Enigma

"*The universe is vast. There are more planets than humans have even counted. More than they can imagine. I don't even know all of them myself. But there's a hierarchy. Some planets are strong, others are weak. And there are a few that are considered the most special of all.*"
—Dee to Naomi
**Enigma** is the fourth episode of the first season of The CW's superhero drama *Naomi*. It aired on February 1, 2022.

## Synopsis

**THE BALANCING ACT** - Naomi discovers more about her past, but she must come to terms with all the secrets that have been kept from her... and who has been keeping them. And as the newly empowered teen continues her training with Dee and finds the courage to confront Zumbado, she must balance her super-life with her school life when Annabelle, Anthony and Jacob push Naomi to campaign for Class President.

## Plot

The story of how Naomi came into Greg and Jennifer's lives began a long time ago, before the two new each other and were both just strangers who happen to be touring the same art gallery. It was love at first sight, and the pair got married some time after. And then one day, March 14, 2004, to be exact, while on a walk through the woods, they noticed something falling from the sky. They followed it to a clearing, where they found baby Naomi, wrapped in a silk yellow blanket, lying on top of the alien rock.

Naomi is upset with her parents for lying to her all these years, for which they're sorry. And unfortunately, they've learned nothing in that time of Naomi's birth parents. Naomi wonders why she was left behind, but Greg and Jennifer argue that maybe they sent her to earth to protect her. While she understands that they're sorry, she can't help but question why they didn't say something sooner. They intended to tell her the truth when she was older, but she seemed happy and normal. Jennifer understands that she's mad and hopes that Naomi will forgive them, which she does.

Naomi shares recent developments with Annabelle; how her parents knew she was an alien this entire time and said nothing. Not only that, Naomi told her parents everything she knows, from Dee and Zumbado, to the disk they discovered. Annabelle is surprised by how calm Naomi is to the discovery that her parents have been lying to her. The reason being that in her parents telling her the truth and her doing the same, everything is back to normal and there are no more secrets. She hopes that it can stay that way. They are then joined by Jacob, who takes them over to the vending machine, where Anthony and more of their classmates are in disbelief after learning that Esme decided to help them make healthier lifestyle choices by taking away all sugar and filling the vending machines with fruit. Jacob and Anthony propose they organize a recall and have Naomi run against Esme. She is initially reluctant, but when Anthony gets down on his knees and begs, Naomi relents.

Naomi continues her training with Dee, taking out her frustrations with her parents on a punching bag, which she hits so hard that it slams against the wall and cracks the tile. With that in mind, Dee suggests that for their next session, they begin meditation training, as meditation is about being aware and present. Naomi then reveals to Dee that her parents have known that she's an alien all along. She, in turn, told them that Dee's an alien, and now they want him to come to dinner. The worst part is that her parents weren't able to tell her anything about who she is. Dee suspects that for someone to have sent Naomi to this earth, the situation must've been dire. The universe is vast. There are more planets than humans have counted. Dee doesn't even know all of them himself, but there's a hierarchy. Some are strong, others are weak, and there are a few that are considered most special of all, and Dee believes that Naomi's from one of those planets. Her powers and energy are rare, making her very special.

Naomi pays Zumbado an unexpected visit and demands that he hand over the disk, but he advises her to go home, even as she expresses that she's not afraid of him. She knows that he's not from this earth and that the numbers on the disk say the Twenty-Nine, but Zumbado assures Naomi that she doesn't know nearly as much as she thinks. When she refuses to leave without the disk, Zumbado hands it over, reminding Naomi of what he told her before: "Don't believe everything you think."

Naomi takes the disk home and begins examining it, but she comes up with nothing, that is until the lights cut off, and then the disk suddenly begins to glow.

Naomi reveals to Annabelle and Jacob that Zumbado gave her the disk, but Annabelle questions why he would do that. However, Naomi is more interested in the numbers she's written down that were carved into the disk. It's some kind of binary cipher, by Jacob's account. All codes can be cracked, they just have to find the right methods. Naomi proposes they run an algorithm, similar to the one they built in coding club.

Commander Steel reveals to Greg that the blackout last night sent their systems offline, which he suspects as being the result of alien activity. A possible dimensional breach, but for the time being, it's just a theory. They need to find the origin point of that blackout and what exactly happened.

Nathan finds Naomi hiding in a classroom during the open mic forum for Class President. Admittedly, Naomi's heart isn't in it, but everyone wants her to. Nathan advises Naomi to trust how she feels. When she asks how he's always so sure about everything, Nathan replies that he's only sure about one thing, that being Naomi. They are joined by Annabelle and Jacob, who report that their algorithm failed. Naomi believes their method is too complicated and suggests something more simple, like a Turing machine. However, not many people still have those.

As planned, Dee attends dinner at the McDuffies'. Greg and Jennifer inquire about Naomi's training, which she assures them is going well. Currently, he's teaching her how to box and they're moving on to meditation. However, more so than Jennifer, Greg appears very skeptical of Dee, who reveals that he's been in Port Oswego for nearly 20 years, but not the entire time, as he left town for a couple of years. Dee reveals he left earth entirely back in 2012, though he doesn't specify where exactly he went. While it took some getting used to, Greg and Jennifer are embracing the fact that aliens are real. Dee asks them about the strange rock they found Naomi on and if there was any kind of light hovering above it, which they claim there wasn't. If there was a light, Dee explains that it would be an energy source, which is normally present at arrival events. They then begin to discuss Dee's wings and how he sensed what Naomi was, even before she knew. When the lights begin to flicker, Dee excuses himself and thanks them for the dinner.

