Synopsis: Lt. Commander Tuvok discovers that he has been the subject of a mind control experiment.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of how a one-sided psyche, privileging the Logos-driven rational conscious ego over the Eros-driven irrational unconscious can be considered unstable.
In “Repression” the members of Voyager’s crew that were formerly part of the Maquis movement are being attacked and put into comas. Through a series of flashbacks Lt. Commander Tuvok comes to realize that these attacks are occurring through the influence of Teero Anaydis, a Bajoran who worked in Maquis intelligence and experimented with mind control. Seven years ago, Teero used Tuvok in an experiment that is somehow now making Tuvok awaken the Maquis movement in the crew by the power of suggestion, “Pagh tem far BTanay” – the day of awakening (Smith & Kolbe, 2000). Tuvok’s attack on Commander Chakotay and Lt. B’Elanna Torres results in them being reawakened as Maquis and taking over Voyager. However, Tuvok is able to break free from the mind control and through a mindmeld with Chakotay, convinces Chakotay to cede control of Voyager back to Captain Kathryn Janeway.
In this episode, what Teero saw in Tuvok, here the epitome of a conscious ego that suppresses the unconscious, was a rational mind that had such a strong power of repression that he believed that if he could tap into Tuvok’s unconscious, that it would release with such power that it could reach through to the unconscious of others. And while in typical Starfleet fashion, rational consciousness prevails over the irrational unconscious; that Teero saw Tuvok’s logical mind as a vulnerability is instructive.
Reference:
Smith, M. H. (Writer), & Kolbe, W. (Director). (2000, October 25). Repression (Season 7, Episode 4) [TV series episode]. In K. Biller & R. Berman (Executive Producers), Star trek: Voyager. Paramount Television.
mydailysoultrek 