Of all the Star Trek series, Deep Space 9 (DS9) remains my favorite. It has the best character development and explores the darker side of humanity in a way the other shows wouldn’t have dared.
Mood music:
DS9 explores constant misery through Chief Myles O’Brien. In one episode he is put into a 20-minute program that simulates a 20-year prison sentence. In another, an evil spirit possesses his wife, Keiko. Then there is the episode where he agreed to partake in Worf’s Klingon-style bachelor party. That might have been where he received the most torture of all.
But if you look at the big picture, DS9 was a hell of a lot more fun for him than his previous posting on the USS Enterprise. There, he was transporter chief, arguably one of the most boring jobs on the ship.
In Chief O’Brien at Work,” cartoonist Jon Adams deliciously nails the boredom O’Brien feels standing at his post. As Adams writes in the opening:
If you’ve ever felt lost and worthless, step aside, because someone else feels even more so, and his name is Chief O’Brien of the Starship Enterprise. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, crappy jobs, and ennui will enjoy our short-lived Chief O’Brien at Work comics.
If you’re a Star Trek fan or you just happen to need a laugh, you need to pay this site a visit.
I’ll end with one of my favorites:
