Naomi

Based on: DC characters created by Brian Bendis, Jamal Campbell, David F. Walker

Created by: Ava DuVernay, Jill Blankenship

Produced by: Jill Blankenship, Paul Garnes, Ava DuVernay, Brian Bendis, Nellie Nugiel

Starring: Kaci Walfall (Naomi), Cranston Johnson (Zumbado), Alexander Wraith (Dee), Mary-Charles Jones (Annabelle), Mouzam Makkar (Jennifer McDuffie)

This was a pleasantly different origin story! 

And I don't just mean the nice diversity of Naomi's family (Naomi being black, adoptive mother being Indian, and adoptive father white); I'm referring to Naomi as a character. The episode's opening scene injects some exciting and refreshing charisma to her character: she's extroverted, energetic, and happy. In the scene, she steps into a house party full of her high school classmates. The house is crowded and in every room she steps into, she's greeted enthusiastically, joins the vibe without a hesitation, and knows everyone personally. It's not fake. She really is this personable and energetic. 

 After a million different heroes who start out awkward, shy, and bullied (which, in defense, is common in reality), it's nice to see someone who isn't. I love seeing a main hero who's actually popular, liked, and likeable. She didn't get popular by stepping on people and being a "plastic," as Mean Girls would call it. She's a genuinely nice person who just gets along with everyone. It's not the first time: Kim Possible is another TV hero who's already popular and well liked, although her show does focus on the one character in her world who doesn't like her. The heroes in CW's Black Lightning are also popular and loved. So, it's not unheard of--but it is uncommon, and I'm really happy to see it here. 

Naomi at home with her parents, Greg and Jennifer

The episode threw me off in one sense, though. It's very unclear to me exactly where Naomi's world exists in the DC multiverse. I think it's meant to be that way, though. I say this because... Superman isn't real? It's poignantly stated in this first episode. As Naomi is bragging about the Superman fan site that she runs, one of her classmates teases her: "But Superman isn't real." That threw me off so much that I couldn't really process it in the moment and just let it go. But it's reinforced as the episode goes on. There's a major superhero battle that happens toward the beginning of the episode and the ensuing questions are less "Who is Superman fighting?" but more "Who staged this battle?" and "Who dressed up as Superman? How did he fly?" 

Promotional poster of Naomi investigating something, which seems to be a common activity for her!

Obviously, this presents far more questions to me. If Superman isn't real.... why kind of DC universe is this set in? Does the Justice League exist at all? Are they just fun characters for Naomi the same way they are for us? Do superpowers even exist in their world prior to Naomi? This is all very confusing to me but I'm sure the season will provide a lot more answers. And I have this sneaking suspicion that Superman is probably going to exist before long. 

Even without all that, it's a fun premiere. There are no obvious "bully" stereotypes, which I really appreciate because to me that gets really old, really fast, and is super overdone. Every character in the show seems to be an overall decent person who wants to be good to others. Naomi also has a very nice set of supporting characters who all seem to genuinely like her and want to support her. At the end of the episode, there's this organized break-in to find evidence at a local store at night, and every classmate we see Naomi talk to at the party joins in. They're all good, helpful, and genuinely supportive of the effort. 

The only sketchy/awkward thing that I noticed was during an interrogation scene. Naomi and her friend are confronting a store owner about his involvement in the Superman battle. The store owner goes from "I don't know anything" in one moment to full on confessing "Yes, I set up the battle, it was all my fault" without missing a beat. He doesn't change tone or appear cornered or stressed about a major confession. It all feels 100% fake to me. But Naomi and her friend seem to buy it. They accept the confession as if the case is solved. We do get more about the store owner later in the episode, but it's pretty weird to me that Naomi just accepts that. 

By the end of the episode, Naomi begins discovering some major, mysterious things about herself and where she came from, and noticing the beginning of some fancy powers. So, I'm 110% there for all of that! So overall, Naomi seems like it's going to be a great show that breaks the superhero mold in some very fun ways.