The Umbrella Academy is a delightful comic book series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, which basically answers the question, “What if Professor X was a complete and total asshole?” It’s won awards and received praise, and all of it is deserved.
Netflix has just dropped the first season of a live-action adaptation of The Umbrella Academy, and it has improved on the source material in pretty much every way, which is a rare and impressive accomplishment.
[Some spoilers for the series discussed below.]
Both the comics and the TV series have lots of goofy features drawn from pulp classics, like a talking chimpanzee and a sentient robot and a brilliant scientist who comes up with all manner of gadgets that are inexplicably only used by the heroes and not sold and mass produced. The comic book also features a quiet Indian assistant who wears a turban, an ethnic stereotype that the TV series thankfully dispenses with.
The Umbrella Academy shares a great deal of DNA with The Venture Bros. Both are about adult versions of child adventurers, and both do a great deal of deconstructing when it comes to those selfsame pulp classics on which they’re based. Both also have deceased mentor/leader characters who are publicly considered philanthropists and gentlemen heroes but who, in reality, are total shitheads.
The basic premise is that 43 children were all born on the same day to women who were not pregnant when the day started. Famous scientist Sir Reginald Hargreeves tracks the children down, and is able to adopt seven of them and raise them as his own in the Umbrella Academy. Initially they all only have numbers, though they get names later. They also all have superpowers of some sort, and as adolescents they go on missions to protect humanity. One of them (#5) disappears, another dies (Ben, #6), and four of the remaining five leave the Academy, with only Luther (#1) remaining—and he winds up with a simian body under his human head after a mission gone awry.
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(One odd feature of both the TV show and the comic books is that the fate of the other 36 children is never mentioned. Not even in passing.)
The first season of the TV series loosely follows the general plot of the first miniseries, Apocalypse Suite, with bits of the second, Dallas, woven throughout (mostly involving Five’s storyline, not to mention the characters of Hazel and Cha-Cha). The comics give us some magnificent visuals, the bickering amongst the siblings, and the general acceptance of all kinds of crazy stuff. I particularly love that the comic depicts such early-20th-century pulp tropes as Mars being inhabited and talking chimps being commonplace. (One of the police detectives who occasionally clashes with the Umbrella Academy students is a talking chimp.) The head of the temporal police that Five worked for (and who sends Hazel and Cha-Cha after him) is a talking goldfish.
However, the comic book suffers from too big of a cast. Aside from Hargreeves—who’s pretty much just a self-centered asshole—and Five, the characters only really have surface characterizations, plus they’re really only differentiated by their hair color, as they’re all drawn as relatively generic white folks.
The TV series goes into considerably more depth, to good effect. It also recognizes that seven random people culled from all around the world would not all be white. Diego (#2) is Latino, Allison (#3) is black, and Ben is Asian. For that matter, while Hazel and Cha-Cha are just two men who wear cartoon masks and are totally batshit in the comics, Cha-Cha is played by Mary J. Blige, paired up with Cameron Britton as Hazel.
A lot of the show’s extra depth is courtesy of Hazel and Cha-Cha, who actually have a genuine story arc. Hazel has become disillusioned with their endless travels through time killing people and wants to settle down. Cha-Cha doesn’t want to break up a good partnership. Britton (who was overwhelmingly brilliant as Ed Kemper in Mindhunter) beautifully plays Hazel’s exhausted cynicism, while Blige is equally spectacular as the much less apologetic Cha-Cha, who is genuinely befuddled by her partner’s change of heart. What’s especially hilarious about their arc is that, while it’s about friendship and disillusionment and falling in love and all that stuff, it still involves two total psychopaths. (Hazel’s idea of a great second act, as it were, is to be able to kill whoever he wants, not who the bosses tell him to kill.)
Many of the other kids also get stronger motivations and characterizations. In the comics, the two girls have tragedies, which are mentioned and serve as motivations but really aren’t dug into. In the TV series, both Allison’s broken family and Vanya’s (#7) ostracization from the rest of the family are given much more weight. (To be fair, the currently running comics miniseries, Hotel Oblivion, is exploring Allison’s relationship with her ex-husband and daughter a bit more.) As played by Emmy Raver-Lampman, Allison is the most sympathetic of Hargreeves’s adopted children, trying very hard to maintain a good relationship with all of them—and particularly with Vanya.
