12 Most Heartbreaking Moments In Star Trek

Star Trek has never been afraid to take on poignant and disturbing subject matter. While O'Brien may have suffered more than most characters in the franchise, few were ready to see the pain that Colm Meaney expertly portrays in this episode. Deep Space Nine dealt with the consequences and effects of action more than any other entry in the franchise, perhaps never more so than in this fourth season episode.

PTSD is as dangerous to some as the deadliest virus. The very real pain that O'Brien brings with him on his emergence from twenty years of confinement, beamed into his brain in mere moments, changes his core being utterly. We see him, through flashback, attempt to get used to his new environment, growing closer and closer to his cellmate Ichar. The stark conditions bring them together and drive them apart. As O'Brien buries the guilt of what he supposedly did while in prison, he grabs a phaser and goes to a lonely cargo bay to die.

Star Trek had depicted suicide before but this was perhaps the bleakest example of the despair a character feels. The self-loathing and anger that O'Brien feels for his imagined murder of his friend is harrowing. As Bashir speaks to him, a new appreciation of their relationship builds. O'Brien is broken and lost, unable to find his way back. His friend offers a hand in the dark and leads him back. He puts the phaser down.