Synopsis: The Enterprise is ordered to go to Organia to open diplomatic relations and keep it out of the hands of the Klingons.
In this episode Captain James T. Kirk is so sure that he is right, that he cannot even conceive that another race that does not bend to his will, here the Organians – knows better. From a depth psychological perspective, Kirk can be seen as an embodiment of the conscious ego – and the Organians – a physical manifestation of the collective unconscious – that which is unseen and unknown yet contains all the knowledge that ever was.
In going to Organia, which is described as an “arrested culture,” since there has been no advancement in the civilization for thousands of years, Kirk believes with all his heart that he is bring modernization and safety to the Organian people. This as opposed to the Klingons which he tells the Organians will force upon them military dictatorship. The Organians respond that there is no need for protection and Kirk cannot for the life of him understand why they think that, when he knows that a crisis is on its way. And for Kirk and Mr. Spock and the Federation, it is a crisis – war in fact has been declared against the Klingons. However, the Organians who unbeknownst to Kirk and Spock, have the power to stop it, will not allow the hostilities to take place. The Organians, which Spock later understands are a race as high above the crew of the Enterprise on the evolutionary scale as humans are to amoebas, are creatures of pure energy, pure thought. If Kirk and Spock, and even the Klingons can be compared to egoic personas, then the Organians can be compared to the collective unconscious. And just as the crew of the Enterprise and the Klingons only came across the Organians in a situation as severe as war, it is often that we are only aware of our unconscious when are psyche feels it is in danger. But this doesn’t have to be the case.
Midway through the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series, there seems to be a continuing theme of looking at the actions of Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise, and even the Federation itself, through the perspective of an alien race. This is first hinted at in “Balance of Terror,” but really takes shape in episodes such as “Arena,” “The Devil in the Dark,” and here in “Errand of Mercy” – in all these cases, there is more than one way to interpret the situation in hand. This being able to open oneself up to a different perspective, much as Kirk did in “The Enemy Within,” reflects a psyche that has begun to, as Jung would say, starting the process of the union of opposites.
Original post created 1 February 2021
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