Thursday, January 13, 2022

Naomi - Don't Believe Everything You Think

Based on the six-issue mini-series by Brian Michael Bendis and David Walker, the opening episode of The CW's latest super-hero series introduces us to adopted teenager, and Superman mega-fan, Naomi McDuffie (Kaci Walfall). There are some differences to the original comic as Superman is more myth than fact in this reality (making you wonder which world in the Arrowverse Naomi takes place in) adding a different take on Naomi missing the Man of Steel's appearance in the out-of-way town of Port Oswego when even several witnesses are willing to believe was some kind of stunt.

Much of the first episode centers around Naomi piecing together events from the town square, and video from several cellphones, to find out more about what really happened. The search brings her into contact with local tattoo artist Dee (Alexander Wraith) who seems to know more about both the super-fight and Naomi than he's willing to let on. Pushed by unanswered questions, confrontations with Dee and the creepy car salesman Zumbado (Cranston Johnson) who both seem to know more about Naomi than she knows about herself, and some unusual physical symptoms which appear after the event, Naomi continues to look for answers with the help of her friends (Mary-Charles Jones, Daniel Puig, Camila Moreno, and Aidan Gemme) only to realize she's been asking the wrong questions.

Along with making super-heroes only characters in comic books on this Earth, Naomi makes some other important changes to events both large and small. Most bizarrely, it introduces a key figure to the comics in Zumbado in the first episode masquerading as a car salesman while suggesting he's hunting for something, albeit not necessarily what his interests were in the comic. Another change is in the surroundings itself, making Port Oswego the location of a military base which provides some tension among Naomi's friends but I'm assuming is more important for setting up something bigger at a later date.

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