S01.E02: Unidentified Flying Object

[scarynikki12]

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Naomi enlists her friends to dig deeper into the mystery surrounding unexplained occurrences in Port Oswego and whether they have anything to do with her past.

 

 

[Lantern7]

How long does this season last? Because I'm thinking that Naomi will rope in every student into her odyssey. "Damn, I got midterms coming up. On the other hand, Naomi is super chill, and she looks like she really needs help trying to find a single needle in a barn full of haystacks. I guess I'm in!"

Once again: as much as I like making fun, I don't think Naomi is a Mary Sue.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Lantern7

[thuganomics85]

So, not only are there aliens and Naomi is apparently one of them, Dee claims Superman actually does exist in this universe and he even fought alongside him.  Kind of suspicious about that.  Not that I think he's lying, but I'm kind of getting an exaggeration vibe.  Like Dee was just a solider and saw Superman give a speech one time; maybe even shook his hand; and is now all "Yeah, me and Supes are buds!" to everyone he meets...

Interesting that this doesn't feel like a normal superhero show, but almost like Nancy Drew and early season Riverdale (before it became, well, "the Riverdale" that we all know now!), where it's basically Naomi and her group of friends solving mysteries, getting into relationship drama, and facing off against shady individuals.  I'm digging it so far: helps that the cast is generally likable and play off one another pretty well.

Still wonder if Naomi's parents know more than they are letting on.  And I'm guessing her dad's new "promotion" will involve him getting more involved with the whole alien thing.

Zumbado can certainly talk a "big baddie" game, but there seemed to be a brief moment on his face at the end where it looked like he was actually concerned for Naomi and really wanted her to just stay far away from whatever is going down.

Naomi still pretty much as three love interests wrapped around her finger without even trying, heh.  I did love the moment when she and Lourdes were flirting, and it leading to Nathan and Anthony putting aside their hate for one another briefly to give each other a "Oh, great, her too?!" look.

Naomi's reactions to all of the reveals were cracking me up.  Kaci Walfall seems to really be a good fit in the role.

Still enjoying the show.

[possibilities]

Why didn't she ask D about Z? If I was twice confronted by a scary alien, the first thing I'd ask the non-scary alien was: WTF with the scary dude?

[Trini]

I'm still in, the unravelling mysteries are interesting, but they were losing me a bit with some characters reactions to certain things. Like Ex-Boyfriend Love Interest being upset that she had friends over - at her own house. Or the teens just leaving Naomi alone in the mill with the scary dude. I'm sure there was a better way to get those two characters alone.

So Dee seems helpful. Although I wish he'd just tell Naomi what he knows about her, etc. if he wants her to trust him. I know a big info dump isn't ideal for this slow-burn mystery, but being too cryptic is annoying too. However, I do like Naomi investigating things herself. I hope she actually finds proof that she's an alien(?), because I don't think manifesting vague powers is enough evidence of that.

Not disliking any characters yet, although Naomi's parents are kinda suspicious to me. With the way they're making her mom so perfect, I'm sure that's to set up that she hiding something.

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Still wonder if Naomi's parents know more than they are letting on. ...

I'm in the 'THEY KNOW' camp.

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen another show where the lead had three concurrent love interests right at the start. They really wanted to give the fanfic writers ALL the options!

[cambridgeguy]

Dee telling Naomi to jump off the bridge reminded me of Peter Parker leaping off the building in Spider-Man 2.  Maybe try something that doesn't have the high potential for a catastrophic injury first?  That looked like a 30 foot drop into a very shallow creek, so "just a broken foot" seems optimistic.  If she's supposedly invulnerable then maybe try sticking her with a needle or something first?

[Chicago Redshirt]

7 hours ago, Trini said:

I'm still in, the unravelling mysteries are interesting, but they were losing me a bit with some characters reactions to certain things. Like Ex-Boyfriend Love Interest being upset that she had friends over - at her own house. Or the teens just leaving Naomi alone in the mill with the scary dude. I'm sure there was a better way to get those two characters alone.

