Mini Review #58: Star Trek DS9 "Blood Oath" and "The Maquis Part 1" (Patreon)

It's getting GOOOOOOD! Not that DS9 wasn't already fantastic but these episodes were really great! Blood Oath was an amazing Klingon episode that brought back 3 Klingon legends for one final battle of revenge and glory. Well, 3 Klingon legends and Dax that is. It was so cool seeing these Klingons again, especially Kang who I just watched in TOS. Their brotherhood and desire for battle was infectious and made for some insanely entertaining interactions. My favourite part of the episode though was Dax and her desire to fulfill the blood oath she had made when she was Curzon Dax. Her struggle for Klingon acceptance, as well as her struggle to come to terms with the notion of killing, was really well written and provided a lot of emotion. There were some great conversations: Kira and Dax talking about killing and Dax and Kang talking about the desire for death being two standouts. Finally, the ending was tragic, sad, but wistful and was very impactful through its use of silence.

The Maquis Part 1 was a much anticipated two parter and worth the wait it was! There is so much tension and suspense from the get go as a Cardassian ship is blown up by a federation colonist. The polotical tension this leads to creates some outstanding moments of intrigue but also horror as this is one of the closest moments to war that Cardassians and the Federation have come to since the last one. With the treaty hanging by a thread and colonists on both sides refusing to co-operate, as well as a Vulcan women who seems to be supplying weapons to both parties, there is so much stress with each passing second. Sisko has so many moments to shine, especially in a conversation with Kira about the colonies and how he has to stop them. Gul Dukat was also in this episode a lot and I found myself loving him even more than I already did. I also did something I never thought I would, I started to trust him. I know he may still have an agenda, but the way he talked about Sisko, honour, and wanting to stop this fighting, felt true to me in some way and so for now, I say I trust the words of Dukat. Also, the ending of this episode left me on such a good cliffhanger and I am so excited to get to the second part next week (and The Wire!)!!