Synopsis: Harry Mudd and Starfleet are in a battle of wits once again.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (G. G.) Jung called the Trickster archetype.
In “Escape Artist,” it seems that Harry Mudd is in the custody of a Tellurite bounty hunter, Tevrin Krit, who is about to turn him over to a Starfleet vessel and claim his reward. However, when he tries to do so, Krit is told that his Mudd is not in fact Mudd, but a clone. Mudd, it seems has been making money by selling clones of himself to bounty hunters that want to collect the reward on him.
In this episode, Mudd can be seen as embodying the energy of the Trickster archetype, and Starfleet can be seen as representing the conscious ego. Starfleet has put out a reward for the return of Mudd because of his criminal actions against Federation citizens. Mudd, as ingenious as ever, has created clones of himself, to sell to bounty hunters, who want to collect the reward for bringing Mudd to justice. Starfleet eventually figures out what is going on, but has not yet figured out what to do about it. This can be seen as analogous to the relationship between the conscious ego and the Trickster archetype found in each of our psyches. The conscious ego tends to want to suppress or avoid such uncontrollable energy, but at the same time Trickster energy is useful sometimes, because it allows for change. In acknowledging Trickster energy and integrating it into itself, the conscious ego can become stronger and the psyche more whole.
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