Synopsis: Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi believe that they are on trial on an alien planet.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (C. G.) Jung called projection.
In “Veritas,” Ensigns Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler, D’Vana Tendi, and Samanthan Rutherford are taken into a dark room on K’Tuevon Prime, which they believe is either a prison or a dungeon. Then the floor of the room rises, until they are lifted onto the floor of another large dark room where aliens surround them. One of them, Clar, starts to question each one in turn. Finally, while Boimler is answering the question Clar put before him, Clar realizes that the four ensigns believe that they are on trial. He then has the lights turned up in the room to reveal that the proceedings are actually part of a thank you party he has thrown to honor Captain Carol Freeman and the Cerritos crew for having rescued him a year earlier.
In this episode, when the four ensigns are placed in a room for an unknown reason, although Mariner does try to make light of it, they become more and more terrified by projecting their fears onto each other. When they then find themselves in a still larger dark room, they continue to fear the worst. Clar does not seem to understand why the ensigns are acting so oddly until he realizes that they believe that they are on trial. This can be seen as the ensigns projecting their fear onto Clar and Clar projecting his need to thank the Cerritos crew onto the ensigns, with none of them seeing the other for who they are until the lights are turned up. This can be compared to when individuals project bits of unconscious material onto others. However, once the projection is lifted, it can be as if the lights are now turned on, and the individuals can see the others for who they really are.
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