Series Review: The Umbrella Academy

I saw the season finale of The Umbrella Academy and it was almost anticlimactic.

Hear me out:

The very first time the series graced our screen, we were in awe. I knew I was. I kept thinking, “Oh, my gosh! What a series!”

At a glance, Aidan Gallagher (Five) stood out as the best actor in the series. His embodiment of that role and realistic portrayal of an older person in a child’s body had me in a chokehold.

Then we got to learn about the very dysfunctional Umbrella Academy with the emotionally unstable Father, Hargreeves.

It was fun in a very chaotic way but it was good. Season one was top tier and built the momentum for two. Two came with a bang and I was so excited to finally continue one of my favourite series.

By season three, I was sure it would go on for maybe two more seasons but that was not to be as Netflix announced one final season.

Seeing that it was to be the final season of what has been an excellent series, I expected it to go out with a bow; a massive bang that would leave us applauding and nodding and heaving sighs of contentment, but what was delivered was something short.

Five and Lila’s Romance

Ever since finding out that Five killed her biological parents at the behest of her adopted mother, Lila has been after Five, plotting and trying to kill him until they came to an impasse and acknowledged the real villain, her adopted mother.

Since then, we have seen them sort of become pals as she tends to understand him better than his siblings. Pairing them up to get lost for seven years was insane but I understand why Five fell for her.

Let's be reminded that he had a love interest with the mannequin, Dolores when he went missing the first time, so having some real person this time was a plus for him.

Seven years with just one person is a lot and can play with one's emotional state.

But the story could have done without that additional complicated love triangle.

I like Five and I so want him to be happy but not that way. Not betraying Diego and trying to get Lila to end it.

Their Powers

Throughout the season we've watched the siblings lean into their powers and get better.

Klaus tapped into the dead zone and Victor became, well, a ball of raging energy. But at least we witnessed them use it. This season however didn't really have so much powers on display.

I had expected something out of this world with the marigold consumption but all we got was retching and downloaded power scenes.

• Klaus played around with the wrong guy and ended up as a sex medium. There are levels to his madness but that level was new to me.
• Diego’s aim with the newspapers and using bullets against the bad guys was the best we got.
• Lila with uncontrolled laser beams. In her defence, her power is that of a mimic so nothing new.
• Five with a teleporting subway.
• Allison with an ability to rumour without saying rumour.
• Luther being strong and bullet-proof.
• And Ben with the uncontrollably tail.

Five Years Later

Is it too harsh to say that their lives were below par? Except maybe Five, but even he couldn't see that his boss was a Keeper.

Diego ended up as a delivery man.

Luther became a stripper called Space Boy and had to live in their abandoned home.

Alison took to commercials, lost Ray and was almost turning into a neglectful mum.

Klaus found a way to stay sober for the majority of the years and was absolutely jobless living off Alison. He also became a germaphobe.

Ben took to Ponzi and in a very weird turn of events ended up in jail. Not the one I would have assumed would go behind bars, but okay.

Victor opened a bar far from his family and has relationship issues.

I can assume that their lack of education may have lent a hand to their inability to thrive in a normal world without their powers but still, it felt Diego and Lila won by having a family and trying to make it work despite their shortcomings but we still saw how they almost ruined it.

The Jennifer Incident

Now, this was worth four seasons. For three seasons we wondered how Ben died and we finally got to see it. I’ve always known Hargreeves was heartless but mehn did he cross a line.

He didn't even blink before killing his adopted son. I get that he isn't human but come on already!

But as much as we got a glimpse into the Jennifer incident, it still doesn’t explain where the giant squid came from.

Why was she saved? In the season we saw her emerge from a giant squid and mention “The Cleanse.”

But we understand that the Cleanse wipes out an entire timeline so how was she not wiped out?

During which timeline did her cleanse happen?

Also, if the version from the original timeline died with Ben, why then did this version feel such a strong connection to him?

How could he have had sketches of her if he hadn't seen her before? The whole thing just stressed me out.

The writing just didn't add up. I understand they wanted to put a backstory to the Jennifer Incident but it may have been better if they left it out completely because now we are never getting any answers.

It was such an odd way to introduce a character and also try to tie up loose ends.

Also, can we take a moment to talk about that monstrosity they turned into? I have seen impressive CGIs and it was impressively gross. Real gross.

Anyway, moving on.

Abigail and Hargreeves

Abigail’s niceness at first threw me off balance. I guess I assumed she was going to be mean like the original Hargreeves but she had her plans.

Did I like her plans? Not really.

Did I understand why she had to do it? Absolutely.

She owned up to her fault but the whole disguise and setting the siblings on the part of Cleanse was also clever on her part.

Gene and Jean

This couple has got to be the most accurate but albeit scary couple ever. For the first time in a very long time, a conspiracy theory was on point and I found myself siding with that team, but Abigail killing her was so unnecessary. They both wanted the same thing, but again, since it would still end in death, I guess it didn’t matter after all.

The Best Ending

I doubt if we can ever find an ending that is satisfactory to every single viewer but this ending was sad.

True. We all knew the family was the clog in the system. Five has always known that deep down they were the glitch and I didn't find it surprising that he had a pit stop with all his variants just hanging around.

I can't imagine what would have pushed the writers to come up with this ending but I assume with a lot of promising Netflix projects, they had to just come up with something to tie it all up.

My annoyance is how they tied it up. I don't mind the family being engulfed by the Cleanse but maybe it could have been done better. I was heartbroken by their ending.

I mean, we all saw Manifest. We enjoyed the finale and though some didn't like it, a majority felt it was the best way to say farewell to the series.

I expected something similar and more emotionally captivating but well, what can I say, it is what it is.

My Thoughts

The writers did the best they could — I hope. It's usually easy to point out flaws but I can't imagine it was easy to decide on that finale.

Overall, the season felt rushed. Just six episodes and it just came crumbling down on us. For a series that ran well for three consecutive seasons, this wasn't the finale I was expecting.

I can't say I know what I would have preferred but definitely not that ending.

Maybe the world should have ended in season three. In fact, maybe season three should have been their season finale.

I just can't say what I would have preferred but not this. It was funny to watch and I did feel bad for Five and Lila but overall it was an underwhelming way to end such an exciting g series.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad per se, but I guess with three stellar seasons, we just had high hopes for the finale.