Synopsis: The crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos are on a mission to humanely capture and study nanites that have taken up residence in a space resort.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what Carl (C.G.) Jung called projection—how the conscious ego projects bits of its own psyche onto another.
In “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos arrives at the Cosmic Dutchess, an interstellar cruise ship. A nanite cluster has infected the resort and the Cerritos crew is tasked with humanely capturing them. An away team of Lt. Beckett Mariner, Lt. T’Lyn, Lt. D’Vana Tendi, Lt. Samanthan Rutherford, and Ensign Jennifer Sh’reyan beam aboard the Cosmic Dutchess in pursuit of the nanites. When T’Lyn, Tendi, and Rutherford are engulfed by a large nanite cluster, Mariner and Sh’reyan work to rescue them while having to face the fact that they broke up, but neither of them took ownership of it. Meanwhile, Commander Jack Ransom, Lt. Commander Andy Billups, and Lt. Bradward Boimler go after Admiral Milius, who is AWOL at another location on the resort. When confronted, Milius tells Boimler that he went AWOL because he was constantly sent on missions that he felt were boring. The nanite cluster is dissolved and discovered in the midst of it is a Starfleet vessel in a microscopic parallel dimension that has been trapped in ours. Milius, now back aboard Cerritos, decides that it is his mission to make sure the microscopic Starfleet vessel and her crew make it back to their home dimension.
In this episode, there are several instances of projection. Most notably, Mariner and Sh’reyan both project upon each other as being the cause of their frustrations with the other. When Sh’reyan joins the away team and tells Mariner that she is transferring, and Mariner thinks that she can avoid the conversation that she wants to end her relationship with Jennifer, since Jennifer will be leaving soon anyway. But when they are forced to work together, they end up clearing the air. Jennifer did know that the relationship was over, but she wanted Mariner to acknowledge it. She also told Mariner that she was only interested in dating her because she thought she was bad. They both realize that they are wrong for each other and officially break up. This can be compared to what Jung called projection—when the conscious ego projects bits of its own psyche onto another individual. When this is happening, the ego cannot see the projectee for who they are. However, if and when the projection is removed, then the ego can see the projectee for who they truly are. Here, because this occurred, both Mariner and Sh’reyan can move forward understanding the other, and themselves, better.
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