Review: “The Umbrella Academy”
After Netflix announced season two of “The Umbrella Academy” will be released on July 31, I decided maybe I would see what all the hype was about the show in the first place. Immediately, I was hooked.
The show, based on a comic book series from 2007 written by Gerard Way, that’s right, of My Chemical Romance fame, follows a group of seven “extraordinary” children purchased and raised by a billionaire coined The Monocle. The children were all born on the same day, at the same time, with superpowers. The Monocle created the Umbrella Academy with the hope of teaching the children how to save the world through teamwork and their own supernatural abilities.
The Netflix series does deviate from the original comic story, naturally, as most book-to-movie adaptations do. It starts with the group of seven reuniting after the sudden death of their adopted father and it is obvious the group is estranged and not eager to see each other. We soon learn that the children did not have the best lives growing up; rather than children, their billionaire father viewed them as “subjects” and named them after the order he received them in.
Number One, or Luther, utilized his super strength on the moon to send back samples and other information to his father. Number Two, or Diego, continued to use his power to throw anything (normally knives) with precise trajectory to save the day and help the local police department. Number Three, Allison, who could control the minds of anyone with the phrase “I heard a rumor” became a movie actress and settled down with her daughter while Number Four, Klaus, busied himself with rehabilitation due to the large number of drugs he funneled into his body to stop his power of seeing the dead.
Number Five, who we later find out went missing at age 10, is never given a name. He has the power to jump through time and space and that ends up getting himself in trouble. Number Six, Ben, dies at a young age and is not present at the funeral, but does show up throughout the show as Klaus is able to see and speak with him no matter how high he is. Lastly is Number Seven, Vanya, who spends her whole life thinking she is “ordinary” and dedicates her whole life to playing violin to make herself feel like she is special.
Off the bat, I loved this show due to how quirky and “normal” the weird things happening in the show seemed to the characters. For example, we are introduced to Pogo in the first episode, the children’s monkey butler who helped raise them and provided love to combat their father’s estrangement. Pogo simply states he was an experiment of the Monocle and is dedicated to serving him. And that’s it. Next is Grace, the children’s robot mother. Yes, you heard that right. Seven kids with superpowers grew up with a monkey butler and a robot mother. Weird initially, but normal for the students of the Umbrella Academy.
Most of the show focuses on Number Five’s return, as the audience discovers that when he disappeared at age 10, he had actually time-traveled to the future where the apocalypse had occurred and he was the only human left alive. He returns to present time, eight days before the alleged apocalypse, and tries to undo the events to save humanity. Unfortunately, there are people who aren’t happy. Number Five is messing with time and two agents, Hazel and Cha-Cha, are sent to “eliminate the threat.” In addition to this main storyline, we get to see Luther, Diego and Allison investigating their father’s death, Klaus dealing with his drug problem, and Hazel and Cha-Cha, the time assassins, coming to terms with the immorality of their jobs. Additionally, we learn Vanya does have superpowers and her father suppressed them with medication with the fear that she might one day end the world. Have you connected the dots yet?
Although the storyline of this show is presented as a mystery, it isn’t hard to guess what’s going to happen. There are cliche moments that make the show feel like Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” meets Bryan Fuller’s “Pushing Daisies.” Despite this, the show is overall very enjoyable. Well known actresses Ellen Page and Mary J. Blige provide the show with “big names” to get you attached, but it is really the more unknown actors and actresses that steal the show.
Aidan Ghalleger, who plays Number Five, is my favorite part of this whole show and is extremely talented for a 16-year-old playing a 58-year-old man trapped in a 12-year-old’s body. Ben’s actor, Justin H. Min, is playing a deceased character who is fed up with Klaus, the only person who can see him and exercises his frustrations very well. Robert Shereen, who plays Klaus, does a fantastic job of playing a tired drug addict who wants nothing more than to be normal and stop the pain who, slowly over the 10 episodes, comes to terms with his powers.
And the dialogue is incredible. You will laugh, cry and ask yourself what the hell is happening because blink and you might miss it. I would highly recommend this show! Give it a watch and prepare for season two!
Sydney Dahle is a fourth-year student studying history and political science at Utah State and is currently the Lifestyles Content manager for the Utah Statesman. She hails from St. Louis, Missouri, and spends her free time writing, listening to The Killers, and playing Animal Crossing on the switch.
—sydney.dahle@aggiemail.usu.edu
@dillydahle