History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E19HardTime

We open with a haggard man with long gray hair with his back to the camera, drawing a pattern in the sand. A wave of energy passes through and erases the pattern, and he starts drawing again. The camera angle changes, and we see that it's Chief O'Brien. His drawing is interrupted by a pair of guards entering the room, telling him that he has exceeded the necessary incarceration and must be released. They throw him out of his [[{{Prison}} cell]]...

Captain Sisko explains the situation to O'Brien's wife, Keiko: O'Brien was on a team that visited Argrathi, but when he asked too many questions about Argrathi technology, the paranoid local authorities arrested him for espionage, and before his fellow Starfleet officers had even realized that he had gone missing, O'Brien had in short order been subjected to a very swift and likely unfair trial and found guilty. The Argrathi do not punish criminals with actual prison, however, but rather by implanting memories of being harshly incarcerated into their mind, and O'Brien was subjected to 20 years of this in the few hours it took Star Fleet to negotiate his release. He assures Keiko that Dr. Bashir will try everything possible to return O'Brien to his former self.

* TheGhost: Counselor Telnorri, who is apparently Deep Space 9's resident psychologist, never appears.

We then see Bashir discussing the medicine he's prescribed O'Brien. It'll combat the hallucinations and the depression, but not the guilt. That will only take time. He returns to his quarters where he is warmly greeted by Molly, proclaiming, "Daddy's back."

...and the scene changes to show him strapped to a table. O'Brien is incredulous when he sees Major Kira, looking the same as she did when he entered the prison, 20 years ago. The guards explain that he's only been in custody for a few hours, that his incarceration has been [[AllJustADream all in his mind]], and that none of what just happened to him was real. "It's real to me, Major," he intones gravely. "It's real to me."

Captain Sisko explains the situation to O'Brien's wife, Keiko: O'Brien was on a team that visited Argrathi, but when he asked too many questions about Argrathi technology, the paranoid local authorities arrested him for espionage, and before his fellow Starfleet officers had even realized that he had gone missing, O'Brien had in short order been subjected to a very swift and likely unfair trial and found guilty. The Argrathi does not punish criminals with actual prison, however, but rather by implanting memories of being harshly incarcerated into their mind, and O'Brien was subjected to the said 20 years of this in the few hours it took Star Fleet to negotiate his release. Keiko asks if the memories are removable, and while Sisko reports that the Argrathi say it's impossible, Sisko reassures her that Dr. Bashir will try. Bashir interviews O'Brien on what he remembers. O'Brien had a cellmate, a man named Ee'char who had [[TheOldConvict already been in the prison for six cycles prior to O'Brien's arrival]], but he tells Bashir he was alone. After finishing his assessment, Bashir explains to Keiko that the memories O'Brien received aren't implanted false memories, but that O'Brien actually experienced everything that happened at an accelerated rate and so there isn't anything he can do without wiping everything else from his memory entirely. For a brief moment as he's being reunited with Keiko, he sees her as Ee'char.

Sisko calls O'Brien into his office. Because of the argument with Bashir, the incident with Quark, and his continued refusal to see the counselor, he is relieved of duty and forced to see the counselor daily. O'Brien storms into Bashir's office. As Ee'char appears again, Bashir urges O'Brien to listen to him and accept his help. O'Brien doesn't want Bashir's help; he just wants to be left alone. As he walks through the promenade, the vision of Ee'char says, "You know sooner or later you'll have to tell someone about me." When he gets back to his quarters, Keiko tries to reason with him. His daughter Molly keeps trying to show O'Brien the drawing she made, which sets O'Brien off and makes him nearly hit her before he's stopped by Keiko. O'Brien is deeply shocked at what he nearly did to his daughter, and quickly leaves the apartment.

->''"When we were growing up, they used to tell us... humanity had evolved, that mankind had outgrown hate and rage. But [[WhatYouAreInTheDark when it came down to it]], when I had the chance to show, that no matter what anybody did to me, that I was still an evolved human being... I failed. I repaid kindness with blood. I was no better than an animal."''

