The Umbrella Academy season two spoilers follow.
Has anyone ever been named something more fitting than The Handler? Because we genuinely can't handle every look that Kate Walsh serves in The Umbrella Academy.
She's tough to handle in other ways too though. While the show includes plenty of questionable characters, The Handler is easily one of the most despicable, slaying people with fashion and guns alike.
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Given how many innocents she's killed, it was only a matter of time before someone would take revenge, along with her life in the process. And that's exactly what happened at the end of season one. When she threatened to kill Agnes, Hazel double-crossed the Handler and shot her in the head.
As much as we enjoyed watching The Handler steal scene after scene, this was also a rather fitting end to her story. Except, it didn't end at all.
At the start of season two, fans were surprised to discover that The Handler was still alive, but not as surprised as the morgue attendants charged with incinerating her body. Right before she was reduced to ashes, The Handler woke up, explaining that she survived thanks to a metal plate previously wedged inside her head.
Now, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on in Umbrella Academy which fans just have to accept, and that's fine. In Klaus's shoes, we too would have named our cult Destiny's Children.
But even on a show where rumours are made reality and giant ape men fall in love with their sister, it's a bit far-fetched to imagine that The Handler could recover from a headshot so easily... unless there's something else going on that we're not yet aware of.
At the end of season two, The Handler is killed by gunfire again, and this time, her death might actually stick. Speaking to Esquire, actress Kate Walsh said: "Yes, I think she is [dead]... so far as I know, I just did this season. So, I don't have any future plans to come back, but you never know in Umbrella Academy."
Showrunner Steve Blackman confirmed as much, telling Bustle: "As much as I adore Kate Walsh, The Handler really did die this year."
However, it's worth noting that Steve doesn't say she won't return either. Just because The Handler is dead, that doesn't mean she couldn't appear in season three somehow. While the most obvious ways to bring her back might involve flashbacks or time travel, there's another possibility which would change everything we thought we knew about this fan-favourite character...
In the comics, Hazel puts a bullet in Klaus's head, just like he did to The Handler at the end of season one. And just like The Handler, Klaus also comes back from the dead, except here, a metal plate doesn't save him. Instead, Number Four escapes from purgatory and then possesses the hitmen, forcing them to kill themselves.
No proper explanation is given for Klaus' resurrection. Instead, he just theorises that it might not be a problem when"children of this family die", suggesting that all of the Hargreeves children might be immortal in some way. That's clearly not the case in Netflix's adaptation though, because Ben is dead from the get-go.
The Umbrella Academy has made plenty of changes from the source material, reconceptualising specific moments and themes which play out differently in the comics. Bearing that in mind, it's interesting to consider how The Handler's first death directly parallels what happened to Klaus when he first died.
What if The Handler shares more in common with the Hargreeves than we've been led to believe? What if it turns out that she has a power of her own?
On October 1, 1989, 43 women gave birth to super-powered children at the exact same time, and season two finally started to explore what happened to the kids who weren't adopted by Reginald Hargreeves, introducing both Lila and the Sparrow Academy into the wider narrative.
Would it be much of a stretch to suggest The Handler might be part of this cohort too? Sure, she's older than the others, but given her prominent role in the Time Bureau, Walsh's character could have easily lived a longer life while hopping around the time stream. If true, then some kind of resurrection ability could explain how The Handler really survived a bullet to the head without any major physical trauma.
Don't be surprised then if Walsh's character ends up returning again in season three. After all, we all thought she was a goner after season one, and although Blackman confirms that "The Handler really did die this year," he never says that she's definitely gone for good.
We're going to cling to that until Umbrella Academy returns with season three, because, honestly, it's hard to get a handle on how this show could survive without her.
The Umbrella Academy season 2 is now available on Netflix.
![The Umbrella Academy Season 1 [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1655392197-512W8y7EkPS._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "The Umbrella Academy Season 1 [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]")
The Umbrella Academy Volume 1: Apocalypse Suite (Deluxe Edition)
Tales From The Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death (Deluxe Edition)
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
