Brad's Analysis

In episode 113 Captain Sam and his crew are introduced to a mysterious character known only as "The Professor." We never find out his origins or agenda, but it would seem that he's got something against the ship, and maybe Captain Sam specifically, and the means to do something about it (Clip 1). Last week I posed the theory that the bridge of the ship, where Captain Sam is firmly rooted, makes up the conscious mind of Mr. Sam Pilott, the patient whose mind is being reflected in the show. I’d like to continue talking in those terms this week, since the Professor, his machine, and the cave he inhabits all add interesting depth to this psychological mythology.

There are many possible interpretations of the mysterious Professor, although I’m struck by his ambiguous intentions; the subtle dramatic cues don’t really tell us whether he’s good or evil, though he’s undoubtedly sinister-ish. We never learn what his machine is for either, or what it’s trying to accomplish, only that it poses a vague threat to the crew, specifically the bridge, and Captain Sam wants it stopped immediately and without reservation. What’s really interesting here is the actual location of the cave - while we’re first led to believe that the Professor is operating from the bowels of a nearby planet, about half-way through we learn that, no, actually, the cave is onboard the ship, and directly connected to the bridge at that (Clip 2). Again, Captain Sam doesn’t enter the cave himself (because he never leaves the bridge), but sends Spak and the Doctor to investigate. After a very brief dialogue, the Doctor confronts the Professor, not by detaining him or stunning him with a laser gun, but by abruptly torturing him, inducing screams of agony through some inexplicable face-grabbing technique (Clip 2). The aggressiveness of this act seems completely out of step with the usual civility of Captain Sam’s crew --almost desperate.

From a psychoanalytical standpoint, this episode is a gold mine - to the point where I’m not sure what to do with all of it. Clearly the cave represents a repressed aspect of Mr. Pilott’s mind; a dark place where unrealized fears, resentments and complexes are brewing and festering. As often happens when patients bottle-up unwanted feelings or memories, the “repression cave” is striking back against the ship, disrupting the peace and basic functioning of Captain Sam’s routine so that his only response is to make it stop - immediately, whatever it is, to get rid of these “bad feelings.” For Mr. Pilott, the Professor’s attacks may well have signaled the onset of a nervous breakdown - we already know that he’s prone to occasional panic attacks - an event which he no doubt wanted to prevent at whatever cost. And so he sends his Doctor, his Protector Self, to "deal" with it, to crush the meddling Professor before he can do more harm. Textbook stuff, really.

Further supporting this theory is Mr. Spak’s apparent “betrayal” of the Captain at the end of the episode (Clip 3). As the Doctor and Captain Sam congratulate each other on the swift disposal of the Professor, we zoom in on Spak’s haunted face, and it is revealed that the Professor is still very much alive. Spak is in fact striking some kind of deal with him, undoubtedly without the Captain’s knowledge and much to the Professor’s satisfaction. We might be inclined to see this as treason on Mr. Spak’s part, but remember that last episode I identified Spak as Sam Pilott’s intellectual capacity, his more rational self. In therapy, the long-term solution for dealing with repressed material is never to continue suppressing it, though this is the route that patients invariably prefer. For the patient to be fully liberated from these dark memories, qualities and emotions, he must face them directly, and I think Spak knows this. I personally believe that the Professor is actually trying to help Captain Sam to come to terms with something, and Spak is now at his aid. I won’t be surprised if both the Professor and his cave (which we must assume is still directly connected to the bridge, since that was never addressed in the show) will reappear in future episodes of Future Stories.

Brad has master’s degree in general counseling, with an emphasis in Jungian psychoanalysis.

Martin's Analysis

[Note: Sara couldn’t make it in this week, she’s having some trouble with her so-called “boyfriend,” so standing in for her on second review is fellow-colleague Martin. - Brad]

I’m very intrigued by Brad’s theory about Future Stories, although I personally find the character-archetype relationship a little unscientific. I really enjoyed watching the show (Brad let me watch a few episodes to get up to speed), and the question that kept coming back to me was this: why science fiction? Of all the genres to choose from, why did Sam Pilott pick a space drama to represent his mental activity? Now, maybe he didn’t have a choice in the matter, but I have another theory.

Psychology has adopted many metaphors for brain function over the years. It was orginally conceived of as a series of tubes, then Freud compared it to a steam engine, and for the past fifteen years neuroscientists such as myself have been dabbling in the computer model - thinking of the brain like a computer, with its many different components acting in parallel to transfer information via electrons/neurons.

Because the “ship” in the show is really just a giant computer, it makes sense to me to look at it as a literal representation of Mr. Pilott’s actual brain. For example, the bridge would obviously represent the prefrontal cortex, where higher-level thinking takes place. Mental instructions are processed here, and then relayed to other parts of the “ship” to be carried out. When thinking is disturbed, as happens in this episode, (Clip 1) the culprit is often found in the limbic system, a small cluster of cells nestled between the two hemispheres of the brain. The prefrontal cortex relies on the limbic system for emotional processing and memory access. Now, follow me here: if the cave is meant to embody this part of the brain, which I think it is, we could then look at the Professor and his machines as the amygdala, the brain module primarily responsible for processing emotional memory. The two main officers are sent to remedy this faulty connection, at which point brain functioning returns to normal.

This puts my interpretation of the show pretty near Brad’s, assuming that the plot echoes a fault in the patient’s emotion/memory system, but with a more solid neurological basis. I look forward to watching more of this exciting program, which provides such a clear platform for neurological research!

Martin has a doctorate degree in cognitive neuroscience, with an emphasis in neurotheology.

Poliana's Analysis

I am utterly amazed that with such expensive educations, my two colleagues completely missed the heart of what this episode is about, though they certainly tip-toed around it enough. Sam Pilott is gay! A repressed homosexual desperately seeking solace between his gorged id and unforgivingly conservative ego, Sam is completely wracked with homosexual guilt. Gay! Gay! Gay!

I mean, come on, just look at those shirtless, gold-thonged gay-bots! You guys thought we wouldn’t notice those?

If you really want to help Mr. Pilott, take him to the Hunk Stop on 25th street on a Friday night. Trust me.

Poliana has masters degree in psychology and sociology, with an emphasis in Freudian analysis.