The CW’s Naomi returns from a short hiatus with “Shadow Ridge.” This episode takes us to camp, gives us mystery, a team-up we didn’t see coming and parents that would do anything for their daughter.
Episode five begins with a flashback to seven months ago, when Naomi (Kaci Walfall) and Nathan (Daniel Puig) had their first date (pre-breakup). Budding young love is in the air as they share their favorite ice cream flavors and favorite places they’ve lived. We even find out that Naomi got her first Superman comic in Tokyo.
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We see Naomi practicing meditation with Dee (Alexander Wraith) when we’re back in the present. Naomi admits she dreams of the bounty hunter from the previous episode that tried to take her back to Earth-29, except Dee doesn’t save her.
Back at school, Naomi and Annabelle (Mary-Charles Jones) discuss the upcoming leadership retreat at Camp Shadow Ridge. While Annabelle hopes for glamping, Naomi looks forward to no cellphone service and being one with nature. Noami mentions her relationship with Nathan, revealing it felt like they’d never broken up. She hopes to ride to camp with him, but instead, she and Annabelle are assigned to a Jeep with Anthony (Will Meyers).
The camp counselors show the juniors around the camp. While assembled around the campfire, they learn about the legend of Moonshine Jimmy — a logger who worked in the woods and spent one season in the sleeping cabins.
Camp Counselor Mary tells of a fateful night when Jimmy drank until he lost his mind, saying that the moonshine batch was terrible, which caused him to believe he was felling trees but instead slaughtered other loggers. Naomi passes a note to Nathan during storytime, asking him to meet her at the old cup tree.
At the army base, Commander Steel (Brian Brightman) meets with Naomi’s parents, Dr. Jennifer McDuffie (Mouzam Makkar) and Major Greg McDuffie (Barry Watson). He called Jennifer in to see if she could read the glyphs etched on a rock they believe is extraterrestrial in origin. The commander’s photos referencing the artifact depict the same stone the McDuffies found Naomi on when she was a baby.
Back at camp, Naomi meets with Nathan, who wants to talk. He mentions everything’s great about their rekindled relationship, but he says that’s the problem. Nathan never understood why she’d broken up with him. Before Naomi can answer, their conversation is interrupted by a sound in the woods, and Anthony stumbles into view, murmuring that he saw Moonshine Jimmy.
The following day, Naomi visits Anthony in the nurse’s station, asking him what happened in the woods the night before. Nathan explains he was hoping to get a view of the stars. He says he heard something or someone before seeing the light and glowing blue rocks and trees.
The light disoriented him, making him feel dizzy. He got lost before finding Naomi and Nathan. The group has a new mystery to solve.
Naomi fills Annabelle and Nathan in and tells them Anthony overheard one of the nurses saying something like this happened before. As they rejoin the camp for team-building activities, Naomi and her friends slyly ask for gossip about the camp counselors on similar incidents.
The counselors spin a story about the incident happening to a staff member named Belinda, who was a loner and researcher that potentially had a mental break after being in the forest alone. One of the counselors mentions it was a cover-up and that Moonshine Jimmy is real, which is why no one visits Belinda’s cabin anymore.
Later, we see Dee visiting Zumbado (Cranston Johnson) at his dealership, brazenly walking in and mounting one of the motorcycles. Dee confronts Zumbado regarding the bounty hunter’s presence in Port Oswego.
They toss blame back and forth, with Zumbado accusing Dee of being the reason this is happening because he couldn’t stay away from Naomi. Dee explains that the bounty hunter is still in town, only disappearing after the two fought in the previous episode, but he could sense the hunter was back.
Dee demands Zumbado help him because the bounty hunter knows about the both of them, and it would be a secret the hunter wouldn’t keep to himself.
Back at the leadership retreat, the foursome goes into the woods to investigate Belinda’s cabin. They find freshly baked cookies, a camcorder and glowing blue light on the concrete. They run into Camp Director Richard when they attempt to retreat, who puts them on chore duty, even after Annabelle compliments him by calling him a “cookie wizard.”
There’s discourse between the four while cleaning the dining hall. Anthony and Naomi want to get back to the mystery, while Nathan wants it behind them. They split up: Annabelle and Nathan look for a charger for the camcorder while Naomi and Anthony stay behind to research Belinda.
Back at home, the McDuffies discuss the rock discovered by Commander Steel despite Greg’s efforts to throw the commander off Noami’s trail. They discuss their next steps and whether Steel suspects them. Greg suggests Jennifer lie about the markings. They even talk about leaving town. Ultimately, they both agree to protect Naomi no matter what.
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While on Camp Shadow Ridge trash duty, Annabelle and Nathan go to the science building, distracting Camp Counselor Susan so that they can pocket the charger for the old camcorder.
Naomi and Anthony continue looking into Belinda, but Naomi breaks the news to Anthony that she’d kissed Nathan, and they’d started talking again. Anthony reveals he already knew because it’s high school and gossip is in abundance. He doesn’t allow the conversation to continue without letting Naomi know that Nathan isn’t all that’s out there for her.
