Quincy M.E. (TV Series) Sword of Honor, Blade of Death (1982) User Reviews

Why is it every time you see any of Sam's family or friends it's when one of them is murdered?

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 8 June 2013]

The show begins with a drug deal being conducted between the American Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza. However, there's a hitch--during this deal, some of the guards realize that one of them is a cop and he's murdered. Soon, the body is identified as Michael Morishima--a cop and friend of Sam's. Based on a trend I've noticed in "Quincy", the only time you'll see Sam's friends or family is when one of them is murdered--sort of like when Quincy goes on vacation, some unsolved murder or death comes up to distract him.

In investigating the death, Quincy and Sam noticed the man was stabbed. However, the wound is VERY clean and atypical of the usual stabbing. Sam realizes it's because it comes from a Japanese sword--a single-edged but extremely sharp blade. This and a meeting with a special agent working on Japanese organized crime lead them to the Yakuza.

Unfortunately, during this investigation, the dead man's father (Mako) investigates the crime on his own and vows revenge. Eventually, however, the killers learn about him and set a trap for him. Now here is where it gets a little silly, when Sam learns about this, he, too, goes off like some sort of lone wolf instead of working within the system (just like the last time a family member was killed!). Overall, entertaining but highly improbable.

By the way, even though the Los Angeles Police Department has thousands of cops, why is it that Monahan and Brill come to the rescue at the end?! What are the odds?

Quincy channels Hawaii Five-O

[rayoflite24 · 7/10 · 24 January 2016]

Sword of Honor, Blade of Death starts with a drug deal between Japanese mobsters going bad when undercover cop Michael Moroshima (Mako) is identified during the transaction and murdered. Michael is a friend of Sam's (Robert Ito) and he and Quincy (Jack Klugman) conduct the autopsy which reveals that Michael was killed with a precisely sharp object, like a sword. This leads them to the Japanese Yakuza gang and Sam tries to assist the police in the investigation before Michael's vengeful father takes matters into his own hands.

This is a fairly decent episode which does feature a murder investigation but very little mystery as we see the culprits and how they committed the crime right in the opening scenes. Additionally, throughout this entire episode I felt like I was watching a classic episode of Hawaii Five-O with the police investigating Japanese organized crime and the murder of an undercover cop. Several of the guest stars in this episode also appeared on the original Five-O series at various times, so this added to the vibe as well. Unlike Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord), though, Quincy does not take charge in this crime story and leaves it to Sam to do the heavy lifting, so if you're a Robert Ito fan you will enjoy this episode.

Overall this is a reasonable and entertaining Season 8 episode which is worth watching, it just doesn't feel very much like a Quincy episode with Sam in the driver seat and a Hawaii Five-O type script and guest stars.

"This isn't a Bruce Lee film you know." Decent Quincy episode.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 13 July 2007]

Quincy M.E.: Sword of Honor, Blade of Death starts as Sam (Robert Ito) discovers that his close friend & L.A. cop Michael Moroshima has been murdered, however he still insists on assisting Quincy (Jack Klugman) with the autopsy because he's just a god damned professional. The cause of death was the piercing of the heart with a scalpel sharp blade, Sam tells Quincy about the Yakuza the Japanese equivalent of the American mafia & that Moroshima's death was probably due to a Yakuza hit-man. The mystery deepens as they find out Moroshima was on a special assignment, Sam's heritage & Asian background comes into play when he feels morally obliged to become involved in Moroshima's death & track down those responsible...

Episode 10 from season 8 this Quincy story was directed by Ray Danton & is a neat enough episode but not one I consider amongst the show's best. For a start Quincy himself in this episode is very subdued, I don't think he gets angry, shouts or makes an impassioned speech once! Now what good is an episode of Quincy without Klugman completely losing it on at least one occasion? None, that's what. In fact the more I think about it the more I realise Quincy doesn't really do anything in this episode & it's his trusty lab assistant Sam who does the detective work & gets into trouble. While Sam makes for a perfectly likable sidekick with all due respect that's all he is, a sidekick for Quincy to bounce ideas off & shout at. Then there's the whole Japanese Yakuza angle, the old guy who is supposedly one of the biggest crime bosses in Japan & he only brings two bodyguards? I don't know, it just felt cheap & poorly staged & without Klugman to help you ignore the low budget short comings it looks a bit tatty & unimpressive. I could have done without the sentimental 'code of honour' type message during this episode, it's been done to death & it's rather cheesy here.

This one looks alright, the so-called Japanese guy's are obviously American actors & would one police officer be allowed to listen in on a conversation between two mafia bosses without at least some backup? Didn't anyone know where he was? Considering they couldn't work out where he was killed to start with I guess not. Japanese character actor Mako was making his second of two guest appearances on Quincy after Touch of Death during season 3, apparently he died one day after being officially announced as the voice of Master Splinter in TMNT (2007).

Sword of Honor, Blade of Death is an OK time waster, it's not classic Quincy because he's barely in it & he doesn't get angry, shout or make a speech so that lowers the entertainment value straight away & Sam just isn't a Quincy is he? Which is why he's the assistant & Quincy is the star, harsh but true. Good but not great.