Warning, spoilers ahead:
Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” released its final season on Aug. 8, and it has been buzzing on social media and the streaming platform. The season itself takes place six years after the events of Season Three and is a shorter season with only six episodes.
In the fourth season, the Hargreeves siblings are alive but powerless. They are also living in an alternate timeline after Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampan) hit a reset button at the end of the previous season.
The first episode details what the siblings have been up to in their new timeline. Luther (Tom Hopper) works as an exotic dancer while living in the old, abandoned Hargreeves home. Diego (David Castañeda) and Lila (Ritu Arya) are married with three children, Viktor (Elliot Page) owns a bar and Allison is a struggling actress.
A recently released Ben (Justin H. Min), who went to prison in 2019 for a crypto scam, readjusts to normal life as Klaus (Robert Sheehan) bonds with Allison’s daughter after finally sobering up. Five (Aidan Gallagher) finds work with the CIA, but he is secretly going to meetings for a group called “The Keepers,” who claim to have memories from alternate timelines.
It does not take long for this season to get back to the series’ fun trend of plotting to stop the end of the world. A mysterious dry cleaner named Sy Grossman (David Cross) kidnaps Viktor. Once the Umbrella Academy discovers his whereabouts, he explains he needs the team’s help to find his daughter Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), who disappeared after getting involved with the Keepers.
The siblings find Jennifer but quickly realize their father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), is somehow involved. The season immediately jumps the gun on the “end of the world” bit when Reginald reveals the Academy and Jennifer need to be separated or an apocalypse will occur.
What shines this season is the sense of humor from all of the characters, who all have a good sense of comedic relief when talking about the end of the world. One standout is Klaus because he does not want to partake in any of the drama from the family.
The heart of the new season is Ben, whose teased backstory of his death is finally shown to the audience. In Season Three, Klaus foreshadowed the event by calling it the “Jennifer incident.” However, in the new season, all of the Academy’s memories of the event are wiped out by Reginald and claims Ben was killed because they failed as a team.
It is later revealed that Ben was killed on a mission by Reginald because Ben failed to follow instructions. This reveal seemed like the writers were piecing everything together to finally tie up loose ends for the finale.
After this revelation, Reginald reveals that if Jennifer and Ben stay in contact with each other, they will create a “cleanse” that will end the world.
Eventually, the Hargreeves siblings gain their powers back with some new variations, which keeps the season exciting and the audience on their feet. There is also a lot of character growth and development, specifically in Five, where the audience sees a new side of the Academy not seen before.
Unfortunately, Season Four is cut short with a frustrating ending when Ben and Jennifer create the cleanse. To stop this final apocalypse, the Academy must sacrifice themselves and cease to exist. It was emotional hearing the family say goodbye to each other one last time, but the team did succeed in their mission.
The timeline is reset, and the voice of Pogo (Adam Godley) closes the series by saying “On the twelfth hour of the eighth day of August 2024, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened.” However, the finale also brings a frustrating ending by feeling incredibly rushed and leaving audiences underwhelmed.
One of the best elements of “The Umbrella Academy” has always been throwing extremely different personalities together and creating a unique family. The incredible cast, the fantastic set designs and the creative script of the show have always held a special place in its fan’s hearts. In the end, the fans come for the action, the family drama, the hilarious bickering and the apocalypse.
The season could have benefitted from having additional episodes, giving more time to deal with the new danger the Academy was facing. However, at least the series got a finale that pulled most of the plot threads together — even with a rushed ending. For a show thriving off chaos and the idea of the end of the world, the ending at least feels bittersweet as the world is finally back to normal.
