Keiko is the worst villain in the entire Alpha quadrant.
That is all.
While it’s fun to poke at Keiko, I think Winn Adami is a worse villain.
Also: Gul Dukat is the best antagonist in Trek.
I just love to hate those two, so the actors certainly played their parts very well.
Wouldn’t you agree, my child?
(You read this in her voice, didn’t you?)
And it was a great early episode where Keiko and Winn had their conflict regarding the school curriculum.
On Keiko’s end, it showed that she had to look for a place on the station and that she was making sacrifices for Miles. It also showed her beliefs the lens in which Federation civilians would look at religion.
On Winn’s end, you see her use of religion for political gain by turning a nothing issue into a conflict on the station. She is acting as a bad priest, using her role mainly for political gain.
Honestly, I think the biggest problem is that Colm Meaney and Rosalind Chao have negative chemistry. They probably cast her in TNG thinking that O’Brien was a second-tier supporting character, and that she had good “nervous bride” energy for her first appearance in “Data’s Day,” and that would probably be about it for the character. It’s not the actor’s fault that a fictional pairing that wasn’t very well thought-out on the writers’ and casting director’s part didn’t turn out to be strong enough to survive as a primary plot driver.
That said… I would have loved to see Miles and Keiko go through an amicable divorce. They virtually did, between Keiko basically throwing Miles and Kira together during their pregnancy and Keiko’s long-term journeys to Bajor. It wouldn’t have been that much further to just have them realize that they’d grown apart and agree to separate, and it could be a way for Star Trek to explore a subject that a lot of people had real-life experience with. I don’t suppose that mid- to late-90s Star Trek producers would have gone for it, but there was some real narrative potential there.
The problem with Keiko is that she just isn’t on miles level so she comes off as self absorbed in the face of a genuine man who is literally out there saving the alpha and delta quadrant weekly.
She’s tolerable in TNG because she’s more of a plot device for Miles but for DS9 they lean into the fact that she’s a mother and a wife and I guess the point of her character was to show the dynamics of family life for non-officers for star fleet. there’s no way Keiko should know whats going on - it’s way over her head - she’s just trying to live a normal life, but she has absolutely no deference for the fact that she’s married to one of the most hard working and honourable people in the whole galaxy and that really just makes her a nag and annoying af.
but she has absolutely no deference for the fact that she’s married to one of the most hard working and honourable people in the whole galaxy
I think she does, which is why she stays with him and makes make changes and sacrifices to her life to be with him. However, there is a breaking point.
That said, I think she is a good person.
a genuine man who is literally out there saving the alpha and delta quadrant weekly
The Bajoran wormhole went to the Gamma quadrant.
The delta quadrant is where Voyager and the Barzan wormhole went.
Jokes on you, O’Brien is CLEARLY into punishment.
As many times he played with Julian? Hmmm…
Edit oh I imagine that was the joke, oh well I’m leaving it.
The food-based psychological torture she puts Miles through is entertaining at least
Writers used this to foreshadow Sisko’s decision to send Rugal to live on Cardassia: The Federation is well meaning but ham-fisted.
The shared discomfort allows Miles to overcome his prejudice and find common ground with Rugal.
