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TV REVIEWS: FTN Review Naomi Episode 7: I’m Not A Used Car Salesman

March 9th, 2022 by Todd Black Comments

At this point, I’m honestly wondering how long it’ll take for us to get a majority of the answers about what is going on with Naomi. Because it seems as though every episode just tells us the same things just in a different way, including that Naomi “isn’t ready for the truth” even though they also make it clear that she needs to know at least more than she does…because she gets herself into trouble when she doesn’t.

Case in point, the Star Labs incident. Zumbado saves her and then the whole episode is them starting and stopping an escape all so that Zumbado can start and stop his own origin story. It was frustrating to say the least.

Granted, it was good to get SOME information what happened on Earth-29. Including how the powers they got were caused by an “environmental disaster”, only 29 people got powers (a rather low number considering, but whatever), and then they were run off their Earth because of another character named Brutus (who made an appearance in the comics recently when the Justice League went to Naomi’s Earth.)

We also learn how Zumbado was honestly a hero, and then framed to make it seem like he was the one who betrayed the 29 to Brutus, forcing him to leave his Earth behind (somehow).

Overall? Compelling enough, if a little basic. What the problem was though, is that there were too many convenient elements and logic flaws that happened throughout the episode. They were supposed to be escaping capture, and yet Zumbado would stop them and tell more of his story instead of…you know…getting out? What’s more, in his story, Akira believed him to be a traitor. All because Brutus “told her so”. But if that was the case…and he had aligned himself with Brutus, why would he care about lying to her? Especially if he was “about to get captured”? And why did she get to walk away when he was captured? Exactly.

Furthermore, at the end of the “escape”, Zumbado says he’ll “buy some time” and then the next scene he’s somehow captured. Why didn’t he resist? We know he’s as good as Naomi right now, and yet he was captured without a fight? Then, Naomi, despite the place being built to “dampen powers” was able to overpower the machine that drained her before, all the while in a weakened state? Huh? Not to mention, when the REAL escape attempt happened, both her, Zumbado, and then Dee were able to wipe out everyone without breaking a sweat, so why the need for a “noble sacrifice”? It didn’t add up.

Nor did it add up that Zumbado was her “silent protector” over the years, and yet for the first couple of ACTUAL MEETINGS he did the full “looming threat” thing instead of just talking to her. Sure, if he felt she “wasn’t ready”, that’s one thing. But he actually set her up for failure, and danger, with that fake disk in one of the first episodes. How was that “keeping his promise” to her parents? Oh, and he didn’t show her a memory of her actual parents…because…?

I know it sounds like I’m harping, but this episode really dragged at times, and no amount of “odd couple” with Dee and Annabelle was going to save that. As adorable as it was.

In the end, “I’m Not A Used Car Salesman” did flip the script on one of Naomi’s more basic characters, but whether it was actually meaningful and worth it is very much up to you to decide. For me, it only kind of helped things along.

3.5/5

 

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!