In fairness to Nathan, the plan was that the two of them were supposed to be working on some school project together. Not only did she forget about that plan, but she made separate plans with all these randos (including one that he actively dislikes) and didn't inform him or invite him to whatever these new plans were. I'm on Nathan's side here: that was a jerk move on Naomi's part. Understandable under the circumstances, but still a jerk move, particularly when she doesn't explain how she got caught up in the alien intrigue.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I will swear undying devotion to this show if they make flip the script and make Zamundo the hero mentor and Dee the villain. So far, Zamundo seems -- if we are to take him seriously -- to be trying to keep Naomi from getting hurt, while Dee has lied to Naomi and urged her to do something that potentially could have gotten her killed if her powers didn't kick in, without so much as offering to catch her if it didn't work. And he downplays the injury risk as just a broken ankle. Nope. Clearly seemed like there were rocks in that riverbed, and if you can break an ankle, you can also potentially break a neck. 

Thanagar is a fairly important planet in the DC Universe.  Does it exist in the universe of comics with which Naomi is familiar, I wonder? I would have expected Naomi to have some more reaction if it did. Like if you told a Trekkie that Captain Kirk is real, and by the way, I'm from Vulcan. I wonder how seriously we are to take his assertion that he is Thanagarian. Because depending on what incarnation of the comic books  the show/mythos is drawing from, it might be a sign that it will flip the script and make Dee a bad guy. Spoilers for the comics/animations behind bars:

Thanagar was the home to Hawkman and Hawkwoman, and others who, through their use of Nth Metal, could fashion wings that allowed them to fly. The planet also was depicted as full of militaristic douchebags, and at least in the Justice League cartoon, they conducted an invasion of Earth that got repelled by our heroes.

[TiffanyNichelle]

I like this show I think. I definitely like Naomi herself but they need to drop one of the three possible love interests. One of the guys has to go, imo. It's just too much for me. I want to focus more on her figuring out her origins and what kind of alien she might be and if her parents were aware. I don't want to have to do that while also having to deal with three separate people trying to get with her in each episode. It's an embarrassment of riches and kind of distracting.

I would also like to know where this is in the Superman mythos. Despite having the biggest Superman fansite Naomi doesn't quite believe he's real. No one else really believes it either and the army doesn't know he's an alien. But Dee has fought with him in a war somewhere.

Edited January 19, 2022 by TiffanyNichelle

[tennisgurl]

I am still enjoy this show, I like that it feels a bit more low key then a lot of Superhero shows, mostly focused on Naomi's personal journey and her and her friends solving mysteries. I am liking the mystery and am curious about what is real and what isn't in this world when it comes to DC mythology. Three love interests really must be a record, especially for this early in a show, and with no clear winner in sight and all three of them in her social circle. It does very much seem like they are keeping all three options open to see who works best with Naomi and if fans take to anyone in particular. I laughed when Nathan and Anthony shared a glance when Lourdes drove up all flirty. Like they were both thinking "I thought I only had him as competition, but now another challenger has entered the ring!" 

I actually like that Naomi is popular at school. So many shows make their main teen character an unpopular loser, despite them usually being gorgeous, likable, smart, and funny, with no real reason why people wouldn't like them, so I am good with people realistically liking Naomi. 

I am very suspicious of her parents, I think they know more then they are letting on. Not sure if they know everything, her dad seemed honestly surprised about aliens being a part of the new job, but I think they know something at least. Kind of funny how Naomi was fishing for information about asking for details about the "crash" that killed her parents, like she half expected them to slip up and admit that it was a spaceship that crashed. 

Connecting Naomi's origin to Thanagar is certainly interesting, I wonder how close they will stick to comic lore? And if Superman is real here, wouldn't it be pretty hard for him to keep his existence a secret? He isn't Batman, he has never exactly stuck to the shadows. How much is Dee really telling Naomi? And why hasn't Naomi mentioned the other creepy guy with powers to him?

