[5.8/10] Some of the problems I have with “Honor Among Thieves” aren't Deep Space Nine’s fault. It’s not the show’s fault that, only eight years later, Martin Scorsese would come out with The Departed and do the “undercover cop starts to sympathize with his target” routine much better. It’s not the show’s fault that, a little less than a year later, David Chase would come out with The Sopranos and do the “gangster has a family and the inklings of a conscience” thing much better. It’s no sin to inadvertently play in the same space as an Oscar best picture winner and one of the most acclaimed television series of all time and come up lacking in the comparison to latter day viewers.
Some of the problems I have with “Honor Among Thieves” are criticisms that can be at least partially laid at the feet of the creative team. While the writers can’t be held accountable for later films and T.V. shows, but they can be held accountable for the fact that Star Trek itself has already done this type of story with Ensign Ro in TNG’s “Preemptive Strike”. And more than that, they can be held accountable for the fact that the “double agent grows attached to his mark” trope is a familiar one, and they don’t add much in the way of new spins or wrinkles here.
Which is all to say that “Honor Among Thieves” is a perfectly sound episode of Deep Space Nine. The script does the work of dramatizing how poor Chief O’Brien would worm his way into the inner circle of Bilby (a mid-level Orion Syndicate mobster), why Bilby would trust and even take a shine to Miles, and why Miles would feel conflicted at best about throwing Bilby to the wolves for the good of the mission. This is a sturdy episode, with respectable performances, that moves through its story beats in commendable fashion.
The only problem is that those beats are all so tired and predictable that there’s essentially nothing to the episode. You just sort of set your watch, wait for the telegraphed moments of tension and inner turmoil, and then call it a day after all the subterfuge and conflicted emotions inevitably come to a head. There’s nothing wrong with this installment, exactly. It’s an ably done episode of television. But there’s nothing in particular to distinguish it or recommend it.
The big problem is that “Honor Among Thieves” needs to do two big things to pull a story like this off, and they’re interrelated. The first is to make us like, or at least sympathize with, Bilby, so that when consequences are about to come down on his head, we feel bad for him. The second is to explain why O’Brien is conflicted about his role in dropping the dime on Bilby and his operation, so that when it comes time to pull the trigger, we understand his hesitation.
The episode doesn’t fully achieve either. Remind me again why we’re supposed to like Bilby? He has a family. Okay -- so what? Plenty of gangsters have families that they love; it doesn’t excuse their bad acts. He’s nice to O’Brien. Sure, but O’Brien is also useful to him, with a mission to butter the guy up. He’s pretty crappy to his other two goons (who, to be fair, aren't much better to him). We never get a sense of some noble or understandable cause for Bilby; he’s just a run-of-the-mill mobster. And I’m as much of a fan of cats as anyone, but the mere fact that he has a fluffy feline named Chester doesn’t counterbalance the other stuff this guy’s involved in.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s tricky in a post-Sopranos world, but to me, Bilby is just another random mafioso. He’s not especially likable or sympathetic, and the fact that he’s a more well-rounded character is the baseline, not a reason for me to be on his side in all of this. He has no compunction about helping the Dominion neutralize the Klingons so that they’re only obstacle to dominating the Quadrant will be the Federation for chrissake! He’s not a good dude, (he’s mostly a generic one), no matter how many suits he buys O’Brien.
On the other side, it’s a little easier to understand why O’Brien is conflicted about throwing Bilby to the wolves. They’re both family men. Bibly stuck his neck out for Miles in a few rushed but solid instances. Even if the Chief thinks it’s fair for Bilby to be punished for his actions, he doesn’t want the guy to end up dead. All of that's reasonable.
But it’s also pretty thin. This is another “You can only do so much in forty-four minutes” problem. The core of Miles’ hesitation is supposed to be the bond he and Bilby form. But lived in friendships and connections take time to develop. You can try to use certain shortcuts, like repeating in dialogue what a big deal it is that Bilby “witnessed” for Miles, but it’s hard to genuinely feel that connection after a few off-the-shelf bonding scenes and not much else, especially when the safety and freedom of the Alpha Quadrant is hanging in the balance.
