Synopsis: Vedek Bareil of Bajor is severely injured before he can negotiate a peace treaty with the Cardassians and Dr. Bashir goes to extraordinary lengths to allow him to continue his mission.
This episode can be seen as an analogy as to how far the Logos-driven conscious ego will go in denying both the Eros-driven unconscious and soma, the “body experienced from within” (Hartley, 2004, p. 11), to achieve its goals. Another interpretation is that it is an illustration of James Hillman’s acorn theory, the idea that just as an acorn has everything within it to become a tree, we all have an inner daimon that knows our destiny in life, and of the importance of listening to it.
In “Life Support” there is an accident on a shuttle that was bringing Vedek Bareil and Kai Winn to Deep Space Nine to continue their peace talks with Legate Turrel of Cardassia. Bareil is gravely injured. The peace treaty was Bareil’s idea and he was the one doing the negotiations, not Winn. He is needed to complete them and asks Dr. Julian Bashir to take whatever means necessary to keep him “conscious and mentally alert” (Moore & Badiyi, 1995) for the duration of the talks. Bashir reluctantly complies, knowing that the treatment will likely kill Bareil. In the end the peace treaty is signed, but at the cost of Bareil’s life.
That Bareil would choose to keep consciously functioning, no matter the cost to his body can be analogized to how the conscious ego chooses to suppress bits of unconscious material from the unconscious, no matter what the cost to psychic health. This can lead to one-sidedness, which is often encouraged in our society. But, if instead some of those bits of unconscious material are allowed into the purview of the conscious ego, then the ego is made stronger, and the psyche less one-sided and more whole. On the other hand, Bareil’s determination can also be seen as an embodiment of the power of being in touch with one’s inner daimon, and how when we are, we are led to our own inner truth of what will make us feel more whole and put us in service to the anima mundi. Two equally valid depth psychological interpretations of the same episode.
References:
Hartley, L. (2004). Somatic psychology: Body, mind and meaning. Whurr Publishers.
Moore, R. D. (Writer), & Badiyi, R. (Director). (1995, January 30). Life support (Season 3, Episode 13) [TV series episode]. In M. Piller & R. Berman (Executive Producers), Star trek: Deep space nine. Paramount Television.
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