Synopsis: The Enterprise is sent to Omicron Ceti III and is surprised to find the colony there has survived in spite of exposure to deadly Berthold rays.
“This Side of Paradise,” famous as the episode in which Mr. Spock falls in love, was also well remembered by Leonard Nimoy as being one of the best written stories from Star Trek: The Original Series, especially in its handling of the portrayal of the woman Spock falls in love with, Leila Kalomi, played by Jill Ireland (1995). Kalomi had feelings for Spock when she knew him six year before, and now that he has arrived Omicron Ceti III she feels he has finally come back to her. Spock seems to share her feelings as he admits to her: “I love you. I can love you.”
This is of course all possible because of an alien flora species which made a home for itself on Omicron Ceti III; its spores providing humans with “complete health and peace of mind.” But this is a much different experience for Spock. He first struggles with the spores, but once they are accepted by his body they act as a botanical psychopomp that allows him to explore those suppressed parts of his psyche, just as the narcissus led Persephone down to the underworld, as “psyche is underworld” (Hillman, 1979, p. 46)
Spock’s human side, which he considers his shadow and has consciously kept hidden for years, is now exposed. C. G. Jung has described the shadow as “the sum of all those unpleasant qualities we like to hide, together with the insufficiently developed functions and the contents of the personal unconscious” (1943/1966, p. 66). This certainly describes how Spock has spoken about his human half, especially if we take into consideration that the shadow is a byproduct of the civilizing process, the way one tries to fit into society. Coming from a culture where logic is revered and emotions are shunned, Spock would certainly feel the pressure to keep all feelings submerged – a remedy Jung suggests is as effective in dealing with them as beheading is for curing a headache (1940/1969). However, the shadow does not only contain traits perceived as negative, sometimes noble qualities and artistic talents are there as well. Ignoring these aspects can be just as harmful to an individual as refusing to integrate one’s negative shadow (Johnson, 1991).
In any case, under the influence of the spores Spock is able to get in touch with his human half, look at clouds, climb a tree, and reach out to Kalomi. That is until Captain James T. Kirk realizes that strong unpleasant emotions kill the spores, and he taunts Spock until he is enraged, and the spores leave him as well. Spock returns to his logical persona, seemingly unchanged. At the very end of the episode Kirk, ever the disruptive force, is pleased with himself for having turned down the possibility of staying in the idyllic paradise that was Omicron Ceti III. However, Spock, reflecting upon his experience there admits: “For the first time in my life . . . I was happy.”
References:
Hillman, J. (1979). Psyche. In The dream and the underworld (pp. 23-50). Harper.
Johnson, R. A. (1991). Owning Your Own Shadow. Harper.
Jung, C. G. (1966). On the psychology of the unconscious (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 7. Two essays on analytical psychology (2nd ed., pp. 1–119). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1943)
Jung, C. G. (1969). Psychology and religion. In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 11. Psychology and religion (2nd ed., pp. 3-105). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1940)
Nimoy, L. (1995). I am Spock. Hyperion.
Original post created 29 January 2021
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