I remembered absolutely nothing about "Honor Among Thieves” before watching it for this review. Now I know why I had forgotten it. There is nothing memorable about it. It is not even a particularly good O’Brien Must Suffer episode because it retreads old story lines as far as the character is concerned.O’Brien goes undercover in order to discover the Dominion’s associatio with the Orion Syndicate, which is the trek equivalent of the Mafia. He passes himself off as a tech guy to Bilby, a thief/killer/mob guy who is working for the Syndicate. Alon the way, O’Brien befriends Bilby. He has a difficult time fulfilling his mission o destroying Bilby’s plan because of the respect he has for him.
O’Brien blows his cover and tries to convince Bilby not to go through with it, but he knows the Syndicate will go after his family if he does not. Bilby is killed in the process. O’Brien winds up caring for Bilby’s cat, Chester, as per his last request.
It is not a bad episode, but you have seen stories like it on every crime show that has ever aired. The Burn Notice episode I reviewed Thursday night was a variation on the theme. Even the twist that O’Brien befriended the shady Bilby is not new. O’Brien-centric episodes have had him forming friendships with the hunted prey Tosk and the cell mate he eventually "killed” in “Hard Time,” so we have already seen he will make edgy friends.
I do not see the point in this one other than throwing in a mediocre O’Brien episode to meet the character variety quota for the season.
Rating: ** (out of 5)