Vanya is one of the standouts in the series. While her top billing is due as much to Ellen Page being arguably the most famous person in the cast, Vanya is also the soul of the story. She’s been told, since childhood, that she was the only one of the seven without powers, but this was a lie manufactured by Hargreeves once it became clear that she was too powerful. Instead, she was left out of the other kids’ reindeer games, forced to sit on the sidelines while the others went on missions. After leaving the Academy, she wrote a tell-all autobiography that laid bare just how awful their childhoods were, which put her on the outs with much of the rest of the family.
Page does amazing work here, as you feel the weight of loneliness etched on her face. All she has is her music—she teaches violin, and also plays with an orchestra—but even that is unsatisfying. When she does finally cut loose with her powers, Page’s entire demeanor changes, her posture improves, and her face hardens. Oh, and she also kills people without hesitation (something she did as a child, as well, which is what forced Hargreeves to take action to suppress those powers and her memory of them).
With all that, it’s the second best performance among the seven kids, because holy crap, does Aidan Gallagher knock it out of the park. Five is the most complex character in the comic, and the hardest to translate to live action, because it would be difficult enough for a grown-up to pull this off, but Five is stuck in the body of a pre-adolescent kid. Gallagher is amazing, carrying himself like an older person, talking like a mature adult, completely pulling off everything the script asks of him. And the script asks a lot, as the entire plot is catalyzed by Five showing up and announcing that the world will end in a few days.
The rest of the cast is fairly strong. Colm Feore perfectly nails the aristocratic arrogance of Hargreeves in the flashbacks, Tom Hopper brings a sense of devotion and loyalty to Luther that is then upended when he learns how much Hargreeves kept from them, David Castañeda manages to give the brooding Diego more heart than even the script gives him (in both comic and TV show, he’s written as the dark, brooding Batman-style hero), and Jordan Claire Robbins and Kate Walsh both do a hilariously wonderful job channeling (and commenting on) 1950s stereotypes as, respectively, the kids’ robotic mother and the head of the Temporal Commission (though as good as Walsh is, I miss the talking goldfish).
I wish the kudos could extend to everyone, but Robert Sheehan’s portrayal of the junkie Klaus (#4) who can talk to the dead is kind of limp. At one point, he’s accidentally sent to 1968 and spends ten months fighting in the Vietnam War, and has a love affair with a fellow soldier named Dave, not coming back to the present day until Dave is killed. But Klaus after that event is not appreciably different from Klaus before it, and Sheehan should’ve done a better job showing the effect of that jaunt on the character. Also Justin H. Min’s portrayal of Ben, the dead sibling who talks to Klaus a lot, is somewhat flat, and Ashley Medakwe’s Detective Eudora Patch is a character created for the sole purpose of being fridged to anger Diego. Snore. (It’s nice to see erstwhile Stargate Atlantis co-star Rainbow Sun Francks as her partner, though.)
Both the comic and the TV show suffer from cast bloat. The comic deals with it by sending characters off in odd directions or just ignoring them for long periods of time (I keep forgetting that Diego’s with Luther on their space mission in Hotel Oblivion); the TV show deals with it by repeatedly taking characters out of the action, and it’s only occasionally convincing. (There’s one point where Five falls unconscious and you can tell it was solely done because there was nothing for Five to do for most of an episode.)
However, the TV series gives us much more interesting characters. The comic book goes full pulp, embracing the goofy action and the weird circumstances, but also the flat characterizations that were the hallmark of the period. The show, on the other hand, eschews a lot of the more far-out aspects of the comic in favor of giving us more character moments. Luther’s descent into depression feels more earned in the TV show than it does in the comics (also watching Hopper go to a rave and dance with his shirt off and hairy body exposed is way funnier than watching the comics character sit eating junk food and binge-watching television). Allison’s agony over being kept from seeing her daughter (after using her powers on her) is felt more strongly, especially as she tries to compensate by being a proper sister to Vanya. Hazel and Cha-Cha are actual people instead of cackling caricatures. The apparent face of God is a little Indian girl on a bicycle—instead of a white adult cowboy on a horse—which is, if nothing else, less lazy.
And Vanya’s journey to discovering her powers is a lengthier—and more convincing—process, as she’s manipulated by a love interest with an agenda, here, instead of simply being told the truth about her past by a mysterious antagonist, like in the comics. I find a manipulating boyfriend to be way scarier than the Conductor of the comics, who’s pretty much just a plot device to turn Vanya into the White Violin.
