It’s not usual for me to ask for spin-offs for a show the moment it ends, but The Umbrella Academy desperately needs one, not because this was a phenomenal series finale and I’m just itching for more; it’s in fact the opposite. It’s the series finale, and I still find myself looking for answers to questions that have been around for the past few seasons. It’s sad to say, but the final season of The Umbrella Academy is just average and arguably a step below Season 3, but they’re still competing for the worst season of the show.
At the end of Season 3, the universe got reset, and we found our Umbrella Academy without any of their powers. Season 4 picks up six years after that, following each character as we see how they’re handling a life free of chaos (for now). Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be The Umbrella Academy if the end of the world wasn’t threatening the team. A new covert group known as The Keepers is keeping a close tab on The Umbrella Academy and suspects them of bringing an end to their world. It’s up to The Umbrella Academy to reunite one more time as a family and prevent the end of the world.
After what felt like a disappointing Season 3, there wasn’t any excitement for this final season, especially with the news that it has been cut from ten episodes to six episodes, which was bound to cause problems for the overall structure of the season. The season starts off as we get to find out where our Umbrella Academy has been after five years. Diego (David Castañeda) has been working as a postman while also trying to provide for his family with Lila (Ritu Arya), Viktor (Elliot Page) has been working in a bar, Luther (Tom Hopper) has taken the stripper life (and let’s just say he isn’t really good at it).
Allison (Emmy Raver-Lammas) is currently making attempts at being an actor by attending many auditions, Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has become sober and a germaphobe while also living with Allison and helping her look after her daughter, Claire. Ben (Justin H. Min) has recently been released from prison and Five ( Aidan Gallagher) is working undercover for the CIA trying to figure out what The Keepers are up to.
New Life, Same Problems
This new life that they’ve all made for themselves causes an interesting dynamic with the family and switches up how they would usually solve issues. They play around with this idea for the first episode, but as you can imagine, with only six episodes to conclude the show, they quickly had to get the powers back via a method I’ll keep secret for now as it contains spoilers.
It would’ve been nice if we had a few extra episodes to explore this dynamic and give us something new to work with. Instead, we quickly go back to the same plot device of the world coming to an end.
This time around, this plotline is well executed, until it isn’t. The Keepers are an interesting group, with Jean and Gene Thibedeau (Nick Offerman and Meg Mullay) leading the group. It’s unfortunate as it feels like they both end up wasted as antagonists with how the story evolves, and it can only be blamed on the episode count and the writing trying to fit all of this into the six episodes.
There are some great standout moments with them when it comes to their performances, but I never once felt threatened by them.
An issue with this season is that it leaves so many plot holes and stories unfinished, and while some of the episodes can get exposition-heavy, they still fail to mention integral information, making it hard to believe that Steve Blackman truly knew what he was doing. From last season, we know about the Marigold that provides the Umbrella Academy with their powers.
Well, in this season, a counterpart was introduced called Durango, and it’s explained that when Marigold and Durango come into contact, The Cleanse is created, this world-ending creature.
Unsatisfying Answers
With this being The Umbrella Academy, of course two people with Marigold and Durango, come into contact with each other, the person with Marigold being Ben and the person with Durango being a new character called Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), who is very important to Ben and also answers a question about how Ben died back in 2006 in the original timeline.
We get the answer to this, but it doesn’t ever feel satisfying as the one Umbrella Academy member who should truly know what happened decides that he doesn’t actually want to be involved with the choice. It was a bold choice by Steve Blackman and the writers to go that route, but that’s the least outrageous decision that was made this season.
The first four episodes were bearable, and though I couldn’t see how the show would be concluded with just two episodes left, I didn’t expect my favourite characters to be butchered. Once again, characters are put into a weird relationship that not only ruins their characters but also affects other characters, ruining two additional relationships in the series. A reminder that this is all within the last two episodes.
Not every character is ruined, as Viktor (Elliot Page) is given some of the best dialogue and scenes to work with. He’s one of the few characters to actually feel like he got any closure in the show compared to others who were sort of just existing as everything else was taking place.
The ending is bittersweet, but feels tainted by the complete butchering of three of the characters, the lack of development with some of the others, and the retreading of familiar storylines that we’ve already been through, such as Klaus suffering from drugs and alcoholism.
There’s a timeline where this final season went in a completely different direction and had a larger episode count, but unfortunately, we live in the timeline where Steve Blackman and the six-episode count were the downfall of The Umbrella Academy. From one of the best comic book shows when it first came out to one of the worst, this is a major achievement for Steve Blackman.
