Naomi – Keep Your Friends Close

By starrymag | April 4, 2022

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

Naomi (Kaci Walfall) sees someone taken away on a stretcher. We never see their face. Then, we cut away and realize Naomi and a lot of her family and friends are being interrogated. Something went sideways at the anniversary party, but it’s just not clear what yet. So, we get some flashbacks.

 

Before whatever landed someone in an ambulance happened we see Naomi, Annabelle (Mary-Charles Jones) and Jacob (Aidan Gemme) are trying to figure out the identity of the alien. Naomi is kind of hoping that there isn’t one because if there’s an alien in her house who isn’t Naomi then that means someone she loves has been lying to her. Annabelle points out that maybe the alien doesn’t know that they’re an alien yet as Naomi did go most of her life without knowing. Naomi hopes that’s true and they decide to try and find the alien before the party i’s over. The conversation is interrupted by Jennifer (Mouzam Makkar), who comes in to tell the teens that it’s time to give the toast.

 

Naomi gives a very heartfelt toast to Greg (Barry Watson) and Jennifer. The speech revolves around honesty and trust and they’re both very touched by it. But all the talk about trust has made her realize she might not be able to trust the people around her.

 

In the interrogation room Annabelle and Jacob are asked if anything about the party, she says no. Jacob is asked if Naomi seemed okay, he says she was busy, but fine. In a flashback we see that Naomi, Annabelle, and Jacob tried to use an app to identify the mystery extra terrestrial. They don’t have much luck aside from managing to confuse Nathan and Anthony.

 

Commander Steel (Brian Brightman) goes to the gym in Dee’s (Alexander Wraith) tattoo shop. He asks a lot of pointed questions and Dee realizes he doesn’t want a tattoo or a boxing lesson. When he sees he won’t get any answers out of him, he leaves.

 

Back in Naomi’s room Jacob says he ran the numbers with his software and narrowed things down. There are three possibilities for people who could’ve been on the street when her disk was taken: Lourdes (Camila Moreno), Nathan (Daniel Puig) and Anthony (Will Meyers). Because her options include her boyfriend and two of her friends, Naomi isn’t thrilled about this development. She wants to believe it’s not them. Later in the interrogation room Naomi says nothing strange happened at the party.

 

At the party when Naomi, Annabelle and Jacob are talking Jacob says they’ve got to consider every possibility. Naomi says it can’t be Anthony because he reacted to the dilustel. Jacob doesn’t know what that means so Annabelle explains that it’s sort of like a reverse kryptonite. Meaning it makes humans sick but aliens don’t have a negative reaction to it. Naomi says they should investigate, but they shouldn’t let Anthony, Nathan and Lourdes know they suspect them of something. And she realizes she can be a living lie detector if she uses her super hearing to monitor their friends’ heart rate.

 

Zumbado (Cranston Johnson) goes to see Dee upon Dee’s request and Dee tells him Commander Steel came to see him. They’ve got a problem. Actually, they’ve got a few problems. Dee tells Zumbado that Greg works for him. Zumbado tells Dee that Naomi told him that her disk is missing and she thinks there’s an alien at her parents’ party. Dee says they should go to the party, but first Zumbado insists he change out of the jeans and tee shirt.

 

When they arrive Naomi is a little surprised. Zumbado says she should’ve told them about the disk as soon as it happened. Naomi apologizes and admits she was worried they’d be upset. Dee goes to find Greg and Jennifer and Zumbado tells Naomi that she should think about why an alien in her life would want to keep their identity hidden. He warns her that some secrets should stay hidden.

 

Dee tells Greg and Jennifer that Commander Steel came to see him. Jennifer says that’s not good. Greg didn’t realize that Commander Steel hadn’t dropped the alien investigation. Zumbado asks why Commander Steel would stop trusting him. Jennifer and Greg realize he must’ve found out they manipulated the test results about Naomi’s brith rock. The McDuffies don’t actually want to involve Zumbado in this, but they admit that they have a contingency plan yet it’s risky. Zumbado points out that if Commander Steel knows about Naomi they have no other choice. Greg says they’ve got a way to access Steel’s computer, but he can’t leave. So, Jennifer and Zumbado are going to go.

 

Later in the interrogation Greg says he always respected Commander Steel, which is what makes this so hard. However, the interviewer was asking about Naomi. Greg says an anniversary party isn’t exactly a paradise for teenagers, but the kids were making the best of it. And we get a scene of the group playing I never. But it’s really an interrogation. The questions start out lighthearted, but when Naomi asks if anyone’s ever taken something from her house things get a little awkward. Annabelle tries to lighten the mood by suggesting a game of truth or dare.