The series has a confusing visual aesthetic, as the script insists it takes place in 2019, but the visuals indicate that it’s some time in the 1980s. Nobody has a cell phone or a personal computer, the landlines all have cords, the fashions all date from the late 20th century, we see both Allison and Cha-Cha doing research by using microfiche, and the cars are all 1970s and 1980s models.
The show also makes amazing use of music. Seriously, I haven’t seen a show that used songs to enhance a scene as well as this since Homicide: Life on the Street. (Okay, maybe Supernatural in its early years, too.) So many perfectly used songs, from “I Think We’re Alone Now” (with all the kids dancing to it, each dance telling us so much about each character) to “Sinnerman” to a Bangles-inspired cover of “Hazy Shade of Winter” to “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” to “Goody Two-Shoes” to “Happy Together” to “Soul Kitchen” to “Stormy Weather” to Mary J. Blige’s “Stay With Me” (natch) to “Lundi Matin” to “Saturday Night” and on and on and on. Just brilliant use of songs.
The show isn’t perfect. Besides the cast bloat, and the weakness of Sheehan’s performance, the show sometimes gets a bit cutesy with the time travel and the non-linear storytelling, and the characters sometimes don’t use their powers for weak reasons, simply because the plot doesn’t allow for it. And there is one significant plot hole: Given Hargreeves’s resources, why didn’t he just fake his death? He supposedly did it on purpose to bring his children together to stop the end of the world, so… why not just fake it?
Of course, maybe he did—let’s hope the show gets a second season so we can find out, especially since the cliffhanger involved the apocalypse actually happening. The good outweighs the bad considerably with The Umbrella Academy, a worthy addition to the legion of comic-book adaptations out there, and one that definitely deserves a look.
Keith R.A. DeCandido can be found elsewhere on this site rewatching a live-action movie based on a superhero comic every Friday in the feature “4-Color to 35-Millimeter: The Great Superhero Movie Rewatch” and reviewing each episode of Star Trek: Discovery as it comes out, in addition to past work discussing Star Trek, Stargate, Batman ’66, Marvel’s Netflix series, Doctor Who, and more. He’s been writing fiction for 25 years, with his most recent work including the original fantasy novels Mermaid Precinct and A Furnace Sealed; short fiction in Baker Street Irregulars, They Keep Killing Glenn, Thrilling Adventure Yarns, Unearthed, Brave New Girls: Adventures of Gals & Gizmos, Joe Ledger: Unstoppable, Nights of the Living Dead, and many more; and a story in the award-winning Planned Parenthood benefit graphic novel anthology Mine!
I agree that this was a great show that surprised me, that the use of music was outstanding, and that Number 5 is the star of the show, but I’d disagree with your assessments of Klaus and Vanya. To me Vanya came across as pretty flat, Page ended up sucking the life out of nearly any scene she was in…though I’d be willing to admit that this could simply be due to Page’s fully inhabiting a character that basically is the opposite of the life of the party, so not necessarily Page’s fault, but I’d still say that Vanya’s character was a real pill however intriguing her journey to her powers may have been. And Klaus? Perhaps on reflection he was a bit one-note, but man, I thought it was a great note: he was the utter opposite of Vanya, pumping up any sceene he was in, and bringing a level of humour mingled with a bit of pathos that I really enjoyed.
I’m curious if anyone knows, since this article mentioned that a lot of the other Umbrella Academy characters were expanded upon pretty heavily in the show as opposed to the comic . . . How much of certain character’s backstories were invented for the show? I mainly ask because I thought it was weird that episode 1 basically felt like episode 6 of Haunting of Hill House to the point that I thought they were applying a formula to the story to make it intentionally similar. One character is ostracized for writing a tell-all book, one’s a thieving drug addict, everyone hates and mistrusts their father, the story is told in the past and the present simultaneously, one character who is alive in the past appears only as a ghost in the present, they all come together after years apart for a funeral, etc.
Obviously things start to shift apart more and more as it goes on, but I’m still curious if Netflix invented most of these details because they knew they were successful in another series. I hope not, I don’t want new Netflix series to become formulaic, but if it’s a coincidence it’s a pretty big one.
