Hard Time

DVD, DS9 S4 (Hard Time)

The only connection with Dickens is O'Brien's resemblance to a ragamuffin off the streets of his time. This one is like the 'Voyager' episode 'Ex Post Facto' to some degree, though that was a straightforward investigation and this is a psychological drama, though the Chief's more psycho than logical. It's no wonder when he's had to go through what to him seemed like twenty years in an alien prison thanks to implanted memories. It must be a lot easier to act confused and out of place when you're on a dark prison set with long straggly beard and ragged clothing, but to continue that into the scenes when he's 'back to normal' was expertly done. His speech is slow and laboured, his eyes drink in everything new, but he has a barrier around him - you can see in his bright eyes that he's so happy to see Julian again, but he holds back and stays in his personal space, not able or willing to completely let his guard down as if he's not sure this is reality. I like that it's Kira who cares for him and brings him home, it's another little scene between them that means much more when the events of the last episodes of the season are known. Kira's become a much more caring kind of person this season, losing some of her fire, but gaining a lot of sense and empathy.

I didn't catch some of the details, and I'm not even sure we were given them, but I didn't hear if O'Brien had gone off on this mission to the Argrathi alone, whatever it was, or with Kira. Later, Sisko explains that he'd been charged, convicted and sentenced of espionage (laughable at this stage in the series, until you see episodes like 'Honour Among Thieves'), before Sisko had even been informed. It's not clear how long it took for the memories to be implanted or how long he was away for, but I think it was more likely he'd gone with Kira and was kept away from her for a few days without her being able to do anything about it (or Sisko would have come himself) - it must have been an important mission for them to brave entering the Gamma Quadrant.

The Argrathi come across as a harsh, unforgiving race, awarding extreme penalties for the smallest infraction. The Chief only asked a few questions about some technology and they put him away for twenty years! Their look is as severe as their character, light green skin and knobbly faces - Margot Rose who played Rinn, the face of O'Brien's captors, looked a lot less decorative than she did as Picard's wife in 'The Inner Light' - it's a link that's interesting because both episodes are about false memories of many years, though Picard's experience was a lot more pleasant. I suppose the Argrathi's draconian nature makes sense since they live in a part of the galaxy controlled by the Dominion and we've often seen the races that thrive are the tougher, more unfriendly ones, like the red-faced Dosi toughs from 'Rules of Acquisition' compared to the beaten people of 'Shadowplay.'

Miles is a more complicated man than anyone gives him credit for. He's served as a soldier (Setlik III gets a mention), which made him a killer, he's had a long and varied career, and that affable exterior isn't the whole truth. Just as he has hidden depths (something explored in more detail in the following season's 'Empok Nor'), he carries a shameful secret in this episode, refusing to share it with anyone, his guilt is so great, driving him to behave as he never would normally. He's generally underestimated except in his technical skill, but if Quark knew more about him he might have made sure to pour the Chief a drink quicker. As it is, every bustling movement and every clinking of glasses and trickling of liquid seems to mock the Chief, as if Quark is doing it deliberately, so when the Ferengi has his arm twisted over the bar it's something he wasn't expecting - I notice they still have fillings in the 24th Century as we see right into Quark's upper jaw. Unless they're decorative or technological implants…

The crew, O'Brien's friends, give him a lot of leeway, knowing what a terrible experience he's been through. Bashir is the one to take the most flak, but though he's saddened by O'Brien's outburst (when he's shouting that he's not his friend any more, it's as much to the imagined Ee'char as the Doctor), his medical professionalism doesn't allow him to be offended because he knows, just like Garak in 'The Wire,' that this isn't the same man, it's the frustration and anger talking. All Bashir cares about is O'Brien's wellbeing, and that care rises above all other concerns. The absence of O'Brien's family, particularly Keiko would have been felt most keenly here, so their presence makes the performance and story stronger. I wonder if they brought them back knowing they were going to do this story shortly after? Of course they also cause him more pain when he's horrified at shouting at little Molly - it's the final straw after his professional and personal lives are called into question, driving him to desperation.

