They’ve got powers. They’ve got baggage. They’ve got eight days to save the world. Welcome to the Umbrella Academy. The Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba series comes to Netflix, introducing the world to the eccentric Richard Hargreeves and his superpowered progeny, who themselves have become less than superpowered adults.
Time for a do-over of last episode’s events, but with more foresight, the majority of the Academy is hot on the trail of this mysterious Harold Jenkins. Put on a pot of coffee and let’s dive in to “The Day That Was.” As always, spoilers within.
1. The Ballad of Harold Jenkins
On October 1, 1989, Harold Jenkins was born. But he was not granted any superpowers, much to his chagrin. He was granted a dead mother (who died in childbirth) and an alcoholic, abusive father. For him, the Umbrella Academy was an aspiration, a release. You gotta give the kid credit for aiming high in life.
But “not everyone in this world can be powerful” (as Richard Hargreeves tells a young Harold at an Umbrella Academy appearance), and that’s the last straw for the young man. If he has no powers, he’s going to figure out a way to get elsewhere into this fraternity that slams the door in his face. First up: killing his father. Plans now slightly delayed (about a decade or so) due to a jail sentence, but a free man Harold now is in present day who just happened to get his hands on Richard’s journal in a dumpster (THANKS KLAUS).
Gerard Way clearly knows his audience, and doesn’t waste any time getting to what those of have read the comics and even those who haven’t have suspected all along: Leonard – – Vanya’s Leonard – – is Harold Jenkins, child murderer, obsessive Umbrella Academy fan. In the words of Hank Hill, we sure did know that boy ain’t right. (I gotta admit the revelation played out a bit like this in my head.)
For a season that has worked the concept of the slow reveal over and over, and that slow pace dragging down the show, I’m glad this is out in the air. But I also worry that we have four episodes left (counting this one) and a great deal of ground to cover in that time. Rushed storytelling is never good storytelling, but I also suspect Gerard Way and company had it in their heads all along that this was going to get a second season (which it did), so this could just be part of a larger narrative strategy.
2. Do-Over
As this episode title implies, this is a repeat of the day before from the previous episode, just with a hefty side of foresight. Naturally, it runs the risk of being repetitive. Do we all really need to hear Five’s rantings about how the end of the world is knocking on our doors and how he needs his lazy good for nothing wrapped up in themselves siblings in order to stop everyone from dying?
Well, yeah. He kind of goes that route of persuasion again. But with one difference: he shows a bit of heart, with an appeal to Allison and the one thing she holds most dear: her Claire.
It’s a rare moment of Five not being selfish that I was happy to see. How does that saying go . . . you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? Like all of these Hargreeves kids, you can really be a hero when you put aside the selfish emotional baggage. And the adult kids are learning this throughout this season, some just more quicker than others.
Bonus: it’s nice to see everyone working together to get to the bottom of the Harold/Leonard mystery and save Vanya from creepy boyfriend and save the world. She may have been the family outcast, but they do have a kernel of love for her after all. Especially Allison. (Why do I get the feeling I may regret that? *stares at boyfriend who may have dropped a spoiler or two over dinner*)
3. Stepping Out
It was only a matter of time before Luther’s disillusionment with his place in the family hierarchy would move past the moping stage to the “fuck it all” stage, which is where he’s at in this episode. Drinking, hitting up the rave, trying illicit drugs, getting into a fight – – if the world is ending in 72 hours and you want to make up for the all the fun you missed in life, you certain do have to cram it all in. And I have to admit that carefree Luther smile is quite sexy.
Continued belowBut once again, Klaus steals the show, crawling through the rave to get a pill and having flashbacks to his time with Dave in Vietnam. While the unbridled ecstasy and hedonism rollicks on, our party boy – – who in his old days would have had three times the drugs that Luther had in his system at this point – – cradles the body of his lover. Bright lights juxtaposed on a grieving soldier illustrate not only the enduring pain of PTSD, but Klaus’s growth journey from party boy to well-rounded person.
Of course, there’s a trip to the underworld in between and a cathartic confrontation with Dear Old Dead Dad to help on that journey, including the revelation that Papa Hargreeves engineered his death to reunite the family. (What happened to just a simple phone call?)
4. Love in the Time of the Impending Apocalypse
Hazel and Cha Cha also get to relive their day like the Hargreeves kids, but with a twist: Hazel now has an order as well to take out Cha Cha. The Commission must have certainly enjoyed this twist in assignments.
One would think the tough as nails Mary J. Blige Cha Cha would have the upper hand on her slightly more sensitive colleague, even in the do-over scenario, but it’s Cameron Britton who gets a moving treatise on the importance of simple pleasures, the girl, the chance to get away, and his comeuppance on both his colleague and their employer.
Score one for the lovable lug who loves his jelly donuts. May he enjoy that happiness for the short time he has left.
5. Cabin in The Woods
Knowing what we know about Harold/Leonard now, him whisking Vanya off to the cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere for her to learn about her powers is not a good idea on so many levels. An isolated weekend away early on in any relationship is too much too fast. Now throw in your lover being somewhat obsessed with your family, and this . . . not good is putting it mildly.
That’ll be for another day as Harold/Leonard and Vanya meet some of the country locals and they don’t take too kindly to the city folk. It does give us a chance to see more of Vanya in action handling the situation with her new found abilities . . . and Harold/Leonard in the hospital. Missing an eye.
Someone’s going to possibly be needing a glass eye in the near future. And this complex plot begins to weave itself even closer and closer together.
Afterthoughts:
– Harold/Leonard’s early Umbrella Academy cosplay was pretty cute, and pretty accurate.
– Klaus’s encounter with a sarcastic pre-teen version of God reminds me of God as Alanis Morrissette in Dogma . . . a complete 180 of what you expect God to be, but also what you need right in that moment.
Line of the Episode:
Diego: “Yeah he didn’t seem dangerous when I saw him. Looked kind of scrawny.”
Allison: “Yeah, well so are most serial killers and mass murderers. *gestures at Five* I mean, look at him.”
Five: “Thanks.”
We’ll see you next week for “I Heard a Rumor” and let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments!