ZetaStriker: Everything you mention comes from the comic book, though Klaus’s drug addiction doesn’t really come into play until later on. But the rest of it is all straight from the comic. I just thought the TV show gave it all more texture and depth.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
“…which basically answers the question, “What if Professor X was a complete and total asshole?””
Isn’t that pretty much what X-Men does already? ;)
This is a great take on the show, which I agree is one of the rare examples of improving on comics source material. I think The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina did something similar, which shows that Netflix’s policy of letting creators have full control is really paying off.
I have to disagree with your take on Klaus/Robert Sheehan (though to each their own, of course). While I agree he should have been more thoroughly changed by Vietnam, he was just such a delight in nearly every scene that he’s easily my favorite (next to Five).
I really enjoyed the show. The music is incredible, and I especially love the gorgeous violin pieces. I also like the look of the show, and the fact that we aren’t given complicated explanations for their powers, etc., etc. This helps the show keep a nice pace.
I found that Ellen Page’s performance dragged a bit in the middle, but I assume that is more due to the role than to Ellen Page (I have not seen her in anything else). Most of her performance is incredible.
I am glad that the show has a TV-14 rating. This and Stranger Things is about as much violence/dark themes/gore as I can take.
Krad: re: Eudora Patch. Yes! Watching her die for no reason except to motivate Diego made me very upset. She could have been an interesting character, but no, her sole purpose was to be there and then die. I didn’t recognize Rainbow Sun Francks! Glad you pointed him out. Great review as usual!
ChristopherLBennett: I agree. I think of it less as “What if Professor X were a complete asshole,” and more, “What if we showed the ACTUAL consequences of how Professor X behaved that way in the ‘real’ world?”
But I agree that Gallagher is a find. The comic and the show live or die by whether Five works. He works.
Natch
Very happy to see a review and discussion about this. I’ve been keeping an eye out for it.
I thought the stand-out characters were primarily Klaus and Hazel and to only a slightly lesser extent Vanya and Five. Klaus in particular I felt showed a continuous alteration to character over the course of the series, to his improvement. At the risk of inviting the usual “is it really fridging?” brouhaha, while Patch’s death was clearly just for Diego’s character benefit, I think Dave’s end was pretty much the same thing for Klaus. Still with invisible Ben’s conscience and how much attention was paid to Klaus’ addictions and behaviors in and out of sobriety, the show made much better use of Dave’s murder and Klaus’ character rehabilitation than it did with Diego. Hazel was also very well done. Five was a lot of fun, and actually seeing him make an emotional break with his lifelong partner was actually a surprise to me. I honestly didn’t think he’d go that far. Vanya was mainly the plot driver and you could see the story gears turning pretty well, but the best transformation was flat Vanya to animated off-the-medications Vanya. Final Vanya was perhaps a skosh over the top, but it did befit the climax of the story so I’m more forgiving there.
Sadly I thought the rest were pretty damn flat. Luther in particular just seemed to begin and end absolutely nowhere and the story hinges on just one particularl moment of him being a complete and total asshole which actually seemed somewhat out of character based on revelations made just prior to that one moment. Diego likewise went nowehere, and while there was a tropey nod to him learning something from Patch, since there was practically nothing else leading to that moment, it made both that moment feel wholly unearned, and Patch’s death solidly in the fridging category on top of being completely pointless. Allison is sympathetic, but just kept seeming to carry the stupid ball a few too many times too (“What could possibly go wrong with my alienated sibling manifesting powers and my timely revelation of a past childhood moment of crisis?”).
Overall though, still a lot of fun despite the character flaws, and I understand from friends who are familiar with the comic that Allison’s journey actually sort of begins where she was stupid, so perhaps there’s more to come there.
He supposedly did it on purpose to bring his children together to stop the end of the world, so… why not just fake it?
I spent a lot of the first half of the show believing he had done just that, and that was why Klaus couldn’t conjure him…and even after we get what seems like pretty conclusive evidence, I’m not convinced.
Interesting. This is the first positive review of this show I’ve seen.
I disagree that Klaus didn’t seem to change much after Dave’s death. He really seemed a lot more solemn about everything. Sure, there was the burrito incident, but even that seems more like he’s going through the motions being silly.
I agree with almost everything you said, KRad (especially the part about the music, it was that dance scene in the first episode that truly sold me on the show), but I have to agree with some of the other comments – I thought Klaus was one of the best characters in the show.
