I just watched this episode last night, and the local channel just ran "The Child." I never realized before how the opening sequences in both are almost identical. I wonder if the aliens in both are the same race (or offshoots of one).

On page 333 of the NextGen Guide II, Phil claims that the glass of papella juice is missing the bubbles. When I watch the episode I see the bubbles, also there is a pink elephant dancing with a Romulan in Ten Forward, beautiful rainbow colored birds flying down the hallways, and a Tyrannosaurus rex manning the Conn.
Perhaps Phil should have his imagination checked?

The Arboretum looked a little like the picnic grounds where Troi's older sister drowned, as revealed in Dark Page.

Earlier Clara described Isabella as being tall, but when 'Isabella' appeared she only looked to be a few inches taller than Clara. If I were describing a friend who just a few inches taller than me, I think I would describe them as 'about my size' or 'just a few inches taller.' (Although in the metric system I guess that would be centimeters or decimeters) I don't think I would describe someone as "tall" unless they were maybe 6 or more inches taller.

Riker asks if a damping field slowed down the ship and Data says that they have run several tests, but nothing duplicated the drag. Were these tests done as a computer simulation or did they actually create damping fields outside the ship?

'Isabella' decides that since Humans are 'cruel' to their children, she and her kind have the right to destroy the Enterprise, which would include destroying all the children as well. So, who is being cruel now?

Wouldn't sending probes into an unexplored nebula be a smarter thing to do than just take the ship in?

KAM, can you clarify your comment about the Arboretum? IIRC, a scene in Dark Page was set in the Arboretum, and triggered Lwaxana's memories, so it would look like the Arboretum in this episode. Am I missing the point?

Been a few years since I originally wrote that nit, but IIRC Lwaxana's memories of the picnic ground used the arboretum set. (Cheap way to save money.)

In fact, Lwaxana and Troi were actually unconscious on the biobeds in sickbay during that scene.

In that case, I stand corrected, guys.

I'm no child psychologist, but is it REALLY a good idea for kids to have imaginary friends & talk to people that aren't there? Wouldn't it be better for a child to make REAL friends & interact with them...like they did later in the show?

I dunno...I had several imaginary friends during the course of my childhood, and I grew up to be...well, somebody who spends a lot of time talking to people I can`t see over the Net, I guess.

Seriously, John A., most psychologists agree that ìmaginary friends are a normal and healthy part of childhood - unless they seem to be taking the place of real inter-child interaction. Which is sorta the point of this ep...

As Long as the child does have some interaction with others they do wind up being usually reasonably well adjusted individuals with little or no threat to society potential. As usual if things are teakne too far and all their friends are imaginary they wind up working in the IT deprtment (JOKE)

I once had an imaginary friend.
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At least.........I thought I did.......

NANJAO: It was nice seeing the main cast be "pushed back" a little bit in this episode & focus on Clara. She was a cutey-pie. How lucky can one be being that young and guest star on "Star Trek"?

The bridge crew is concerned about an increased drag coefficient. They should be. Cd (sorry, don't know how to subscript) is a constant and depends on the shape of the moving object. So I guess I missed the part where the Enterprise got boxier? What I did see was the medium getting denser, which would result in a directly proportionate increase in DRAG.

I've said it before: it can't be that hard to run dialog past someone who knows the subject matter.

TJ, use \-{subscripted text}

Than, Scott.

Possibly the best joke I've ever heard on this subject was from Dilbert...

Dilbert (reminiscing): I had an imaginary friend once...but he told me I was boring and moved away.
(Pause)
Dogbert: There are times when no degree of sarcasm seems adequate.

The best joke I heard on this was from a standup comedian named Simply Fred I saw on TV once..

"I didn't have a lot of friends when I was a kid, you know, they always used to ditch me. So I had an imaginary friend.......He used to ditch me." (audience laughter). "Nah, I didn't really have an imaginary friend.....(looks a bit bewildered)...I only thought I did...."

When D. Troi raises her fork while eating the cake, there's nothing on the fork!

Also, D. Troi gets a towel after Isabella spills her drink. According to another episode (which I can't remember offhand) the ship cleans itself.

"Up the Long Ladder", John.

Yeah...that junky episode. Ya' know why I forgot? I CHOSE to forget it! :P

By John A. Lang on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 11:03 am:
I'm no child psychologist, but is it REALLY a good idea for kids to have imaginary friends & talk to people that aren't there? Wouldn't it be better for a child to make REAL friends & interact with them...like they did later in the show?

