Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) Imaginary Friend (1992) User Reviews

Why are there children living on the Enterprise?

[Tweekums · 5/10 · 16 July 2015]

Young Clara Sutter has recently come aboard the Enterprise with her father who is part of the engineering crew. He is a bit concerned that rather than making real friends she only interacts with an imaginary friend named Isabella. Counsellor Troi doesn't seem too concerned though. Then, shortly after entering a nebula, a small glowing ball of energy enters the ship, approaches Clara and suddenly becomes Isabella. Clara is a little surprised but not too perturbed that she can now see Isabella. Soon Clara starts getting into trouble as Isabella encourages her to go to parts of the ship where children aren't allowed; each time they are in an area with other people Isabella disappears. Wanting to avoid trouble Clara starts doing things away from Isabella and this leads to unpleasant threats.

Like many child centred episodes this one is a bit of a disappointment; the final message of the episode is that adults set rules about what children can do to protect them… but if that is the case why are they allowed to live on a star ship that encounters danger on such a regular basis?! Even though Shay Astar is suitably creepy as Isabella she isn't really scary and Clara seems far too ready to accept that her imaginary friend just became real. The threat from the other entities in the nebula is perhaps appropriately nebulous… there was little real sense of danger even after Isabella told Clara that they would kill everybody on board. Overall a fairly weak episode for Star Trek.

Good Child Actors, Okay Episode

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 8 May 2020]

In "Imaginary Friend" an alien of energy manifests itself as a girl's imaginary friend as it tries to understand the human race. Being a young child is confusing though and soon the titular imaginary friend is ready to destroy the crew and consume the ship's energy.

This one's a bit of a weird one. We focus pretty solely on a child actor never to be seen again. It's rare to have an episode focus almost entirely on a bit-player, even rarer for that secondary character to be a child. I thought the actress did a pretty solid job though! One of the better child actors we've seen on the show.

But the script is a bit bleh. It sort of feels like a TOS script and I thought we were beyond that point in Season 5 of TNG. I don't hate it, but it's not something I'm eager to revisit.

No more imaginary friends for Clara.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 11 April 2021]

Quality performance for child actresses in this one. Clara is pretty darn adorable and Isabella successfully captures an eerie feeling whenever on the screen.

I ponder if this alien entity often boards starships under the guise of children to gauge the true nature of the galactic visitors.

It is a pretty wild idea and I am going to give the writers some serious points for it. Having an alien entity take on the physical appearance of a child's imaginary friend is some out of the box thinking that I do enjoy in my star trek.

I would totally be like the dad in this episode ---- 'My little girl is completely insane --- help me....'

Not a superb episode but quite creative and the child acting performances was pretty good --- added to my enjoyment of the show instead of detracting.

When we were children . . .

[russem31 · 27 April 2006]

ST:TNG:122 - "Imaginary Friend" (Stardate: 45832.1) - this is the 22nd episode of the 5th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This episode (another child-oriented episode) goes into reasons why a child would develop an imaginary friend (including moving around a lot).

While the Enterprise is exploring a rare nebula that formed around a neutron star, a being from that nebula enters the ship and takes the form of Isabella, an imaginary friend of a little girl named Clara.

Soon, Isabella takes Clara to explore parts of the ship, including those that are off-limits to children. What is Isabella's purpose with Clara and the Entperise in general? Find out in another great 5th season episode.

Trivia note: Patti Yasutake stars again as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa. She mentions Risa (the popular vacation spot for the Enterprise crew). We also see Brian Bonsall as Alexander Rozhenko, Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, and Keiko O'Brien is mentioned. The arboretum is seen again too.

Geordi also mentions his Starfleet parents, how busy they are and on two different starships. And, Troi's love of chocolate is apparent here (hot chocolate, chocolate cake).

Two Little Girls

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 5 June 2020]

This episode has the Enterprise exploring a nebula that is inhabited by creatures which can shape shift in their own atmosphere. One of them Shay Astar takes the shape of a little girl and gives life to the imaginary friend of another little girl the daughter of an ensign Jeff Allin, Noley Thornton.

As a different life form from humanoid Astar mistakes discipline for cruelty and vows to destroy the Enterprise and its crew. Takes some patent diplomacy to see that doesn't happen from Patrick Stewart.