Meaney gets to show off his range convincingly - who would have thought in the last few episodes that we'd see the Chief crouched in a corner, crying with a phaser pressed to his head? Oddly, it was Uhura who came to mind in this episode, recalling the time her mind was wiped by Nomad in 'The Changeling' - there was none of the depth of readjustment shown in this episode, but things have moved on a lot since then. O'Brien is seen to go through so many different reactions, from learning to live in a bare cell without hope, being cheered by Ee'char, the man who shared that cell for most of his sentence, to rage and hatred, motivated to kill his friend for a few scraps of food that he was going to share with him anyway. The weight he's been carrying around only comes out at the end when Bashir finds the Chief holding a phaser to his head, set to maximum. Everything seems to have fallen apart and he can't adjust.

In 'TNG' there was a misguided attempt to make out that humans had 'evolved.' They had become almost perfect, solving all their problems and striking out into space to solve unenlightened species' problems too. 'The Original Series' never made such claims, and 'DS9' has shown that everyone still has difficulties and hangups even in this idyllic future landscape - it is the resolution, the working through of these things that makes episodes like this so eternally compelling. O'Brien isn't the only one that seeks to hide his pain (sounding like Sybok now!), and hope it goes away, ashamed that he's not the perfect human being Roddenberry wanted him to be. He's real, if he's pricked doth he not bleed, and all that. O'Brien's jab at evolved humanity is like a pointed comment from the makers of 'DS9' that perfection isn't the issue, and that solving the problem and admitting that there are problems is more important than pie in the sky philosophies about evolution.

As with Keiko's reintegration to the cast, Worf's addition also adds a little extra, playing darts (which he doesn't like doing), and suggesting they go kayaking (I'd have loved to have seen that - 'The River Wild' with O'Brien and Worf!). It's a turnaround from O'Brien's continual attempts at making Worf's transition easier by being so welcoming and providing a familiar face in his new environment. There's some role reversal, too, in Jake's assistance, testing the Chief's memory of engineering tools, just as O'Brien had once begun to teach Jake the trade. It's also nice to see Muniz, a minor character from 'Starship Down' who could easily have been any extra for the brief scene when he checks on O'Brien. His slightly cheeky nature begins to come through (seen much more strongly in 'The Ship'), whereas in his first appearance he was too scared to have an attitude.

The drama of the episode is seeing things from O'Brien's perspective, so that we are basically inside his head. This is done best in a scene where we se a flashback of the Chief losing his self-control and banging on the door of his cell in a raging panic, the chorus of inmates rising to a crescendo with him, from a dark, empty cell we're back on the bustling Promenade as he walks along, the clamour of the experience still echoing, so that when Odo asks how he is in a perfectly ordinary way, we can understand why he responds so brusquely - Odo's voice seems fainter and unimportant compared to the trials he's reliving in his mind. It's a good example for anyone to take with them: you may be walking along the street in a black mood, turmoil in your mind, but that isn't the experience of everyone else around you. It might seem as if people are laughing at you or whatever, but it's purely your own impression, so lighten up and be friendly!

This is an episode that could have been done at any point in the series, it's part of a sub-genre in itself, and perhaps that's the reason the crew are so supportive, recognising that it's the Chief's 'time of the year,' the annual (at least), torture O'Brien slot. This vein of stories, which are often creative and very satisfying, dig down into his character, and were even an in-joke Bashir references when he notes a couple of other instalments; the Paradans duplication of him in 'Whispers' (ironically there are no Paradans in the background of this episode, yet the masks had appeared in several, recently), and his trial by the Cardassians in 'Tribunal.' You can also add 'The Storyteller,' 'Armageddon Game,' and 'Visionary' to name but a few, and like the inevitability of Scotty being thrown around, they are something to look forward to with great delight. About the only thing I could find wrong in the episode were the cheap plastic drums and containers he smashes up. They're clearly empty because they're so light, and knocking over some empty plastic boxes wasn't as dramatic as if they'd been filled with something or had shattered - a very small misstep, but noticeable.

