Naomi first episode starts out pretty safe. Naomi herself is a pretty likeable character but the show feels like it came from the early 2000s that needs a little bit more because there are lots of superhero shows around now. It does enough for me to check out the next episode.
11 Reviews
Ok for a pilot. I actually thought
ldamena12 January 2022
It was a bit boring and slow. It did pick up in the last few minutes but it needed more pizazz for it to be a series premiere. I'll give it another chance because the premise intrigued me I liked the characters and we do need more women of color as heroes. But if it continues slow in the net episodes without any real peaking point I may have to drop it as I lose interest soon.
Messaging vs Storytelling
jamericanbeauty12 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The lead star playing Naomi is likeable. Her investigation into a possible Superman sighting and confusion about her physical senses and strangeness in her town were all interesting. The side players, mainly the tattoo shop owner and car dealership owner are intriguing. There could be a good show here, but the writing won't sideline the messaging/agenda. Naomi likes a handsome guy at a party, she also flirts with the comic book store clerk girl and she also likes a cute "townie" guy and they like her too. Who cares! There's way more interesting things going on. Naomi's parents are your typical generic parents except they're interracial. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. You see that in every commercial now. Naomi herself could be an insufferable know-it-all, do-it-all expert, if she wasn't so likeable. Naomi is an amateur sleuth who runs investigations and reports like a pro. Naomi skateboards like Tony Hawk. Naomi is a Superman expert. Naomi is a great debater (I actually enjoyed the debate about choice and deciding one's own fate and not being a prisoner to your genetics). Naomi, Naomi, Naomi! I'm interested to see what Episode 2 will do.
Promising start
siggy0312 January 2022
The first episode is pretty cool. It's nothing groundbreaking but it's enough to keep me interested. I still don't understand where all the bad reviews comes from and why are people saying that politics are involved when there is nothing political...
Still a promising start. I will tune in for the rest of the season.
A start that we need to allow to develop
ogmore-5939412 January 2022
A good start.
It is a CW show so the audience are kept in mind with the presentation and look and feel and by budget.
I think the character of Naomi has so much potential and I love that a character like Naomi exists for a new generation.
The first episode was what it always should be seen as a pilot and introduction and establishing.i have hope this grows into something bigger and stronger as the story develops and we are given more of Naomi and are taken on her journey.
Let's give it a chance.especially with possible HBO involvement down the line which could see this show get a better budget and less of a CW mould to fit into.
It is a CW show so the audience are kept in mind with the presentation and look and feel and by budget.
I think the character of Naomi has so much potential and I love that a character like Naomi exists for a new generation.
The first episode was what it always should be seen as a pilot and introduction and establishing.i have hope this grows into something bigger and stronger as the story develops and we are given more of Naomi and are taken on her journey.
Let's give it a chance.especially with possible HBO involvement down the line which could see this show get a better budget and less of a CW mould to fit into.
Very very slow boring first episode
nyotauhura12 January 2022
"Don't Believe Everything You Think" is right. This is a good start!
demigodshmurda12 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Alright, I'm gonna lay it all on the table right now. If you like the typical CW formula where the main villain gets introduced in the first episode to remove all the tension, if you like conversations in hallways, if you like poorly written political drivel that ends up being more offensive than helpful more often than not, if you like how much the CW loves getting actors who have absolutely NO chemistry almost as much as they hate fathers, then Naomi is NOT the show for you. BUT, if you like atmosphere, intriguing characters, great dialogue, a fun family dynamic, actors that have legitimate chemistry with each other, and actors you've never heard of giving it their best shot, then congratulations, you've come to the right place.
Guys, I cannot tell you how refreshing this was! It's been so long since I've been able to review an episode of a show that I *actually* liked with no strings attached! I think the last time that happened was... What? Superman and Lois's season 1 finale? The WandaVision finale? Yeah, I had some 10 / 10 reviews in Stargirl season 2, but the season overall took way too long to get out basic ideas because they had too many balls in the air, and not enough hands to juggle them all! But if this is the CW standard for Pilot episodes nowadays, well congratulations, you got me on board!
