Naomi Review: Keep Your Friends Close (Season 1 Episode 9)
Naomi Season 1 Episode 9, “Keep Your Friends Close,” ups the ante narratively, giving our titular heroine more obstacles to overcome while a massive reveal lies on the horizon.
Perhaps the most standout aspect of this episode is its formatting. Writer Rebecca Bellotto breaks the mold by experimenting with nonlinear storytelling, moving between the present and past. Bellotto succeeds, breathing new life into Naomi‘s usually formulaic narrative method.
ANNABELLE: If I were a secret alien, I would tell you immediately so that we could be an iconic superhero duo. Like the lady version of Batman and Robin, but with powers.
“Keep Your Friends Close” raises the stakes in a way the series hasn’t done before. Naomi seems protected most of the time, especially with Dee and Zumbado by her side. However, this outing legitimately puts Naomi in a perilous situation, immersing us in the high-stakes environment of her world.
Besides abandoning traditional episodic formatting, this episode’s highlight is that jaw-dropping moment in the end. Bellotto masterfully utilizes the nonlinear format to keep whoever assisted Naomi with the Commander Steel situation in the shadows until the final reveal.
DEE: No matter what happens, you can’t let it change who you are. You’re someone who believes the best in people.
Greg’s extraterrestrial origins come as no surprise given his comic book story. He hails from the planet Rann and is sent to Earth to monitor Dee, as Thanagarians are the archnemeses of Rannians. But Jennifer’s alien status is quite the departure from the source material.
Naomi takes a bold risk here, and it pays off. It’s so out of left field that even Dee and Zumbado don’t sense their otherworldly presence.
“Keep Your Friends Close” plays with the theme of “secrets” and how concealing truths can have detrimental consequences. Naomi keeping secrets from Nathan costs her their relationship, while Greg and Jennifer’s significant hidden truth potentially fractures their bond with Naomi for good.
ZUMBADO: Naomi needed to know the truth about her destiny. It was time.
It’s a common, somewhat tired theme with endless screen time in genre shows, but “Keep Your Friends Close” uses it as a tool for unity, threading everyone’s stories together as one cohesive, singular plotline. Thankfully, it works, illustrating these lies’ damaging effects on our core cast.
Overall, “Keep Your Friends Close” boasts enthralling intrigue, solid performances from Barry Watson, Alexander Wraith, and Cranston Johnson, and a delightful plot twist that’ll make even diehard comic book fans question where this tale takes us next.
Stray Observations:
- The comedic bits with Dee are golden, and they work so well because he’s such a straitlaced, stoic character. “Keep Your Friends Close” allows Alexander Wraith to show a different side to the enigmatic Thanagarian.
- Every middle-aged/older Millennial probably squealed with joy upon hearing that solid aughts soundtrack at the McDuffie anniversary party.
- Zumbado never wears a bad suit. He’s incapable of making poor fashion choices, and this fit might be his best yet.
- Naomi might bless us with a Lourdes/Naomi pairing sooner rather than later. That charged moment in the photo lab is proof!
- Nobody on this show is familiar with the saying “Secrets don’t make friends.”
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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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.