- Title: Naomi – Who Am I?
- wiki: link
The finale of Naomi sends the show’s title character back to her Earth to deal with the boogeyman Brutus (Ray Porter) whose minions have kidnapped her parents and allies as leverage. With only her high school friends as support, Naomi (Kaci Walfall) manages to free the others and make a stand against against the monster responsible for destroying the world she was born on before returning home to face the reveal of an awful truth that will apparently end not only the season but the series as well (as the show has not been renewed for a second season). Hitting the hero’s journey moments over the course of the episode, Naomi ends the episode in far more control of her powers, and a better understanding of what it means to be a hero, than at any point in the series.
Even if it was better than the perpetual dumpster fire of Batwoman, it’s hard not to see Naomi as a failure. That failure doesn’t lie on the shoulders of star Walfall who was a bright spot for the series, but much like with Ruby Rose in Batwoman the writing was never quite up to snuff (to be far, Naomi was immensely more watchable). The blame lies in the show diverging so far from the original mini-series which introduced the character. Over-complicating Naomi’s history and backstory, adding a slew of supporting characters, and making changes to the origins of her adoptive parents, villains, powers, and more, while not only changing her but the rules of super-heroes in the world she grew up in, all made for some unnecessary hurdles the show couldn’t always manage to clear. In some ways it might be better that Naomi simply fades away as without a substantial reboot, that I doubt anyone at The CW was willing to undertake, it’s unlikely its problems could have been solved over a single summer.
