The Umbrella Academy

Genres : Sci-fi, Superhero, Comedy-Drama

Writer : Surya Turaga 

Date : 15th August 2024

A sci-fi show that effectively blends comedy with compelling character arcs, this series is joyfully entertaining but flawed in its details. The Umbrella Academy consists of 4 seasons and tells the story of a dysfunctional superhero family brought back together by their father’s death and a mission to save the world. At least, that’s where it starts in Season 1. Not to spoil anything, but each of the future seasons stay true to a similar structure. I’m going to review all 4 seasons, but I’ll keep quiet on details to not spoil anything.

Each season starts with the family of ‘heroes’ being in kind of a rough spot, and a world ending threat rising. That season is about that threat, but the seasons are in no way disconnected. It’s just that the primary focus changes all while the characters go through their own journey across the span of 4 seasons. The style of the plot is very reminiscent of that of Stranger Things, with small groups of characters in the show being on their own plotline at first and having all the lines meet at the very end of each season.

Seasons 1 and 2 genuinely had one of the most creative superhero plots I have seen, and I lean more towards season 1 for how much it experimented with in terms of keeping an air of mystery and showing Number Five’s time travelling skills. Like the show Loki having the TVA, The Umbrella Academy features The Commission, a secret organization dedicated to maintaining the flow of time in a more hands on way. The Umbrella Academy comics came up with The Commission before the TVA, by the way. The clash between The Umbrella Academy trying to save the world and The Commission trying to let it burn is filled with action and comedic drama, making it worth watching. I’m not going to give more details on the plot, but I’ll get back to the characters.

Season 3 tried to take on a more serious tone with bonds between characters taking hits, and the arcs taking turns for the worse. There was a meek attempt at keeping the comedy alive here, but the show did the right thing by dropping it after a point and embracing higher stakes with serious acting and a tight plot that rarely went on tangents as it could afford to do in previous seasons. It’s quite the change to suddenly see the lighthearted characters now be so serious, but the show does a good job transitioning into it.

Season 4 had to pick up after a time jump necessitated by COVID shooting delay while wrapping up the plot. It was definitely a little too rushed, even having 6 episodes instead of the usual 10. The ending of season 3, along with the scattered hints of how the superheroes came to be and stuff, raised many questions to the audience that needed answering in season 4. While the finale certainly wrapped up the main plot, it just left too many of these questions vaguely answered. The audience often got a minute of exposition with a quick cutscene to explain a major question of the show. When you really think about it, it kinda fits as an answer. But we are denied the satisfaction of a mystery finally answered. Overall, season 4 just brought in too many new details to close off old details. It begrudgingly answers most questions, but leaves small ones open to interpretation. Then again, I suppose that’s what they intended. 

That’s one of the things that The Umbrella Academy managed to pull off quite well. The show could hide its flaws. The occasional lack of a strong main plot and excessive tangents is well portrayed as just being chaotic situations that characters find themselves in. Such scenes remain filler scenes but add to the world building of The Umbrella Academy, setting it as a very messy world always on the brink of collapse. This also sets the narrative tone of the show being full of twists, unexpected obstacles, and even underwhelming resolutions at times. It keeps the audience guessing without really keeping them entirely in the dark. Looking back, the flaws are more noticeable. But it’s easy to go along with it and enjoy the ride while watching the show.

The characters, superheroes given the names Number One to Number Seven, are all very well developed. The two ‘oldest’ siblings have a professional rivalry that evolves to a more supportive bond over time. The time traveler disconnected from his family slowly rebuilds his bonds. The overlooked sibling learns to accept themselves. The character arcs are well evolved right up until the end of the show. The show finale just seemed to cut things off, finishing the story before it was really complete. On one hand, it tells you that sometimes, your story does reach an end before you can get everything you want. On the other hand, that isn’t really what the show seemed to build to. 

Other aspects of the show, such as the casting, visual effects, and the cinematography, are not exceptionally unique, but better than what typical sci-fi / superhero films and shows are spewing out these days. Among these, the casting stands out as being unexpectedly great, with most actors being newcomers to the industry. 

Overall, The Umbrella Academy is no masterpiece, having some plotholes left unresolved and not showing enough light on some plot tangents. But it remains an exceptional superhero show that takes the audience on a fun ride of comedy and drama. The first two seasons have extremely satisfying action sequences that kept me entertained. It’s worth a watch for anyone looking for a superhero story that is on the side of drama and some comedy.  

Surya-o-meter : 

S1/2: 86%

S3/4: 68%

Story - 8/10

Directing - 6/10

Acting - 8/10

Music - 4/10

Cinematography - 5/10