Nice performances from both little girls.

It is clearly a bunny rabbit

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 14 October 2021]

Enterprise investigates a nebula containing a powerful entity that takes the form of a little girl's imaginary friend.

This is a so so episode with some decent moments but it generally feels quite uninspired.

It contains a reasonably good premise of an alien posing as the imagery friend, but the story is not told in a particular compelling or interesting way. Everything is known from the start so there is no sense of mystery and the resolution is weak.

The characters seem like good concepts on paper, but the script renders their scenes quite flat. I sympathised with the performers having quite bland dialogue. Not just the child actors (who do a good job everything considered), but the likes of Marina Sirtis and Jeff Allin have nothing particularly interesting to say or do.

Visually it showcases some great 90s TV effects, but on modern viewing they cannot make the episode cinematic seem better than it actually is.

Easily the bests scenes belong to Caryn Johnson as Guinan putting Counsellor Troi to shame with her laid back charm and useful counselling sessions.

For me it is a 5.5/10 but I round upwards.

"She said..., you better leave us alone."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 8 March 2024]

Young actress Shay Astar played one creepy kid, didn't she? Portraying Clara Sutter's (Noley Thornton) imaginary friend Isabella, she had that eerie demonic thing going for her pretty well. Next Generation used these swirling orbs of light to introduce potential enemies or problems in the past, and they did it again here when the Enterprise approached Nebula FGC-47 surrounding a neutron star. Its forty-seven million stands of energy filaments began to play havoc with the Enterprise's mechanical systems, while the light orb manifested as the young girl Clara began to hang around, and eventually get in trouble with. Nothing too serious, but enough to get Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) involved in some heart-to-heart discussions with Clara and her engineering section dad (Jeff Allin). However, it would take Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) to break the logjam between the Enterprise's doubtful fate and the alien entity appearing as Isabella, and all it took was some matter-of-fact explanation of the human impulse to protect their children from harm and limit their access to potential areas of danger. That seemed just a bit too simple to appease a force that threatened to kill everyone aboard the Enterprise, but it must have caught Isabella in exactly the right frame of mind for her to signal the rest of her swirling orb counterparts to leave and the energy strands holding the ship hostage to dissipate. And with no fatal countdown at stake, the Enterprise was left with more than a few seconds to spare.

A bit of an embarrassment

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 25 November 2014]

It's unfortunate that after trying to get my daughter to watch "Star Trek: The Next Generation" that THIS was the first episode she saw. It's clearly sub-par and the ending is even a bit embarrassing to watch, as you know the actors must have winced when delivering some of this drivel.

The show begins with a little girl, Clara, is in a counseling session and her father. It seems he's worried that she has some imaginary friend, but Troi assures him that this is normal and he should just go with it! However, a bit later, the girl's friend comes to life for real--and this 'friend' is a bit of a jerk. In fact, when Clara goes off to play by herself later, the friend informs Clara that she's going to killer her along with the rest of the people on the ship! Some friend!

So why is this one so bad? Well, the resolution is downright embarrassing. This malevolent force is incredibly easily mollified and in the end the girl and her new friend make up and bit each other goodbye. YICK! Sickly sweet and dumb...I think this sums it up.

Tiresome, Preachy, Episode

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 4 September 2014]

I love children. I was a teacher for over forty years. I don't like this episode. Every tired bromide that one can use finds its way here. The little girl who is alone (even though she has a father who loves her and people who treat her with great joy) who has an imaginary friend. She eats with her friend and talks with her to the point her father calls in Troi to intervene. So when some force (as usual, a kind of Tinkerbell of light, enters the ship, it takes on the role of her friend. Apparently, she is visible to anyone who happens to be around when she shows up, but the bad, mean Enterprise crew forgets what it is like to be a child. This "child" proves to be a bad seed and has designs on the engineering section. She becomes furious, threatening the lives of the crew. She is annoyed that the little girl, Clara, can't do whatever she wants. She is domineering and pushy and possessive, yet she decides to punish them. She is part of a force in the nebula that is investigating the worthiness of the crew. Are all of them merely children, shortsighted and selfish. Anyway, the conclusion is absolutely as bad as anything I can imagine. I did think the choice of the little girl to play the nasty friend has a great face and a formidable presence.

