Synopsis: In order to cross a poisonous nebula, Voyager’s crew, except for Seven of Nine and The Doctor, are placed in protective stasis chambers.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of how the Logos-driven rational conscious ego is sometimes forced to confront bits of Eros-driven irrational unconscious material.
In “One” Captain Kathryn Janeway orders that Voyager crosses an immense and poisonous nebula. The only way to safely do that is for the crew, except for Seven of Nine and The Doctor, who seem to be immune from its affects, to be placed in stasis chambers for the month that it will take to travel through it. Toward the end of the month, Seven’s defenses to the radiation coming from the nebula begin to break down and she begins to see images from the time she was separated from the Borg hive and terrified. But being determined to continue the mission, Seven tells herself: “I am an individual . . . I will adapt” (Taylor & Biller, 1998).
What Seven is experiencing in this episode can be analogized to what the conscious ego goes through when confronted by unwelcome bits of unconscious material. When Seven first arrived on Voyager she had just been separated from the Borg Collective, and was uncomfortable being a separate individual, yet she had to bury that fear to heal her physical wounds and fit into the crew to find a home on Voyager. Now that she no longer has to relate to others, those fears that she had buried return. Much as The Doctor tells Seven that her Borg implants were being affected by the radiation of the nebula and causing her hallucinations, the complex was erupting in her conscious ego because it saw an opportunity to gain its attention. And just as we say Seven having to work through her fears, this is just what the ego must do when it acknowledges and incorporates bits of unconscious material into itself.
Reference:
Taylor, J. (Writer), & Biller, K. (Director). (1998, May 13). One (Season 4, Episode 25) [TV series episode]. In J. Taylor & R. Berman (Executive Producers), Star trek: Voyager. Paramount Television.
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