Naomi – Shadow Ridge

By starrymag | March 1, 2022

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

Nathan (Daniel Puig) and Naomi (Kaci Walfall) are enjoying their newfound couple status. They have ice cream, watch movies and talk about the places they’ve lived (#armykidlife).  But Nathan seems to feel like something’s missing. Naomi and Nathan continue watching The Matrix.

 

Dee (Alexander Wraith) is still trying to sell Naomi on the benefits of meditation and Naomi is really trying. She manages ten minutes of mindfulness, but she still has a lot on her mind – the secrets her parents kept, her new powers and the bounty hunter (Aaron Farb) that tried to kidnap her.  Dee tells her that being alone with your thoughts can be difficult and takes practice. But we gather for Naomi it’s easier said than done while you’re looking over your shoulder, which is probably why she tells him she prefers their boxing lessons. She also admits that she’s been having nightmares about the night the bounty hunter came, except her mind’s giving her an alternate ending where Dee doesn’t swoop in and save her. Dee understands that she’s afraid but promises that the fear will get better.

 

Later at school Naomi and Annabelle (Mary-Charles Jones) talk about the upcoming Shadow Ridge camping trip and the concept of camping. Naomi is a fan, but Annabelle is not. Then, they moved on to Naomi’s new relationship with Nathan. Naomi is enjoying being with Nathan, but she tells Annabelle that there’s a lot she can’t tell him.

 

While the kids are heading to camp, Greg (Barry Watson) and Jennifer (Mouzam Makkar) are called into Commander Steel’s (Brian Brightman) office. As Jennifer is a respected linguist Commander Steel thinks she can be of assistance in figuring out the mystery behind the artifact. Commander Steel tells Jennifer that they think the writing came from aliens and the McDuffies have to pretend to be surprised. It would look too suspicious to turn him down, so Jennifer agrees.

 

When Nathan and Naomi meet up at camp Nathan is a little disappointed. He’s been happy dating Naomi, but he still feels like she’s been distant. Plus, he reminds her that things were great before, but she still dumped him out of the blue. She considers answering, but then a very dazed Anthony (Will Meyers) stumbles into them.

 

Counselor Mary (Malone Thomas) tells a story that once upon a time there was a logger named Moonshine Jimmy. He was, as the name suggests, a heavy drinker. One night he drank himself to insanity and picked up his ax and slaughtered all the other loggers. Now his spirit haunts the woods. Anthony says it’s Moonshine Jimmy that he saw in the woods.

 

The next morning Naomi visits Anthony in the nurse’s cabin. Anthony says the nurse thinks his allergies are why he was so out of it last night, but he swears it wasn’t. He tells Naomi that last night he snuck out to see the stars but then he heard this loud noise and the rocks turned blue. It made him feel really sick, so he tried to find help and he found Naomi and Nathan. He wants Naomi to help him find out what happened. Naomi says she’s in.

 

She then recruits Annabelle and reluctantly Nathan. Technically they were supposed to go canoeing, but Nathan’s willing to help if it means spending time with Naomi. So, Annabelle, Nathan and Naomi ask around during team building exercises. It turns out this has happened before. A little while ago a researcher named Belinda saw something in the woods and never returned to the camp again. Some people say it was a “mental break” and others think it was Moonshine Jimmy.

 

Dee goes to see Zumbado (Crantson Johnson) and it’s clear there’s no love lost between them but they need to talk about the bounty hunter. Dee says he’s worried about the threat he could pose to Naomi. Zumbado says he and Dee had a deal which Dee broke. But Dee points out that Naomi came to him and not the other way around. Plus, Zumbado could’ve given him a heads up about the bounty hunter and didn’t. Zumbado thinks that Dee’s probably more worried about what the bounty hunter could mean for him. He says deserters are frowned upon where Dee’s from. Mutual dislike aside Dee can sense the bounty hunter and Dee says Zumbado will help him stop him because he knows about both of them.

 

Nathan, Anthony and Annabelle are walking through the woods after curfew. They go to the cabin Belinda used to use before she disappeared, but it’s not quite deserted because they smell freshly baked cookies in the kitchen. And there are the blue rocks that Anthony mentioned. Because of the weirdness they make a run for it and come face to face with Director Richard (Steve Alderfer).

 

As a punishment the gang is sentenced to cleaning the cafeteria. Naomi wants to make a plan to finish searching Belinda’s cabin, but Nathan pointed out they’ve already gotten in trouble for snooping once. However, Naomi’s still curious about what’s happening at the camp. Needing a break Nathan goes with Naomi to the science cabin.

