Monday, October 24, 2016

Character Insight No. 211: Molly O'Brien

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Molly O'Brien, a recurring child character who appeared with her parents both on TNG and DS9.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp211

Molly was born on the Enterprise-D in the fifth season episode Disaster. Quantum filaments striking the ship make various parts of the ship inaccessible to others, including Ten Forward, where of course Keiko O'Brien goes into labor. Worf ends up having to deliver the baby, leading to much hilarity and great quotes to start young Molly's life.

QUOTE:
Worf: You may now give birth. 

For the remainder of the O'Briens' time on Picard's Enterprise, Molly is simply seen in stories primarily involving other characters. For example, her crying as a baby when taken hostage with other crew members unnerves some criminals in one appearance, and she is used to show the importance of a mother-daughter bond when Keiko is transformed into a 12-year old in another episode. 

Like all other child characters, Molly leads to some awkward episodes after her family moves aboard the Deep Space Nine station. One of these included Rumpelstiltskin coming to life and wreaking havoc on the station in the episode If Wishes Were Horses. Another weird episode entitled Time's Orphan involves Molly falling through an energy vortex that transports her back in time 300 years to when a planet was uninhabited. When Miles reactivates the portal, his calculations are ten years off and they have to deal with a feral, wild 18-year old version of their daughter. While a strange episode, this was a good character piece evaluating what it takes to let go of a daughter, although the 8-year old Molly is returned to the parents by convenient writing in the end of the episode.

In the years on Deep Space Nine, Molly is seen most as a character who gives more depth to Miles O'Brien. Her phases of childhood included one where she wanted nothing to do with her father, and Miles has to deal with that like all parents do. Likewise, she spends two six-month stints with her mother on botany expeditions, which allows the show writers to use Miles and Molly's limited time together as a character investigation of families living apart and maximizing every moment together when opportunity arises. 

QUOTE (Hard Times):
Molly O'Brien: Daddy's home, Daddy's home! 
Chief Miles Edward O'Brien: That's right - Daddy's home. 

Molly is possibly the least annoying of the regular child recurring characters, thanks to not being overused or the center of too many silly stories. Indeed, her ability to reveal some of the most poignant nuances of parenthood is a huge net positive to the character of Miles O'Brien and the shows in general.

Molly O'Brien is played by Hana Hatae in most appearances. She has recently begun acting again as a young adult, appearing in upcoming movies The Circuit and 5th Passenger.

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