Synopsis: Cadets from Starfleet Academy and the War College engage in a pranking war.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of how the conscious ego tries to avoid acknowledging and integrating bits of unconscious material into itself, and how psychic healing can occur when this resistance ends.
In “Vitus Reflux” a pranking war erupted between Starfleet Academy cadets and cadets from the War College. Chancellor Nahla Ake, in trying to make this a teachable moment, told the Starfleet Academy cadets that she wanted to see growth in them and that patience and empathy will end the war for all, while she was showing them a rare vitus reflux plant. The Starfleet Academy cadets then devised a plan to use the vitus reflux plant to prank the War College cadets. In the midst of carrying out their plan, Caleb Mir was seen by Tarima Sadal. They had a conversation. She told Mir that he made her feel out of control and that she wanted to feel in control. She told him that he was angry with her for not choosing his school. She told him he was fighting so hard against the feeling, but that he liked to be part of a group. Then she sounded an alarm alerting the rest of the dormitory to his presence. The next morning the vitus reflux plants bloomed throughout the War College dormitory to the detriment of the cadets. However, they could be harmed because of their status as an endangered species. Ake commented to the War College cadets, that the vitus reflux plants needed to be treated with patience and empathy. Afterward, Ake described the War College as an institution that teaches cadets to win battles, whereas Starfleet Academy teaches them to disarm situations.
In this episode, among the examples of how the conscious ego initially resists the idea of acknowledging and integrating bits of unconscious material into itself was when Sadal told Mir that he made her feel out of control and that she wanted to feel in control. Another example was when Ake described the War College as an institution that teaches cadets to win battles, whereas Starfleet Academy teaches you to disarm situations. Both of these scenes elucidate how difficult it can be for the conscious ego when it is first confronted by bits of unconscious material, and its initial reaction is to avoid confrontation. But when the War College cadets were forced to live with the vitus reflux plants and treat them with patience and empathy, this can be analogized to when the ego does acknowledge bits of unconscious material and begins the process of integrating that material into itself, it becomes stronger and the psyche more whole.
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