Ep 21. E2

Enterprise season 3 episode 21, titled "E2", takes place in the future, where the crew of the Enterprise encounter a mysterious ship that appears to be their own. The ship is from 117 years in the future and crewed by their own descendants, who are in desperate need of assistance. The episode revolves around the Enterprise crew members' attempts to assist their future descendants and restore their ship's functionality to save them from an imminent disaster.

As soon as the episode begins, the Enterprise crew is seen struggling to operate their ship due to severe damage. Suddenly, they detect a ship approaching them that reads as an exact replica of their own. However, the key difference is that the ship is from 117 years in the future and is crewed by their own descendants. The descendants are facing a catastrophic situation, with their ship's engines malfunctioning, and they are in desperate need of assistance. The ship's captain, Lorian, hails the Enterprise, and the crew onboard quickly realizes that they are communicating with their future descendants.

Lorian's story is a tragic one, with his entire crew being wiped out, and he being forced to take command of their ship, traveling back in time to prevent that disaster from happening. The episode centers around the challenges faced by the Enterprise crew as they work alongside their future descendants to restore the ship's engines' functionality. The crew hopes to succeed in their mission to restore everything and reach the future, but they must face several challenges, including a crewman from the future whose presence threatens to alter the timeline.

As the crew of the Enterprise works to assist Lorian and his ship, they realize another problem: their future descendants are much harder and more resilient than their current selves. They question if their experiences had turned them into cold, vicious warriors, and they start to wonder what it is that led them to become so brutal. The crew members also begin to question whether their presence in the past could influence how their descendants turn out in the future, and they grow increasingly concerned about the consequences of meddling with the timeline.

Over the course of the episode, the crew must work together to repair the damaged ship's engines. However, the repairs are not as easy as they initially seem, and they soon learn that they need to modify a component that does not exist in their current time. Additionally, the Enterprise's engines are pushed to their limit, as they must maintain enough power to keep the two ships separated and prevent any disastrous consequences from occurring.

As the team works desperately to make the necessary repairs, they must also face the reality that they may never make it back to their own time. There are various conflicts within the crew, with some members desiring to prevent the catastrophic events by staying in the future and ensuring that their timeline remains unchanged while others desperately want to get back to their own time. The episode explores their attempts to resolve the various interpersonal conflicts and heal their fractured relationships.

Ultimately, "E2" is a thought-provoking episode of Enterprise that explores the consequences of time travel, the complexities of the relationship between past and future, and the stakes of altering an established timeline. The episode is a thrilling exploration of the complexities of what it means to be human and our capacity to change over time.