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| Isabella (Shay Astar) becomes angry. You won't like her when she's angry. |
Clara (Noley Thornton) is a little girl whose father has recently been assigned to the Enterprise. With so much moving in so little time, Clara has been unable to keep any constant friends, so she has invented one: Isabella, her imaginary friend. Clara's father is concerned, but Troi tells him not to worry. Imaginary friends are not at all unusual for a girl Clara's age.
But as the Enterprise passes into a nebula, a particle of light comes onto the ship. It flies around for a bit, unseen by any of the crew, until it comes to life as... Isabella (Shay Astar). This fully-formed Isabella urges Clara to go to parts of the ship that are off-limits to her. When Clara starts to reject her, Isabella takes action, declaring that Clara will die with everyone else on the ship "when the others come!"
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Talks down Isabella at the end by pointing out that the cruel, unfeeling rules the grown-ups have are actually there to protect children like Clara. It's far from the best "Picard speech" of the series, and Patrick Stewart's heart doesn't really seem to be in it this time. Compare this against his speech in The Drumhead, and the difference is palpable - but then, I'm sure Patrick Stewart can tell the difference between a good script and a bad one, and it's hardly surprising that his acting is far less enthusiastic with a bad one.
Troi: At first, she tries to simply humor Clara's imaginary friend, recognizing that Clara knows this is just a comforting game. When the child begins blaming misbehavior on Isabella, Troi responds by weaning her away from what seems to be a delusion. Appropriate action under normal circumstances, but it sparks a violent reaction from the all-too-real Isabella.
Geordi: Shows the same compassion to Ensign Sutter (Jeff Allin), Clara's father, that he has previously shown to Barclay. He takes the time to listen to Sutter's concerns about being constantly on the move and how that must affect Clara, and he offers words of encouragement.
Guinan: After a very long absence, it's actually nice to see her back. She has good scenes opposite both Clara and Troi, as she relates the story of her own imaginary friend. She counters Troi's strategy to "wean" Clara away from Isabella with her own belief that a child shouldn't have to give up an imaginary friend.
THOUGHTS
I know Star Trek: The Next Generation was always intended to be suitable family entertainment, and that's a perfectly fine thing... but exactly when did it become a children's show? While I have nothing against a well-scripted child episode, 1 - 2 such shows per season is quite enough. Instead, Season Five has been overflowing with episodes about children and their issues. If I want to regularly watch "The Children's Hour," chances are I'm not going to tune into Star Trek!
Yes, I'm turning into Picard as he was in Season One. But I'm increasingly thinking that version of Picard had the right idea: "No children on the bridge!"
Imaginary Friend is hardly the worst of the child-centered episodes of Season Five. The nebula scenes provide some decent effecs shots, and there are some good character moments scattered about. In addition to the Geordi and Guinan scenes already mentioned, there's a lovely throwaway moment in which Worf sternly warns Clara and Isabella away from Engineering, only to laugh warmly at the children's antics as soon as they can't observe.
Despite scattered good moments, this is not a good episode. It's an inevitable problem with child-centered episodes that much of the effeciveness depends on the performances of inexperienced actors. While Noley Thornton is fine as Clara, Shay Astar is wooden as Isabella. It would be genuinely creepy if Isabella came across as innocent and sweet, then innocently hurt when Clara starts to avoid her. Instead, she comes across as a "mean girl" from the get-go, largely because of the acting. It's understandable in a child actress, but it does drag down the episode.
Finally, let me reiterate that I am entirely sick of child-centered episodes of TNG at this point. Unless one of the staff writers has a really good script that demands a child's point of view, I would personally prefer that children be kept to a minimum from here on out.
Overall Rating: 4/10.
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I was assuming that the child who played Isabella was intentionally wooden, so as to let the audience know that she didn't really understand human interaction. Far from being bad acting, it seemed to me that the child was effectively creepy as Isabella, which is an amazing thing for a kid to pull off.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that it's a terrible episode, but at least the child is a girl this time! We've had boys, boys, boys, and boys, to the extent that I wondered where adult women came from, since it seemed as if the girls must have been drowned at birth. :-)
But yeah, too many kid episodes this season!