Synopsis: An alien ship blows up after it acquires technology from Voyager and Captain Janeway orders an investigation.
This episode, much like the previous episode “Prime Factors,” can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (C. G.) Jung would call an occurrence of one-sidedness of the Logos-driven rational conscious ego.
In “State of Flux” during the investigation of how technology from Voyager got on board a Kazon-Nistrim vessel, it is discovered that the Lt. Seska is not Bajoran at all, but a Cardassian operative who was altered to appear Bajoran in order to infiltrate the Maquis. As it turns out she did share technology with the Kazons because she believed that since Voyager was alone in a distant part of the galaxy, it would be wise to make allies.
In this episode Captain Kathryn Janeway is embodying the mindset of the conscious ego when it is behaving as if there is only one way to view the world, its way, and it refuses to acknowledge any messages from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious. In some ways Seska’s instincts that it is better to make friends rather than enemies in an alien environment can be seen as sensible, it is just not “Starfleet.” It is not leading with the rational conscious ego that sees itself as the only way to navigate the universe. As I have written in the past, this type of thinking Jung called one-sidedness, and it is a danger to our psychic health. It will be interesting to see as the series progresses if Janeway does learn to compromise her Starfleet principles when it is advantageous to the lives of her crew. If she does, much like when the ego chooses to acknowledge the bits of unconscious material that manage to come into its awareness, the crew, like the psyche, will be stronger and more whole.
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