Synopsis: Ensign Sato is contacted by an alien with telepathic powers.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of Jung’s concept of the animus, or the ideal inner other that resides in the Eros-driven irrational unconscious of an individual who identifies as female, and the idea of the anima, or the ideal inner other that resides in the unconscious of an individual that identifies as male.
In “Exile,” Ensign Hoshi Sato is contacted by an alien, Tarquin, with telepathic abilities. At first, Sato is frightened by him, but then he appears to her to as a human male and communicates where he is and that he is willing to help her and the Enterprise crew by giving them information on where to find the Xindi weapon being created to destroy Earth. Captain Jonathan Archer, Lt. Malcom Reed, and Sato take a shuttlepod to the planet to meet with Tarquin. Tarquin appears as he truly is, asks that something from the Xindis be brought to him to work with, and that Sato stays with him while he tries to gain information from it. Sato agrees to do this, but soon, she learns that Tarquin’s true intent is that she remains on the planet with him for her entire life. Sato refuses and leaves without any information. Later, Tarquin changes his mind and sends Sato the information he promised after all.
In this episode, when Tarquin first appears to Sato, as a handsome human male, he is doing so because having access to her thoughts, he knows what she is seeking in a mate, and tries to project that onto himself. But Sato is made uncomfortable with his being able to access all her thoughts while she is unable to access his. However, when she meets Tarquin in person, she accepts who he actually is. Tarquin, on the other hand, is projecting his ideal inner anima, onto Sato. But Sato is not comfortable with the projection and rejects it. But when Tarquin finally removes his anima projection from Sato, he sees her for who she really is, and respects her enough to live up to the commitment that he made to give the information on the Xindi to her with no strings attached. This illustrates how when two individuals remove the projections that they have placed upon the other in a relationship, they can see the other for who they are, and true friendship is possible.
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