Season: 3
Episode: 8
Original Airdate: November 24, 2012
Director: James Head
Writer(s): Melody Fox
Hey there guys! This is Azu here and now that Halloween is over, I sort of have the post-Halloween blues. But if there's one thing that can cheer me up, it's reviewing an episode of my favorite horror anthology series! So let's not waste anymore time and dive right in!
Shawn (Ryan Lee) has just moved to a new area, and his only friends are his brother David (Adam DiMarco) and his imaginary friend Travis (Jeffrey Ballard) who is a bad influence. After concentration, David can see Travis. When David talks Shawn out of smashing a car's windshield as Travis suggested, Travis is angry and tries to scare David by drowning him. When he doesn't back down, Travis drags him to the neighbor's barn and says they can be friends if David will burn down the barn. He refuses, they start fighting and Shawn runs in, banishing Travis, although breaking a post and injuring himself on a falling hook.
One of the things I liked about the episode was the lore they created for the imaginary friend. In this episode, Shawn's imaginary friend Travis has the ability to summon things that Shawn has feared in the past such as a monster under his bed and uses that to attack David. Not only that but by completing specific tasks, other people can gain the ability to see Shawn's imaginary friend. Additionally, Shawn can not only control his imaginary friend but he can also sense when they're in trouble. The lore they setup here is clever and quite creative! For example, since Travis could represent the negative side of Shawn's psyche, giving Travis the ability to summon Shawn's past fears actually ties into his character rather well and makes him more of a threat.
Another thing I liked about this episode is the relationship between Shawn and David. In my eyes, this episode does a good job not only making these characters likeable but also does a good job building up their relationship without shoving in too much exposition. Throughout the episode, it's clear that David genuinely cares for Shawn and tries his best to protect him from Travis without portraying him as an over the top party pooper. Because of this, I think the relationship comes off as somewhat realistic, which is something I can totally get behind.
The third thing I liked about this episode was the ending. Now without spoiling too much, I'll just say this. From what I can gather, this is one of those endings that can give you the feels when watching it. However, it's a very balanced ending. It's not too sweet nor is it too dark and does a good job tying up all of the loose ends.
Overall, My Imaginary Friend is a really great episode! I think there's not much more to say other than if you haven't seen it yet, I recommend checking it out as soon as you can!
Overall Grade: B
Wow, Travis is a piece of work! I like the way they handled it too. Having something created by one's psyche be able to draw other things from one's psyche is a cool idea. It's also great that David was able to see/interact with Travis as well since I hate those stories in which the threat is real and no one believes our hero until it's almost too late. This sounds like one of the best episodes of the series.
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