Synopsis: When Lt. Ortegas crash lands on a planetoid she is forced to work with a Gorn in order to survive.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of Carl (C. G.) Jung’s concept of how projection can help an individual identify an unconscious complex and help make the psyche more whole.
“Terrarium” began on the U. S. S. Enterprise, where Lt. Erica Ortegas was ordered on a solo mission to take a shuttle to survey an area of enormous gravity waves. Starfleet wanted a spy satellite posted there. Ortegas was to deploy a buoy and return to the ship. The shuttle fell into a wormhole and once through it crash landed onto a planetoid. The food rations aboard were destroyed so Ortegas ventured out to find nourishment. Once outside the shuttle she saw a light. It led to her to a camp that belonged to a Gorn. But the Gorn did not attack or kill her, instead the Gorn gave Ortegas shelter and rescued her when she was attacked by some other species. The Gorn was injured in the attack and Ortegas tended to the Gorn’s injury. Using some equipment the Gorn had, Ortegas created a kind of rough translation device, and learned that the Gorn was a female pilot, just as she was. Ortegas was surprised to learn that although she could not communicate directly with the Gorn, the Gorn understood her, because of the Gorn tactic to learn all they could about their prey. The Gorn also had a communication array that Ortegas thought she could to use to signal the Enterprise crew, who had meanwhile deduced that Ortegas went through a wormhole. Ortegas and the Gorn worked together. They became friends. Ortegas told the Gorn that if her plan worked, the Gorn could return to the Enterprise with her. The signal was successful and an away team came down to the planetoid to rescue Ortegas. Once on the planet, Lt. La’An Noonien-Singh and her landing party fired on the Gorn and killed her. A Metron appeared to Ortegas and told her that they were watching the Gorn and her and that there was hope for the two species. The Metron gave Ortegas the gift of the memory of what happened to her on the planet. Back on the Enterprise, Ortegas told Ensign Nyota Uhura that the Gorn was her friend.
In this episode, the animosity that Ortegas projected onto the Gorn can be compared to her own inner fear in the form of an unconscious complex. When she was able to trust the Gorn enough to work together and eventually become friends, this can be interpreted as an illustration of how Jung taught that removing the projection of our own complexes that we have placed upon a projectee can lead us not only toward better self-knowledge, but also to see the individual that has been projected upon for who they truly are.
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