Don't Believe Everything You Think

"*We all look at the world through our own lens. But looking isn't the same thing as seeing. What if everything you believed about the world turned out to be wrong? If we truly opened up our eyes, what would we see? Every superhero has an origin story. And this is mine*"
—Naomi
**Don't Believe Everything You Think** is the first episode of the first season of The CW's superhero drama *Naomi*. It aired on January 11, 2022.

## Synopsis

**SERIES PREMIERE** - Naomi McDuffie is living her best life as a top student, skateboarder and Superman-stan, when a "stunt" in the middle of her hometown of Port Oswego turns her world upside down. While Naomi's doting parents - Greg and Jennifer McDuffie - are concerned with their daughter's strange new fainting spells, the teen's closest friends - Annabelle, Nathan, Lourdes, Anthony, and Jacob - join Naomi to help uncover who or what is behind the unexpected event that has the small military town buzzing. A bit of sleuthing leads Naomi and her friends to discover that the owners of two local businesses - Dee and Zumbado - seem to know a lot more about the incident than everyone else. Soon Naomi realizes that the mysterious event is just the beginning of a thrilling journey that will change her life and challenge her to question everything she knew to be true.

## Plot

Naomi prepares for Nathan's party, but she realizes that her glasses blur her vision rather than better it. So, she attends the party without them, where she is welcomed by her classmates, and Drew shows her off on his Instagram live, crediting her with having the number three Superman fan site in the world, with Brazil and Philippines occupying the first two spots.

She approaches Nathan, who mocks her Superman obsession, however, Naomi is consistent if nothing else. Not only can Superman shoot laser beams from his eyes, he's adopted, like her, meaning they're special, as adopted kids are "chosen."

Naomi joins Annabelle and Jacob, explaining that she had to attend family dinner before coming to the party. When Jacob leaves to get Annabelle a drink, she remarks that Nathan sure knows how to throw a party and look good while doing it, despite the fact that Naomi broke up with him after five dates. Naomi feigns confusion and rushes to the dance floor, where she is the center of attention.

The following morning, Naomi joins her parents for breakfast and greets them in multiple foreign languages. Greg attempts to give his daughter a high five for her mastering of various languages, but she turns him down in favor of a hug before sharing with them that she didn't get in until midnight, which they're accepting of. The last time he and Jennifer stayed out that late was 2009, when they drove out to Portland and saw Coldplay.

Naomi skateboards to school, greeting her neighbors along the way, but speeding past Zumbado and his dealership without so much as a glance over. When she arrives at school, Anthony informs her that Nathan gave him the wrong address, which is why he never arrived at the party. Military brats like him hate townies like Anthony, to which Naomi replies that it's a two-way street. Not to mention, she's a military brat and doesn't hate him.

The debate club prepares for their presentation for the military delegation. Naomi is in class with Anthony and Jacob when she gets a text message from Annabelle that there's a stunt under way in the Square, involving Superman. So, she grabs her board and races down Main Street, where she starts to hear a faint buzzing sound before becoming dizzy and collapsing to the ground. She lays there, barely conscious enough to see Superman flying above her.

Naomi awakens to the sound of sirens and frantic townsfolk. She finds Annabelle in the Square, who claims that she saw Superman. Several others back her claim, adding that the Man of Steel was fighting Galactic Golem in the sky. However, the consensus is that the attack was merely a stunt.

Naomi and Annabelle go to Lourdes for answers, but like them, she has no clue who was behind the stunt despite being the only other person in town, outside of Naomi, who is well versed in the comic world. Lourdes presumed that Naomi was involved, but she insists that she wasn't and tells them that she has to leave for family dinner, but she welcomes Lourdes to text her, even if she doesn't learn anything about the stunt.

Naomi asks her father if he knows anything, but Greg insists that the military weren't involved, as they are only concerned with the arrival of the dignitaries tomorrow and the presentation the day after that. Meanwhile, her mother checks her temperature after learning that Naomi fainted, but Naomi assures them that she's fine. Her phone begins to ring, leading Greg and Jennifer to discuss Naomi's various suitors, from Lourdes, to Nathan, to Anthony, but she insists that they're all her friends and that she likes each of them for different reasons. While that may be, Greg tells her that she'll have to pick eventually.

