Times Orphan was so bad that I've been collecting and Photoshoping frames from scenes to make it a meme.
It shows O'Brien and Kieko are selfish monsters who deserve being tortured throughout the series.
Through incredible luck Molly somehow managed to survive. She slept in trees to be safe from predators. She knew how to instantly fashion a weapon and attack when a predator approached.
Sisko: "Molly needs to go to a special institute for therapy."
O'Brien: "Well I'm obviously not going to give up my date nights with Bashir to stay with my daughter during therapy."
O'Brien: "Let's send Molly back to die alone."
Kieko: "Great idea. Taking care of a special needs child was annoying me."
That's a cartoonishly uncharitable reading what the heck?? Sending her back prob wasn't the best choice but they sure as fuck didn't do it for reasons half that selfish. Is this just a joke I'm missing or am I forgetting some context? Saying they deserve to be tortured bc they thought it'd be right to return their feral daughter to the wild where she was begging to be is way over the top, she prob could've been resocialized with enough time but they're not evil for making that choice
It's only partially a joke. Sisko said she needed to go to therapy at a special institute and O'Brien acted like that was impossible for him. His own lifestyle (career/friends) was more important than taking a year off for his child. Molly was shown to be progressing tremendously in just the few days back with her family.
feral daughter to the wild
The daughter was already talking a little, drawing pictures, and wanted her mom to brush her hair.
Molly at some point was going to have an accident and die painfully of starvation or worse. Watch the movie Cast Away. After a few years, Tom Hanks built a noose to kill himself because he knew he'd eventually get old and couldn't keep himself alive.
It's like having a child that throws a fit because they don't want to leave a campground so the parents abandon their child in the wilderness.
Is there something I missed about that episode that makes the O'Briens blatantly evil? It was kinda stupid not trying harder to resocialize her, but you and the other guy in the comments seem to have the impression they did it for horrible reasons and they deserve to die because of one decision you disagree on
The other thread seems a bit overblown concerning the decision making of the O'briens, although it is a bit out of character. My comment was simply referring to the ongoing troubles that family seems to run into.
He was always my favorite when I was a kid and I got super excited when I learned that he was joining DS9. (I saw it on a magazine cover at a gas station – that was before internet connections were widespread)