Synopsis: The Enterprise encounters a planet with two humanoid species, one that is dying out and another that is evolving.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what can happen when the psychic energy of what James Hillman would call a Puer archetype, starts to change in its relationship with that of the Senex archetype.
In “Dear Doctor” Enterprise encounters a pre-warp vessel with two faint biosigns aboard. One of them, the Valakian pilot, tells Captain Jonathan Archer that he was sent out to find more advanced species to help cure the illness that is plaguing his homeworld. Enterprise heads to his planet and Dr. Phlox works on finding a cure. When he is in a hospital there Phlox notices another humanoid species, the Menk, and that the Menk and the Valakians are living together side by side, although the Menk seem to be subservient to the Valakians. Phlox notices that the illness that is killing the Valakians does not affect the Menk. The Valakian pilot, who is now near death, asks Archer to share warp drive technology with his people, so that they may find another species that can cure them if Phlox cannot. Archer discusses this request with Sub Commander T’Pol. Although he feels for the Valakians, he is hesitant to share the dangerous technology. He tells her that if he did decide to share it, that perhaps they could stay a while and help the Valakians learn how to use it. T’Pol tells him that is what the Vulcans thought ninety years ago when they came to Earth. When Archer asks Phlox how his research is going, Phlox tells him that what the Valakians are suffering from is not an illness but a genetic defect which will wipe them out within two centuries. He also tells Archer that the Menk are evolving to quickly become the dominant humanoid species on the planet. Phlox tells Archer that he does have the cure, but he feels that it should not be up them to aid one species at the expense of the other. Archer decides not to give the Valakians either warp technology or the cure, instead, he shares medicine that Phlox developed to help ease their pain and slow their extinction.
In this episode, Archer is finding himself in a similar situation as the Vulcans did when they first came to Earth, albeit humans had discovered warp technology on their own, the Vulcans were just trying to shepherd them into using it wisely. Being captain of the ship, he not only is responsible for making the decision as to whether or not to share warp technology, but also whether or not to share the cure with the Valakians, knowing that if he does he will alter the intended development of the planet. Archer and the human crew, who are used to being the ones helped by the Vulcans, now find themselves in the position of being able to offer knowledge to other species. This can be compared to when the conscious ego moves away from favoring the youthful, sometimes irresponsible energy associated with the Puer archetype in our unconscious and begins to acknowledge and assimilate the more controlled and cautious energy of the Senex archetype. Hillman theorized that in our psyches there was an ongoing change in the balance of these two archetypal energies found in our unconscious, and that this relationship could be used to better understand the relationship between all the other archetypes found there.
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