Fear The Walking Dead’s Naomi was something of an enigma when she was first introduced in season 4 – here’s her tragic backstory explained. The first half of Fear The Walking Dead’s fourth season unfolded in a series of flashbacks and switching back to the present, which only added to the air of mystery surrounding new character Naomi (Jenna Elfman).
She made her first physical appearance in Fear The Walking Dead season 4 episode 2 “Another Day In The Diamond” in which a flashback revealed Madison, Alicia, and Strand came across her while investigating an abandoned camp. When they first met Naomi held Madison at gunpoint, which isn’t necessarily an out-of-the-ordinary way to greet somebody in the zombie apocalypse, but Naomi’s later behavior would suggest she couldn’t be trusted. She joined Madison’s group at the stadium and though her background as an ICU nurse proved invaluable she tried to flee several times.
Not only did Naomi have a habit of running off, but it also transpired she had a tendency to give people false names. In Fear The Walking Dead episode “Buried” it’s revealed Laura – the missing girlfriend John Dorie is on a mission to find – is actually Naomi. The following episode, “Laura," viewers learned how John and Laura/Naomi met. After he found her unconscious near his cabin, he nursed her back to health and the two fell in love before she mysteriously fled without warning. Before leaving, however, she revealed to John she had lost a daughter.
At this point in season 4, Naomi is coming across as pretty shady but the reveal she lost a daughter hinted there might be something else at play. Fear The Walking Dead episode “Just In Case” revealed exactly what that was. In yet another flashback, Naomi is yet again trying to flee on her own but ends up taking Madison and Strand on a supply run to a FEMA camp. Naomi is very familiar with the camp as it transpires she and her daughter Rose were living there before she became Laura and met John.
Naomi reveals Rose came down with pneumonia and she left the FEMA camp to try and find antibiotics for her. While she was gone Rose died and turned, infecting the whole camp. This devastated Naomi as she not only lost her daughter but also felt responsible for the deaths of everyone else – hence her tendency to flee and avoid getting close to people. Confessing her backstory was a turning point for Naomi in Fear The Walking Dead, who a few episodes later felt comfortable enough to reveal her real name (June) to John. In the latter part of season 4, Naomi is well on the way to redeeming herself and by confronting her tragic past and true identity, she put herself on a path to becoming an integral part of the group in Fear The Walking Dead's fifth season.