Meanwhile, Zumbado and Dee have different ideas regarding how to handle the wounded bounty hunter. While Zumbado believes they should let him bleed out, Dee reminds him the bounty hunter wouldn’t leave without trying to come after Naomi.
Zumbado is not convinced this is about Naomi’s safety. He suggests this is personal, citing Dee’s past as a Thanagarian war criminal and the value he would be to a bounty hunter, even mentioning Dee being a deserter to his people. Dee takes a shot at Zumbado, questioning his status as royalty and this planet being beneath him.
Zumbado suggests they take the bounty hunter’s device that holds the record of his targets. When Dee asks what happens after they get the device, the silent nonresponse from Zumbado prompts Dee to say there are other ways to handle the bounty hunter. Zumbado tells him this planet made him soft.
In the dining hall, the foursome gets the camcorder working, and they watch the video made six months ago by Belinda. The glowing object is shown in the forest, and Belinda explains the closer she gets, the stranger she feels. Belinda says the glowing substance is a chemical they’re using to mess with the ecosystem in the forest.
The video shows Belinda looking up and asking someone what they’re doing before it cuts out. The lights in the dining hall flicker and burst.
While they participate in more team-building activities, the four disagree about their next steps. Anthony wants to continue investigating, as it seems Belinda knew the person in the woods with her. But Naomi, Nathan and Annabelle wish to call the police. This decision disappoints Anthony as he tells Naomi he thought they were in this together.
Back at the army base, the McDuffies return with a plan. Jennifer questions Lieutenant Ramirez about the age of the artifact and material. While she distracts the lieutenant, Greg swaps out material samples in the lab.
Naomi has second thoughts about not further researching the Belinda incident that night at camp. Naomi admits she initially declined out of fear. The fight with the bounty hunter messed her up. She and Annabelle discuss Nathan, and Annabelle advises Naomi to be honest with Nathan even if there are things she can’t tell him.
Zumbado and Dee find the bounty hunter (Aaron Farb) wounded. Dee gives the hunter a one-time offer to stay on the planet until he heals if he gives him the device with his marks on it. The hunter declines. Zumbado asks who sent him, and when he refuses to answer, Zumbado punches him, taking the device from him.
Naomi decides to face her fear and investigate. She runs into Anthony, who’s also digging. While searching, they find a few black cases marked Dilustel. When opened, there are glowing rocks that disorient Anthony. They take pictures, but she has to help Anthony out of the room.
They run into Counselor Jeff, whose eyes glow, and his face distorts. He used the Moonshine Jimmy myth as a cover to keep people away from the cabin. He explains that Dilustel typically works quickly on humans, but not people like him or Naomi. She uses her abilities to blast Counselor Jeff, and she and Anthony retreat. Later, Naomi questions Anthony to see what he remembers, but he doesn’t remember her using her abilities.
Back at the army base, Jennifer tells Commander Steel that the language on the artifact is ancient, but it’s not alien. The commander confirms the material analysis reveals this conclusion as well. As the McDuffies leave, we see the commander has video of the two of them entering the base the night they swapped the material samples.
Zumbado visits Dee’s tattoo shop, questioning whether the bounty hunter is gone. Dee reveals he turned the hunter over to Adam Blake, who would take him to the Phantom Zone. Zumbado discloses that one of the names on the bounty hunter’s list was Qyeala, Dee’s lost love.
The episode ends with Nathan and Naomi having a picnic. She finally admits she broke up with him because she was afraid of getting hurt. Naomi reveals that while she’s still scared, she’s more fearful of not trying. The pair decide they will give it another try.
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Overall, I enjoyed this episode — seeing Naomi’s struggle with wanting to be a typical teenager and the camp trip reminding her she doesn’t get to be “normal.” Watching Naomi come to terms with her fear of her abilities, not defending herself against new threats about and how real it feels to connect with another person romantically truly allowed us to take a deeper look into Naomi’s character.
Seeing Naomi admit those fears with Dee, Annabelle and Nathan and watching her conquer those fears by going to help Anthony solve the mystery of Belinda was genuine growth for her. Dee and Zumbado were the team up, or should I say “temporary alliance,” I didn’t know I needed.
Their banter was not only entertaining, but it brought up more questions for me regarding their past, as their conversations indicated they know each other well. Zumbado even cryptically states, “We had a deal” at one point.
I adored watching Naomi’s parents go above and beyond to protect her. While they weren’t as subtle as they could have been, an effort was made.
I wonder how much suspicion this will bring to them and Naomi. The episode left me with many questions about Dee’s discovery of Qyeala’s name on the bounty hunter’s list, what this new chemical Dilustel is and what Commander Steel will do with the footage of the McDuffies interfering in the investigation.
Naomi airs Tuesdays at 9 pm on The CW. You can stream it the next day on The CW app.
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