TV REVIEW: FTN Reviews Naomi Episode 9: Keep Your Friends Close

And another key piece of lore from the comics comes forth. Because predicted by me last week, it was revealed in “Keep Your Friends Close” that Naomi’s adopted parents are indeed aliens. I won’t spoil certain elements to their “heritage” if you will, but I will tell you that in the comics, they’re not from Naomi’s world. It’s very…interwoven. And given that “Season 2” of Naomi just started in the comics, there’s still room to grow, but needless to say, this was the predicted outcome.

That doesn’t mean that “Keep Your Friends Close” didn’t have interesting moments, far from it. The ‘Flash Forward/Flashback” interrogations were honestly fun, and as the story got closer to its end, it was interesting to see who said what, why, when, and so on.

The party itself was also solid in that it gave the backdrop for many things, including the highs and lows of Naomi’s various relationships, and how far someone would go in order to find out a truth. But as Zumbado said, “Some Secrets Are Better Left Buried”. Which is why I’m a bit torn on the Nathan investigation. Because this show spent a lot of time stating how him and Naomi were together, broke up suddenly (and for reasons that are still lame) then she suddenly rushes back to him and now she suspected him of being an alien and lying to her for various reasons and demanded the truth. Yes, we get it, Naomi seeks the truth about her life, but a key word that was lacking in this episode was “subtlety”. Because Naomi and crew didn’t exactly go subtle at times when trying to get the truth, and that almost cost Naomi two friendships, including potentially her boyfriend.

And seriously, what is the point of Lordes? I’m all for that purple-haired comic-loving lady but can we PLEASE give her more depth than she’s “Naomi’s Female Love Interest”!!!?!?!? Seriously, them grabbing the box at the same time and “ogling” each other was just…so cringe.

Just as bad though was Commande Steele, who was yet another person who was not subtle at all. He went after Dee and made it VERY clear he wasn’t a “guy needing a tattoo”, then he went after Craig, and acted so one-note it hurt (“there’s only one reason aliens would be on this planet!!!!”), and then he did the same thing with Naomi. Frankly, it’s dumb that he would go right after her without knowing her powers. Because if he WAS as hostile as she feared, there was no reason to think that she wouldn’t use her powers to…oh I don’t know…KILL HIM!?!?!? And she did almost strike him down, so that’s proof right there!

Zumbado and Dee building up their “partnership” from last episode was fun, and seeing Dee get “swanky” and “tight” was hilarious to behold. His acting was a little wooden when the show started, but now it’s part of his charm, and he’s my favorite character…outside of Anabelle of course. Love the Agatha Christie references. You could say it was her…train…of thought throughout the night? Get it? Because of…nevermind.

And now Naomi has to deal with the fact that her parents are aliens, and that…is going to be interesting to unpack. But that doesn’t explain who has the disc, or if they were the ones who had the disk, or what is going to happen next. Hopefully we’ll find out…in four weeks…yay…

In the end, “Keep Your Friends Close” was a solid enough episode, but certain beats really held things back, a sad recurring theme for this series thus far.

3/5