Edited January 19, 2022 by tennisgurl

[AnimeMania]

To fly, shouldn't Dee have to flap his wings, and to hover in place, shouldn't Dee have to flap his wings as fast as a hummingbird?

I think Zumbado is a good guy.

Things they seem to have forgotten from Episode 1:

Naomi has some sort of horrible eye disease and should wear her glasses no matter how much better she can see without them.

Naomi's parents bought her a brand new car, she doesn't need to borrow her father's or ride in her friend's busted up Hooptie.

[akg]

9 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Naomi's parents bought her a brand new car, she doesn't need to borrow her father's or ride in her friend's busted up Hooptie.

They weren't super clear in that scene last week but I think Naomi's 'surprise' was being able to drive to the debate, not the car itself. 

21 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Interesting that this doesn't feel like a normal superhero show, but almost like Nancy Drew [...] where it's basically Naomi and her group of friends solving mysteries, getting into relationship drama, and facing off against shady individuals.  I'm digging it so far: helps that the cast is generally likable and play off one another pretty well.

Although I'm not sure about all of the love interests, I am excited about Naomi's friend group and hope the writers are taking notes from Nancy Drew. Nancy is obviously the lead on her show but her friends all have their own personalities and stories and they interact with each other and not just her. Which makes a more realistic and entertaining viewing experience for me. 

21 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I did love the moment when she and Lourdes were flirting, and it leading to Nathan and Anthony putting aside their hate for one another briefly to give each other a "Oh, great, her too?!" look.

I loved that too and, as much as I hate the constant love triangles on the CW, I'm a little curious how they're going to handle this one (which I guess is really a square?) when the main character is bi (apparently, since all we've seen is some flirting).

 

[possibilities]

15 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I will swear undying devotion to this show if they make flip the script and make Zamundo the hero mentor and Dee the villain. So far, Zamundo seems -- if we are to take him seriously -- to be trying to keep Naomi from getting hurt, while Dee has lied to Naomi and urged her to do something that potentially could have gotten her killed if her powers didn't kick in, without so much as offering to catch her if it didn't work. And he downplays the injury risk as just a broken ankle. Nope. Clearly seemed like there were rocks in that riverbed, and if you can break an ankle, you can also potentially break a neck. 

I have been wondering the same thing about both characters, but I dislike both of them because they're both basically being melodramatic dicks and putting her through a lot of nonsense instead of just being on the level and talking to her about what's what. They're both drama freaks at best, and trying to wow her with their weirdness/power/mystery. That's not how you mentor or befriend someone. It's annoying. 

I really like Naomi and her friends. But I might not be the right viewer for this show because I don't like the mystery aspect. It feels forced, to me. So far I find the plots irritating. I saw enough origin stories in Heroes, years ago. There's nothing in the story so far that doesn't feel like a reworking of a million other shows. But I like Naomi, her friends, and her parents. 

Also, the show this reminds me of the most is actually Scooby Doo. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

I would also like to know where this is in the Superman mythos. Despite having the biggest Superman fansite Naomi doesn't quite believe he's real. No one else really believes it either and the army doesn't know he's an alien. But Dee has fought with him in a war somewhere.

Well, Dee claims he has fought with Superman in a war. It could be Dee is lying, misled or crazy. It's also unclear if Dee meant "fought side by side" or "fought against."

It's the third biggest fansite, but she's gunning for number 1. :)

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Connecting Naomi's origin to Thanagar is certainly interesting, I wonder how close they will stick to comic lore? And if Superman is real here, wouldn't it be pretty hard for him to keep his existence a secret? He isn't Batman, he has never exactly stuck to the shadows. How much is Dee really telling Naomi? And why hasn't Naomi mentioned the other creepy guy with powers to him?

