Synopsis: The crew of the Enterprise is exposed to an illness that causes them to act as if they are intoxicated.
Depth psychology is defined as any psychology that examines the unconscious, and the depth psychological theme that I would like to discuss in this episode is the inflation of the conscious ego.
Inflation, which is the identification with the power of an archetypal god, is a natural phase in the process of individuation, the way in which an individual’s psyche becomes more whole. The opposite of inflation, deflation, is the opposite phase, and the individuation process naturally moves continually between the two. However, when the conscious ego continues to identify with an archetypal power for longer than is necessary, it can make the ego believe that it has more power than it really does over the unconscious.
In this episode, which is a throwback to the one from Star Trek: The Original Series “The Naked Time,” the crew once again comes to a science station, this time aboard the vessel SS Tsiolkovsky, to find the crew all dead and evidence of this being caused by them all going mad. Once again, one of the crew members makes direct contact with the contaminant and brings it aboard the Enterprise. The belief that the maximum decontamination program on the ship can prevent contamination is a manifestation of inflation.
But the greatest manifestation of inflation occurs at the end of the episode when Captain Jean-Luc Picard states: “I think we shall end up with a fine crew if we avoid temptation” (Fontana & Lynch, 1987). That temptation, in psychological terms would be the bits of the unconscious that periodically come to the attention of the conscious ego by way of what Carl (C. G.) Jung called complexes. Picard here is wrong in thinking that avoiding the unconscious material is possible. In the parlance of Star Trek: The Next Generation: “resistance is futile” (Frakes, 1996).
References:
Fontana, D. C. (Writer), & Lynch, P. (Director). (1987, October 5). The naked now (Season 1, Episode 3) [TV series episode]. In G. Roddenberry (Executive Producer), Star trek: The next generation. Paramount Television.
Frakes, J. (Director). (1996). Star trek: First contact [Film]. Paramount Picture, Digital Image Associates.
Original post created 8 May 2021
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