Search

» » Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Honor Among Thieves (1993–1999)

Short summary

Chief O'Brien goes undercover to infiltrate an Orion crime ring.

Veteran character actor Charles Hallahan was originally scheduled to play Bilby but, unfortunately, was stricken with a fatal heart attack just a few days before filming was set to begin. Actor Nick Tate, who had also originally auditioned for the role but lost out to Hallahan, stepped in at the last minute and agreed to fill the role "in memory" of the fallen actor.

A new transporter effect was designed for the episode for the scene where Raimus and Gelnon transport in.

Farius Prime, which was mentioned in "The Maquis, Part I" as a side note, played a major part in this story, and was mentioned once again in "Prodigal Daughter", an episode which continues the arc of O'Brien's involvement with Bilby.

This episode contains one of the few canon references to homosexuality in Star Trek, when O'Brien turns down a female escort Bilby states "Don't tell me you don't like girls."

Nick Tate who played Liam Bilby also played Dirgo in the TNG episode "Final Mission".

Veteran character actor John Davis Chandler's last acting role.

Bilby is the name of an Australian marsupial which resembles a rabbit with a pointy snout.

The Syndicate had previously been mentioned in "The Ascent" (where it planted a bomb on and crippled the runabout carrying Quark and Odo to a trial where Quark was scheduled to testify against it) and "A Simple Investigation" (where Arissa is working as an undercover agent in an attempt to infiltrate it).

Gelnon was the Vorta who commanded the Jem'Hadar team who commandeered the USS Defiant in the previous episode "One Little Ship".

The character Bilby mentions his family lives in New Sydney. The actor Nick Tate was born in Sydney.

Though Worf, Dax, Bashir, Leeta, and Quark visited Risa (in Season Five's "Let He Who Is Without Sin...") around the same time Bilby claims Raimus persuaded a Starfleet officer working at Risa's weather control station to become an operative for the Syndicate, there is no indication that this character was ever seen on-screen in the earlier episode.

This takes place in 2374.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Dancing Lion
    This episode opens in a disreputable looking bar with a few disreputable looking characters discussing business; quietly watching them is Chief Miles O'Brien. One of the men tries to hack in to a computer terminal but the Chief causes it to 'spike' giving him a nasty shock and fuses his equipment… it is lucky Miles is there to help. As he leaves he meets another man and we learn he is involved in an undercover investigation into the Orion Syndicate. Back on DS9 the chief is being missed as only he can keep the station running smoothly. It looks as if the Chief's work is good enough and Bilby trusts him; soon he is being asked to fix faulty Klingon disruptors. Bilby uses one of them to kill the man who sold them to him. Soon the Chief is accompanying Bilby to see his boss Raimus, who is accompanied by a Vorta and a Jem'Hadar; the Orion Syndicate are working for the Dominion. That isn't the Chief's only problem; Bilby has told him that the Syndicate have a member of Star Fleet in their pocket who has given them the names of previous agents. By the time the Chief discovers what the Dominion want Bilby to do he has grown close to him and warns him that the Klingon's are ready for his assassination attempt, by telling Bilby who he is there is a chance Miles will be killed.

    I rather enjoyed this episode, it was very different to most episodes, and it felt more like a crime story than science fiction. Colm Meany was good as always as the Chief and Nick Tate was good as Bilby, it was interesting to see him getting closer to Bilby even though he was working to get him arrested. The final scene between the two where the Chief tells him who he really is was very touching, especially when he still went on with the attack even though he knew he would be killed.
  • comment
    • Author: salivan
    Miles Edward O'Brien gets tapped by Starfleet Security to find out how The Orion Syndicate is finding and killing Starfleet's undercover operatives.

    There is no explanation of how O'Brien is on this Planet, a whole planet which looks like Turk Street in San Francisco. The Bar O'Brien is in is so much like several places I used to sit down in to have tankards of various ales on Geary Street.

    While three crooks try to get a free meal out of a 24th century ATM machine, O'Brien "Spikes" one of the crooks, "Krole" (Carlos Carrasco, who was also in "House of Quark") who has a computer interface built in to his brain, making electric toast out of his expensive Lo-Jack.

    And so Miles is slowly accepted into Bilby's band of outlaws. Bilby (Nick Tate) is not your regular crook: He is not an evil man, he is a lot like O'Brien: A family man, and cares for his family, and his cat, Chester.

    The reversal here, is that Bilby is shown to be a man of high standards and morals, of a sort: But O'Brien's Federation Handler, he is a real piece of work - Right out of the Bourne stories, a real scumbag.

    "A simple investigation" gets more complicated when Bilby "Witnesses" for O'Brien in front of a man named Raimus (Joseph Culp): Raimus is a true representation of "Gangster."

    Bilby has gotten hold of three Klingon Disruptors, which were broken, no problem for O'Brien to fix. But what in blazes does Bilby's boss Raimus need with these things? The Federation Handler "Chadwick" (Michael Harney) keeps O'Brien on the job, to find out, even though O'Brien has already done his part of the bargain.

