Lonely Among Us

"Lonely Among Us" is the seventh episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which originally aired on November 2, 1987, in broadcast syndication in the United States. It was written by D. C. Fontana, based on a story by Michael Halperin. It was the first episode of The Next Generation to be directed by Cliff Bole.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, as the ship is en route to an interplanetary conference with delegates from the Selay and Antican races on board, a non-corporeal alien entity takes possession of various Enterprise crew members, including Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

This episode marked the first appearance of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine recurring cast member Marc Alaimo in a Star Trek series, as well as the second appearance of Colm Meaney who would later play The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine character Miles O'Brien. The Antican and Selay make-up was created by Michael Westmore from designs by Andrew Probert. Following the airing of the episode, fans wrote in to complain about a scene referencing cannibalism. Reviews were mostly negative, with criticism directed at the writing in particular.