The more things change, the more they stay the same. The kids are still their same weird selves, but the world around them? Even more weirder than before. Welcome back to the world of the super dysfunctional superheroes of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s The Umbrella Academy.
The Hargreeves seem to have stopped Vanya ending the world. But there’s still a lot of trouble out there, and unanswered questions. Reginald is an alien? Did Old Five make it safely to 2019? What does The Commission now want with Harlan? It’s certainly “The End of Something,” and definitely the end of the second season. And with that ending, we have seven thoughts, in honor of each Hargreeves child, to close out our time with them. As always, spoilers within.
Please note that this episode contains sequences with strobe lights that may be disturbing to some viewers.
1. Better Together
Good news: JFK is dead and the world is saved. (Never thought I would write that but hey, 2020.)
Bad news: The Hargreeves kids are now all consider Most Wanted by the FBI for their various roles in ensuring history proceeds as planned/assassinating a President.
Worse news: The Handler is now hot on the trail of Harlan, which puts everyone in jeopardy.
Of course, there’s dissent and disagreement in the ranks about what to do: take a stand against the FBI or save a child on a farm? Vanya of course stands alone . . . but only for a short time. Something appeals to the better nature of her siblings and they all hop in the car for a trip to the farm.
It’s not made clear what changed everyone’s minds. Could have been Allison, herself a mother. Could have been Klaus, the first one to get in the car, the one who has unconditional love for all his siblings no matter the circumstance. Could have been Diego, the tough guy with a heart of gold. But they all finally realize that their father, who pitted them against each other all their lives, right down to berating them at Ben’s grave during his funeral was not who they were meant to be.
There’s also a lovely moment where Diego puts Five in check, reminding him that he too got a job at The Commission. For all of Five’s intelligence, there’s also an arrogance about him. And that, along with maybe the paradox psychosis, gets through to him, for he’s certainly more humble throughout this entire affair.
2. Showdown in the Cornfield
The battle royale (without cheese, mind you) of this finale is a showdown between the Hargreeves clan and The Commission, led by The Handler and a newly powered Lila.
Yes, you read that right. Newly powered Lila. Anything the Hargreeves kids can do, she can do better — in this case, turn their powers on them to her benefit, such as swinging Alison’s mind control with her voice back to prevent her from breathing. (Which in turn gives those of us wanting some sort of closure of the will-they-or-won’t-they sparks between Allison and Luther something to talk about, even if it is borderline incest.)
Mom’s certainly proud, and Lila’s certainly pissed since she found out that Five was behind the bullet that took down her parents. So both are wanting to see every last Umbrella Academy member very much dead. Except there’s more to that story about Lila . . .
3. I Was Right!
Well, when you’re right, you’re right. Indeed, Lila turned out to be one of the mysterious October 1st 1989 babies born with powers. And just as Reginald Hargreeves was collecting (I hate to call what he did adopting, because he’s been the farthest from any sort of parental figure to the kids) powered kids, The Handler was doing the same. These are details Five reveals to Lila in the heat of the moment, particularly around one key detail: the Handler’s appearance at his mission. She wouldn’t have done that unless it was important.
And it also explains just what The Handler wants with Harlan.
In the immediate moment with emotions high, this appeal to Lila’s better nature, the realization that the woman she called mom was nothing more of a sham, would seem to bond her with her siblings who went through the same upbringing. There’s no time for that, though. Mom’s here and she’s got a gun.
Continued below4. Fatherly Advice
Remember during “A Light Supper” when Reginald imparted some rare fatherly advice on Five on time travel, how to work it incrementally? That was good advice. It manages to save everyone’s life. Five now rewinds time only a few minutes to when everyone reveals the truth to Lila, and right before The Handler starts shooting. That brings Five precious seconds to grab her gun . . . and for the remaining Swede (remember them?) to take down The Handler, this time for good.
In the midst of this, Lila does jump off with the briefcase the kids were going to use to get back to 2019. So we have no real closure here on where her loyalties lie. She may still have anger at The Commission for killing her parents. She may still harbor anger towards Five for taking on the job and not pausing for a moment of morality. She may need time to process the fact that she is powered, that there are more like her out there. It does set up one of the two interesting dynamics for a third season.
5. What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?
The Handler out of the way, Vanya does work her magic to save Harlan from being overwhelmed by the powers she imprinted on him when he drowned. To see her siblings’ pride and happiness brings joy to her heart, and mine. She’s accepted and loved, something she’s longed for all her life.
But love isn’t enough for her and Sissy. While she and Harlan would certainly be accepted in 2019, Sissy knows it’s not worth the risk, nor does she know what kind of future they would all return to. A mother must protect her son, even if it means saying goodbye to her lover. Mother and son (who still has some of his abilities) head west to the more liberal California, where I imagine they took up in San Francisco, with plenty of flowers in their hair, campaigning for Harvey Milk, and maybe even filing an amicus brief in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Having just watched the Doctor Who episode “Blink” for our summer long retrospective of the series, another hope of mine for a potential season 3 is a moment of closure with young Vanya and a Sissy and/or Harlan who aged in real time. Vanya finally found proper romantic love (here’s to not having boyfriends that are serial killers!) and with all the personal growth and self-acceptance she achieved this season, you just want to see her happy. And knowing that Sissy and Harlan had good, safe, loving lives surrounded by people who truly cared for their well-being will be the perfect closure, even if they could not grow old together.
6. Back in Time
With a new briefcase (seems everyone from The Handler’s army had one in hand, conveniently) everyone jumps back to April 2nd, 2019, the day after the first apocalypse. Pour the drinks, we’ve saved the world!
But not so fast. Remember that little thing called the butterfly effect? Well, there’s no more Umbrella Academy. It’s the Sparrow Academy. And Reginald has himself some new kids with abilities . . . including the previously dead Ben.
Family dynamics just took on a whole new meaning.
7. Final Reflections
While the first season was more of a straighter adaptation of the first Umbrella Academy story (“Apocalypse Suite”), this one played more fast and loose in terms of its adherence to source material. It certainly adapted from “Dallas,” using Five’s involvement in the Kennedy assassination as a framing device, but built up more around it, such as Sissy and Harlan. And Allison’s involvement in the civil rights movement proved perfect past is prologue when you look at the time this season dropped, not long after George Floyd’s death and America’s profound awakening to racial injustice. On the other side, the show courted controversy again with The Handler’s use of Yiddish, so not everything is as woke as it may seem.
There was a little too much of trying to replicate some of the joys of the first season. The dance party in the salon was a fun moment, but didn’t have the emotional impact that “I Think We’re Alone Now” did in the first episode, an idea we now call today in our COVID times “alone together.” And with Lila such a key to this finale, there wasn’t as much time as I would have liked developing that relationship – – the priority was on stopping Kennedy from surviving, which turned out to be a red herring.
As of this writing, we do not have confirmation of a third season of the show. The show was number one in Nielsen’s first ever top 10 streaming list, so I have no doubt a renewal announcement is imminent. And there’s certainly no shortage of stories to explore: Lila’s loyalties, a Commission under new leadership, Umbrella Academy versus Sparrow Academy. My money is on that third one since Gerard Way already dropped the news that volume 4 of the comic would be titled “Sparrow Academy,” so perhaps the show will return closer to its comic roots.
Thanks for joining me on this journey through time and family dysfunction. Watch out for paradox psychosis, and we’ll see you next time.