The best compliment I can give this show so far is that it feels very unique and different compared to the tones set by the other Arrowverse shows. Flash has the typical team dynamic, Legends of Tomorrow is pure chaos, and Superman and Lois is the family show, but Naomi feels very focused on characters and events, and one character in particular; the title character, Naomi McDuffie. And as someone that's praised Stargirl for how they focused on Courtney in season 1 and how her father leaving her affected every decision she made, a character study like that is gonna have me more than intrigued.
Also, to clarify, I knew nothing about the character of Naomi going into it aside from a few surface level things. I remembered reading that she was adopted and that's why she likes Superman, I believe she's an alien which is how she gets her powers, I know she's a teenage superhero not unlike Courtney Whitmore on Stargirl. Like I said, just the surface level stuff. So when Naomi asks the question "Who Am I?" at the end of the episode, I was intrigued. And unlike in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", I think this show's actually gonna answer that question! My biggest issue with Shang-Chi was that we didn't get to know who the character Shang-Chi was! I can tell you a lot of stuff that happens to him, but I couldn't tell you who he *is*. Naomi looks like it's already begun answering that question.
Naomi seems to be a young woman trying to have it all, almost afraid to make a choice for herself. And I suspect that by the end of the season, she's either gonna have to make a life-changing decision, or that choice is gonna be taken out of her hands. And either of those outcomes is gonna be an intriguing prospect. I have a feeling that when Naomi's asked the question "Who are you?" at the end of the season, she's gonna say "I'm Naomi McDuffie". And unlike in "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" where the "Because I'm Spider-Man" line is immediately undercut by the "He's *our* Spider-Man" line not three seconds later, I think it'll actually have some weight and emotion to it.
And Zumbado seems like an interesting presence so far too. He doesn't get much screentime in the episode, but what he does get is certainly nothing to scoff at. The actor playing him, Cranston Johnson has this air of intensity to him that makes you not want to look away from the screen. And yeah, we really only get one scene with him this week, but so what? Johnson's performance accompanied by the background music and excellent camera work.
I also really enjoyed the mystery elements going on in the episode. Supergirl attempted to do a journalism angle several times, but it just never meshed well with the tone of the show. But considering that Naomi is going for a more intriguing character study during this first season, those mystery and journalism elements feel right at home. The shots of Naomi interviewing people in town after "The Superman Thing" happened seem very much at home within the show so far, and I can actually enjoy it for the most part. Now, if they can somehow incorporate the sense of community into... What was the town called? (googles the name of the town) Port Oswego! The town is called Port Oswego! Now, if they can somehow incorporate the sense of community into Port Oswego like Black Lightning did with Freeland, and Superman and Lois did with Smallville, this is gonna be a really great way for us to engage with the community of the town.
For lack of a better word, Freeland and Smallville felt like entities, while every other DCCW town just feels like a backdrop. You probably couldn't tell a Central City from a National City, from a Gotham City, from a Blue Valley. But Freeland and Smallville stick out because the people in the city genuinely feel like a community, and it looks like Naomi may be moving in that direction with Port Oswego too. And trust me, that's only a good thing.
And I can't not talk about the emphasis on the school lifestyle for Naomi either. Naomi has three separate crushes that she all considers "close friends", and there's just enough attention put on little glances between them all during several scenes in the episode. Not so much attention that it's annoying or distracts from the plot, but enough to where you notice it and realize that it ties into Naomi's current characterization: Naïve girl who wants everything. But unlike Courtney Whitmore who needed to be humbled, Naomi just needs to learn that she can't have everything and will eventually have to make a choice. I already touched upon that earlier, so I won't repeat myself.