The odd anachronistic bits reminded me of Batman the Animated Series, with bits of old tech mixing it up to make it feel like so many different times at once.
Oh! And you never mentioned Pogo!! He was so….so….so British! Loved him, too.
I liked Klaus and the performance, although I agree they needed to do more with the Vietnam stuff. While he did change and become more sober and responsible, I never really bought that he had been in the army for 9 months, even with the PTSD being a plot point.
I also disagree with Aidan Gallagher as Five – while he does act like an old man, it is kind of a suave old guy in the style of the rat-pack. Where was the guy who was alone for 30 years and then spent 4 years as a time-travelling assassin? Not the character who would be cracking jokes and sweet talking a waitress or his boss. Basically, he just didn’t seem crazy enough to me, even with Delores.
I found the pacing of the show to be not quite right. Particularly at the start it was just too slowly paced. I could see that they were trying for a slow burn and a more realistic feel but it dragged for me and nearly lost me. Ellen Page’s scenes were the worst for this in my opinion, and I just wanted to skip every other scene she was in until around episode 5.
I have told people (who like this kind of thing) that the show is “not bad, but you have to work for it.”
I’m four episodes in and not sure if I’ll finish it. Nearly everything KRAD loves about it has left me cold, except for Page and Gallagher. I even actively dislike the way it uses music. Not to say that the review is wrong, it’s just odd for me to read something that’s so completely opposite to how I see it. (I’m actually kind of relieved to have found a show I’m not into, because I’ve liked almost 100% of the original Netflix stuff I’ve seen lately, so I was wondering if I just have no standards.)
@1: I’m pretty sure Ellen Page was deliberately told to make her character flat. Her clothing and makeup and medications all support that, as does the change in the later episodes others have noted. I was pretty impressed that they could make Page such a non-entity.
I agree with a lot of the review — though I like Klaus more than KRAD did — but my biggest problem was that Allison didn’t work for me. I found her completely unconvincing. Not sure if that was the actress or the direction. I also agree with Remillard that Luther’s asshole moment seemed forced, at best.
Agree with most of the comments about Klaus, I thought his characterization was much improved from that of the comics. Especially how he actually handled his time in Vietnam in the comics.
That said, I agree with most of your points and I do think that this was better than the comic in a lot of ways. The comics were just too over-the-top and too fast-paced in my opinion (probably because they came out at the time when Gerard was also touring for The Black Parade album, and Apocalypse Suite was only 6 issues).
Also, I wonder how it would have played out if instead of adding Detective Patch, the series just explored Diego and Vanya’s relationship. In a short story accompanying the graphic novel for the AS, they were actually in a band together. It was also hinted that they may have been closer.
Great show and I agree with almost everything here. Almost, because I’m utterly dumbfounded by Keith’s assessment of Robert Sheehan’s characterization of Klaus. For me, his has been (I still have the final episode to watch) the standout performance of the series (okay, co-standout with Cameron Britton) and Klaus was, for me, by far the most compelling and sympathetic character in the Academy. I felt that his character was the best written, in that we get to understand the reasons for his hatred of his father and his addiction with a clarity that we don’t get for his siblings. He’s really the only one who is cursed through no fault of his own; while his siblings have suffered because of their powers (or apparent lack thereof), they did so as a result of decisions they made. Klaus’ “power” on the other hand drives him into a state of being in which he’s deprived of the very ability to make decisions, good or bad. If any of the characters fell flat for me, it would be Vanya and Ellen Page’s characterization of her. Maybe I’ll change my mind after watching the final episode tonight?
A lot of the show’s extra depth is courtesy of Hazel and Cha-Cha, who actually have a genuine story arc. Hazel has become disillusioned with their endless travels through time killing people and wants to settle down. Cha-Cha doesn’t want to break up a good partnership.
Oh, Lord, this sounds like the worst idea ever. I mean midichlorian-bad. Yes, definitely, the two hilariously psychotic killers in carnival masks who are obsessed with sugary food and apple pie need to be humanised and given a back-story and turned into a mismatched cop duo from any of about 250 Eighties cop films.
Tell me that Hazel at some point says “I’m getting too old for this shit”.
I find a manipulating boyfriend to be way scarier than the Conductor of the comics
“OK, wait, hear me out here. Instead of her being kidnapped and tortured by the mysterious skull-faced aesthete who leads a masked orchestra of supervillains and wants to play a symphony he has written that will magically bring about the apocalypse, how about…”
“…yes?”
