by Jeff Alan, Contributing Writer
The final season of The Umbrella Academy is here, and we have no choice but to say goodbye to the lovable gang of misfits we’ve come to know and love. All the main cast is back, and rounding out the season’s supporting cast is Colm Feore, who returns to play our main crew’s mysterious and cold-blooded father, Reginald Hargreeves. And making their way to the season are three comedic legends: David Cross, Nick Offerman, and Megan Mullally. Together, this collection of characters mingles and intertwine super well, giving the series an excellent sendoff.
The season starts off a whopping six years after the events of Season Three, where, after hitting the reset button in Hotel Oblivion, the team arrives in a new timeline without their powers, and all go separate ways. In the six year gap, Viktor (Elliot Page) has gone to live in Canada; Luther (Tom Hopper) is a male stripper (now feeling more confident not having an ape body); Diego (David Castañeda) and Lila (Ritu Arya) are married and have three kids; the alternate timeline version of Ben (Justin H. Min) has been in and out of jail, with his most recent stretch being four years; Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is a struggling actor living with her daughter and Klaus (Robert Sheehan), who is now clean and sober, living as a germaphobe recluse in Allison’s basement.
Five (Aidan Gallagher), on the other hand, now works for the CIA, and is undercover getting intelligence on a cult-like group of people who believe they are from another timeline, and are actively making plans to get back to it, though they have no discernible power or means to do so. The group – who call themselves The Keepers — is led by a strange couple who go by Jean (Mullally) and Gene (Offerman). All the siblings get together for Diego and Lila’s daughter’s birthday and reconnect – Allison having avoided them for most of the last six years after her betrayal in Season Three, but the group accepts her back in. Viktor arrives late and is kidnapped by an unfamiliar man, and when the rest of the family discovers this, they all band together to get to the bottom of who took Viktor and why, and discover that everything Five is learning about the Keepers and Viktor’s kidnapping are connected.
After a two-plus-year break between seasons, it’s really nice to jump back into this world again, albeit for only one last staggeringly short season. The final season brings all the same humor and action that those before had, and it’s even more fun to tune in. What’s great about this season is, despite its six-episode length, it packs so much in, but doesn’t feel rushed. It tells a great story from beginning to end and wraps everything up, leaving (virtually) no stone unturned. Rarely do series get to end things on their own terms or in the way they want, and with only six episodes, it can be tough, but The Umbrella Academy does it nicely!
There’s some great storytelling in this last season as well. None of the exposition feels heavy-handed at the beginning, but there are moments that had me wondering, “Where’s this?”, “Where’s that?”, “Why is this like that?”, and things are explained over time, making it fun to see everything come together. We also get answers to mysteries that have plagued the series since the beginning, but one secret is revealed that sets off a chain of events throughout the rest of the season, leading to the finale. It’s hard to tell if this was intended all along, or if the writers were looking for stories to wrap up the show in a short amount of time, but either way, it works in the shows favor!
I think maybe my only negative with the show is the additions to the cast in Cross, Offerman, and Mullaly — but hear me out. They are perfectly fine actors — comedic actors especially — but a part of me feels like these roles aren’t exactly for them. They run this society of believers, but the actors just don’t aren’t the right fit for it in my eyes. And Cross – as great as he is – isn’t in the series long enough, nor does he make as much of an impact, for it to be worthy of his talents. I would have personally gone with a lesser-known talent for his role, as it would have been more impactful. And as for Jean and Gene, I am not sure who could have played them better, but at the end of the day, I wasn’t sad to see them on my screen.
With these final words, I say goodbye to The Umbrella Academy and their crazy, messed up world and weaving timelines. It gave me all the superhero-esque story I loved, mixed with some really mind-bending time travel and timeline-jumping fun that I always adore. It’s sad to see it go, but I know this is a fun and short series I can always go back to and give a watch when I need something truly entertaining on a lazy day!
Rating: High Side of Liked It
The Umbrella Academy is currently streaming on Netflix
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