#o'brien must suffer

[writergeekrhw]

Why all the O'brien torture?

Three reasons:

Colm was really, really good in those episodes. When writers know an actor will nail a certain type of episode, it inspires us to write more stuff like that.

O'Brien is an everyman character, a regular Joe, and we believed (I think correctly) that his suffering would resonate more with the audience than if we were to do a similar story with, say, Dax.

We did other character suffering episodes on DS9 too, but people just don't fixate on them the way they do with the O'Brien ones. For example, there are several Kira Must Suffer episodes, including "Second Skin" and "Heart of Stone." "The Visitor" is arguably a Sisko Must Suffer. So why are there no Kira Must Suffer or Sisko Must Suffer memes? See answer 2.

[trekfacility]

just watched star trek ds9 "hard time" where o'brien was punished on some random ass alien planet by experiencing 20 years in prison holy shit what the fuuuuuckkk!!!!! the darkest episode of all star trek???!!

[tuttle-did-it]

help i just remembered everything Donna Noble has gone through and now I'm so sad

I've seen all of ST:TNG and all of ST:DS9 and I gotta be honest... I think Donna has suffered more than any other DW companion, and maybe even more than Miles O'Brien.

[obrienmustsuffer]

[usstrekart]

"Time's Orphan" (S06E24, Stardate UNKNOWN) does not deserve its reputation. I find it to be a rather poignant episode that hits me hard as a parent. It raises a simple, yet large sci-fi concept and some real parenting issues. Plus, we get to see a family dynamic that is too often overlooked in Trek.

I had a couple of ideas for my poster. I settled on Molly's drawing because I felt it captured so much of what the heart of the Obriens' struggle was.

[incorrectgarashir]

Holodeck shenanigans (we hope!)

Police: You’re under arrest for trying to carry three people on a single motorcycle. Julian, with Jadzia and Garak behind him: Wait, what do you mean THREE?! Police: Yes…three. Julian: Oh, my God— What the fuck!? Police: Wha- Julian: MILES FUCKING FELL OFF!

[puparella]

Basically DS9 Fanfiction in a nut-shell.

[katakarambles]

Miles Edward O'Brien

[writergeekrhw]

DS9 Hard Times

Was Ee'char implanted in the simulation to torment Miles with positivity and hope during his imprisonment?

Or was Ee'char a genuine mercy from the Argrathi to comfort and "rehabilitate" Miles?

Thank you for this wonderful episode. I loved it!

Pretty much the first one. The Argrathi aren't big on mercy.

They wanted O'Brien to... umm... suffer.

[obrienmustsuffer]

[usstrekart]

"Honor Among Thieves" (S06E15, Stardate Unknown) doesn't do enough to overcome the lack of chemistry between O'Brien and Bilby. I don't buy a non-comm engineer assigned to this role when Starfleet operatives were compromised and though O'Brien'd character is spot-on the emotion of the finale is not earned.

I really struggled to come up with an image for here, but I settled into simply showing the device that Miles repaired that got him into his mission.

[kadanungra]

Inktober day 6 - Trek "I told him (Ira Behr) that I'd be happy to come on for this new show of his (Deep Space Nine), but that after years of having such a small role on TNG I had one stipulation: O'brien Must Suffer" - Colm Meaney

[chaos-good-life]

Ok, I’ve seen a few people say this, and I have to know: why don’t people like Deep Space Nine’s Chief Miles Edward O’Brien?

I don’t recall anything in the show that makes O’Brien truly objectionable. Maybe that’s because I’m an old cynic, but he doesn’t seem particularly problematic.

[oncemorewithqueering]

NO BUT WHY DOES THIS SCREENSHOT EXIST

[latitudesattitudes]

If you know you know.

Me when I don't have to suffer for 45 minutes.

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 4x18 Hard Time thoughts (I’m re-watching, so beware spoilers for future episodes!) [11 July ‘23]

"Do you wish to add anything to the official record?" His scared shake of his head. Already my heart and we're not long in.

Kira's hard face. She's so gentle with him :3

"I used to dream about this. Being on in runabout, coming through the wormhole, seeing the station again." The time loss thing is so jilting, I love how they've managed to make it weird for us, echoing just a little bit of O'Brien's feelings.

Kira's obviously so uncomfortable with the dream versus reality situation, and Miles' experiences.

He's walking so stiffly, you can tell he still feels as though he's aged 20 years in his body...

"Julian. Is it really you?" "It's me." This meeting is so short but still my heart 💔Julian can't take his eyes off Miles.