“She’s dating a nasty man.”
“Oooh.”
“I know, right? NIGHTMARE FUEL.”
“A nasty man who is mean to her.”
“Stop, you’re terrifying me.”
“Hey, it’s streaming video. It’s allowed to have moments of pure gut-churning panic-stricken terror.”
“I love it. Let’s do it.”
ajay: Gaslighting manipulative men are a real thing that happens in the real world and is a relatable issue for a woman to deal with — and ratcheted up to eleven when it turns out the woman being manipulated is as powerful as Vanya. Also, the skull-faced aesthete was lame and was dispatched too quickly to be actually effective as a villain.
Plus, because Jenkins was a type we could all recognize as a villain we’ve seen in real life, it was way more cathartic to watch Vanya kill him with dozens of knives than it was to see Vanya kill a lame-ass bad guy.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Gaslighting manipulative men are a real thing that happens in the real world and is a relatable issue for a woman to deal with
I’m not sure Umbrella Academy benefits from being made more in accordance with the real world, to be honest. This is a comic that opens with six small flying superpowered children fighting Zombie Robot Gustave Eiffel.
It would be much more real and relatable for women if it opened with six adults lobbying their elected representatives to close a regulatory loophole that allows a major soft drinks company to avoid paying a living wage to its employees. But I don’t think it would be quite as much fun.
I have to agree with krad. I have not yet read the graphic novel, but I definitely found the villain to be creepier and more disturbing than I would have a megalomaniac supervillain. His ability to seem totally normal while actually being a psychopath who tricks Vanya into trusting him and his ability to push her to use her powers in horrible/nasty ways was horrifying to watch.
And there is nothing about him as a villain that felt out of place or like it didn’t fit in with the show. I am glad that Vanya realized what was happening and got rid of him, though.
On a different note, the special effects for the show are pretty great. However, I don’t really find Luthor’s gorilla body to look convincing. It looks real, but there is something about the head/neck that just looks weird and off to me. Other than that, the effects for the time travel, teleportation, etc. are great.
Where I noticed Luther’s primate body being somewhat questionable was in scenes where he was hugging (usually Allison) or otherwise being touched by another human being. There was a bit of squishiness to it that belied its body suit nature. The great coat diminished this somewhat, but not completely.
I’m going to clock in on the side of the stalker guy being more effective than a comic super villain as well. The entire story (at least as presented by the show) revolved around the juxtaposition of powers versus real life family. Having an unpowered antagonist worming his way into the family by way of internal dysfunction is very effective. Exposing that fundamental flaw and exploiting it worked quite nicely I think.
I know a lot of people have mentioned that they feel the other way, but I sorta wonder what Umbrella Academy you watched. Klaus clearly undergoes character development from before he time traveled and after it. For one, it’s only after he loses Dave that he decides to get somber. Moreover, he seems to be more responsible compared to the pre-time travel Klaus. Finally– and perhaps its only me, I’ll admit– but after he returns there feels like this sort of ‘broken’ aura about Klaus. I’m not sure if the actor is simply holding himself differently or something, but before the time travel, Klaus appeared to simply not give a shit, whereas after his attitude felt more forced, he no longer wants to be a clown.
I just finished this thanks to starting to read this review a couple days ago. Overall I liked it. I have one major issue slash/question and that is, what was Luther’s power? It’s not at all clear in the show that I remember. He has an ape body but that was given to him long after he had been superheroing otherwise didn’t seem that impressive somewhat strong sure but that could be attributed to the simian serum not what ever his power is.
I rather liked the odd 80’s level of technology that I didn’t really notice until about 1/3rd into the show since the visuals were so gorgeous throughout(I think this also contributes to some of my why didn’t they do this or that and the main answer is no cell phones). I think it helped to emphasize the fact that while this is a similar earth it’s not meant to be our earth.
Overall I rather enjoyed the series but it is quite slow going at first. I realized toward the end that it really isn’t a TV series but a true 13 or so hour show with one story with the only sub plots being the flashback/backstories of the characters.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even know the comics existed before the opening credits said “Based on the comic”. But as a show I really enjoy the whole first season (and if there isn’t a second one I will probably cry). I liked Vanya, I empathized with her, being part of a family of “standouts” and being constantly shunted to the side as “not special”, and growing up with these people who are on the surface amazing but in reality are a dysfunctional mess. I adored Luther, because as hard as they kept trying to make him seem like a jerk all I could see was someone who just wanted to try and get his family together and do the right thing.
