Naomi Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Enigma

Earth-29 has a nice little ring to it.

Naomi Season 1 Episode 4 saw Naomi learning a little bit more about her origins, as she found someone else from her planet, besides Zumbado, who was willing to give her some information. Though Akira also made it clear that she wasn’t exactly going to be an open book.

But some information is better than none, and Naomi is very slowly starting to piece things together.

The Naomi Season 1 Episode 3 cliffhanger was resolved relatively quickly, with the McDuffie’s all coming clean to one another and going along with their lives like they hadn’t all been lying to each other a mere twelve hours ago.

Annabelle was right to call out Naomi’s almost ambivalence towards the gravity of her parent’s lie. But Naomi has also experienced a tremendous amount of change in such a short amount of time, and her need not to hate her parents is understandable.

Annabelle: You seem surprisingly chill about this.
Naomi: Everything’s finally back to normal. No more secrets. No more weirdness. I guess I just want to keep it that way.
Annabelle: Babe, you’re an alien, not a robot.

But she wasn’t exactly allowing herself to feel her feelings.

It would be entirely natural for her to feel mad, sad, and even disappointed in the people who raised her. They kept a massive secret from her and only told the truth when they thought it was necessary, not because it was what they wanted to do.

Naomi was well within her rights to keep them at arm’s length, but Naomi is nothing if not an understanding and kind person, though as the hour wore on, she started to crack. And it became clear that the smile she plastered on at home was only a façade.

Lucky for her, she is surrounded by a support system that always allows her to be herself while also challenging her in ways that make her think deeply about her actions and herself.

Dee is integrating himself into Naomi’s life to the point he’s probably one of the people she can count on this most. He is there when she needs him, and he treats her as an equal. Not that others don’t, but it’s very noticeable at times, like when he picks her up from Portland, no questions asked, knowing she’ll confide in him when she’s ready.

Their relationship has come a long way from Naomi Season 1 Episode 1, and they’re learning from each other. Dee is a mentor, but he’s a student in his own way as well. He doesn’t have all the answers, but he and Naomi work through things together.

The dinner at the McDuffie house was incredibly awkward but somehow ended up being less terrible than it could have been.

Coming to terms with the fact that their daughter is an alien was surely a shock, but you can’t blame Greg and Jennifer for being a little skeptical of their daughter spending so much time with a strange guy they don’t know.

Though to meet Dee is to meet a man that has Naomi’s best interest at heart and that shines through every time the two are around each other.

As she dives deeper and deeper into her origin story, the danger only seems to increase, and it was evident that getting the disc back from Zumbado would only create more complications.

And I’m not even sure Zumbado necessarily welcomes those complications, but he’s also at a place now where he wants to use Naomi, so her having the disc isn’t a concern to him any longer.

Tracking down Akira proves to be a success, albeit a brief one, because Akira is apparently only allotted a couple of words to say before she disappears.

She didn’t speak much with Zumbado, and she doesn’t talk much to Naomi, though she does let her in on two critical pieces of information regarding the disc and her planet.

Earth-29 explains the twenty-nine on the disc, but how does that relate to the twenty-nine names on Zumbado’s list?

I once again use this time to remind everyone that I haven’t read the comics, so just thinking out loud here when I wonder if the twenty-nine people were the rulers of their planet.

And then some of them (Zumbado) were bad, and some were good (Naomi’s parents), and ultimately something Zumbado did got him and others (Akira) exiled from the planet. Though that doesn’t quite explain why Naomi ended up on the same planet with the “bad” people. And what became of her birth parents?

Based on the way Dee described the various planets and the hierarchies, the Earth they all currently inhabit is nothing special at all. And them being there seems to constitute a punishment of some sort, unless them all being together on this same Earth is merely a coincidence.

So many questions! But lucky for us, there is still a lot of season left to figure things out.

The bounty hunter coming to bring Naomi back to Earth-29 is very intriguing because who sent him? Bounty hunters are paid to bring someone in, so who paid this mysterious man?

Naomi put up a valiant fight, but she still has a long way to go with her powers and having total control over them. She’s lucky that Dee came when she did because it was not looking good for her.

We’ve seen “action” on the series thus far, but that was really the most extensive fighting sequence we’ve gotten, and it was pretty damn good. With this being a true coming-of-age story, we’re easing our way into the superhero-ness of it all, which means we get more exploration than straight-up battles.

The moment between Naomi and Dee in the classroom was lovely and provided further depth to Dee. Talking about past loves and the importance of cherishing every day because you never know when it’s your last is cliché, but it’s true.

Love is important, Naomi. If you find it, you hold on to it. Even when it scares you.

Dee

And it spurs Naomi on to dead the love square she was in before it fully formed.

From what we’ve seen, Naomi likes all three of her suitors but considering she and Nathan already had a solid and established history, it makes sense that he would come out on top at this point.

We were never given a firm reason why the two broke up, but it was brazenly clear that Nathan still liked her a lot, and Naomi just needed a little push to give in to her feelings.

The scooby gang aspect of the series is one of my favorite parts. Every time they let the kids get together and do some exploring, it’s fun, and hopefully, that continues once Anthony and Lourdes get past the heartbreak of seeing Naomi with someone that isn’t them.

But considering this is high school, things can change on a dime. And if you’re ready to proclaim Naomi and Nathan as endgame, you may be getting ahead of yourself.

Now that they’re a couple (presumably), will Naomi confide in him about her powers and the fact that she’s an “alien?” All her friends are VERY willing to go ahead with dangerous outings and not ask too many questions, but eventually, you have to assume she will tell the people who care about her what’s going on.

The friendships on Naomi are probably the best part so far, and I have no doubt her friends would continue to come through for her no matter where she came from.

Extra, Extra

• 
  Dee is like a walking self-help book. He’s always there with some words of encouragement, right when Naomi needs it the most. Get yourself a Dee, people!

• 
  Greg and Jennifer sure did have on some interesting hiking attire when they found baby Naomi.

• 
  Once Greg had proof someone was after Naomi, did he just go home and not say anything to anyone? Also, I would not want to be left alone EVER after a man came from another planet to kidnap me and take me off the earth.

• 
  Naomi would make a great student body president, but she needs to run on her terms and not on the ‘no candy’ platform.

This was another week of information and some good information for both Naomi and the audience. As someone not privy to what may be coming next, it’s fun to theorize and make predictions.

Let me know in the comments how you like the series thus far and what theories you’ve come up with!

As always, you can watch Naomi online via TV Fanatic so you stay caught up! 

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Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.

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