Superhero Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy” centers around seven adopted siblings. It was based on a limited comic book series under the same name, written by Gerard Way, illustrated by Gabriel Bá and published by Dark Horse Comics.
Season one begins with 43 women who previously showed no signs of pregnancy, who all give birth to a child on the same day in 1989. Wealthy eccentric Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) takes it upon himself, for seemingly no reason, to adopt as many of these children as possible, resulting in the guardianship of seven children. He then raised all but one to become a child superhero team named The Umbrella Academy.
These seven children were Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben and Vanya, later Viktor. Luther (Tim Hopper) is the proclaimed leader, with the power of super strength that comes in the form of a gorilla body. Diego (David Castañeda), number two to Luther, has the ability to manipulate projectiles. Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is a top actress with the ability to mind control people following a certain code phrase, while Klaus (Robert Sheehan) is a drug addict with the ability to commune with the dead. Five (Aidan Gallagher), who disappeared during their childhood, has the ability to jump through space and time. Ben (Justin H. Min), who died before the series begins, has the ability to turn into a kraken.
Finally, Vanya, later named Viktor (Elliot Page) in season three, seems to be the outlier of his family with no powers and is unable to join the superhero team. Throughout the first season, however, they revealed that he had the most devastating power of all, converting sound waves into destructive energy.
Season one begins with the estranged siblings reuniting for the funeral of their recently deceased father and the return of their missing brother, Five. His return from the future brings them news that the apocalypse is coming next week. The series continues under this notion of trying to keep the end of the world from occuring while the characters tackle their psychological trauma of being child soldiers for their cold and neglectful father. “The Umbrella Academy” has coined dysfunction and chaos as their trademark, resulting in erratic responses to the show.
Season four was released on Aug. 8, serving as the series’ end. This finale only consists of six episodes, making it the shortest season thus far, as its previous seasons all had ten episodes each. Compared to its previous seasons, the season four finale is simply unsatisfying for a conclusion to a superhero show.
Despite the comedic beginning of the season that showcased the chaotic nature of the family and the show, it then devolved into a confusing and forced plot line and illogical ending. This season was predictable despite there being some jaw-dropping plot twists that answered questions dating back to season one.
The various subplots seemed distracting, especially since the season did not have many episodes to resolve the various loopholes and create a satisfying ending. The characters became inconsistent as the show continued and their motivations throughout are weak. The addition of new characters made the show even messier, as they are used as plot devices with weak character designs. On the other hand, the fight scenes, CGI and the development of their superpowers were incredibly interesting and improved from the previous seasons.
“The Umbrella Academy” has been a source of entertainment for many watchers of the superhero genre for years, and despite its unsatisfactory ending, has brought great joy to its viewers overall. This is a congratulations and goodbye to the actors and everybody who has worked on this show.
2/5 stars
skwok@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @umbrellaacad, Instagram