The only character I really despised was Klaus! And it’s probably a personal thing, as he reminds me of people in my family as I was growing up, who were addicts and junkies and think that it somehow should excuse their behaviour. I really hope that if there is a second season, he somehow manages to redeem himself for me, because so far he hasn’t done so, even with his part at the end bringing Ben into the physical world for a few moments.
But overall I loved the show and I’m badgering all my friends into watching it because I know they will love it too.
@27: Luther is your basic super-strength sort of powered individual. I’ll admit it wasn’t super clearly communicated due to the mix of kid actors and adult actors and the time skipping between the two. However if you watch the bank rescue (episode 1 or 2 — don’t quite remember, but it was pretty early) there was one of the UA kids who was throwing the bank robbers around — that was Luther.
I was talking with some friends on Discord last night after one finished Umbrella Academy and the exact same question came up, so you’re not alone in missing that one. Honestly it wasn’t until near the end of the series that I felt like I understood Diego’s power. I thought it was sort of magnetism or something for a long time, but it’s simple — if he throws something, he can steer it to some degree.
Me and Mrs Mattboard finished watching this over the weekend and I really enjoyed the show. The way music was used, the camera angles selected and the feel of the characters added a kind of quirkiness that I really liked, but I can’t put my finger on what it reminds me of. It feels kind of unique for whats on TV at the moment, but it reminds me of something.
My biggest disappointment in the season was the ending. I like that they weren’t successful in what they set out to do and that their actions ended up causing what was going to happen (that was well done), but something about the pacing at the end felt… off. The abrupt ending worked well, but sometime between the moon and the credits things went awry. Again, it is hard to express what it was. Probably need to re-watch it to better articulate it.
I get where people are coming from with the discussion of fridging, but I really don’t have a problem with it in Klaus’s case. David was a non-character for the most part and served the purpose of motivating Klaus. He serves more as Bruce Wayne’s parents or Uncle Ben than Gwen Stacey. The entire Vietnam War (and all the events there) was a more of a prop than a setting for the story. Patch on the other hand was already serving to balance Diego as a more fleshed out character. There could have been different dynamics there to achieve the same end (perhaps to heighten the growing divide between ChaCha and Hazel).
Of course, with time travel in the mix, who knows how permanent things from the first season will be. Technically, everyone but Five has already died at least once. There might be an opportunity to turn the trope on its head.
Looking forward to season 2.
This is such a minor point that it is probably petty of me to even mention it, but (as usual) I will, anyway. I wish someone had taken the time to actually give Ellen some violin lessons. Or maybe MORE violin lessons. At the very beginning, when she is shown playing in the theater while we hear the violin piece, (one I did not recognize) the close ups reveal that even though she moves the bow and her fingers, the timing is off. I didn’t catch whether the finger placement was even logical, but definitely the bowing and finger placement were not for the piece they were playing, or, at the very least, not coordinated with the version that was playing. If someone knows violin better than I and can comment further, I’d be interested.
>31 If I remember correctly, the beginning violin music is selections from Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, starting with “Music of the Night.”
I’m not sure how I feel about the series. On the one hand I was really interested in finishing it and seeing the ending. On the other hand, it was so full of cliches and things I saw coming a mile away, while at the same time dragggggggiiiiiinnnnng on. I fast forwarded few a couple subplots.
I did love Five, and think the actor was amazing. If/when season two hits it will be interesting to see if the rest of the young actors can match his level.
srEDIT: It is so vanishingly rare for people mimicking playing music on screen to be in any way convincing when they do so, that it’s really only worth mentioning when they get it right, as getting it wrong is pretty much SOP, sadly.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
It’s always interesting to see different people’s takes on a show I like. I did enjoy TUA overall, and found the general plotline to be interesting and slow unfolding of who Leonard is/his motivations, and what’s going with the whole apocalypse thing, to be entertaining. Have to disagree with the reviewer’s take on Klaus; I take the point about showing greater PTSD post-Vietnam, but still thought Sheehan was always a funny and entertaining addition to any scene he was in.
