The Umbrella Academy season 4 spoilers below.
The Umbrella Academy plays its swan song with its fourth and final season but regrettably it's rather a flightless bird. This isn't obvious from the outset. At first it was refreshing to see the Hargreeves siblings not thrust into another high-pressured apocalyptic situation.
Instead we got to see them attempt to live normal lives. Mundane even, and in the quiet (which we knew would undoubtedly erupt once more) there was excitement.
There was something about not knowing how they would meet with chaos that added much needed freshness to the apocalypse-rinse-repeat cycle. Even once the trouble began the intrigue didn't wane.
This eclectic team, which was always quite fractured and emotionally stunted, struggling to pull together after a six-year time jump, felt different now that they were operating from separate, fairly steady places in life.
It is only when you reach a little over the halfway mark that you begin to realise that the plot is full of holes and the ideas that the show has set up don't have enough time to develop. This is most painfully clear through Klaus' (Robert Sheenhan) storyline, but that shouldn't be a surprise.
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In the previous seasons Klaus was underused, and this is a theme that continues right until the end.
It is utterly criminal that we have never really seen the full extent of his extreme power despite getting a taste of it in season one when he teamed up with ghost-Ben (Justin H Min), manifesting Ben's powers to take out some baddies and then again in season three when he was in the realm of the dead with Luther (Tom Hopper).
Season four was his last opportunity to shine. Instead, the show wasted his extraordinary gifts on making him a vessel for sex work by using his powers to reunite the living with the dead, his body acting as the conduit.
That was the most effective use of his gifts this season: ghost prostitution.
Disturbing as that already is, it would have been plausible if the show had explored the trauma and grief that would come as a result of him being forced into that predicament – but it didn't. It was played for cheap laughs, ignoring the significance of the ordeal.
What's worse – and it's surprising that this could be made worse – is that when we met Klaus this season he was the total opposite of the 'Hello-Goodbye' junkie we were introduced to in season one.
He was clean, reformed and fully committed to his sobriety until the show chucked it all away by forcing on him the powers that drove him to substance abuse in the first instance.
It reeks of the impatience of the series: there was no time to get Klaus to a point where he could accept his gifts willingly, where he could have some autonomy over his own decision regarding what goes into his body, marigolds or otherwise.
Equally there was no time to effectively deal with the fallout of the return of his powers. Six episodes couldn't possibly allow for that. Instead they dumped more trauma at his feet, abused his powers and body and hoped we wouldn't notice because 'Haha, isn't he funny?'.
Robert Sheehan is great, by the way. He is exceptional as Klaus and played the role in the most inviting, adoring way but that's why we wanted better for Klaus. This magical character deserved better.
Lila (Ritu Arya) and Five's (Aidan Gallagher) bombshell relationship also fell prey to the impatience of the season because, oddly enough, it was a moving and interesting storyline.
Strange, we know – at first glance it gives you the icky feels. Perhaps it was the inability to separate the image of Five from his Umbrella Academy uniform, then to marry that with Lila side-by-side in one's head gives way to a whole new realm of yuck.
Yet he's not the old man trapped in a kid's body that we became acquainted with in season one. He's now an even older man trapped in a young man's body and his and Lila's souls just kind of fit.
Their seven years trapped out of time together thanks to the subway of near-impossible-to-return-from was sweet and wholesome and interesting. We saw a different side of both characters. Somehow they tamed each other. Lila's erratic, restless angst was defused and so too was Five's own restlessness. They fell into an easy rhythm that was unexpectedly pleasant to watch.
It's a shame we only got one episode of their alternate lives together before they were thrust back into impending, apocalyptic chaos. The show didn't allow them adequate space to deal with the fallout of their new-found feelings.
The nuance of that storyline was also undercut by Diego (David Castañeda) and Five not being given enough time to explore and unpick the complexity of this situation. It was straight to anger and juvenile tit-for-tat fights as the world crumbled on the brink of existence and while that was expected, the storyline was stunted by its inability to allow them the time to grow and reach a new understanding of each other, for better or worse.
Diego's conversation with Lila was the only thing salvageable in the aftermath of the truth. It was raw, awkward, heartbreaking and though the situation was rushed as the show hurtled towards the finale it did allow for him to really see his wife for the first time in a long time by the end.
There were more casualties of the hurried last season. Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) and Luther were completely underused. Regretfully we don't hear a single rumour this season unless you count Allison using mind-control once (sans catchphrase). Her life is once again underwhelming to her and neither she nor Luther were awarded any real character growth.
Viktor (Elliot Page), however, is, and as imperfect as his arc was this season it was one of the better ones.
Viktor finally getting to confront Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) for his role as the worst, most toxic father of the year was powerful and overdue. In isolation it was everything we've wanted for the character since season one, serving up a huge sense of achievement for a character whose rejection and ostracisation had caused them to shrink into themselves.
Seeing Viktor burst out in confidence and self-assurance was the full circle moment. It's just a shame it felt out of step with what was actually happening in the plot.
It was as if, once again, The Umbrella Academy knew Viktor was deserving of this expression but couldn't make the time to build it into the story authentically and so instead plonked it in in the most convenient places.
Thankfully the scene where Hargreeves finally offers Viktor validation and acknowledges his worthiness felt much better placed and though Viktor was at a point where he didn't need his father's approval to thrive, it was still a healing moment.
As problematic and underdeveloped as this season felt, Jean (Megan Mullally) and Gene (Nick Offerman) were nothing short of perfection. Their oddball dynamic and aggressively intimate connection with one another added extra layers to their roles as sinister cult leaders. Offerman and Mullally's chemistry was the kind of captivating that makes you desperate for them to have more screen time. (Visit Parks and Rec for that, if you want more.)
Sadly if you're looking for a complete and fulfilling end to a series that had boundless potential you'll be left wanting. The cast was exquisite but the plot faltered.
The Jennifer and Ben arc, which underpins the whole story, was as unsatisfying and confusing as how Hargeeves were somehow responsible for the end of the world again and again but not the other 35 other powered people born on October 1st. Please explain why they didn't need to be sacrificed for the world to exist… or did they? Who knows?
"There wasn't enough real estate to go into what happened to the other 35," Sheehan told Digital Spy during an exclusive interview.
It's a pity really, as that's what this season desperately needed, more real estate to wrap up a series that once had us enthralled with its invitingly-quirky, unique take on super powered people.
The Umbrella Academy seasons 1-4 are available to stream now on Netflix.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