Another misunderstood episode

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 6 June 2022]

It's all about perception.

In this case, from a child's point of view.

If we ever had a parent or set of parents that seemed restrictive, they were doing their jobs. If of course the parent/s were genuinely concerned for our safety.

Clara Sutters father is simply concerned that his daughter was going to restricted areas of the ship and then blaming it all on her imaginary Isabella. He was doing nothing wrong, but then again, he didn't know. Didn't know that Isabella was suddenly real.

And of course an alien pretending to be a 12 year old girl would think that the "grups" were totally unfair.

This has been one of my favorite episodes, it makes a valid point. That, sometimes kids are telling the truth, even when recounting improbable events. The only adult that really respected Clara was of course Guinan with her "Tarkassian Razor Beast".

Of course Isabella wanted to react drastically.

Fortunately, Picard also knew how to not only talk to kids, but listen to them as well. Something he would not have been able to do before being thrust in command of a starship that included families as part of the crew. So, because he respected and listened to Isabella, he was able to prevent some bad things from happening... So, even Captains learn.

Another ABC After School Special

[Hughmanity · 2/10 · 20 June 2020]

The worst type of Star Trek episode is the "kids doing things and learning a lesson" genre, designed to deliver some Pollyanna moral to 10 year old Trekkies. Fortunately only a couple of these each season.

This is an episode that LOST IN SPACE handeled MUCH better (no, I'm not joking. Read on)

[UNOhwen · 3 November 2011]

One of the original ideas - and one of the dumbest, and, mercifully, mostly ignored - was the crew of the Enterprise, would have their families.

LOVE BOAT in space.

Roddenberry realized quickly, this was not an 'entertaining' idea to continually follow, and, after it's initial season, the idea was mostly relegated to the back burner.

Except here.

There are very few children who can ACT. What most of them do, is look 'cute,' and, in this episode, that's what we're handed.

IMAGINARY FRIEND - is one of the few episodes that follows a moppet aboard ENTERPRISE, and, her 'invisible' friend.

As I said, there are very few children who can act. Such names as Patty McCormack, Billy Mumy come to mind, but, not here. It's following the other form of kid 'acting,' - cute, wooden, 'lispy-talk,' and, while I've a low tolerance for 'cute,' in general, it makes trying to stomach it - for an hour, is almost unbearable.

This annoyance is the major focus of this episode. The 'story's really a 'fish out of water' tale, with Clara's 'invisible' friend becoming an alien, who can't understand why 'humans' (more accurately, adults') can be so 'mean' to kids.

This would play much better as an ABC After-School special, but, it is so myopic, and its script, so hit-over-the-head-with-a-hammer type, that, it's barely watchable.

Years ago, another sci-fi show, the often mocked LOST IN SPACE (shut up!) did a GREAT episode (it was the first season, before it became so campy, so ridiculous), about a chlld's loneliness.

That episode, MY FRIEND, MR. NOBODY, was a wonderfully acted, and scripted (!) variation of this idea, where Penny Robinson feels neglected, and, spends her time with Mr. Nobody.

Like this STAR TREK episode, the adults did not believe Mr. Nobody was anything more than a child's imagination, but, it soon became apparent, he was real, and, as here, he also is angered at how the others treat Penny.

Angela Cartwright was a much better actress, than this girl, but, additionally, the ending of that episode was so beautifully handled, that, even now, it still stands out.

As for this episode, of STTNG...it was a throw-away then, and that's where it should stay.

Not missunderstood, just illogical and stupid

[gargos-1 · 3/10 · 20 June 2022]

Someone here asked why the ratings are so bad and another person said this episode was misunderstood.

That's not true. The premise is acceptable, but the result in the implementation is just completely illogical and stupid.

Alexander says that in a universe where everything has happened and cloaking devices exist, no one can be invisible. Troy's hot chocolate just falls over like that, but afterwards it doesn't occur to her that anything to do with the "invisible" friend does it occur to her? And the security officer should know all the children on board, especially since there shouldn't be that many and they enjoy special protection.

But already in the opening, I noticed a lousy didactics: A trained psychologist and empath reacts in disgust to purple omelettes, something that may be unusual but should not be given such a reaction by such a person. But right after that she offers her sugar...

