Naomi Review: Fellowship of the Disc (Season 1 Episode 8)

Naomi Season 1 Episode 8, “Fellowship of the Disc,” catapults the narrative forward in exciting new ways, delving further into the titular character’s comic book lore.

“Fellowship of the Disc” experiments successfully with different character dynamics, breathing new life into the series. From Nathan and Anthony interacting with Lourdes to Naomi spending time with Jacob and Zumbado and Dee forging a precarious alliance, Naomi pushes the character envelope to see what’s possible.

ANNABELLE: Ride or ride, remember?

Admittedly, this show took longer than expected to find its footing, but “Fellowship of the Disc” is propulsive and thrilling, expertly weaving action and drama without getting heavy-handed with exposition. 

Cranston Johnson’s magnetism as Zumbado keeps him firmly perched at the top of the performance ladder, proving he’s the best by arresting viewers’ collective attention with his commanding presence. 

ZUMBADO: If we’re gonna protect her, it’ll take the best parts of both of us.

Naomi adds more main characters “in the know” into our eponymous heroine’s inner circle. It’s about time, honestly. The patterns of previous episodes were getting stale; there are only so many times we can watch Naomi and Annabelle search for clues while tiptoeing around folks who don’t know the truth. 

“Fellowship of the Disc” boasts the series’ best fight sequence thus far, and while it’s not up to par with the action choreography of its sister shows, it’s a step in the right direction. Naomi is a superhero comic book property, and it’s about damn time we started seeing some edge-of-your-seat action.

The Naomi/Annabelle tiff feels forced, especially given how little they argue in the series. It’s also a tired, overused conflict in genre shows — the lead superpowered character conceals something from their sidekick best friend, and the latter gets angry because “secrets.” We’ve seen it all before. 

JACOB: The alien we’re looking for is here at the party.

That said, it’s a vital milestone in Naomi and Annabelle’s friendship as they navigate new and increasingly dangerous threats moving in on Port Oswego. 

Overall, “Fellowship of the Disc” is the strongest episode of Naomi thus far from a narrative standpoint. It’s action-packed, informative, and laden with fun twists. This show’s finally taking off, and the sky’s the limit (here’s hoping Naomi McDuffie learns to fly soon). 

Stray Observations: 

• Kudos to the Powers That Be for peppering Lord of the Rings references into the episode. Every Middle-earth nerd can die happy now. The “Fellowship of the Disc” could be the name for Naomi’s inner circle. It has a nice ring to it.
• In the comics, Greg McDuffie hails from Rann. Rannians are the archnemeses of Thanagarians, Dee’s race. If Naomi mines the source material to create Greg’s extraterrestrial backstory, it would explain why he (seemingly) inexplicably loathes Dee from the get-go. 
• Piggybacking off that, if the series reveals Greg to be from Rann, perhaps we’ll see flashbacks of the Rann-Thanagar War!
• Both Naomi and Lourdes despise Lord of the Rings, clearly indicating they must be together. 
• If Naomi is Frodo and Annabelle is Sam, who is the rest of the cast? Maybe Zumbado is Gandalf, Dee is Aragorn, Nathan is Legolas, and Brutus is Sauron? Well, Gollum works too for that last one. This analysis might require a second article. 
• Why did they dress Annabelle like a middle-aged librarian from the 1970s in the party scene? 

What did you think of this episode of Naomi? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Naomi airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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