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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Dr. Phil’s Prescription for Captain Christopher Pike

In the Star Trek pilot episode The Cage, Captain Christopher Pike has escaped from Talos 4 and returned to the bridge of the Enterprise.  But as he strides toward the command chair, Dr. Phil says, “Hold on a minute.”

Before they traveled to Talos 4, Pike had called the doctor to his quarters, where the captain had asked him to confirm the rightness of his decision on the bridge to continue onward to the Vega Colony.  When Dr. Phil asked Pike to consider a rest leave, the captain confessed that he was contemplating retirement.  Pike claimed he was tired of command: he wished for a life of few responsibilities.  He mused about returning home, or becoming a simple trader.  As Chief Medical Officer, it is Dr. Phil’s duty to periodically assess his captain’s fitness to command.  So when Pike returns, Dr. Phil asks himself: Is Pike ready to command the Enterprise? Has he recovered mentally and emotionally from the losses suffered back on Rigel 7? 

Pike assures the doctor he feels fine, and Dr. Phil is forced to admit that the captain looks one hundred percent better.  Pike says, “You recommended a rest, a change of pace, didn’t you?  I’ve even been home.  Does that make you happy?”  While imprisonment wasn’t what Dr. Phil had in mind, he understands how the Talosians could use their power of illusion to make Pike believe he had returned to Earth.  Dr. Phil is not yet convinced that Pike is ready to command, but he lets Pike retake his chair, while the doctor finds an inconspicuous place on the bridge to observe him further. 

When the yeoman asks, “Who would have been Eve?” Pike allows Number One to handle the situation.  A mere glance from Pike is sufficient to refocus a curious bridge officer on his duties.  But the mention of Eve suggests that Pike faced more than simple confinement.  Does such a weighty Biblical symbol represent the tip of an emotional iceberg against which Pike may later run aground?  Dr. Phil approaches and asks, “Eve as in Adam?”  Pike’s response is a rebuff: “As in all ship’s doctors are dirty old men.”  Dr. Phil smiles and squeezes Pike’s shoulder.  This is not the same man who earlier felt the need to explain his decisions to his bridge officers, who sought the ship’s doctor for confirmation of his orders, and who shrunk from the everyday challenges of life aboard a starship.  Pike sits in his command chair, facing the forward viewscreen, cajoling Number One for the bridge crew’s slack discipline.  Dr. Phil is content to leave the bridge, knowing Pike is ready to chart his (and the ship’s) course into the future.

When our friends’ lives are in turmoil, we naturally want to help them through their difficulties.  This is as it should be: we may not be in authority over them, as Dr. Phil is, but we are nonetheless duty-bound to assist in any way we can.  Often, a simple suggestion as to how to get their lives back on track is all a friend needs from us.  Then we must stand aside and watch, and hope that they either follow our advise or find their own solution.  Biting back all the accumulated wisdom one would love to offer is never easy.  But it is necessary, not only to preserve the relationship, but for our friends’ mental and emotional health. 

At least, that’s Dr. Phil’s Prescription for Captain Christopher Pike.

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