If there was one area I think the Pilot struggled in, it was the CGI. With the exception of Dee's metal wings, the fight in the forest was laughably unconvincing CGI wise. It didn't look plasticy like it would on The Flash, but it did look awkward to just have those leaves in seemingly random places on screen. But when the rest of the Pilot was pretty great, and the writers haven't earned my wrath just yet, I can forgive the one aspect of the episode that was just okay. I know that the CGI is typically the selling point for some of these shows, but I'm personally more interested in the detective narrative and Naomi McDuffie as a character. If the episode is bad, I'll typically call out bad CGI too, and if the episode is good, I'll typically call out good CGI too. But you don't need CGI or fight scenes to tell a compelling story, Just look at Stargirl's "Shining Knight" for a great example, since that episode only had the staff light up in one scene near the end of the episode, and didn't have a single action sequence!
If you're on the fence about whether you should check this episode out, I'd say that you should give it a shot! I personally go into each new show I watch with an open mind, willing to be surprised. I was excited about the Naomi show because I liked the Shang-Chi film, and Naomi was in a similar vein where it was a show about a character I'd never heard of. And so far, I don't regret my decision to watch it. Like all shows, I'll give it three episodes, and if it turns out to not be that good by the end of episode three, I'll dump it. That's how it was with Batwoman season 2, and I still haven't seen the rest of that crapshoot.
In conclusion: Give it a chance. Watch the Pilot. Give it three episodes. And in the words of the show "Don't Believe Everything You Think".
8 / 10.
Guys, I cannot tell you how refreshing this was! It's been so long since I've been able to review an episode of a show that I *actually* liked with no strings attached! I think the last time that happened was... What? Superman and Lois's season 1 finale? The WandaVision finale? Yeah, I had some 10 / 10 reviews in Stargirl season 2, but the season overall took way too long to get out basic ideas because they had too many balls in the air, and not enough hands to juggle them all! But if this is the CW standard for Pilot episodes nowadays, well congratulations, you got me on board!
The best compliment I can give this show so far is that it feels very unique and different compared to the tones set by the other Arrowverse shows. Flash has the typical team dynamic, Legends of Tomorrow is pure chaos, and Superman and Lois is the family show, but Naomi feels very focused on characters and events, and one character in particular; the title character, Naomi McDuffie. And as someone that's praised Stargirl for how they focused on Courtney in season 1 and how her father leaving her affected every decision she made, a character study like that is gonna have me more than intrigued.
Also, to clarify, I knew nothing about the character of Naomi going into it aside from a few surface level things. I remembered reading that she was adopted and that's why she likes Superman, I believe she's an alien which is how she gets her powers, I know she's a teenage superhero not unlike Courtney Whitmore on Stargirl. Like I said, just the surface level stuff. So when Naomi asks the question "Who Am I?" at the end of the episode, I was intrigued. And unlike in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", I think this show's actually gonna answer that question! My biggest issue with Shang-Chi was that we didn't get to know who the character Shang-Chi was! I can tell you a lot of stuff that happens to him, but I couldn't tell you who he *is*. Naomi looks like it's already begun answering that question.
Naomi seems to be a young woman trying to have it all, almost afraid to make a choice for herself. And I suspect that by the end of the season, she's either gonna have to make a life-changing decision, or that choice is gonna be taken out of her hands. And either of those outcomes is gonna be an intriguing prospect. I have a feeling that when Naomi's asked the question "Who are you?" at the end of the season, she's gonna say "I'm Naomi McDuffie". And unlike in "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" where the "Because I'm Spider-Man" line is immediately undercut by the "He's *our* Spider-Man" line not three seconds later, I think it'll actually have some weight and emotion to it.
And Zumbado seems like an interesting presence so far too. He doesn't get much screentime in the episode, but what he does get is certainly nothing to scoff at. The actor playing him, Cranston Johnson has this air of intensity to him that makes you not want to look away from the screen. And yeah, we really only get one scene with him this week, but so what? Johnson's performance accompanied by the background music and excellent camera work.
I also really enjoyed the mystery elements going on in the episode. Supergirl attempted to do a journalism angle several times, but it just never meshed well with the tone of the show. But considering that Naomi is going for a more intriguing character study during this first season, those mystery and journalism elements feel right at home. The shots of Naomi interviewing people in town after "The Superman Thing" happened seem very much at home within the show so far, and I can actually enjoy it for the most part. Now, if they can somehow incorporate the sense of community into... What was the town called? (googles the name of the town) Port Oswego! The town is called Port Oswego! Now, if they can somehow incorporate the sense of community into Port Oswego like Black Lightning did with Freeland, and Superman and Lois did with Smallville, this is gonna be a really great way for us to engage with the community of the town.
