Hello Enthusiasts,
I usually stick to comic books, video games, and books for my reviews, but every once in a while I do like to venture into the world of television. This isn't as common for me because there are so many hours of content involved with a show, as well as the weekly format of TV, but streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have certainly made it a lot easier to do so. With that in mind, today I will be reviewing the Netflix television series The Umbrella Academy, which premiered earlier in 2019. Keep in mind that there will be some Spoilers Below.
The show follows six adults that were born and raised under unusual circumstances. Their mothers gave birth to them at the exact same time, after exhibiting no signs of pregnancy at all. They were then adopted by an eccentric billionaire, Reginald Hargreeves. He suspects that these newborns will exhibit superpowers, and he is not disappointed, as six of the seven children that he adopts do grow into some powers. Reginald trains these children to be a team of young crime fighters called The Umbrella Academy, but all is not as awesome as it seems. Reginald is not exactly "Dad of the Year" material. He is cold and distant with the children, only interacting with them when it is relevant to their training or missions. He builds a robot mother to care for them rather than doing any of the work himself, and the training that he puts the children through ranges from uncomfortable to downright cruel. However, the show actually starts with the death of Reginald, and children (now adults) coming together for the first time in years to mourn his death. They don't all get along, but it turns out that they will need to band together from here to stop a terrible event, which I won't give away any further.
Quick plot summery highlights: There are six children left, there are super-powers, they're all a little messed up psychologically due to their upbringing, and they have to save the world.
So what works in this show? The actors all do a great job with their roles, some of which are a emotionally heavy parts. The effects were mostly on point, although some of them did miss the mark a little. The dialogue was very natural, despite some of the hyper-realized aspects of the show. However, one of my favorite parts of the show has to do with the tone of the series. You would expect a show like this to mostly be a dark/serious series, and there is definitely a good bit of that, but there are some moments of genuine levity as well. Just one early example in the show has five of the Umbrella academy members in different rooms of the mansion after a large disagreement. One of them, Luthor, puts on a record that can be heard throughout the house, although he doesn't seem to realize it. Slowly, all five of the characters in the house start to dance to the music without realizing anyone else is. It shows all of them dancing (terribly) room by room, until the camera pans out to show the house in a doll-house like view so you can see everyone enjoying the music for a moment. It's a small scene that doesn't last long, but it was enough to bring a smile to my face in a show that deals with a lot of heavier moments.
Despite my praise though, the show is not perfect. Even though I did like the story, a lot of the twists can be seen from a mile away, including the big one at the end. The show does kinda breeze over a few things that could have been explained a bit more, though I did appreciate that it didn't feel like they were holding my hand the entire time. It could be that they were saving a bit of that content for the second season that they were recently renewed for, but I do have questions that need to be answered. There were also a few story beats that the show hit on very frequently. Easy example: one of the Umbrella members, Diego, has taken his crime-fighting habit into adulthood as a vigilante. His ex-girlfriend is a detective with the police, they speak multiple times about how Diego wants her to do things his way and she wants him to do things her way. There are a couple things like that, things that just get old after a bit.
With all of that being said, how's the show overall? It's very good, a recommend from me for sure. Yeah, it has issues and content that was obviously being saved for season two that could have really been in this first one, but it's still an enjoyable watch. If you need a comic-book based show that isn't one of the Marvel or DC based ones, this is a solid choice. I am looking forward to getting a second season of this, it's another bit of content from Netflix that they seem to have gotten right.
I give The Umbrella Academy an 8 out of 10.
Sincerely,
The Bored Enthusiast
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