Synopsis: Lt. Ro is ordered to infiltrate the Maquis, which leads to an unexpected outcome.
This episode is an illustration of two depth psychological concepts described by Carl (C. G.) Jung: projection and transference. Projection is when an individual projects some aspect of their unconscious onto another, and transference can be seen as a former relationship, even one of projection, transferred from one individual onto another. The acknowledgment and removal of projections is an important step in the individuation process, the process by which an individual psyche becomes more whole. Transference being a necessary step in the analytical process.
In “Preemptive Strike” Lt. Ro Laren, recently having finished advance tactical training and being promoted to her new rank, returns to the Enterprise. Ro expresses her gratitude to Captain Jean-Luc Picard for believing in her, and we see in their relationship that she is projecting onto him feelings that she had once felt about her father. In a sense, in that Picard has held such a central place in her development as a Starfleet officer, we can also say that a bit of healing transferring energy occurred between them. And part of that process would be acknowledging the projection and taking beginning steps to remove it. Picard in turn sends Ro on a mission to infiltrate the Maquis, a group of militant Federation citizens who are fighting what is perceived by them to be acts of the Cardassians breaking with the peace treaty between the Federation and Cardassia. Among the Maquis Ro develops another father-daughter relationship with their leader, Macias. She tells Macias about watching her own father being killed in front of her. When Macias is killed by a Cardassian in front of her as well, something seems to change for Ro, and she joins the Maquis in their efforts against Cardassian incursions into Federation space.
The relationship between Ro and Picard reflects her projecting father-like attributes upon him. Throughout the episode, she does things for him that she does not feel comfortable doing, but does them because it is her duty and she does not want to let Picard down. In fact, at the end of the episode, Riker relays to Picard that Ro’s only regret in joining the Maquis is that she might be letting him down. However, when she is in the Maquis world, she develops a similar father-daughter relationship with Macias. It seems as if the associations she had with her father that she once projected onto Picard are now also projected onto Macias. When Macias, like her father, is then killed before her eyes, he becomes even more father-like to Ro than Picard, because Macias and her father share this most emotional position in Ro’s psyche. Because Ro did not have a chance to remove the projections of the father-daughter from Macias before he was killed, she was once again psychically injured, so it is no wonder that she feels the instinctive drive toward vengeance and joined the Maquis. Ro’s psyche was swallowed up in the same pain she felt as a small girl when her father was killed and she could do nothing. Now she is grown, and she can. Picard now knows she is lost to him.
mydailysoultrek 
Of all the Star Trek episodes that can show us that Star Fleet is not always the moral high ground that it’s made out to be, certainly when a main character like Ro feels ethically compelled to take matters into their hands and with understandably good reason, Preemptive Strike can always be most unforgettable for me. Because I liked Ro Laren and I was a big fan of Michelle Forbes. The test that any of us may face when it comes to choosing loyalties and what truly feels right is how Star Trek originally appealed to me, because of how Kirk was always so unafraid to take a stand when the price for following orders became too great. This was a sad episode for Picard though which made Ro’s decision all the more realistically difficult. Thank you for your review.
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