The Umbrella Academy: Thoughts on Season 1 and 2

Courtesy of Primetimer

What do a violinist, a knife thrower, a famous actress, a drug addict, and a man on the moon have in common? If you guessed that they're siblings, you'd be correct. These five, plus a ghost and a time traveling teenager with the mind of an old man, make up the Umbrella Academy. They're a group of people all born on the same day to women who weren't pregnant and adopted by a man who cultivates their powers to form a superhero squad. If you told me a year ago that I'd fall in love with a show like this, I would have laughed at you. A lot. However, thanks to some nudging from the Original Schitt's Creek Fan Club, I decided to give it a whirl. While this show has nothing to do with Schitt's Creek, there are some connections. The biggest is a set piece that features toward the end of the first season. There's also an actor (hint: fruit wine) and a costume piece that are in the second season.

Who wore them better?

I'm really not much of a sci-fi person, but I'll watch certain shows if there's more to them than just sci-fi elements, such as Stranger Things, Upload and Orphan Black. I can tell you that I now like The Umbrella Academy even more than Orphan Black. That's saying a lot because I love Orphan Black!

Anyway, I'm first going to share the top seven (since there are seven members of the Umbrella Academy) reasons you should watch this series. Then, I will share SPOILERS after the trailer, for anyone who has seen it and wants to hear my thoughts.

Reasons to watch The Umbrella Academy:
1. Klaus. That's all you need to know for now. ;)
2. There are a lot of humorous moments.
3. A talking monkey, which was strange to me at first, but then grew on me quickly.
4. The music! They had me at "I Think We're Alone Now" in the first episode and then just kept rocking on with great songs. Some of the songs don't even fit the action, which is even more genius. (Like an upbeat version of "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" during a fight scene.)
5. The humanity of the characters. There's way more to them than their powers.
6. The special effects. Lots of cool visuals.
7. The unpredictability. I had no idea what was going to happen from one episode to the next. I literally only guessed one thing right in the second season!

If this isn't convincing enough, check out the trailer. But stop there until you've watched the series, because there will be spoilers afterward!




For everyone who has seen both seasons of The Umbrella Academy....
I'm not going to attempt to analyze everything that has happened across two seasons. There's SO much going on and my mind is still whirling. What I was right about (that I alluded to in number seven above) is Lila being one of the babies with special powers born mysteriously on October 1, 1989. I had a feeling the Handler orchestrated her parents' murder so that she could harness her powers. I'm guessing her parents didn't want to sell her to Reginald. I didn't know that Number Five was being used to carry out the murder.

Anyway, onto my thoughts of the characters. I'm listing the seven members of the Umbrella Academy from favorite to least favorite and a little bit about why.

1. Klaus: I think Klaus is probably everyone's favorite on this show and there's a reason for it. He's just so much fun, not to mention adorable. I basically call him the "David Rose" of The Umbrella Academy. He's beautiful, funny, sensitive, interesting to watch, and has some of the most daring clothing choices. Klaus peaked for me in episode four of season one. That's when I really started to love him. I had seen Robert Sheehan many times while scouring IMDb to cast my book reviews, but I never gave him much thought past his curly hair. It was cool to see what he was capable of.

His smile on the right...swoon!

2. Number Five: I enjoy watching him and he has such a great personality. He's this teenager who has the mind of a 60 year-old man. At times, he made me think of the teenage guy in 18 Again when he switched minds with George Burns. I like how he carries himself physically, in the way he walks, gestures, etc. He reminds me of my younger son in some ways, as well.

Nope GIF from Nope GIFs

3. Allison: I think she has the coolest power of everyone and I would totally want to be able to do what she can, but only to help someone in trouble. I felt bad for her that she wasn't able to be with her daughter. The fact that she's played by a Broadway actress adds to her cool factor.

4. Diego: While he tends to be tough on the outside, he has a good heart. He's also attractive, but I like him better with short hair in season one.

5. Vanya: I wasn't so thrilled with her in season one, but then I really liked her in season two. She moved herself up a spot because of that.

6. Ben: It took a while to really get to know him, but then I loved when he possessed Klaus and helped Vanya.

7. Luther: I've always been lukewarm on him. He comes off as boring to me at times, even though he also has a good heart. I also liked him better in season two, but even that took a while.

As for secondary characters, there are so many of them! I can list who I liked and who I didn't like. I may elaborate on some.

Liked:
*Hazel: He was supposed to be a bad guy, but he reformed and he even helped Five. I really want to know what happened when he and Agnes time traveled, prior to Hazel finding Five in 1963.

*Agnes: The sweet donut lady who captures Hazel's heart. She reminds me of the mom from Six Feet Under.

Credit: Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix

*Lila: I know she's working for the Handler, but I like her personality in general. She reminds me of Robin from Stranger Things. She's also very pretty with a great accent.

*Sissy: I was sad that she didn't want to follow Vanya to 2019, but I get her reasons. She and Vanya were really good together though. I love that she was able to stand up to her jerk of a husband too.

*Pogo: Both in the present and when he was a baby in the past. How many shows feature such a wise talking monkey?

Photo from PopBuzz

*Grace: Both the robot version and the real one.

*Eudora: She was brave to save Klaus, even though she was killed as a result. I was shipping her with Diego prior to that.

*Raymond: Even though it took him a while to believe Allison, I appreciated seeing the love he had for her.

*Dave: I love how he and Klaus were together in Vietnam, but was sad that he didn't listen to Klaus when he was younger.

Didn't like:
*Cha Cha: Regardless of how great Mary J. Blige was playing this role, she was ruthless. I hated that she tried to kill Agnes too. She did have some funny lines though. I wish they had played "Family Affair" during one of her scenes. That would have been so meta.

*The Handler: Despite her incredible costumes, she was evil.

Courtesy of BuzzFeed. Her hat reminds me of
something Moira would wear on Schitt's Creek.

*The Swedish guys: I hated them so much that I liked seeing them get destroyed. I was surprised when Five got the final one to give up.

*Reginald: He was such a condescending jerk. It was horrible how he manipulated Vanya to believe she was ordinary. I hated how he talked to everyone.

*Carl: I didn't like how he treated Sissy and Harlan.

*All the racist people

*Leonard/Harold: He was horrible! I was so glad that Vanya killed him.

Courtesy of Fandom

There are some other interesting characters in both seasons, but I'll be writing this forever if I go on.

So much happened in each episode that just had me reeling. I can't really say I have a favorite episode from either season. I just liked them all so much, even when there were some gory scenes interspersed.

I mentioned the music before, but I'll mention it again because it's just so great. It's such an eclectic mix from different time periods. Even when they were in the 1960s, some current songs were used. The cover of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley in season two, episode one reminded me of the version from Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. I love that songs from Queen and Styx were used, as well as one of my favorites, "Right Back Where We Started From." They even used my favorite Beethoven piece: Symphony Seven, Second Movement. I was watching something else with my son recently and they played "Dancing in the Moonlight." I nudged him and said "that's the song Luther and Alison danced to!" I also liked the cover of "Sunny" in season two when they're showing what Klaus was up to. The "Happy Together" cover in season one is great too.

As for the season two finale, my mind is still spinning, even after watching this. I can't wait to see what's in store for season three, but I heard we may have to wait until 2022 due to Covid delaying production of a lot of shows. :(

Vanya Hargreeves White Violin GIF from Vanyahargreeves GIFs

If you've made it this far, what are your thoughts on this amazing series?