 

Outside Nathan asks Naomi what gives with the interrogation. She apologizes, but explains things have been weird. She says people have been lying to her and things have been going missing. Nathan seems a little hurt that Naomi thinks he could have anything to do with it. But when she asks him what he was doing the previous night his heart rate speeds up. Naomi tells him he can tell her anything. Nathan explains trust is a two-way street and that Naomi brings her share of secrets to the table.

 

Inside Naomi talks to Dee. She’s surprised that he hasn’t left,  but he’s not exactly a party person. She does thank him for keeping an eye out for her. Dee asks how she’s doing. Naomi says she hates the idea that someone she cares about has been lying to her. Dee says there could be an innocent explanation. Naomi asks if he really believes that. The truth is Dee doesn’t know, but he honestly doesn’t want Naomi to lose her optimism. Then, Annabelle tells Naomi that Jacob’s had a breakthrough.

 

Jacob has been reading Dr. Bell’s research. You know how vampires don’t show up in pictures or in reflections? Well, aliens give off an energy that means their eyes always show up blue in non-digital pictures. Anthony was the party’s photographer. He answers the door and Commander Steel is there.

 

Later, while being interrogated, Greg says he was surprised Commander Steel came to his home. They were colleagues, not friends. In a flashback we see that things got tense. Commander Steel starts out asking softball questions about staying married and Naomi’s adoption. Then, he makes it clear that he believes aliens are a threat. He says he’s giving Greg a chance to turn himself in. Geg says he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but warns him not to ruin his life’s work grasping at straws. Commander Steel leaves.

 

Annabelle and Jacob notice the party winding down and that presents a problem. Naomi went to school to develop the film. They can’t let the guests leave until Anthony’s taken a picture of everyone. So, they have to figure out a way to make everyone stay. Annabelle comes up with an impromptu game of murder. She’s an Agatha Christie fan.

 

Lourdes gives Naomi a ride to school and helps her in the dark room. She asks Naomi what was stolen. Naomi tells her someone took the disk. Lourdes wonders if she really thinks she could do that. Naomi says she didn’t know what to think. Lourdes tells her that people rarely are who they think they are. And she’s not going to tell Naomi why she was near her house, it’s personal.

 

Zumbado and Jennifer are in Commander Steel’s office doing something to his computer. Jennifer lets Zumbado know she’s not wild about his presence in her daughter’s life. She says there are certain decisions he doesn’t have a right to tell Naomi because he’s not her parent. And Naomi’s too young to be dealing with all of this. Zumbado says he has respected their family by keeping his distance all these years and he didn’t tell her everything, he has honor. Before Jennifer can finish asking what he means, an armed guard barges in and Zumbado subdues him. They’ve gotta hurry up. Jennifer finds Commander’s files: he knows about Naomi.

 

Naomi and Lourdes hear someone walking around get scared. Naomi goes to investigate and sees Nathan at her locker. She confronts Nathan and wants to know why he’s breaking into her locker. She asks him if he stole her disk. Nathan wonders why she’d think that. Naomi says he’s been lying. Frustrated, Nathan opens up Naomi’s locker and shows her the promposal he planned for her. The locker was full of pictures of them and flowers. She feels terrible and tries to apologize, but Nathan leaves.

 

After Nathan is gone Commander Steel approaches Naomi and says they’ve got a lot to talk about. He asks her a lot of pointed questions about being adopted. Then, he tells her he doesn’t like the term “alien” as it sounds too innocent. And he tells her he has a device to detect them. As far as the interrogator (Kurt Yue) knows, when Commander Steel threatened her she ran away. In reality he was going to use the device and expose her.

 

But just as he was about to use her powers, Commander Steel starts clutching his chest. Naomi doesn’t understand what’s happening at first but then she turns around and sees her parents. They’re both holding dilustel and it’s not making them sick. Commander Steel isn’t so lucky. He falls to the ground.

 

The interrogator tells the McDuffies that Commander Steel was obsessed with aliens and them. He’s not dead, by the way. He is just not very coherent at the moment. There was a lot of info on his computer (presumably some of it was planted by Jennifer) and he broke the law. He apologizes to Jennifer and Greg and promises that the military police will deal with him accordingly.

 

It’s a very tense drive home as Naomi is shaken up and doesn’t want to talk about it. Later, when she’s alone, she looks at the pictures she developed. Naomi, Jennifer and Greg all have blue eyes.