Bashir reassures him:

->''"No. No, no, no. [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre An animal would've killed Ee'Char and never had a second thought, never shed a tear... But not you.]] You hate yourself. You hate yourself so much you think you deserve to die. The Argrathi did everything they could to strip you of your humanity and in the end, for one brief moment they succeeded. But you can't let that brief moment define your entire life. If you do, if you pull that trigger.. then the Argrathi will have won. They will have destroyed a good man. You cannot let that happen, my friend."''

Bashir manages to get the phaser away from O'Brien as Ee'char fades away after gently smiling and telling O'Brien to "Be well."

We then see Bashir discussing the medicine he's prescribed O'Brien. It'll combat the hallucinations and the depression, but not the guilt. That will only take time. He returns to his quarters where he is warmly greeted by Molly.

* ButtMonkey: It's an "O'Brien Must Suffer" episode on steroids, as the Argrathi squeeze ''twenty years'' of suffering into just a few hours.
* ContinuityNod: The tendency of the creators to make O'Brien suffer is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, as Bashir notes to Keiko that he has been through many traumatic experiences in his life, such as [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E12TheWounded the Setlik III massacre]], [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E14Whispers his capture by the Paradans]] and [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E25Tribunal his trial on Cardassia]].
* {{Deconstruction}}: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Of course, there was a great difference in what the simulation contained; Picard was made to participate in a exploration of the waning years of a dying alien culture and saw them display their inner strength, courage, and optimism as they refused to succumb to despair but held out hope to the end, even in the face of certain oblivion. O'Brien, on the other hand, was subjected to a thoroughly dehumanizing experience that was essentially nothing but slow-working psychological torture where he was forced to soak in his own despair and inner darkness. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

* PleaseWakeUp: Invoked by O'Brien when he gets into Ee'Char's stash of food, seeing he'd actually saved it for them both, and is wracked with guilt at killing him thinking he'd been keeping everything for himself.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[AvertedTrope There are]], but O'Brien spends most of the episode refusing to see one.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: When preparing to take his own life, O'Brien sets his phaser to maximum; he didn't just intend to die, he planned to ''vaporize himself''.

* WhatAreYouInFor: Ee'char asks.
--> "Let me guess. Sedition?"

* WholePlotReference: O'Brien's wrongful imprisonment is quite similar to that of Edmond Dantes in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', with Ee'Char as his Abbe Faria.

In a VerySpecialEpisode of [[RunningGag "O'Brien Must Suffer"]], we open with a haggard man with long gray hair with his back to the camera, drawing a pattern in the sand. A wave of energy passes through and erases the pattern, and he starts drawing again. The camera angle changes, and we see that it's Chief O'Brien. His drawing is interrupted by a pair of guards entering the room, telling him that he has exceeded the necessary incarceration and must be released. They throw him out of his [[{{Prison}} cell]]...

* KarmaHoudini: The Argrathi aren't mentioned to have faced any consequences for wrongfully convicting O'Brien, or for the psychological damage they inflicted on him.
** Considering they arrested and sentenced what is essentially a foreign national, subjecting him to a cruel mental sentence which had no chance of being ended early, as it takes place mostly instantly to them, this should have been the cause of a MAJOR diplomatic incident between them and the Federation.

* PrisonChangesPeople: The crux of O'Brien's problems after getting out; the prison time ''technically'' didn't happen, but all the survival strategies and accumulated traumas are still weighing down on his life.*

* PrisonChangesPeople: The crux of O'Brien's problems after getting out; the prison time ''technically'' didn't happen, but all the survival strategies and accumulated traumas are still weighing down on his life.
* RealityEnsues: Starfleet may be MildlyMilitary, but O'Brien's refusal to comply with orders to seek counselling get him removed from duty.

This episode of [[RunningGag "O'Brien Must Suffer"]] opens with a haggard man with long gray hair with his back to the camera, drawing a pattern in the sand. A wave of energy passes through and erases the pattern, and he starts drawing again. The camera angle changes, and we see that it's Chief O'Brien. His drawing is interrupted by a pair of guards entering the room, telling him that he has exceeded the necessary incarceration and must be released. They throw him out of his [[{{Prison}} cell]]...