I don't know, I interact with an imaginary friend named John A. Lang every time I visit this website.


By Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 4:35 am:
On page 333 of the NextGen Guide II, Phil claims that the glass of papella juice is missing the bubbles. When I watch the episode I see the bubbles, also there is a pink elephant dancing with a Romulan in Ten Forward, beautiful rainbow colored birds flying down the hallways, and a Tyrannosaurus rex manning the Conn.

I think that the TREX manning the conn was onboard Voyager.

Also, Ensign Sutter must have served on the starship Voyager to remain an ensign after being in Starfleet for a long time. (enough to be assigned to several ships)

I would imagine one would remain an ensign even after a very long career in
Starfleet if one had a kid like Clara cutting up and nearly destroying starships with her psycho imaginary alien friends and all. It is a wonder Starfleet let him aboard any ships at all with the chaos his kid drags in her wake ;)

What happened to Clara's mother? She is not even mentioned at all (Phil points this out in his book).

Couldn't they have added a line in which Sutter says "Ever since my wife died, I've been trying to make life good for Clara." Or words to that effect. It just seems odd that Clara's mother didn't even get one mention.

I suppose He might not have been married. it is entirely a possibility that he was a single Dad and his Girlfriend didn't want the burden of a kid. I personally know a guy that has 3 little girls by three different girlfriends, in each case they didn't want kids and he took full custody of them.

Although I agree with you that it would have been nice to have some dialog to support this either way.

Hmmm. Another TNG episode based around a child. OK, here are my thoughts.

Nyyeah, I thought this episode was OK. Compared to other episodes of Trek where children were the primary focus, I didnt think it was as bad as, say, the Borg children on VGR, for example. And please, dont get me started on Naomi Wildman!

Also, Jeff Allin, who played Ensign Sutter, was also featured in the Simon & Schuster CD-ROM game "Star Trek: Borg" as Lt. Ralph Furlong, a crewmember of the Righteous, the ship your character has been taken back in time by Q to be a part of, in an attempt to save your father's life. I thought that was interesting, because I played and beat the game before I saw this episode, and Allin's appearance hadn't really changed much, except for a slightly different hairstyle.

Also, I wonder what happened to Clara and her father after this show. Believe it or not, Clara is actually a part of the dreaded Ratliffverse of truly terrible Trek fanfic. Well, seeing as how she and Marissa were both present on the Enterprise during the fifth season, it makes sense chronologically. But in no other way, that's for sure.

And Isabella was pretty scary at times, especially from Clara's perspective. Like when she shot that energy beam from her hand and stunned Troi, Clara was genuinely frightened. And when she said that her fellow energy beings were going to absorb the ship's shields and then the rest of it's energy, I sure am glad that Picard was skilled in diplomatic relations with alien beings so he could convince her that adults do know, for the most part, what is right for their children. And that they had a much better way to provide the aliens with the energy they required. That sure was a relief!

As for imaginary friends? Well, as a kid I made up an imaginary twin brother. He was better behaved in certain situations. It lasted for a year or so, I believe.

And one more thing? I have joked about the so-called "Ensign Expendable" in my posts before, it being about that the lower-ranking "little people" on Trek are usually killed "to prove that the situation is serious", but I'm glad that they didnt have Ensign Sutter die. Because if he did, who would take care of Clara then? Of course, she would be alone in her quarters right afterwards, just like Jeremy Aster from "The Bonding" or Timothy from "Hero Worship". And yes, I know that Phil already mentioned this years ago. I was just elaborating on his point a little bit!

Ratliff is actually still writing. He posts new stories to fanfiction.net on a regular basis.

NANJAO: What kind of parents name their daughter "Noley" (Clara's actress)

Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 4:35 am:

On page 333 of the NextGen Guide II, Phil claims that the glass of papella juice is missing the bubbles. When I watch the episode I see the bubbles, also there is a pink elephant dancing with a Romulan in Ten Forward, beautiful rainbow colored birds flying down the hallways, and a Tyrannosaurus rex manning the Conn.
Perhaps Phil should have his imagination checked?

Never mind Phil's - what about your's?

It functions just fine. ;-)

I saw the Elephant, the birds and the T-rex as well.

Are you telling me you *didnt* see them??

Noley Thornton can be seen in the music video for Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire". She's the twirling little girl ballerina n the "1980s" segment.