"I can't imagine what it would have been like. Twenty years in that cell." At least Julian's talking like it was real, unlike Kira's 'it wasn't real' vibe.

"I was alone." Cut to flashback of not being alone. I'm looking forward to seeing this with the knowledge of what has happened in the prison.

*Miles' hesitancy over ordering something from the replicator? "Computer? A piece of chee'lesh fruit, please." What different ways are there of saying "oh my heart" because I think I'll be needing some....

"Miles? Oh, Miles." Keiko is so fantastic, and oh, their reunion is so understated but so good.

I'm so jealous of the recycling capabilities of replicators.

"I've been alone for so long." He didn't even need to mention of he'd been alone or not, he's really keeping up the pretence, making sure his barriers are high. Or maybe trying to make himself believe it.

"How do you do that? Laugh?" It's so weird. Ee'char is so nice and then you remember he was completely created just to break Miles. I keep thinking "it was a good thing Ee'char was thing was there for Miles" and then having to fight to go "no, actually, Ee'char wasn't real."

"Do I need one seventeen, or two?" "I am not sure." It's sweet that Worf is trying, despite his dislike of games.

There's something so heart-hitting about Jake reteaching Miles the engineering stuff. It's lovely that Jake has learnt enough from Miles for it to go the other way.

"I don't want to be embarrassed in front of the repair crews." But it says a lot that he's not in front of Jake, despite Jake being less of an expert.

"You may be a little rusty, but you're still the Chief." "Oh, well if I'm still the Chief, I say we go through it again." That's the old Miles shining through there!

I'm sorry HOW does Julian walk down a ladder?! Facing forward like their stairs?! Seriously, go watch this clip!

"I just want to forget about what happened on Argratha and get on with my life." -just like that, hey? I'm sorry Miles, it doesn't work like that.

"Tell me about Keiko again." Is that subtle Argrathi torture or Ee'char niceness?

Ee'char calls him Miles - does anyone on the station call him Miles usually at this point? (To check when spreadsheet updates!)

I feel like losing control and hurting Quark isn't going to help with the guilt he's feeling about losing control and killing Ee'char. Miles, you can tell your spiralling, I know you're scared but please get help!

"Please, Captain. I'm asking you as a personal favour to me, give me one more chance." "I wish I could. But right now, in the judgement of this station's Chief Medical Officer, you're unfit for duty." Oof, throwing Bashir under the bus. (I definitely headcanon Julian's prepared to take on all of Miles' anger so he can still get support from the others.)

"You should listen to him, Miles. He cares about you just like I did. Don't make the same mistake with him you did with me." OUCH. HallucEe'char! That's basically implying Miles might kill Julian!

"Don't you get it. You're not my friend. Not anymore. The O'Brien that was your friend died in that cell." "He's not dead. He just needs a little help, that's all." Oh Julian, still trying and trying and trying.

"He wants to help you." "Like you did?" "That's right. We're both your friends." "Yeah. And look what happened to you." I don't think hallucEe'char is the best at getting through to Miles. Which makes sense since he kind of is Miles? But yeah it's so clear here Miles feels like he has to distance himself because he's worried about what he might do to Julian, he knows what he's capable of if he loses control.

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." He's just scared of himself - and I'm guessing also what the counsellor or anyone else might find out about him or think of him, he was desperate to keep this horrible side of himself to himself. That's why he can't seek help, and he's just trying to brute force his brain into working.

"Chief?" Oh, Julian is so tense, you can see it in his entire body.

The thing is, Ee'char is making it easy for O'Brien to stay angry at him, he's not offering the explanation that would make things better *because* the simulation wants Miles to kill him.

"But when it came down to it, when I had the chance to show that no matter what anyone did to me, I was still an evolved human being, I failed." Those are some damn high expectations there Miles! No matter what anyone did to you?! It was a set-up, and you can't expect to come out of twenty years of torture unchanged!

WHY DID MILES NOT GET A HUG

"It's a treatment, not a cure." I'm glad they had Julian say this. It did feel a bit like "he's some medicine take it and you'll be fine" at the beginning of this scene.

Miles' smile at Molly's excited "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!"

Idk, but the fact he suddenly seems so much better between the cargo bay scene and the corridor makes me think he must have spent at least a night or two in the infirmary with Julian, which would also make sense why him coming home would be such a big thing for Molly.

Man, this episode does not pull it's punches. And that's why it's such an incredible episode. 💔💔💔