The tragedy of the Chief's experiences come out in his behaviour, stockpiling food for later, sleeping on the floor, having to test the replicator to see if it will give him the fruit he's become used to. When he sleeps on the floor of his quarters I noticed his head was near a pattern of light similar to the ones in the prison. Was that intentional? If so, it's a level of detail that should be applauded. Little Molly is excellent and there's a return to the little domestic scenes of the early seasons, such as the little girl being told to put her dish in the replicator, which she has to reach up to do and press the button! The moment she runs for her Daddy at the end is heartwarming, and O'Brien's agreement that Daddy's home works on multiple levels.

Sisko handles the situation well - the chief would only have taken it from him, even if he does get angry afterwards, but he holds the authority before O'Brien even enters his office, standing with his back to the door, not making eye contact, directing O'Brien to his couch. He needs to show the pips, as it were, since the Chief can be so stubborn, and he catalogues the man's incidents one after another so there can be no room for argument. To O'Brien, in his present state of mind it's a questioning of his professional ability, and the frustration shown when he angrily casts his combadge aside in the turbolift is mainly at himself. I didn't realise there were counsellors aboard the station. Maybe Telnorri was shipped in especially from a nearby starship when Sisko knew what had happened. Bashir even says he could see someone else, so either there are several counsellors aboard, or again, they're in easy reach of the station - changes of personnel must happen all the time as starships come and go, stopping off at starbases of which DS9 is one.

After several serious, grounded episodes this personal mystery thriller makes so much more impact. There's no need to think about wars or political problems, it's totally based around O'Brien struggling to cope with life, life that's been forced into his mind, and unreality. The device of flashbacks may have been used in the previous episode, but that looks sterile and basic in comparison with the heart and soul of this one. There's even a little humour when O'Brien raises his eyebrows at the slightly mad Ee'char and his sand circles. That all seemed a bit New Age to me until I realised it was just a fancy way of explaining doodling! That's all it is, not thinking, just making marks, it's doodling. But that doesn't sound so mysterious I suppose. Ee'char was the other part of the episode that made it work so well. The actor should have been used again because he came through the prosthetics strongly enough to make this character believable as someone that could become O'Brien's best friend, and over who the Chief's guilt rests, even though he was never real.

Although he was fictional, I wondered what crime Ee'char had been accused of to be imprisoned for so long. He asks if O'Brien has been accused of sedition, so that may have been his crime - if the Chief was accused of spying for merely asking a few questions, I can imagine Ee'char being accused of stirring up trouble just from his unconventional personality. He had a lot of life in his eyes, and though I could see how his funny observations and way of looking at his situation could become irritating, especially to someone as stolid and workmanlike as O'Brien, he remains the kind of person you'd want to be with in that situation (as opposed to the wheezy old alien Martus Mazur shares a cell with in 'Rivals'!).

At first he does seem like he could be a little deranged, but he remains like that all the way through, keeping his spirits up and making the best of it, though even he succumbs to irritation. My one question is why he hid the all important food if they were both so hungry? Did he think O'Brien would gobble it up, was he really planning to share it at a time of his choosing or was it to be a nice surprise? His farewell to O'Brien now that he's admitted to what he did is such a nice way to end, walking off, vanishing as he never really existed. His scenes in the present on DS9 are never overdone - they could have had O'Brien always talking to him and the other characters looking at him strangely, but instead he's seen instead of Keiko, as someone that cares about O'Brien's wellbeing, or drawing out the Chief's anger. One of the most visual examples is when the Chief tries to leave him behind, taking a turbolift down, he walks out and there's Ee'char again, he walks round the corner and he's there, like a ragged ghost the Chief can't leave behind.

Though it was a hard time for O'Brien (and one of the only 15-rated episodes of Trek), we share his pain, as not wanting to reveal something to people you know is something everyone experiences at some time. The best Trek episodes deal with these basic human emotions and situations, couched in the kind of imaginative framework and compelling stories played out by sympathetic people that we care about, and this is another of those.

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