    But it is not so Simple for O'Brien, who has taken a liking to Bilby and wants to help him. He gets Chadwick to loosely promise that Bilby will be arrested and put in a "safe prison." But Chadwick is just yanking O'Brien's chain by this time.

    This is one of the stories, where you want to root for the Bad Guys to be able to get away: Until Raimus brings a visitor to Bilby: A Vorta named Gelnon (Leland Crooke)- And the creep wants to assassinate the Klingon Governor of the planet, and make it look like Gowron did it, so that maybe The Klingon Empire will pounce on The Federation like a pack of Targ - Or Ferengi.

    John Davis Chandler in one of his last Television roles is Flith, Bilby's other henchman. But he has done some "private business" behind Bilby's back and had not paid the skim to Bilby. The Vorta had found out about this somehow, and has Raimus assemble his men at The Bar: When The Vorta points out O'Brien, Flith speaks up and is shot by the Bartender in the back, so it's a close call: For Bilby too, as Bilby had never witnessed for Flith.

    Chadwick sets a Trap for Bilby, where The Klingons will most surely kill him. Miles can't have that, so he tries to get Liam Bilby to abort the assassination and come with him.

    The True Friendship that was developing between O'Brien and Bilby, is what makes this a great episode: O'Brien is always a man who is Straight-Forward: and like James Cagney, will look you in the eye and tell you the Truth. And so he hates this whole assignment. So he tells Bilby everything, but there is nothing that can be done except for Bilby to do his Job so that Raimus will never know that he knew O'Brien was a spy. He gives Chester, and his family by implication, to O'Briens care.

    As "out of place" this episode is, as inexplicable as O'Brien's presence on that Planet is, none of that needs to be explained. We simply do not need to know about any of that, it is a situation that O'Brien has found himself in, and the limits of his own personal Honor are tested to the extreme. And it is one of Colm Meany's finest moments, especially the interaction between Colm and Nick Tate, two master Character Actors.

    I loved everything about this episode, it was a highly welcome change from the Dominion War. The Vorta "Gelnon" was previously seen in the episode "One Little Ship"
  • comment
    • Author: Westened
    I noticed that another reviewer felt that this was THE worst episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space 9". Well, this series had quite a few terrible shows (though on balance, most were quite good) and I would venture to say that there are several much more terrible episodes I can think of right off the bat! However, I agree that "Honor Among Thieves" is not a particularly good show.

    When the show begins, O'Brien is in some other part of the galaxy because he's on an undercover mission. It seems that the dreaded Orion Syndicate has infiltrated Starfleet and because of that they need some outsider. What follows is much like a mobster film, with O'Brien becoming a made man and learning to over-identify too much with his new 'friends'.

    Why wasn't this a very good episode? Well, while O'Brien is only on this mission a short time, he way over-identifies with his new friends and his reaction to their being arrested or killed (due to their own evil) is ridiculous and makes no sense. Up until then, I hadn't minded the show--but towards the end it just looked like it needed a re-write...badly.
  • comment
    • Author: Liarienen
    O'Brien, for whatever reason, has been given the task of getting the goods on a sort of mafia syndicate. His engineering expertise is an asset to his role, but why he, of all people, would be given so much responsibility is beyond me. This job would require a skilled secret agent who could play the part of a trusted mobster. O'Brien is a shoot from the hip kind of guy and would probably be caught in a lie or slip up in the first five minutes. It's about a friendship that develops with a boss and the consequences of lying to him. Not a bad episode. Just not on a par with some others.
  • comment
    • Author: FEISKO
    "DS9" never really got much worse than this. "Honor Among Thieves" is a dull, overdone episode in which O'Brien goes undercover in a crime syndicate and finds himself developing a friendship with the man who would be his enemy. Oh, whatever! This episode has horribly cliché lines, an uninteresting plot line, and a plethora of WTF, random moments (Bilby's cat? The Dominion?). Nick Tate seems to be interested only in getting paid, and even Colm Meaney's performance wasn't what it should have been. I think the only other DS9 episode that reached that low level of quality was "Hard Time." Which is a shame, because O'Brien is an excellent character. That makes this episode all the more heinous for not showcasing him properly. A badly framed waste of time.
  • Episode cast overview, first billed only:
    Avery Brooks Avery Brooks - Captain Sisko
    Rene Auberjonois Rene Auberjonois - Odo
    Michael Dorn Michael Dorn - Lt. Commander Worf
    Terry Farrell Terry Farrell - Lt. Commander Dax
    Cirroc Lofton Cirroc Lofton - Jake Sisko (credit only)
    Colm Meaney Colm Meaney - Chief O'Brien
    Armin Shimerman Armin Shimerman - Quark
    Alexander Siddig Alexander Siddig - Doctor Bashir
    Nana Visitor Nana Visitor - Major Kira
    Michael Harney Michael Harney - Chadwick
    Carlos Carrasco Carlos Carrasco - Krole
    John Davis Chandler John Davis Chandler - Flith (as John Chandler)
    Leland Crooke Leland Crooke - Vorta Gelnon
    Joseph Culp Joseph Culp - Raimus
    Nick Tate Nick Tate - Liam Bilby
    All rights reserved © 2017-2024 hd.thomson-multimedia.com