The Umbrella Academy: Season 3

    

Based on: comic of the same name by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá

Created for Netflix by: Steve Blackman

Developed by: Jeremy Slater

Starring: Elliot Page (Viktor), Tom Hopper (Luther), David Castañeda (Diego), Emmy Raver-Lampman (Allison), Robert Sheehan (Klaus), Aidan Gallagher (Five), Justin H. Min (Ben), Colm Feore (Sir Reginald Hargreeves), Ritu Arya (Lila Pitts), Genesis Rodriguez (Sloane), Britne Oldford (Fei), Jordan Claire Robbins (Mom)

This series has had its share of ups and downs for me. 

I originally jumped on it because it looked like a team of super-powered heroes teaming up, and I was right, to a loose extent. It actually has far more comparisons to DC's Doom Patrol TV series in such that the "team" is members struggling to even get along, their leader is morally ambiguous and sometimes a downright enemy, and their powers aren't always clearly useful. But as with Doom Patrol, half of every season's journey in Umbrella Academy is the members learning to appreciate and support each other through their individual trials. 

I meant my first sentence of this blog pretty strongly. Season 1 fully captivated me. I fell in love with Viktor (then Vanya)'s character journey and connected with her emotionally very strongly and her actions in the season finale nearly had me in tears. When season 2 came, I watched about half of it, but quickly fell out of love because it felt like a less-fun rehash of season 1. Season 2 transported our characters back to 1960s where they again had to face the apocalypse in the form of a meteor--the same thing they faced in season 1. I don't tend to get excited about old/period pieces, so them being in the 60s made it a lot less interesting for me. Finally, I gave up. I figured things had the potential to change just as dramatically for season 3 and I still appreciated the characters so I tried out the season 3 trailer with an open mind, and it got me again. 

I definitely appreciated season 3 returning to present day, but what really got me was the timeline-based clash with another group of characters. Apparently in this new timeline our main characters jumped to, their father had adopted a full set of different powered children to raise: the Sparrow Academy. In the first moments of the season premiere, the Umbrellas begin bickering bitterly with the Sparrows, aided by Sparrow leader Ben's rude comments. Then suddenly one of them declares something along the lines of: "Well, there's only one way to settle this," and they begin dancing. "Footloose" plays in the background and the whole group of them--all Sparrows and all Umbrellas--hold a dance off, all of them performing quite well. 

Umbrellas & Sparrows dancing together, a particularly amusing image because we never see some of these characters smile again!

It's a ridiculous and hilarious scene that had me grinning dumbly at the screen, especially watching more serious members like Five, Ben, and Fei go at it. It was also very pleasantly reminiscent of the season 1 premiere when the Umbrellas had united together for their first time and a cheerful song played throughout the house. Even though they all were in different rooms and separated, they danced together to this same song, in a sentimentally-shared moment. This became a fan-favorite moment, shared extensively on social media when Umbrella Academy first premiered on Netflix. I could feel this "Footloose" scene was a harken back to that. I could also feel the writers and producers telling us: "This show may get serious, but don't take it too seriously." That although the series isn't scared of serious themes and real emotion, it still holds silliness and ridiculousness as one of its core elements. 

The "Footloose" scene is broken just before the song ends when Klaus is startled and the viewer realizes the entire dance-off was (sadly) in his imagination, as the outcome he wishes would happen from all this bickering. Just as his daydream breaks, real fighting breaks out, in a sadly more realistic fashion. 

Season 3 again takes on the apocalypse, as every season appears to. This time, however, it seems to be because of the timeline breaking down and the void coming to consume all of reality. The Umbrellas and Sparrows are forced to reconcile (to varying degrees of success) to team up with the still-ambiguous father Reg, whose intentions are never quite clear till the very last moment. 

One of my favorite parts of season 3 was also the cheesiest. Luther, an Umbrella, is kidnapped by the Sparrows with the intention of forcing him to reveal the Umbrellas' plan. Of course, Luther is clueless and the Umbrellas never have a formal plan, so this ploy fails. However, Luther and Sloane, a Sparrow, find unexpected chemistry and fall rapidly in love. Luther and Sloane's cheesy and sappy romance throughout the season is necessary because it provides the only glue between groups. The two Academy's incessant bickering and suspicions against each other are necessarily contrasted by this very sappy romance, which is the only way the sappiness is excusable. It needs to be overly sweet to confidently push back against the rest of their  respective team's fighting. 

Sloane and Luther's relationship was definitely the heart-core of the season. They even hold an impromptu wedding in the penultimate episode that worked impressively well against the universe-ending background

The plot that didn't work for me is Viktor and Allison fighting. They're normally very close, as the only two sisters (formerly) of the Umbrellas. But ulterior motives and Viktor's hope to save his friend's life instead of sacrificing him to end the apocalypse becomes a bitter rift between them. This rift begins early and remains throughout the season. 

Klaus gets some major screen time getting to know their father Reg, which serves to significantly develop both characters--and foreshadow some ulterior motives Reg has

This leads me to a scene that I have a major problem with and that I think the series glosses over in a disturbing way. Allison's power is suggestion, meaning she can use a tone of voice to give someone a command and the person is forced to obey. In one episode, Allison is in a mood, and she has a fight with Luther, her ex. Luther wants to leave to go to Sloane, but Allison is angry and uses the voice to command him to stay. Next, she uses it to command him to kiss her. It doesn't last long, but it appears to me as a form of sexual assault. After the scene ends and a shocked Luther is allowed to leave, the show doesn't address it again. I hoped for better, considering the grave implications and gross violation of personal boundaries this presented. Sadly, Allison is never held accountable for this. 

This entry has become a lot longer than I expected or planned(!), so I'm going to bring things to an end. The season does well to service and develop all the Umbrellas and even several Sparrows, which impressive considering such a large roster. The finale episode also goes to explain more of the background for Reg's actions, from founding the Umbrella Academy to some of the odd stuff he forced the Umbrellas to do, like Luther having to conduct research while stationed on the moon. The finale moments were particularly compelling, giving us a glimpse into who Reg may have truly been, and providing some very compelling foreshadowing on season 4.