The Umbrella Academy returns to Netflix for its fourth and final season with six episodes instead of the usual ten. This certainly restricts space for this timeline-juggling fantasy superhero series and its eponymous central cast, but that should make its race to the finish line that much more exciting. Created by Steve Blackman and adapted from comics by Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá, Umbrella Academy has jumped through many versions of time and space with his super brothers, and has even created completely different sets of rival superheroes. But as the final season begins, we find ourselves in the midst of a universe reboot that stripped the Hargreeves of their powers, and we also meet new cast members Megan Mullaly, Nick Offerman and David Cross. ÂÂÂÂ
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY – SEASON 4STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: SIX YEARS LATERDoctors Jean Thibedeau (Mullaley) and Gene Thibedeau (Offerman), in matching denim shirts, introduce us to what’s happening in this new timeline. “You just got euchred, kiddo,” Gene tells his opponent in a card tournament. And it may be his luxurious sideburns doing the talking.
The essence: It’s reintroduction time, to the staccato strains of Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch.” Viktor (Elliot Page) runs a bar in Nova Scotia, where he breaks all the girls’ hearts. Elsewhere in the Northeast, Luther (Tom Hopper) works as a stripper among the lunch buffet customers — appropriately, his stage name is Spaceboy. Lila Pitts (Ritu Arya) and Diego Hargreeves (David Castaneda) are doing their best to manage married life as the parents of three young children. Five (Aidan Gallgher) is a rising talent at the CIA. Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) keeps her acting career alive by filming commercials for laundry detergent, while a newly sober Klaus (Robert Sheehan) walks his daughter Claire (Coco Assad) home from school. And Ben (Justin H. Min) is fresh out of prison. The Hargreeves have scattered in the years since the reboot, but what still holds them together is their collective lack of superpowers.
Through his work at the Agency, Five encounters a mysterious group known as the Guardians. They believe in alternate timeline realities, and as the creators of the Guardians, Jean and Gene Thibedau are obtaining physical “artifacts” from these different existences, such as a certain time-traveling briefcase or a VHS copy of the romantic comedy Borrowed love 2starring Allison Hargreeves. “The Umbrella Effect,” Jean calls it during a presentation attended by an undercover Five and “Nancy” (Lila) who misses her old life. (“It’s cheaper than therapy, but these losers might have a point.”) When Sy Grossman (Cross) kidnaps Vik, he swears it’s not malicious of him. He just wanted the Umbrellas to reunite, because he needs their help to free his daughter from the cult-like clutches of the Guardians.
The thing about the Hargreeves is that some of them like it. These six years have really been the first period in which they’ve been able to live like normal people. If there was a way to get those powers back (say, via a juice jar filled with the powerful substance known as marigold), would they want to use it? The answer varies depending on which sibling you ask. But what’s certain is that Jean and Gene Thibedeau are hell-bent on “purifying the timeline,” and the Hargreeves siblings will need a moment of togetherness to confront them.
What shows will it remind you of? All this talk about resetting timelines and gaining and losing powers could probably be carried over to the second season of Loki and still remain functional. (Sylvie’s employment at a McDonald’s in 1982, for example.) And while Sloane, played by Genesis Rodriguez, seemed to disappear from all timelines with the reboot that concluded Umbrella Academy Season 3, Rodriguez herself will reappear in Special Operations: Leonawhat was it Recently renovated for a second season.
Our opinion: The animated reintroduction sequence that begins Umbrella Academy Season 4 is incredibly effective and entertaining, because it brings back all the traits and quirks we know about the Hargreeves while establishing the surface strangeness of their new, powerless selves. The emotional lives of these siblings have always been present and richly depicted, even as the worlds they lived in became cosmically and chaotically unstable. Like Luther’s irrepressible optimism even in the face of the loss of Sloane, Allison’s struggle to rectify her feelings about helping to immerse herself in this new timeline, Viktor’s desire to explore the life he’s finally been able to build, and Diego and Lila’s struggles for personal agency within their marital union—these are all examples of what makes siblings stronger. Academy although he constantly pushes the boundaries of credulity.
Another way to lay groundwork on a show that thrives on craziness? Bring in villains whose plans are worth pursuing, just to see how they turn out. Megan Mullaly and Nick Offerman are perfect additions for Season 4 of Umbrella Academy – their whole appearance, the quirky energy of the couples and their knack for random violence feel carried over from the Fargo The dark comedy universe. We’re eager to see what destruction these two and their group wreak, and how the Hargreeves counter it, as the show’s central timeline proves more porous than previously known.
Sex and skin: None.
Parting shot: The trained version of Sparrows’ Ben Hargreeves, who served time for cryptocurrency scams in the meantime, is excited about what might happen next. “See you on the other side, shitfaces…”
Sleeping Star: Of course, it’s great to see almost everyone back with the return of the Brellies. But Ritu Arya is doing wonderful things with Lila Pitts: wife, mother, sister and restless former assassin.
Pilot’s most typical phrase: Living in a timeline without their powers is one thing, but it’s concerning how evidence keeps popping up that points to when they did it. “Look, if these artifacts are from different timelines… it’s possible the old man’s reset didn’t happen…”
Our calling: Come on, the conclusion of six episodes of The Umbrella Academy It’s a definitive STREAM IT. From the Hargreeves siblings’ recovery and management of their powers, of course, to their evolving relationships and any new chaos they’re sure to cause. But note also the eccentric menace of Mullaly and Offerman as Guardians Jean and Gene.
TOJohnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor based in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