* GoOutWithASmile: "Be well, Miles."

* {{Deconstruction}}: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Of course, there was a great difference in what the simulation contained; Picard was made to participate in a exploration of the waning years of a dying alien culture and saw them display their inner strength, courage, and optimism as they refused to succumb to despair but held out hope to the end, even in the face of certain oblivion. O'Brien, on the other hand, was subjected to a throughly dehumanzing experience that was essentially nothing but slow-working psychological torture where he was forced to fester in his own despair and inner darkness. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Of course, there was a great difference in what the simulation contained; Picard was made to participate in a exploration of the waning years of a dying alien culture and saw them display their inner strength and optimism as they refused to succumb to despair but held out hope to the end, even in the face of certain oblivion, O'Brien was just essentially subjected to slow-working psychological torture. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

* {{Deconstruction}} / RealityEnsues: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Of course, there was a great difference in what the simulation contained; Picard was made to participate in a exploration of the waning years of a dying alien culture and saw them display their inner strength and optimism as they refused to succumb to despair but held out hope to the end, even in the face of certain oblivion, O'Brien was just essentially subjected to slow-working psychological torture. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

The scene opens with a haggard man with long gray hair with his back to the camera, drawing a pattern in the sand. A wave of energy passes through and erases the pattern, and he starts drawing again. The camera angle changes, and we see that it's Chief O'Brien. His drawing is interrupted by a pair of guards entering the room, telling him that he has exceeded the necessary incarceration and must be released. They throw him out of his [[{{Prison}} cell]]...

* ButtMonkey: It is an "O'Brien Must Suffer" episode after all.

Captain Sisko explains the situation to O'Brien's wife, Keiko: O'Brien was on a team that visited Argrathi, but when he asked too many questions about Argrathi technology, the paranoid local authorities arrested him for Espionage, and before his fellow Star Fleet officers had even released that he had gone missing, O'Brien had in short order been subjected to a very swift and extremely unfair trial and found guilty. The Argrathi does not punish criminals with actual prison, however, but rather by implanting memories of being harshly incarcerated into their mind, and O'Brien was subjected to the said 20 years of this in the few hours it took Star Fleet to negotiate his release. Keiko asks if the memories are removable, and while Sisko reports that the Argrathi say it's impossible, Sisko reassures her that Dr. Bashir will try. Bashir interviews O'Brien on what he remembers. O'Brien had a cellmate, a man named Ee'char who had [[TheOldConvict already been in the prison for six cycles prior to O'Brien's arrival]], but he tells Bashir he was alone. After finishing his assessment, Bashir explains to Keiko that the memories O'Brien received aren't implanted false memories, but that O'Brien actually experienced everything that happened at an accelerated rate and so there isn't anything he can do without wiping everything else from his memory entirely. For a brief moment as he's being reunited with Keiko, he sees her as Ee'char.

O'Brien has a hard time readjusting: He unconsciously saves a portion of his dinner for later, a habit he picked up as a result of the rarity of the guards bringing food. Keiko finds him sleeping on the floor. He sees Ee'char walking through the station while playing darts in Quark's Bar. He's been temporarily demoted until he can get his technical faculties back. When Bashir goes to visit him, we find that he hasn't been seeing the counselor he's supposed to have been seeing three times a week. O'Brien doesn't want to talk about it, he just wants to forget what happened to him and becomes argumentative when Bashir presses the issue.

In a flashback, O'Brien gets into an argument with Ee'char, where he appears to be losing his sanity. After threatening Quark with violence after he doesn't deliver O'Brien's synthale as quickly as he'd like, he has another vision of Ee'char.

** PleaseWakeUp - invoked by O'Brien when he gets into Ee'Char's stash of food.

* {{Deconstruction}} / RealityEnsues: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Of course, there was a great difference in what the simulation contained; Picard was made to participate in a exploration of the waning years of a dying alien culture and saw them display their inner strength and optimism as they refused to succumb to despair but held out hope to the end even in the face of certain oblivion, O'Brien was just essentially subjected to slow-working psychological torture. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

* {{Deconstruction}} / RealityEnsues: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Of course, there was a great difference in what the simulation contained; Picard was made to participate in a exploration of the waning years of a dying alien culture, O'Brien was essentially subjected to slow-working psychological torture. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

* {{Deconstruction}} / RealityEnsues: This episode has a similar idea as in the TNG episode ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E25TheInnerLight The Inner Light]]'', but here we actually see how difficult it would be to adjust to your former life after having spent decades inside a simulation. Though like Picard in ''The Inner Light'', O'Brien's still back to his normal self [[StatusQuoIsGod by the next episode]].

