Synopsis: Deep Space Nine comes to the aid of the first ship that comes through the wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant.
This episode illustrates that Deep Space Nine has no control over what might come through the wormhole that connects it to the Gamma Quadrant, just as the rational conscious ego has no control over what bits of unconscious material come into its awareness through a complex. Perhaps this is why Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has been referred to as the most psychological of all the Star Trek series, its special orientation, unlike the other series set on vessels moving through space, is a physical manifestation of what happens when the conscious ego is confronted by seemingly alien life forms that it cannot simply fly away from.
In “Captive Pursuit” the entity that comes through the wormhole calls himself Tosk. Chief of Operations Miles O’Brien has no way of knowing if that is his name or race, and it is not until later in the episode that we learn that it is his designation as prey in a hunt. Which was something completely unexpected. The Starfleet officers on Deep Space Nine abhor the idea of a sentient being being hunted to the death for the sport of others. So O’Brien, violating the Prime Directive, helps Tosk escape, explaining later to Commander Benjamin Sisko that he gave the hunters what they wanted, an extension of the joy of the hunt. O’Brien displaying a bit of the trickster archetype both in his ingenuity to get Tosk off the station and in his framing of his deeds. However, in order to do this O’Brien had to break Starfleet regulations, including the Prime Directive of non-interference. O’Brien had to find an option for action that was outside what his conscious ego would have him do, in order to succeed in what needed to be done. In order to do that he had to connect to his irrational Eros-driven non-Starfleet sanctioned part of his psyche. This reflects what one has to do to integrate bits of one’s unconscious feelings through a complex in order to make the ego stronger and the psyche more stable, or whole.
As for moments of somatic awareness, from the first moment we see him, Tosk displays traits of being nervous: constant head and eye motion and taking on the stance associated with fight or flight when potential danger is perceived. To try to counteract Tosk’s inherent caution, O’Brien from their first interaction calls Tosk “friend.” Tosk, being foreign to the human race, also seems to invade what we might consider O’Brien’s and other crew members’ personal space. To try to normalize this, O’Brien uses the same gently guiding of arms gesture that we see in the first scene of the episode, when Sisko is respectfully escorting a Dabo girl out of his office. Trying to gain Tosk’s trust through movements indicating respect and friendship.
Original post created 15 November 2021
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