Synopsis: After returning from a less than successful trade mission on Kreetassa, Captain Archer learns that a parasite on the planet infected Porthos
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what it can feel like for the Logos-driven rational conscious ego when it acknowledges and integrates bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious.
In “A Night in Sickbay” Ensign Hoshi Sato, Sub-Commander T’Pol, Captain Jonathan Archer, and his dog, Porthos, return from a trade mission on Kreetassa. It was unsuccessful because the away team insulted the Kreetassans, and Archer will need to perform a ritualized apology for negotiations for a plasma injector to move forward. After the crewmembers complete their decontamination procedure, Archer learns that while Porthos was on the planet he picked up some sort of pathogen that affected his autoimmune system and he will require treatment from Dr. Phlox. That night, Archer can’t sleep and decides to go to sickbay to be with Porthos. While there, he witnesses the elaborate nightly feedings that Phlox does to keep his multitude of small alien specimens alive. While during this, Phlox continues to pepper Archer with questions concerning why he values T’Pol’s opinion so much. Meanwhile, Sato is contacted by the Kreetassans who tell her that the offense that was committed on their planet was that Porthos urinated on a sacred tree. They also send details as to how Archer is to perform the ritual apology. Phlox performs a successful operation on Porthos and Archer performs a successful apology ritual for the Kreetassans. Porthos recovers and Enterprise gains three new plasma injectors.
One way to interpret this episode is as a series of unpleasant actions that Archer is made to complete. First the unsuccessful mission on Kreetassa, then arguably the decontamination procedure, then learning that Porthos is ill, then not being able to sleep, then enduring questions from Phlox as to his relationship with T’Pol, then learning what the Kreetassans want as recompense because of something Porthos did, then having to help Phlox perform an operation on Porthos, and finally having to precisely execute the ritual apology for the Kreetassans. Each one of these painful tasks can be compared to how uncomfortable the conscious ego feels when it acknowledges and begins to integrate bits of unconscious material into itself. Yet as awkward as it may be to do this, once done, the ego becomes stronger and the psyche more whole.
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