It would be easy for someone with Superman's powers to keep his existence a secret if he wanted to when operating in a world that seems basically akin to our 2022 one in terms of technology and culture if he wanted to. Various incarnations of the character had him performing various superdeeds for years before donning the iconic costume. and under the radar as needed to preserve the Clark secret identity And in some settings like the Dark Knight, he still performs superdeeds in costume but stays under the radar. It could just be a question of there being relatively few jobs where it makes sense for him to suit up or stick around long enough to be seen. 

So taking Dee's account at face value that Superman is real, the bigger questions in my mind is why he has been operating quietly generally, was that really him in Port Oswego just recently, if not, who was it and why were they acting like Superman, and if so, what was it that made him show up just now in full uniform? That Naomi hasn't asked these questions, and that Dee hasn't volunteered answers is somewhat frustrating.  But what can you do?

Zumbado hasn't yet shown actual powers to Naomi IIRC. Just said that he is different and a wolf rather than a sheep, implying powers. He claimed that he had nothing to do with the weird phenomena that Naomi experienced when talking to him. The only thing that I think we the audience have seen him do is erase the alien-seeming writing on the building, and that could be just technology rather than an inherent ability of his. Of course, the reasons why Naomi isn't like, OK Dee, I met this creepy guy. Is he an alien too? How many other aliens are you aware of? You're from Thanagar. Where do you think my people are from? etc. etc. is because TV show wants to have the mystery stretched out. 

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

To fly, shouldn't Dee have to flap his wings, and to hover in place, shouldn't Dee have to flap his wings as fast as a hummingbird?

I think Zumbado is a good guy.

Things they seem to have forgotten from Episode 1:

Naomi has some sort of horrible eye disease and should wear her glasses no matter how much better she can see without them.

Naomi's parents bought her a brand new car, she doesn't need to borrow her father's or ride in her friend's busted up Hooptie.

 

We can see from the show that Dee's wings don't work like bird's wings and thus don't require flapping to produce thrust for flight. I'm not a physicist or anything like that, but I'm fairly confident that even a mystery metal set of wings would just be too fundamentally heavy to provide lift for a 200-plus pound person. Some Googling confirms that to even come close to providing bird-like flight, wings would have to be like 6+ meters long, which is way bigger than Dee's. Dee's wings not needing to flap is of course convenient because this makes them cheaper for CGI purposes.

The disease that they said she had is Leber optic neuropathy, which is apparently a real-world thing according to my Googling. But it's a vision loss that does not seem to have any treatment in the real world, certainly not something as simple as wearing glasses. So I think it will eventually come out that the eyeglasses were a cover story designed to keep her abilities in check, and she no longer wears them because her powers have manifested themselves. But whether the parents were given bad information about Naomi's "need" for glasses or if one or both of them came up with it, not sure. Whatever the case might be, it does seems like the parents should have commented on her having stopped wearing them in this episode. Maybe the issue is that she doesn't have to wear the glasses 24-7 while awake to deal with the condition in their mind/in the cover story.

In the pilot, Naomi was given a set of keys to the family car, rather than her own car.  The scene had the McDuffies opening up the garage, the parents saying "Surprise" and Naomi saying, "I don't get it." Dad throws her the keys and says "That's your set." If it was a brand-new car, she would have reacted differently, at the presence of an unfamiliar car. And Dad would have said something more indicative that the car was just for her.

In this episode, Naomi is talking to Anabelle and says Mom said she could borrow the car to go on the UFO hunt. Then later, Mom tells Naomi that Dad is stuck at work so Naomi can't use the car that night. Coincidence that Dad is working late and the car is suddenly unavailable? Or a case where Mom was trying to subtly put the kibosh on the UFO hunt? Time will tell.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Chicago Redshirt

[peachmangosteen]

With regards to Naomi's eyes, when she was in the woods and started to be able to hear everything, didn't she also start to lose her eyesight? It seemed like it was getting blurry for her. Or am I making this up lol?

