstory for Dax. I like Jadzia having doubts about going through with it, and her great conversation with Kira.
Love the expansion of Klingon, Trill and Dax lore along with showing the 3 legacy characters but the choreography was pretty lame. Like with Alec Guiness in Star Wars the were three pretty old actors by this time.
It was an S for me going in, but I think your critisisms are fair and dragged me down to an A.
agree there are better episodes, but watching Jadzia in this episode is great fun - also love the Klingons - A for me
I enjoy this, solid B.
There are better episodes, but it gets an S from me!