Synopsis: The crew of the Enterprise helps a scientist test a groundbreaking technology while Lt. Worf becomes reacquainted with his son, Alexander.
This episode illustrates James Hillman’s archetypal psychology concept of the metaxy, the in-between place where soul is made. In “New Ground” we also can see that finding this in-between place is not always easy, and in fact, sometimes we fail. The episode also is illustrative of the archetypal relationships that Hillman believed could be used to interpret other archetypal relationships, that of the Senex, or wise older man, and Puer, the eternal youth.
The experiment to create warp speed without a warp drive engine is to be tested between the planet Bilana III, where the technology was created, and Lemma II , the destination for the test flight. In between these two populations, a soliton wave, generated on Bilana III, was to let the test ship ride the wave like a surfboard to Lemma II. The Enterprise is there to observe and document. But although the test flight achieves warp speed, as hoped, it does not reach its destination. An explosion occurs somewhere in-between the two places, and the Enterprise must intervene in order to save Lemma II from the incoming wave of energy. Sometimes this can happen when we try to do something new, we fail.
The plotline concerning Lt. Worf and his son, Alexander Rozhenko, is much easier to understand. Here, the father-figure of the Senex is trying to set structure for the son, the Puer figure, Alexander, who is troubled and Worf feels he needs discipline. However, in truth, Alexander does need discipline, but he also needs something else. He needs Worf to meet him somewhere in the middle between where he is emotionally and where Worf is. And this is the metaxy, the in-between place where soul can be made.
Original post created 5 October 2021
mydailysoultrek 