->''""No. No, no, no. [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre An animal would've killed Ee'Char and never had a second thought, never shed a tear... But not you.]] You hate yourself. You hate yourself so much you think you deserve to die. The Argrathi did everything they could to strip you of your humanity and in the end, for one brief moment they succeeded. But you can't let that brief moment define your entire life. If you do, if you pull that trigger.. then the Argrathi will have won. They will have destroyed a good man. You cannot let that happen, my friend."''

-->''"When we were growing up, they used to tell us... humanity had evolved, that mankind had outgrown hate and rage. But [[WhatYouAreInTheDark when it came down to it]], when I had the chance to show, that no matter what anybody did to me, that I was still an evolved human being... I failed. I repaid kindness with blood. I was no better than an animal."''

-->''""No. No, no, no. [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre An animal would've killed Ee'Char and never had a second thought, never shed a tear... But not you.]] You hate yourself.You hate yourself so much you think you deserve to die. The Argrathi did everything they could to strip you of your humanity and in the end, for one brief moment they succeeded. But you can't let that brief moment define your entire life. If you do, if you pull that trigger.. then the Argrathi will have won. They will have destroyed a good man. You cannot let that happen, my friend."''

* HelpfulHallucination: Rather than blaming Miles for "killing" him, the apparition of Ee'char that keeps appearing to O'Brien is trying to persuade him to let go of his guilt and move on with his life.

Sisko calls O'Brien into his office. Because of the argument with Bashir, the incident with Quark, and his continued refusal to see the counselor, he is relieved of duty and forced to see the counselor daily. O'Brien storms into Bashir's office. As Ee'char appears again, Bashir urges O'Brien to listen to him and accept his help. O'Brien doesn't want Bashir's help; he just wants to be left alone. As he walks through the promenade, the vision of Ee'char says, "You know sooner or later you'll have to tell someone about me." When he gets back to his quarters, Keiko tries to reason with him. His daughter Molly keeps trying to show O'Brien the drawing she made, which sets O'Brien off and makes him nearly hit her before he's stopped by Keiko.

O'Brien, enraged at what he nearly did to his daughter, wrecks the contents of a cargo bay before opening a weapons locker and pointing a phaser at his neck. Bashir comes in and begins talking O'Brien down. O'Brien rationalizes that he's about to kill himself to protect Keiko and Molly and everyone else on the station from the man that he's become after 20 years of prison. Bashir reassures him that O'Brien is still a good, decent man, and O'Brien begins to open up to Bashir about Ee'char.

* KangarooCourt: While O'Brien's trial isn't seen on-screen, is a safe bet that it was not in any way remotely fair, seeing how Argrathi is ruled by a clearly authoritarian and paranoid regime. In fact, he was found guilty and had been sentenced before his fellow officers even noticed he had gone missing.

Captain Sisko explains the situation to O'Brien's wife, Keiko: O'Brien had asked too many questions about Argrathi technology, and so they charged him with Espionage and subjected him to the treatment. Keiko asks if the memories are removable, and while Sisko reports that the Argrathi say it's impossible, Sisko reassures her that Dr. Bashir will try. Bashir interviews O'Brien on what he remembers. O'Brien had a cellmate, a man named Ee'char who had [[TheOldConvict already been in the prison for six cycles prior to O'Brien's arrival]], but he tells Bashir he was alone. After finishing his assessment, Bashir explains to Keiko that the memories O'Brien received aren't implanted false memories, but that O'Brien actually experienced everything that happened at an accelerated rate and so there isn't anything he can do without wiping everything else from his memory entirely. For a brief moment as he's being reunited with Keiko, he sees her as Ee'char.