TV Review: The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Is Bigger And Better
Developed by Steve Blackman, Umbrella Academy is one of the most ORIGINAL shows I have ever seen. Whether you like it or not, it is a show that is unlike any other and can’t be replicated. That originality and imaginativeness has attracted tens of millions, across the globe, with just one season. While I loved Season 1, Season 2 is bigger, better, and even clearer in its pacing and storyline. If Season 1 was about a family remembering that it is a family, then season 2 is about how much you would sacrifice to keep that family together.
Family is not simply a force that unites but one that stays glued together. Last season, ended with the 7 Hargreeves time-traveling to the unknown. Well, I can tell you that they time-traveled to different years within the early sixties; each left to their own devices to start new lives and meet new people without each other. Alice (played cooly by Emmy Raver-Lampman) naturally falls for Yusuf Gatewood’s Raymond: a communal, civil rights leader and person who believes in fighting to change people’s minds with the power of your words and not your literal power. Meanwhile, Diego (played with dark wit by David Castañeda) gets struck with cupid’s arrow for the mysterious, deranged, and fierce fighting Lila (Ritu Arya), which is also a focal point of a season PACKED with plot-twists.
The Umbrella Academy Season 2 | Official Trailer | Netflix
Although comic book fans of the Umbrella Academy, particularly of its Dallas storyline, will not always be shocked, they will always be happy to see Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s series so beautifully come to life. Season 2 feels like the perfect adaptation of a comic; embracing and fluidly weaving the complicated storylines that comic-book lovers adore but do not, so easily, transfer to film. Luckily, Umbrella Academy is such a weird show that complication is its friend. Thus, it is unsurprising to see Robert Sheehan giving a HILARIOUS, show-stopping performance as Klaus forming a cult, Tom Hopper becoming a fight club member for a mafioso, or Vanya picking up farm life and fighting the FBI. Yet, this show is about growth, and, again, this season is about how the love we have for others affects family.
In terms of growth, I would say the 7 Hargreeves soften in their own way; although Aidan Gallagher’s exceptional turn as Five gets surprisingly and graphically violent this season, which will make many happy. After all, he is a teen assassin and always keeps his family first, which pits him against his siblings whom are starting “families” with others like, Vanya falling for Marin Ireland’s Sissy and becoming protective over her son, Harlan (Justin Paul Kelly) . With them, Ellen Page is fantastic in further fleshing out Vanya’s desire not only to love but feel safe enough to be love. Yet, I have to say I was VERY happy to explore the character of Ben (Justin H. Min). Known as the “sweet’ one of the family, and eager to please, this season allows Ben to go beyond Klaus, and even get his own, little storyline of love. He and Reginald, who returns lightly, are characters I would like to see more of, even if the latter enrages me as a parent! By the season’s end, and if the show follows the comics, it seems like we, eventually, will. coughs* Hotel Oblivion* coughs
The Umbrella Academy Recap | As Told By The Hargreeves | Netflix
Overall, Season 2 was stunningly EPIC, and so engulfing, I had to binge it a few times. Now my brain is a scrambled egg, but I always preferred breakfast anyway. Each actor takes their role, as a Hargreeves sibling, and doubles my love fr the Umbrella Academy. Moreover, the special effects, INCREDIBLE soundtrack, and the ramped up H opportunities for the Hargreeves to show their powers grows tenfold to solidify that the Umbrella Academy is BACK and premieres on Netflix on July 31.
