Synopsis: Voyager’s crew comes across the remnants of a command capsule from a 21st century Earth mission to Mars.
This episode can be seen as another illustration of what may happen when the Logos-driven rational conscious ego becomes aware of bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious through what Carl (C. G.) Jung called a complex. He wrote that a complex was created by a psychic wound that has been suppressed by the ego into the unconscious, but when acknowledged, can be an opportunity for psychic healing and growth.
In “One Small Step” Voyager and her crew come across a graviton ellipse, similar to one that engulfed a command module in an early Mars mission, Ares IV. Captain Kathryn Janeway wants to explore it, even though Seven of Nine sees the space anomaly as a threat. When remnants of the command capsule are found in the ellipse, Janeway encourages Seven to volunteer for the away team that will try to retrieve it. Seven, Commander Chakotay, and Ensign Paris take the Delta Flyer into the ellipse and find the capsule intact, Chakotay orders that it be towed out of the ellipse, even when Janeway orders the Delta Flyer to return immediately. The Flyer is damaged, Chakotay badly injured, and the only way to escape the ellipse is for Seven to go aboard the command module and bring back a part to fix the Flyer’s propulsion system. Once aboard the module Seven finds not only the part, but also Kelly’s body and his ship’s logs. Chakotay orders Seven to play the logs for them, even though Seven protests saying that “history is irrelevant” (Wollaeger et al., 1999). Seven retrieves the part and brings Kelly’s body back. Once aboard Voyager, a memorial service is held for Kelly and Seven gives a eulogy.
In this episode, when Seven enters the command capsule, all she wants to do is get the part, take it back to the Flyer, and get out of the ellipse as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, when Chakotay orders that the logs of the dead Kelly are played aloud for all to hear, Seven is moved enough to also recover Kelly’s body and return it to Voyager. This change in Seven reflects how bits of material from the unconscious came to the awareness of her conscious ego through a complex. This complex provided a learning opportunity for Seven, much as it does for all of us, when complexes are not feared but used to gain self-knowledge, to make the ego stronger and the psyche more whole.
Reference:
Wollaeger, M. (Writer), Scott, J. (Writer), Fuller, B. (Writer), Taylor, M. (Writer), & Picardo, R. (Director). (1999, November 17). One small step (Season 6, Episode 8) [TV series episode]. In B. Braga & R. Berman (Executive Producers), Star trek: Voyager. Paramount Television.
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