The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Hargreeves 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.
That meeting with Dad? Didn’t go as planned. And Five’s now swallowed his pride and is back to work for the Handler. And worse, Elliott is dead, which means someone knows where the Academy’s been hiding. Let’s find out how “Öga for Öga” (translated: eye for eye) things are going to get. As always, spoilers within.
1. You Can Cut the Tension With A Knife
Two moments in this episode illustrate the thickness of the tension between a Hargreeves and the world they’ve built.
The first is the more obvious one: Vanya. As we saw at the end of “A Light Supper,” Carl knows the closeness his wife and Vanya share, and he’s not happy about it. Nor is he hiding it with the silent treatment towards Sissy and a demand for time with Vanya on a drive to a neighboring ranch. Ever the naive, Vanya agrees. This will not end well.
Another is a bit more subtle: Allison. It’s more subtle in how Raymond fills the moment of the unsaid (Allison’s powers) with a lot of things to say. Of course, he’s excited as Robert Kennedy’s team has been in touch with his movement and wants to have a sit down discussion . . . but Allison also has things she wants to discuss. And Raymond doesn’t give her the room to breathe before he’s out the door.
How will these women deal with defusing the metaphorical elephant in the room?
2. You Can Cut That Dude’s Head Off With a Knife
Five, being the quick study that he is, makes quick work of his assignment to dispatch of the Board. It’s strange seeing Five be so violent, but he does what he needs to do to get the job done, even to a hotel attendant when she confronts him about a busted vending machine. In a ballet of bloodshed almost delicate in its choreography, everyone in the boardroom of the “Midwest Soybean Society” is dead, and AJ’s head (well, the goldfish part of it) is in a bag back to The Handler.
Mission Accomplished? Yes. Can Five and the others get back to 2019? Well. The Handler does keep up that part of the agreement. But Five didn’t read the fine print of the contract and now only has 90 minutes to make this happen. With this family, rallying the troops isn’t going to be easy.
3. BenKlaus
Klaus has been a bit on the side this season, but gets a fun moment when he agrees to let Ben teleport into his body so he (Ben) has a chance to talk with his crush Jill. It’s certainly a challenge for Robert Sheehan not just to play the over-the-top Klaus, but to bury that over-the-top personality to play the more reserved Ben. Does he rise to the occasion? Of course, and does let a little of that playful Klaus come out as BenKlaus makes dirt angels in the commune’s garden with Jill, fumbles through foreplay with her, and fights off the two different personalities in his body.
How did Ben get through to a reluctant Klaus? Ironically enough, the idea of powerlessness. It’s something they both know now: Ben as he watches Klaus tiptoe down a self-destructive life path that he cannot control, Klaus as he watches his love David get shipped off to Saigon to die, also out of his control.
4. Ominous Warning
Everything about Carl in this moment makes my blood boil. Not only does he equate Vanya’s (and his wife’s) homosexuality to a disease, he wants to send his son away to an institution.
The sad thing is, there are still many men (and women) that believe this way. For every country that passes recognition of same-sex marriage, there are others where LGBTQ+ people face subtle and overt backlash in the journey to acceptance. And that kind of backlash can be dangerous: a COVID-19 outbreak in Seoul’s underground LGBTQ+ Itaewon district put a bright light on the oppressions of LGBTQ+ people in South Korea. Contact tracers found work identifying that cluster as admitting to being in those clubs is tantamount to outing yourself, which could lead to workplace and family discrimination. Which in turn, allows a deadly disease to spread unchecked.
Continued belowI have faith Vanya will find a way to stand up to Carl’s bullying. But there are many folks that can’t, both here in the U.S. and around the world. (PSA moment incoming.) If you want to know how to help, you can find several resources through GLAAD, Stop the Hate, and The Trevor Project. Rainbow Railroad works around the world to help LGBTQ+ people around the world escape persecution and violence in their home countries.
5. Group Projects Suck
Anyone who does a group project knows that trying to get everyone on the same page is about as successful as herding cats. Even with that, Five tries his darndest to get everyone together, even when they have their own agendas. Vanya wants to bring Sissy and Harlan with them (and Sissy stupidly leaves a “Dear Carl” note). Lila drugs Diego and takes him back to The Commission. Allison has to deal with the Swedes. BenKlaus is still . . . well, BenKlaus.
Of course, none of this works. Only four of the siblings make it in time: Luther, Ben, Klaus, and Five. Allison and Ray defeat the Swedes but not in time to make it to the rest of the clan. And Vanya finds herself fighting off some local police who Carl pressed into service to prevent Vanya and Sissy from leaving . . . until one of them pistol whips Vanya in the head.
Looks like everyone’s in Dallas a while longer, so there might just be an apocalypse to fight off again.
Notes Found in Five’s Old Commission Desk (our Afterthoughts section)
- I honestly never expected to see a fight scene scored to The Backstreet Boys, but this is 2020 and well, anything’s possible.
We’ll see you next Tuesday for “The Seven Stages” (of death? of grief? to achieve eternal bliss?) and let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments!