For lack of a better word, Freeland and Smallville felt like entities, while every other DCCW town just feels like a backdrop. You probably couldn't tell a Central City from a National City, from a Gotham City, from a Blue Valley. But Freeland and Smallville stick out because the people in the city genuinely feel like a community, and it looks like Naomi may be moving in that direction with Port Oswego too. And trust me, that's only a good thing.
And I can't not talk about the emphasis on the school lifestyle for Naomi either. Naomi has three separate crushes that she all considers "close friends", and there's just enough attention put on little glances between them all during several scenes in the episode. Not so much attention that it's annoying or distracts from the plot, but enough to where you notice it and realize that it ties into Naomi's current characterization: Naïve girl who wants everything. But unlike Courtney Whitmore who needed to be humbled, Naomi just needs to learn that she can't have everything and will eventually have to make a choice. I already touched upon that earlier, so I won't repeat myself.
If there was one area I think the Pilot struggled in, it was the CGI. With the exception of Dee's metal wings, the fight in the forest was laughably unconvincing CGI wise. It didn't look plasticy like it would on The Flash, but it did look awkward to just have those leaves in seemingly random places on screen. But when the rest of the Pilot was pretty great, and the writers haven't earned my wrath just yet, I can forgive the one aspect of the episode that was just okay. I know that the CGI is typically the selling point for some of these shows, but I'm personally more interested in the detective narrative and Naomi McDuffie as a character. If the episode is bad, I'll typically call out bad CGI too, and if the episode is good, I'll typically call out good CGI too. But you don't need CGI or fight scenes to tell a compelling story, Just look at Stargirl's "Shining Knight" for a great example, since that episode only had the staff light up in one scene near the end of the episode, and didn't have a single action sequence!
If you're on the fence about whether you should check this episode out, I'd say that you should give it a shot! I personally go into each new show I watch with an open mind, willing to be surprised. I was excited about the Naomi show because I liked the Shang-Chi film, and Naomi was in a similar vein where it was a show about a character I'd never heard of. And so far, I don't regret my decision to watch it. Like all shows, I'll give it three episodes, and if it turns out to not be that good by the end of episode three, I'll dump it. That's how it was with Batwoman season 2, and I still haven't seen the rest of that crapshoot.
In conclusion: Give it a chance. Watch the Pilot. Give it three episodes. And in the words of the show "Don't Believe Everything You Think".
8 / 10.
The worst of the worst.
GomezAddams66612 January 2022
Good, different style pilot with "The CW's blur effect"
rikudouensof12 January 2022
I understand that I still have about 18-20 episodes to go, but when I really need the lens to focus, the show just had to blur character like they did "superman" in season one of Supergirl.
The story does not go with the "My name is..." They have learnt to let viewers hang.
For a low budget series, I am impressed with the start. This Naomi is totally different from what the comics is, so I want to see what happens!
The story does not go with the "My name is..." They have learnt to let viewers hang.
For a low budget series, I am impressed with the start. This Naomi is totally different from what the comics is, so I want to see what happens!
i found it boring
jainadvay2 March 2022
In the beginning I had high hopes for this show because of the character from the comics who had unique power sets and was funny. But, the show was dragged into a teen drama which was cringey at times and boring most of the time. The show was dragged, i watched 3 and half episodes and found the show so boring that I forced myself to watch through it. To tell the truth, I did not even enjoy a single bit of this series.
Solid set up episode
thesecretgarden_248 February 2022
The was a set up episode. A good set up episode at that. Got to know all the basics and wet my appetite for the characters and world. Love Naomi already. Great to have a teenage actress play a teenage. The story is fresh, the actors fun and bright. The story is engaging and leaves me wanting mord.
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