I liked this ep more than the pilot and agree with the comparisons to Nancy Drew, which I love. But I have a feeling the ridiculousness of her having 3 people super into her is going to cause me to drop this sooner rather than later.

[Diapason Untuned]

21 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

I would also like to know where this is in the Superman mythos. Despite having the biggest Superman fansite Naomi doesn't quite believe he's real. No one else really believes it either and the army doesn't know he's an alien. But Dee has fought with him in a war somewhere.

I believe that this show takes place in one of the new parallel universes Oliver Queen created at the end of Crisis, similar to Stargirl. In this universe, Superman is fictional but he exists on another parallel Earth(not Earth-1, where the main Arrowverse shows take place, but another one) that can still travel to this Earth.

Superheroes being fictional on a parallel world is a trope DC has used before and would work well with this series in particular.

 

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Zumbado hasn't yet shown actual powers to Naomi IIRC. 

He literally blew her away with what his powers this episode.

 

15 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

With regards to Naomi's eyes, when she was in the woods and started to be able to hear everything, didn't she also start to lose her eyesight? It seemed like it was getting blurry for her. Or am I making this up lol?

To me, it seemed like it was showing her vision getting sharper actually.

[Chicago Redshirt]

4 minutes ago, Diapason Untuned said:

I believe that this show takes place in one of the new parallel universes Oliver Queen created at the end of Crisis, similar to Stargirl. In this universe, Superman is fictional but he exists on another parallel Earth(not Earth-1, where the main Arrowverse shows take place, but another one) that can still travel to this Earth.

Superheroes being fictional on a parallel world is a trope DC has used before and would work well with this series in particular.

 

He literally blew her away with what his powers this episode.

It wasn't clear to me if he countered her powers with his own or if she just doesn't have control of her own powers and screwed something up.

It's also unclear to me if Superman does exist or not in Naomi's universe. Dee says he's real, and there is evidence that a guy dressed in red and blue displaying some of Supes's powers exists, unless it is a stunt. Can Dee be trusted? I think the show wants us to think so. 

[Diapason Untuned]

3 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It wasn't clear to me if he countered her powers with his own or if she just doesn't have control of her own powers and screwed something up.

I mean, he blew at her and then she flew away and hit the wall. It seemed clear to me it was something he did.

 

Quote

It's also unclear to me if Superman does exist or not in Naomi's universe. Dee says he's real, and there is evidence that a guy dressed in red and blue displaying some of Supes's powers exists, unless it is a stunt. Can Dee be trusted? I think the show wants us to think so. 

Regardless of Dee's trustworthiness, we can be fairly sure that Superman or someone very like him exists, based on what the general told and showed Naomi's dad.

From what we know of the larger Arrowverse not to mention the source series, the multiverse angle seems the most promising.

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, Diapason Untuned said:

To me, it seemed like it was showing her vision getting sharper actually.

I just rewatched and there’s a blurry shot and then a shot of Naomi closing her eyes tightly, both of which suggest to me her vision was getting blurry. But I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean lol.

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, Diapason Untuned said:

I mean, he blew at her and then she flew away and hit the wall. It seemed clear to me it was something he did.

 

Regardless of Dee's trustworthiness, we can be fairly sure that Superman or someone very like him exists, based on what the general told and showed Naomi's dad.

From what we know of the larger Arrowverse not to mention the source series, the multiverse angle seems the most promising.

His having powers is the most likely explanation. It can't be ruled out, though, that it was simply Naomi's powers fritzing, since she clearly does not have powers. Nor can it be ruled out that Zee managed to counter Naomi's powers through non-powered means like, say, Batman might.

I'd agree that the most likely possibilities are

1. Earth-N has its own indigenous Superman who has been operating covertly for some time but for some reason has just now emerged in public

2. A multiversal Superman has somehow found his way to Earth-N and begun operating

3. Someone indigenous to Earth-N has decided to take on or trade upon the identity of Superman

4. Someone has decided to create a hoax meant to get people to think Superman is real and exists on Earth-N

There are probably other possibilities that I'm overlooking. But in any case, we are too soon to have any clue which of the above might actually be the case, or a variant thereof.