 

Back at the McDuffie house Jennifer and Greg have a tense talk. Jennifer is half-convinced that maybe it’s time to cut their losses, take Naomi and leave. Apparently, they’ve left town before because someone got too close to the truth about their alien daughter, but Greg is less sure that that’s the right thing to do. He’s worried that leaving will raise Commander Steel’s suspicions and it’ll lead to his dismissal. How can he protect Naomi without his army connections?

 

In the woods Annabelle and Nathan talk a little. Previously, he thought that being with Naomi would entail actually getting to be with her, but he still feels like she’s dodging him. Later, when Annabelle talks to Naomi about it, she says she’s not intentionally trying to give Nathan the run around. It’s just that as much as she likes Nathan, she’s not ready to tell him she’s an alien.

 

When it’s nighttime again the group enacts a plan to get back to Belinda’s cabin. Annabelle and Nathan distract a camp counselor with questions about bears while Anthony and Naomi sneak off. While they’re looking around Anthony and Naomi have a brief talk about their almost relationship. Then, they stumble upon some info about Belinda (Denise Arribas). She was a naturalist. She found the glowing rocks too and when they watch some of the recordings, they see that she was attacked while filming.

 

More drama is unfolding back in town. Jennifer and Greg sneak into a restricted area to alter the test results of the artifact. Dee and Zumbado realize they have no choice but to team up to deal with the bounty hunter. And we get a little more info about Dee’s background. According to Zumbado, his people liked to think of themselves as peacekeepers. It’s why they went from planet to planet.  Zumbado found it arrogant as opposed to noble. Speaking of arrogance, Dee says he doesn’t get why Zumbado stays on earth. He thinks of himself as royalty, so earth must be beneath him. But, no matter how much they loathe each other, they’re going to need the bounty hunter’s hit list.

 

After seeing the disturbing footage, the group decides to step away from the investigation. But in the cabin Naomi and Annabelle discuss if it was the right call. Naomi is thinking it was the right choice because it’s too dangerous. Annabelle says it would be for someone normal, but not for someone like Naomi. However, Naomi reminds her that her powers didn’t save her from the bounty hunter. It was Dee that did. Annabelle says fear is a new look for her. Clearly, the fight shook her up. On the Nathan front Annabelle tells Naomi that just because Naomi can’t tell Nathan everything doesn’t mean she can’t tell him some things.

 

Zumbado and Dee track down the bounty hunter who is still injured. Dee offers him a deal: if he gives up the list, they’ll let him heal in peace. But the bounty hunter says he’s not leaving without his mark. Zumbado asks who sent him here. When the bounty hunter won’t answer Zumbado knocks him out and takes the list from his pocket.

 

Naomi decides to go to the cabin alone and remembers Dee’s advice about fear: face it and fight it. When she gets to the cabin she runs into Anthony. He still wants to know the story behind the glowing rocks. They do some exploring and end up in the basement where they find suitcases filled with blue rocks. They’re labeled “dilustel” and inside Naomi sees the same writing that’s on the artifacts. The rocks seem to be making Anthony sick, but they have no effect on Naomi. Naomi’s immunity is probably an alien thing. After getting some pics Naomi tries to get Anthony away from the rocks, but they’ve been locked in by Counselor Jeff (Brett Newton). He tells her she should’ve left this alone and shows her she’s not the only alien at camp. Luckily, she’s able to use her energy blasts to subdue him. She grabs a barely conscious Anthony and runs.

 

The next morning Counselor Jeff gets arrested, presumably for Belinda’s murder. On the upside Anthony’s feeling much better. When Naomi asks, he says he doesn’t really remember much of last night after they found the rocks. He, Annabelle and Naomi just agree they’re ready to go home.

 

Jennifer and Greg lie to Commander Steel and tell him the writing most likely comes from a human indigenous culture. At the time he seems to accept Jennifer’s assessment, but later he watches the surveillance of Jennifer and Greg sneaking into the restricted lab.

 

Zumbado and Dee also have another reluctant meeting. Dee explains that he handed the bounty hunter over to Adam Blake who’s going to put him in the phantom zone. And after going over the list there’s good news and bad news. The good news is the bounty hunter wasn’t interested in Dee. The bad news is Qyeala, the woman Dee loved, is on the list.

 

Naomi plans another picnic with Nathan, and she tells him half the truth. They broke up before because Naomi was afraid as things were too real. And she admits she’s still kind of afraid, but she knows they can’t just do the fun couple stuff without the vulnerability. Her honesty makes Nathan happy, so they’re going to be a little scared together.