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Netflix released a new series back in February that I just got around to watching called The Umbrella Academy, which is an adaptation of the comic book series by the same name (created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá under Dark Horse Comics) developed by Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater. It’s an interesting premise as the story revolves around seven adopted siblings each with their own powers. The family is completely dysfunctional and brought back together by the death of their father and the threat of an impending apocalypse. I’m not going to go into the details of the plot as to not give any spoilers in case you haven’t seen the series yet but were planning on doing so in the future.
Brief Overview
43 women around the world gave birth simultaneously, despite none of them being pregnant before going into labor. 7 of those children were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who turned them into a superhero team called “The Umbrella Academy.” Instead of names they each go back a number, but later each got a name from their robotic nanny/mother, Grace. Six of the siblings would fight crimes, while the seventh one was held back believing she had no powers. Reginald dies of a heart attack after the siblings have all gone their separate ways, which brings them back together along with their lost brother who accidentally got stuck in the future when he was a teenager that informs them an apocalypse is going to happen in a few days time.
Hargreeves Siblings/Main Characters
- Number One/Luther: Spent the four years on the moon as a mission from their father. He was severely injured and given a serum to save his life but in the process gave him the torso of an ape. His super abilities is strength.
- Number Two/Diego: Has the ability to curve the trajectory of anything he throws such as knives and hold his breath a really long time. He has not given up on his vigilante ways though this typically gets him into trouble.
- Number Three/Allison: A famous actress with the ability to manipulate reality by lying using the phrase “I heard a rumor…” She also has a daughter named Clare, who she is separated from by family court due to her using the ability on her.
- Number Four/Klaus: A flamboyant, party animal with a serious drug addiction that can communicate with the dead and temporarily make them corporeal.
- Number Five: He doesn’t have a name other than his number as he left before Grace could give him one. Five has the ability to jump through space and time. At one point, he jumped into the post-apocalyptic world and was trapped there until being recruited by an agency called the Commission that enforces timelines to stay set in stone at key moments of history. Eventually he was able to get back to his family but he was back to his thirteen year old body.
- Number Six/Ben: Passed away some time before the start of the series, it is not made clear in the first season what killed him but he communicates with Klaus on a regular basis throughout the series. Ben possess monsters from other dimensions under his skin.
- Number Seven/Vanya: She is a violinist that is kept separate from her siblings since the time she was four, and made to believe she has terrible anxiety that she needs medication for. In reality, she has the power to convert sound waves into destructive force that drugs can suppress.
Thoughts on Season One
The Hargreeves are dysfunctional to a tee, and this is basically what causes the apocalpse. If they literally treated one character better instead of how their father did, none of the events would happen. Which is the lead for the next season of The Umbrella Academy as they all are going back to the past as their thirteen year old selves. Hopefully the second time around they don’t royally mess it up… though in a way it’s their three try at the matter.
I did enjoy the story, I’m just not going into too many details to avoid spoilers. I thought it flowed nicely from the script to the acting. And once you realize what’s happening you’re literally yelling at the characters to stop being so full of themselves. Or at least I was. As this show clearly puts it they are all super dysfunctional. Each are messed up in their own way due to their adoptive father. From suffering post traumatic stress disorder to needing drugs or alcohol to cope, and this is no better displayed than with Klaus and Vanya. Klaus gets even worse after accidentally time traveling himself to the Vietnam War, but at the same time this is the turning point where he stops using drugs and learn how to use his abilities better. Vanya on the other hand, I’m not going to get too into due to spoilers. But she is shunned by her family after she writes a book about the academy and the messed up things their father did to them including locking them in isolation rooms to mausoleums. Her siblings also don’t involve her in any of their missions in either the past or present as they see her as ordinary. To the point where Vanya doesn’t get close to anyone, has a serious lack of confidence and self-esteem, and apologizes to anything or anyone that she exists.
Also it’s beyond weird that Allison and Luther have a romantic interest with each other, I get it’s in the comics book but they are siblings. Maybe not by blood, but still. It’s just wrong.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY? IF SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK?
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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