After dinner, Naomi rides to the Square, where she begins taking photos of the aftermath of the alleged stunt, during which she discovers that at least one of the security cameras have been damaged. She hears noise down an alley and calls out to see if anyone is there. He doesn't respond, but when Naomi leaves, Zumbado appears from within the darkness.

Naomi begins investigating the stunt on Main Street, where she discovers that more than one camera was broken. She then heads to school and collects videos from various classmates who managed to snap a few moments of the fight.

As Naomi becomes more determined to get to the bottom of the stunt, Annabelle is becoming more worried that she's too invested. However, Naomi suspects that something bigger is amidst. This isn't just about her love for Superman. She recalls when her dad bought her first comic. They were living in Japan, and she was having trouble making new friends. Those comics always made her feel happy and free, but ever since the stunt in the Square, she's felt off, a feeling she doesn't even recognize.

Naomi goes to Nathan, who helps her clip the various videos together. Anything for her, Nathan remarks, even though she dumped him. Still, it doesn't change how she feels about him, which is that he's a great person with a good heart, which makes her further question why he sent Anthony the wrong address. Admittedly, Nathan doesn't like him, but that may have more to do with the fact that Naomi likes him than it does that he's a townie. The video has synced, and it details a fairly realistic account of Superman's battle with a blue menace down Main Street. Among other things, they notice Dee, from the tattoo shop, exchange looks with Superman. The video seems to indicate that they know each other.

Naomi is skeptical that Dee could be involved, but Nathan replies that sometimes, people aren't who they think they are. She then presses Nathan to cross the street after making eye contact with Zumbado. Naomi suspects that he's a bad person. They've both seen what happens when businesses like his pop up around military bases; they take advantage of people who are trying to do their best.

Naomi and Nathan arrive at Dee's tattoo shop. He notices that she wears glasses, which he seems to be surprised by. He wonders why she has stopped by, as he doubts it's for a tattoo. When she remarks that she'll get one when she turns 18, he references the day of her adoption, claiming that he learned it from social media. They're trying to get to the bottom of the Superman stunt, and the video seemed to indicate that Dee knew him. He claims that he didn't and that he was just as surprised as anyone, but Naomi isn't convinced he's telling her the truth. She asks for answers, but he replies that he can't give her answers if she's not asking the right questions. Eventually, he relents and reveals that he planned the fight on Main Street for publicity for his shop and that he hired an actor with a jetpack.

Naomi has updated her website to let her followers know that the stunt was allegedly orchestrated by Dee, in an attempt to gain notoriety.

With her having been chosen as one of two participants in the debate before the dignitaries, Greg and Jennifer have gotten Naomi something to celebrate — the opportunity to drive the car. They're proud of her but are surprised by her lack of enthusiasm. Naomi can't get her recent interaction with Dee out of her mind and asks her parents if they know him, as he not only acted as if he knew her, he knew her adoption day and he was surprised by the fact that she wears glasses, which she questions herself, as it makes her vision worse, if anything. Jennifer tells her to relax and Greg explains that she wears glasses because she has a condition called leber optic neuropathy. It's degenerative, and the glasses help slow the damage to her eyes. As for Dee, they doubt that he knew her real parents, as they died in a crash far from Port Oswego. Naomi accepts what answers her parents have to offer and proceeds to drive them to the base.

Naomi arrives at the Academy of Medicine, where her friends and family sit in the audience as she takes the stage and the debate begins, during which she and Esme discuss if human behavior is controlled only by their genes. Naomi argues that it's their choices that determine their destiny. However, shortly after the arrival of three soldiers, Naomi begins to hear that buzzing sound again, the same sound from the stunt in the Square, and she faints.

When Naomi awakens, Annabelle and her parents are at her side. They believe that she had a panic attack and have scheduled an appointment for tomorrow. Naomi fears that it's something more and that it could be connected to Superman, but her parents aren't convinced. After Greg and Jennifer take off to speak with the doctor, Annabelle remarks that she can't believe that Naomi can drive now. Suddenly, Naomi notices that her vision is, like before, clearer without her glasses. However, not only is it better, her vision appears enhanced, allowing her to see the words written on a slip of paper being passed around between military personnel several feet away. It reads: "Evidence of Superman landing discovered in Red River Forest."