[Stardancer Supreme]

8 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I liked this ep more than the pilot and agree with the comparisons to Nancy Drew, which I love. But I have a feeling the ridiculousness of her having 3 people super into her is going to cause me to drop this sooner rather than later.

Not to start a fight, but why is it so impossible for more than one person to like Naomi romantically?  Nathan is the ex, Anthony is the new potential romantic interest, and Lourdes is the flirty crush.  Thing is, the romance should certainly take a backseat to the mystery of her origin.

As a comic book reader, the show is relatively faithful to the story in the comics, just fleshed out for the sake of episodic television. 

[peachmangosteen]

6 minutes ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Not to start a fight, but why is it so impossible for more than one person to like Naomi romantically? 

I didn’t say impossible. It’s just too much for me personally. I don’t wanna watch multiple scenes every ep of 3 different people flirting with Naomi. It’s already boring and repetitive to me and it’s only been 2 eps.

And I get it’s the CW so obviously they’re gonna have a love triangle but a love square is just not it for me lol.

[Chicago Redshirt]

52 minutes ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Not to start a fight, but why is it so impossible for more than one person to like Naomi romantically?  Nathan is the ex, Anthony is the new potential romantic interest, and Lourdes is the flirty crush.  Thing is, the romance should certainly take a backseat to the mystery of her origin.

One person seeming attractive to multiple people and generating romantic interest isn't unusual.

One person simultaneously generating what seems to be intense devotion as Nathan, Anthony  and Lourdes (I kind of wish that Anthony and Nathan's names were swapped for the easy memory device of Nathan Nerd and Anthony Athlete) are showing doesn't seem to me to happen much in real life.  Maybe I just live a boring life, lol.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Chicago Redshirt

[peachmangosteen]

17 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I kind of wish that Anthony and Nathan's names are not swapped for the easy memory device of Nathan Nerd and Anthony Athlete

Wow, that would have made it so much easier lol.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

Okay, I'm surprised that I'm liking this series so far. It could get to the point faster, but that seems to be common these days. Particularly I like Annabelle.

.

On 1/19/2022 at 5:37 PM, tennisgurl said:

I actually like that Naomi is popular at school. So many shows make their main teen character an unpopular loser, despite them usually being gorgeous, likable, smart, and funny, with no real reason why people wouldn't like them, so I am good with people realistically liking Naomi. 

Agreed.

.

[owenthurman]

The problem with the drama of disbelief is that there’s no drama in it.

Struggling to remain interested in this story when no one acts in a way I find either believable or interesting.

[Terrafamilia]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:43 PM, AnimeMania said:

To fly, shouldn't Dee have to flap his wings, and to hover in place, shouldn't Dee have to flap his wings as fast as a hummingbird?

As he said, they are made of a rare metal from Thanagar, "Nth metal" in the comics, and it has anti-gravity properties so technically it doesn't even have to be fashioned into wings to work. My first question to Dee, upon seeing them, would have been, "How do you pack all that away?"

[Affogato]

On 1/20/2022 at 10:46 AM, Diapason Untuned said:

I believe that this show takes place in one of the new parallel universes Oliver Queen created at the end of Crisis, similar to Stargirl. In this universe, Superman is fictional but he exists on another parallel Earth(not Earth-1, where the main Arrowverse shows take place, but another one) that can still travel to this Earth.

Superheroes being fictional on a parallel world is a trope DC has used before and would work well with this series in particular.

 

This actually makes sense. This world has the best bagels, so superman comes to buy some every Sunday morning. While there he sometimes rescues a sinking cruise ship, catches a train when the bridge collapses. Also, this world operates at a faster time. Comic Superman was created to explain the phenomenon, meanwhile incidents continue to happen....