Did Not Like This Episode

[ehester-93954 · 2/10 · 5 March 2022]

A child or 8 year old girl has an imaginary friend who turns out to be real. A energy field appears in the form of another little girl and is a bully who ends up telling the girl she is going to kill everyone on the ship. Just didn't care for this episode.

Imaginary Friend - Real Perspectives

[christianwindsurfer · 10/10 · 15 March 2012]

I was quite surprised to read the low ratings for this episode. I thought the plot was good and so was the acting. Some scenes were predictable but if you watch a TV series for a few years, you're usually able to do that. While watching this episode I found myself wondering have I grown up to the point where I have forgotten how children can view adults and our adult rules. I find it amusing that the alien energy force decided to take the form of a little girl (Isabella) and although she has the power to become invisible, tamper with the starship's navigation and control systems, she still did not understand human adult behavior. I think there are big lessons here. One can be intelligent but not sophisticated. One can be skilled technically but still lack maturity. Another lesson is, humans are complex. We can not rightly judge a person by merely watching them. We need to interact with them. We need to pay more attention to our children. Oftentimes, they are telling us the truth. Lastly, wherever we're at (be it on earth or inside a starship in a nebula), we need friends.

A Senior Trekker writes....................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 13 February 2022]

The Fifth Season of TNG contains some remarkably strong episodes while continuing to push the boundaries of what could be achieved within an episodic television format. It is notable for the tragic loss of its creator, Gene Roddenberry, who died on 24th October 1991 at the age of 70. His influence upon the positive depiction of humanity and diversity in Science Fiction endures to this day. Senior Trekker continues to score all episodes with a 5.

During this season, the writers sought to introduce more child-centred stories and Imaginary Friend is a classic. There is a genuinely sinister element to the idea of an alien presence bringing a child's imagination to life in this way and the director, Gabrielle Beaumont, gives us some tense moments as Isabella's malign influence begins to be felt.

Shay Aster gave a commendably unsettling performance and, unlike many children in the business, has grown up to become a successful actress, although unfortunately without returning to Star Trek. Noley Thornton as Clara, on the other hand, returned once to Deep Space Nine before altering course to a career behind the scenes.

Love her or loath her, Counsellor Troi got to do some serious work as a psychologist in this episode, working with crew members to address the very real issues of military/diplomatic families who's peripatetic lifestyle make it difficult for their children to form enduring friendships.

They should have named it the Isabella Nebula, obviously.

[calebforpresident · 8/10 · 9 October 2020]

An imaginary friend isn't really a bad thing for a child, unless they are an imaginary bad influence.

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 9/10 · 20 September 2022]

A little girl and her imaginary friend: Isabella. That would explain the title.

But isn't it amazing how an alien light bubble can find its way around the ship.

Personally, I preferred Isabella when we couldn't see her.

This episode has a strange doll's house, poltergeist feel to it.

The imaginary friend has a spooky quality about her and that makes her intriguing.

The story is clearly trying to examine the psychology involved where children create an imaginary friend. Personally, I have always believed that children who create such friends have very good imaginations. Don't the writer of great literary works have to create imaginary characters, such as a Tarkassian razorbeast, in order to people their stories? As a child I don't ever remember creating imaginary friends but I would sometimes re-create scenes from my favourite TV shows and would enact those scenes imagining the regular cast members were there to complete the ensemble. I merely regarded that as a projection of a story that I wished to create myself. Sometimes I watch these shows and I can imagine a different outcome or direction for the story to go.

I don't believe that people with underlying personality disorders create imaginary friends. In the case of Mark Chapman, for example. He created an imaginary world where he ruled supreme. In reality his sociopathic personality prompted and perpetuated his belief in self. Its only when caught that such miscreants fall-back on a tale of adolescent woes. These people expect the world to treat them more leniently than they would ever consider treating anybody else. Self preservation is what's really going on as far as they're concerned... but lets get back to this story.

As I have always liked spooky stories I also like this one. It has just enough space related matter to keep the attention and that is where a number of these 'filler' episodes fall down.

I was a little bit disappointed that the child entities parents didn't come and discipline the precocious child, but that would be a Q story.

This was actually a well presented story and I rate it highly among those of season five.

This Episodes Clue: Jerry Nelson, Michael Earl Davis, Martin P. Robinson.