Naomi heads into Red River Forest on her own and begins taking photos of what appears to be the aftermath of a very serious attack. In the rubble, she finds a disk with ancient runes inscribed in it. She gets a call from Annabelle, but the service is bad. It is then that she discovers Zumbado has been following her. He questions why out of all the comic book heroes in the world, she chose Superman. Clearly, she feels some kind of connection to him, but she appears to know very little. That said, Zumbado requests that she hand over the disk. He suspects that she's been looking for it, first on Main Street and now in the forest. Naomi comes to the conclusion that he's been following her for a while, and that he's probably also responsible for disabling the cameras. As he approaches, her powers begin to manifest and the surrounding leaves begin to float off the ground. Zumbado recalls how hard it was for him when he realized that he wasn't like everyone else, but the trick is learning how to control their powers. He used to be ashamed of who he was, but he realized that in a world full of sheep, he's a wolf. Naomi screams at him to stay back, which causes a force of energy to knock her to the ground. Zumbado then grabs the disk and tells Naomi not to believe everything she thinks.

Naomi rushes over to Annabelle's and informs her of her latest encounter with Zumbado, who Naomi suspects is actually behind the stunt in the Square. Despite how crazy or improbable it sounds, Annabelle believes Naomi, who wants to sneak into Zumbado's shop and steal the disk back.

Naomi and Annabelle convene with Lourdes, Anthony, Nathan, and Jacob to break into Zumbado's dealership. Anthony passes out walkie-talkies. Annabelle and Jacob stay outside to be lookouts while the others jump the fence and sneak inside. With the help of Lourdes and her lock picking skills, they're inside the dealership within seconds. Naomi discovers a news article from March 14, 2004, the day of her adoption, detailing a mysterious flying object appearing over Port Oswego. One of the photos capture Dee, who doesn't seem to have aged a day since then. Meanwhile, the others discover a locked safe, however, when they get word of Zumbado's return, they're forced to flee.

Naomi pays Dee another visit and asks him what he meant when he said she wasn't asking the right questions. She now realizes that he wasn't behind the Superman stunt and wants to know why he lied. Dee explains that he simply wasn't comfortable with confrontation, so she proposes a conversation instead. He admits to being there on the day she was adopted and that there was another mysterious encounter. Naomi recalls hearing buzzing and also tells him about the disk she found in the woods. Dee seems interested in the buzzing and tells her that it may have something to do with people like them. When Naomi inquires further, he replies that it wasn't supposed to happen like this, and then a large set of metal wings sprout from his back. Naomi asks who he is, but he replies that she's still asking the wrong questions. As the lights flicker, he asks her what is the right question. Naomi replies that the real question is, "Who am I?"

## Cast

* Cranston Johnson as Zumbado
* Alexander Wraith as Dee
* Mary-Charles Jones as Annabelle Peters
* Mouzam Makkar as Jennifer McDuffie
* Daniel Puig as Nathan
* Camila Moreno as Lourdes
* Will Meyers as Anthony
* Aidan Gemme as Jacob
* Barry Watson as Greg McDuffie
* Kenneth Trujillo as Mr. Villareal
* Claire Lanay as Mila
* Korinny Sanchez as Colleen
* Carson Holmes as Drew
* Ja'ness Tate as Sooze
* Daniel Salyers as Bryce
* Brandon Stanley as Trevor
* Cedrick Cooper as Duane
* Denise Graham as Port Oswego Lifer

## Trivia

* This episode is the series premiere.
* Together, *Naomi* and *Superman & Lois* made for the CW's most-watched Tuesday since March 23, 2021.
* When Naomi stops by the comic shop in search of answers regarding the stunt in the Square, Lourdes can be seen holding the Green Arrow Vol 6 #25 comic book.

## Gallery

### Videos

Naomi - Season 1 Episode 1 - Good Morning Scene - The CWNaomi - Season 1 Episode 1 - Clip 3 Scene - The CW

## References

1. ↑ Naomi: Season One Ratings - TV Series Finale
2. ↑ Listings - The Futon Critic
3. ↑ ‘This Is Us’ & ‘FBI’ Top Tuesday Primetime; ‘Superman & Lois’ & ‘Naomi’ Premieres Mark 2021-22 Season Highs For The CW - Deadline