Ep 18. Identity Crisis

While on a mission to explore a remote planet, Geordi La Forge discovers an old friend from a past Starfleet expedition who has gone missing for five years. As the Enterprise crew investigates the case, they uncover an unusual phenomenon that has left the missing lieutenant's team inexplicably transformed and on the brink of madness.

Geordi becomes increasingly frustrated by his inability to remember anything significant about the mission, and as his curiosity deepens, he utilizes the ship's advanced technology to investigate the matter further. He ultimately delves into a challenging investigation and discovers the cause of the transformation that has affected his friend and some of his other team members.

The investigation leads the crew to a strange alien civilization that has the power to change the genetic makeup of other species to better fit their environments, and prove instrumental in developing a cure for the Lieutanant's condition. As Geordi's investigation continues, they must find a way to help the affected crewmen before they succumb to the insidious condition.

This episode deals with themes of memory, identity, and an individual's relationship to their own biology. The stakes are high as Geordi and his team race to uncover the cause of the mysterious illness', which could cause irrevocable harm to affected crewmen. Along the way, they explore the nature of this transformative condition and evaluate the morality of manipulating another species' biology, as well as the dilemma of deciding between one's evolution or existence of being.