Synopsis: Before Ensign Crusher leaves for Starfleet Academy, Captain Picard has him accompany him on a mission to mediate a dispute on a mining colony.
“Final Mission” can be interpreted from a depth psychological perspective as an illustration of the ongoing changing relationship between the Senex and the Puer archetypes.
Archetypal Psychologist James Hillman theorized that the tension between the polar opposite archetypes of the Senex, the wise old man, and the Puer, the eternal youth, could be a way to interpret all the different complexes in human psyches. Hillman believed that in the middle place between these two polar opposites was where soul was made. This theoretical middle place, where soul is made, Hillman called the metaxy.
In the beginning of this episode, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is firmly established in the role of the Senex, he is in charge of everything and everyone aboard the Enterprise. He has the honor to inform Ensign Wesley Crusher that he has been accepted into Starfleet Academy, and he also has the power to order Ensign Crusher to accompany him on one final diplomatic mission to Pentarus V. But on their way to their destination the shuttlecraft in which they are traveling crashes onto a moon orbiting Pentarus III. Picard and Crusher are stuck in a middle place. On this moon, which is a physical manifestation of the metaxy, Picard becomes injured and unable to care for Crusher, instead Crusher must assume the role of caretaker and leader, which he does to the best of his ability, and in so doing, saves both their lives.
Original post created 1 September 2021
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