I think that Page was certainly directed to act as flat and “bland” as possible, and I think there’s a plot point that supports this — Allison, when shutting down Vanya’s powers as a child, tells her directly “you think you’re just normal,” and it’s quite reasonable to think this affects her life and personality beyond just removing her powers. While the effects of growing up powerless amidst a group of superhumans obviously would take their toll, I wouldn’t be surprised if Allison’s order was subconsciously directing her to behave as average and mundane as possible.
Finally, I did have an issue with the setting and technology, as I found it puzzling/annoying enough to occasionally break my suspension of disbelief. The show went to pains to state that they were born in 1989 and that the current year is 2019, but didn’t explain at all the complete lack of modern tech in terms of computers, cars, and of course no cell phones (the lack of which directly caused Patch’s death since she couldn’t reach Diego and set the stage for Allison’s confrontation of Vanya in the cabin). Even a throwaway sentence that helps establish if this is an alternate universe etc etc would be appreciated.
Also, Luther was completely insufferable in the last few episodes, but I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising given his backstory and character. But still. Listen to Allison you idiot!
I absolutely adore this show!
I’d never heard of the comics before I saw the trailer, so did some cursory research and decided to give it a shot. That shot happened in a single sitting a few days later when I had to switch from day shifts to night shifts because I couldn’t make myself turn it off.
I whole heartedly disagree with any comments about Klaus’ portrayal being underwhelming or less stellar than any other, I thought the acting was excellent across the board, but there really wasn’t enough space to let everyones moments stand enough. I thought Sheehan was fantastic.
I’ll admit Ben was a little flat, but we never really met him or got into his world like we did the others, and as he’s a ghost… so that’s fairly acceptable to me. Hoping to get a bit more info out of his back story next season.
I was struck by a few of the decisions being a bit predictable, but I was never not entertained and the ending was gloriously British for an American story. I say this having now watched it three times an my opinion only being reaffirmed by each watch-through.
There is a glorious dark humour in Hazel and Cha-cha, especially the comment about killing who they want, but a significant part of me wonders if that was actually for Cha-cha’s benefit, not Hazel’s own desire.
There was something else I was going to mention, but I’m at work and preoccupied, so it slips my mind.
Can’t wait for S2!
Liked the show, particularly the all-pervading mix of creepiness and wistfulness. OTOH, it kinda examplifies some of the central issues that prevent me from getting into superhero comics – i.e. that in the end nothing really matters and that superheroes are really _causing_ most of the stuff that they then try to save the people from, in one way or another. Anyway, I am kinda wondering if the future seasons aren’t going to be about the team trying and failing to prevent the event in various ways, until, in the last season, they’ll finally get it it right? Which is hardly novel either, of course… Oh, well.
Also, what happened to the other “miracle kids” born on that day? Will they provide the villain roster for the future seasons or were the 7 whom Hargreeves adopted the only ones with powers? Or, maybe, just the only ones whose powers were detectable as newborns? And did _he_ also have some powers? For instance, it doesn’t seem entirely believable or likely that Allison wouldn’t have tried to mind-whammy him and/or Pogo at some point.
Who says Allison didn’t whammy them once or twice…
I am nearly at the end of the series and I am loving it – other than the death of Patch which was very stupid and wasteful. Vanya is annoying but that is a reflection of her meds and Ellen Page is doing a great job with her. I love Robert Sheehan in this, much more so than Misfits. The scene with Allison and Luther dancing was just amazing, and heartbreaking that the day was reset. The music – perfection. Every series should have Tiffany and Radiohead in it. My only issue was that Leonard looks too much like Jeremy Renner and I find him annoying – so it was easy to ascribe the worst motivations to him!
He what now? Didn’t see that myself, but he was a fairly predictable (lower case ‘b’) bad guy. The statue of the violinist was a dead giveaway (pun intended).
Hi Krad – will we see a review for Umbrella Academy Season 2? Just watched it over 2 days and would love your analysis!
JLP: Yup! The review should show up here Monday morning.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I’m shocked to be able to comment on one of your posts a mere year after you wrote it!
I can’t believe you left out Kenny’s mom (reoccuring in several places) and that you were so hard on Klaus. Klaus and Ben are adorable and fantastic. I’m also shocked that the amazing music only gets one paragraph and there’s no mention of Agnes.
Looking forward to watching Season 2 and reading your review.