Naomi, Annabelle, Jacob, Lourdes, Nathan, and Anthony are in an escape room in search of the Turing machine, which will become accessible only after they beat the game. After escaping the escape room, they find the Turing machine, which leads Naomi to suspect that the numbers from the disk are coordinates. The first set of coordinates are a street corner in Portland. There's also a description within the numbers that describe a blonde woman with blue eyes.

Naomi joins her parents in the kitchen the following morning, where they are hoping to have a post-dinner debrief over breakfast to ensure that Naomi is okay. She insists that she's fine, but she doesn't like how harsh her parents were on Dee. While that wasn't Greg and Jennifer's intention, they don't want Naomi getting hurt and asks how much she truly knows about him. Naomi deflects and reveals that she has to leave, as she has a student council meeting, which they were unaware of. While it's okay for Naomi to be upset, they remind her that she can always be honest with them, no matter what.

Zumbado enters his office to find a bounty hunter named Jaeger with some kind of device, hovering it over his desk. Jaeger has come in search of something, but not necessarily a car. When Zumbado asks what he wants, Jaeger replies that he wants something rare, valuable, and powerful enough to be dangerous. Zumbado warns him that he's getting in over his head and tells him to leave.

Naomi catches a bus to Portland and tracks the coordinates to a blonde hair woman with blue eyes, who she discovers is Akira, who takes off running at the sight of Naomi. Naomi chases Akira down on her skateboard and to further gain her attention, Naomi uses her abilities to break a car's window. Akira comes to a stop and warns Naomi that using her abilities in public is reckless. Naomi is not what Akira expected and asks if Zumbado sent her, to which Naomi replies that he didn't. Akira is relieved to hear this, revealing that Zumbado is responsible for the ruination of Earth-29, both Akira and Naomi's home world. It used to be beautiful, full of color and life, but that's all gone thanks to Zumbado. Given that he didn't send her, Akira suspects that Naomi found her by using the disk, which she only could've done by activating it. The disk was a mistake. They thought they might need it one day to find each other, but looking back, it was a bad idea. Naomi pleads with Akira to tell her more, but Akira is reluctant, reasoning that the less Naomi knows, the safer she'll be.

Naomi calls Dee to pick her up in Portland, and he does so without a question asked. Dee recalls her making a light bulb flicker during an intense moment with her parents. There's a connection between her emotions and her powers. Ever since she found out her parents weren't honest, she's been in less control of them. And so, Dee advises Naomi to be more honest with herself.

Annabelle and Jacob frantically wait for Naomi's arrival as Esme answers questions from the student body.

Greg informs Commander Steel that a mass of electromagnetic signal just ripped through Port Oswego. This is different from the previous signal, as this signal is repeating and the pulse frequency resembles something like radar, as if someone is searching for something.

Naomi arrives at the open mic and gives her stance. She admires Esme's willingness to put herself on the line, as being honest about what you really want and what you feel is scary, leaving room for rejection, also making you feel weak, but if they decide to face it despite the risk, there's nothing they can't do, Naomi insists.

Greg recognizes one of the possible locations for the signal as the spot he and Jennifer found Naomi. He goes there on his own and discovers some type of tracking device lying on top of the rock, leading him to conclude that someone is looking for Naomi.

Naomi arranges to get something to eat with Annabelle, but first she has to get her book from her locker, where she is confronted by the teleporting bounty hunter, who reveals that he's come to take Naomi back to Earth-29, as there are a lot of people searching for her. She uses her abilities to momentarily knock him down. She then runs out onto the field, but he follows behind her and inches closer towards Naomi with a staff in hand. Fortunately, Dee arrives, and a battle ensues between him and Jaeger. Ultimately, Dee wins the fight, knocking the bounty hunter down before embracing Naomi.

After searching the campus for the bounty hunter, Dee returns to Naomi, who sits crying in a classroom. There are many beings like the bounty hunter in the multiverse. When Naomi asks how he found her, Dee suspects that the emergence of her powers could be acting as a magnet, meaning that others could come after her as well, and if they do, Dee promises to protect Naomi. She admits that he was right about her powers. She tried to control them and help him during the fight, but she was too afraid. Dee replies that the first step to fixing her problems is admitting she has one. He then points to the Q tattooed on his neck that is meant to represent Qyeala, his lost love. She's the reason he left the planet back in 2012. While Dee doesn't know exactly what happened to her, he knows that life is short, and he wishes that he knew back then how precious time is and that he had told her how much she meant to him. He was afraid and too scared to love back then, and he hopes Naomi doesn't make the same mistake, advising her to hold on to any love she finds.

Greg reports to Commander Steel that the signal went dead and that the alpha team failed to find any evidence of life or device at either of the sites. Commander Steel questions Greg about detouring prior to the arrival of the second site. Greg claims that the data suggested a third site, which he decided to investigate, but he didn't find anything.

Naomi finds Nathan practicing with a soccer ball on the field and reveals to him that she dropped out of the presidential race. He asks if this means that she's figured out what she wants. Naomi admits that she has and proceeds to kiss Nathan.

## 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
* Aaron Farb as Jaeger

Co-Starring* Alie Urquhart as Esme Brooks
* Brian Brightman as Commander Steel
* Joanna Walchuk as Mrs. Varady
* Christina Bach as Sergeant Sawyer

## Trivia

* Naomi and Akira are from Earth-29, which in the DC Comics, is known as Bizarroverse or Bizarro World.

## Gallery

### Videos

Naomi - Season 1 Episode 4 - Enigma Promo - The CWNaomi - Season 1 Episode 4 - Notebook Scene - The CW

## References

1. ↑ Naomi: Season One Ratings - TV Series Finale
2. ↑ Recently Added Episode Titles - Various Shows - 22nd December 2021 - SpoilerTV