Synopsis: After the ship’s navigation systems fail, the U.S.S. Cerritos is forced to dock at Starbase 80.
This episode can be seen as another illustration of what Carl (C.G.) Jung called a feeling-toned complex.
In “Starbase 80?!,” Lt. Beckett Mariner has a complete meltdown on the bridge of the U.S.S. Cerritos when Captain Carol Freeman orders the ship dock there for repairs to the navigation system. Freeman herself has bad feelings towards the location because she saw herself stranded there in a parallel universe. Once the crew boards the starbase, they begin to become ill in a way that makes them seem as if they are possessed. Mariner believes that this proves that Starbase 80 is cursed. However, it is discovered that what is causing the crew’s systems is their use of their com badges, which have been taken over by an anaphasic alien, who calls himself Clem. Clem was brought aboard by the Cetacean Ops team that joined the away team to an ocean planet. Once separated from the whale that brought him aboard Cerritos, Clem is welcomed to stay on Starbase 80.
In this episode, Mariner’s insistence that Starbase 80 was cursed can be considered an illustration of when an individual is caught in what Jung called a feeling-toned complex. Jung wrote that one is in the throes of a feeling-toned complex when one cannot help but act in a certain way. However, a complex is not necessarily negative, but is an opportunity for self-knowledge. If we accept a complex as an opportunity to grow, and integrate the unconscious material contained in the complex into our conscious ego, then the ego is made stronger and the psyche more whole. Here, Mariner’s complex made her blind to the true cause of what was happening to the Cerritos crew, which was not because of a curse on Starbase 80. The anaphasic alien who was causing the symptoms was on Cerritos. Once this was established, Mariner and the rest of the crew realized Starbase 80 was not cursed, and the situation came to a positive conclusion.
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