Synopsis: Lt. Paris is accused of the murder of a scientist who is the husband of a beautiful woman on an alien planet.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (C. G.) Jung calls projection. Projection in depth psychological terms is when one sees in another something that is coming up from one’s own irrational unconscious and needs to be reckoned with. When it is one’s inner anima or animus, the imaginary ideal other, or soul mate, it is how one falls in love. But when one is projecting one’s shadow onto another, it creates exactly the opposite. We reject in the other our own shadow that we have projected onto them. But when we are able to remove the projections that we have hoisted upon someone or something, we are able to see them for who they are, and if we are very fortunate, learn more about ourselves as well.
If the synopsis of “Ex Post Facto” sounds familiar, there is a reason. It is also the basic plotline for the episode “A Matter of Perspective” from Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Commander William Riker is also accused of the murder of a scientist who is the husband of a woman who claims he made advances towards her. In “A Matter of Perspective” the holodeck aboard the Enterprise was used to recreate memories up to the moment of death. In “Ex Post Facto” the Banean doctor was able to recreate the memory of the victim and implants that into Lt. Thomas Paris. In both instances however, the recreations of memories, and all their intrinsic projections, were initially relied upon without taking into account other bits of evidence.
In “Ex Post Facto” Chief of Security Lt. Tuvok, who as a Vulcan seemingly is not projecting any irrational elements of his unconscious shadow onto the evidence, is able to solve the mystery behind who killed Tolen Ren. Tuvok, using logic, is able to deduce that the killer had to be shorter than Paris and also had to be familiar enough at the home of the victim that the dog did not bark at him. This led to the arrest of the actual perpetrator of the crime. But for humans, this may not be so easy, because as with most depth psychological processes, the removal of projections is ongoing and rarely quick, but worth the effort that it requires.
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