Synopsis: The Enterprise crew, in need of rest and relaxation, comes across a planet where any fantasy can become a reality.
This episode illustrates what happens when our unconscious fantasy world is repressed for too long.
While orbiting an uninhabited planet in the Omicron Delta region of space, Mr. Spock speaks to Captain James T. Kirk about the difficult and grueling time the crew has endured the past few months, and Kirk himself is showing signs of physical fatigue. On the planet, surveying teams are unaware that there are futuristic cell tower-ish devices on the planet’s surface, scanning their thoughts and fantasies, in order to make them happen.
While likely the thoughts that the crewmembers have come to life on the planet are conscious, it is interesting to wonder if this planet would also offer a safe vessel in which to pursue fantasies from the unconscious of their psyches as well. “Underworld is psyche” (Hillman, 1979, p. 46), and what had me thinking about this is the fact that the factory that produces whatever is needed to manifest a fantasy is underground. Also, Dr. Leonard McCoy was taken to this Underworld when the crew thought he was dead. But he emerged from the Underworld, much like Persephone, not only healed, but on the arms of women of goddess-like beauty.
When the Caretaker of the planet arrives, Lt. Sulu is surprised to learn that; “advanced as you obviously are . . . you still play.” Kirk then surmises that “the more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.” But is it just that, maybe the more complex the mind the greater the understanding for the need for play?
References:
Hillman, J. (1979). Psyche. In The dream and the underworld (pp. 23-50). Harper.
Original post created 19 January 2021
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