Synopsis: Ensign Boimler creates a new holodeck movie starring the Cerritos crew.
This episode can be seen as illustrating Carl (C.G.) Jung’s theory of the difference between psychological works of art and visionary works of art; psychological works coming from an individual’s conscious life while visionary works come from an individual’s unconscious.
In “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus,” Ensign Bradward Boimler creates a holodeck movie in which he stars as Captain Bucephalus Daggar of the U.S.S. Wayfarer, and comes to the rescue of the Cerritos. Boimler is then asked to report to Commander Jack Ransom’s office, where he learns that his clone replicant, William Boimler, was killed in a transporter accident. Boimler is put on bereavement leave and returns to the holodeck. In the holodeck movie, Ensign Beckett Mariner’s character stays with Boimler’s character, who is looking for the meaning of life, while the other characters engage in exciting action sequences. Annoyed by this plot, Mariner leaves the holodeck to meet with Ransom, who tells her about the death of Boimler’s clone, and that he is sure that Boimler’s friends on the ship will help him face his loss while he is on bereavement leave. Mariner returns to the holodeck, and her character is thrown into the brig along with Boimler’s character, who is distraught that things didn’t turn out the way he imagined they would. Mariner’s character and Boimler’s character escape the brig and end up finding a creature that Boimler’s character believes will tell him the meaning of life, but instead tells him meaningless platitudes. Boimler passes out, and while he is unconscious he dreams that he speaks with Captain Hikaru Sulu, who tells him that the randomness of death is balanced by experiencing the unexpected joys of life. Boimler then wakes up in sick bay with all his friends around him.
In this episode, the holodeck movie that Boimler created, Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus,can be compared to a psychological work of art in that it relates to Boimler’s conscious life. Boimler consciously created this work, wanting to create an exciting adventure for his crewmates. And while it was successful in this goal, when Boimler was trying to glean more meaning from it, it failed, which made Boimler feel as if he had failed. However, when Boimler lost consciousness and dreamt of an interaction with Sulu, this can be analogized to a visionary work of art, because it came spontaneously out of unconscious material and presented Boimler with some understanding. Boimler’s holodeck movie was not a failure, it was just different than his dream; just as an individual’s conscious ego behaves in ways that are different than an individual’s unconscious.
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