To the point, that's why some of the best scenes of the episode are set back on the station, not amid the neo noir crime thriller pastiche. It’s strangely heartening to see DS9 falling apart without Chief O’Brien there to fix everything. Worf has a point that Miles really should train his staff to be able to carry the load in his absence, but it’s a tribute to his abilities that only he’s knowledgeable and experienced enough to be able to manage the marriage of Cardassian and Federation technology that's on the station.
More than that, though, I love that, with Keiko and the kids conveniently off the station so the creative team doesn’t have to write for them, Bashir is there to stand in as Miles’ concerned friend back home, worrying and hoping that he’s okay. Now that is a friendship that's been developed over years, let alone a few episodes, to where the mutual loyalty is keenly felt, and any betrayal between them, even for the good of the Quadrant, would be devastating.
With Bilby, the show tries the same tack. It talks up the notion of loyalty and trust, and how breaking it, even for a good cause, would be an immense emotional challenge. Miles seeing how he sent someone to his death, petting the man’s cat in his absence, is supposed to represent this grave decision in the midst of espionage and war that he still has grave misgivings about. But for me, it remains a fine enough but paint-by-numbers version of a story told quickly that's been told better, and with more time, many other places.
Don't like this episode. Never liked it. Glad, that's not the typical "Miles must suffer episode" but it was never really exciting. Despite the ambitious stage design (a dystopian world with shady Illumination and flickering light bulbs), I feel it's another inconsequential experiment. In theory, it's perhaps cool. In practice it's only mediocre. Most of the time you don't know what his task really is. And despite finding out at one point (something with the Dominion and a criminal syndicate), you never really understand what is really at stake for the federation and how important this mission of Miles really is. The story doesn't seem to care either. In the end it's only a story about Miles trying to be jolly good friend (he's a jolly good Irish family man after all). If that's supposed to be an emotional ending, writers failed. I don't care about this guy. I don't know him, he's obviously a not very clever criminal and I find it hard to believe, that Miles really became a true friend of his. Plus, I don't like these Mafia vibes. It's like parts of The Godfather but much worse.
Strobe and flashing lights warning for anyone who cares. Honestly, kudos to O'Brien finally getting a coolish (in theory) solo where he doesn't get physically tortured, but it's really not worth the headache and nausea. Skip through and watch the last 5 minutes, you'll not miss much.
Review by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2018-04-23T21:51:34Z
Every so often we're given an episode that attempts to break out of the typical Trek boundaries. Usually these episodes can turn out to be fun diversions or impressive pieces of storytelling. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.
Nothing about this episode works. From the off it's broken as we are given the unexplained and ridiculous premise that O'Brien of all people has been sent undercover to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate. O'Brien. Seriously. The chief engineer on the Federation's first line of defence in the war. I have no idea what possible skills he could have that caused him to be selected or why he ever agreed to go. It's nonsense.
Then we have Star Trek's attempt to portray criminals. This never comes off as anything but pathetic, and episodes can usually get away with it because we're having campy sci-fi fun. But when it's supposed to be serious like this, everything about the "bad guys" comes off as nothing but incompetent non-threatening thugs who like to posture a lot. The big scary Orion Syndicate we've heard about turn out to be as intimidating as a puddle. A similar thing happened over on TNG with the 'Gambit' episodes.
To compound things further, O'Brien makes a complete mess of things by beginning to sympathise with Bilby. Who, don't forget, is a murderer. But it's okay, right? Because he's got a heart of gold and loves his family. I complete side with O'Brien's handler here, and can't see Miles as anything but a bit of an idiot in this one.
If the episode does have anything going for it, it's that Nick Tate in the role of Bilby is quite charming, even if he's completely unbelievable as a mob boss. And the cat is cute.