The good news is that Netflix has already renewed the series for a fourth season, which means there's time to course-correct and maybe deliver satisfying endings for the characters we've grown to know and love. Unfortunately, the show's mixed messaging and messy storytelling hampered the good moments, leaving me with both sweet satisfaction and a terrible taste in my mouth. I wanted to love season 3 of "The Umbrella Academy," and there are brief moments where I did. The show's handling of this plot point is irresponsible enough to sour the rest of the season, and it's a real shame. Men are less likely to report sexual assault because of the potential reactions from their peers, and many toxic myths exist about men and consent. Instead, the scene here is immediately written off, and because the victim is a man, the scene grows exponentially more complicated and worthy of examination. The members of the Umbrella Academy have forgiven one another for some pretty terrible things, but usually, the series identifies those actions as terrible and shows the repercussions. It's unfortunately just not quite enough to save the season from its more dour half. Pairing up different characters and seeing how they interact is a great part of the fun, and this season has some incredible moments, including a brotherly road trip with a surprising destination, a bachelor party complete with terrible karaoke, and a hilarious bathroom brawl. Everyone is deeply flawed, but most of them have understandable reasons for their sometimes selfish or silly behavior. The cast plays a family much like a real family, and getting to spend time with them feels like hanging out with the X-Men if they were real people and not superheroic ideals. The show is at its best when it gives the characters catharsis and joy, because they are all deeply traumatized people who deserve at least some measure of peace. As the characters get closer and closer to doomsday, they reveal new things about themselves to both the audience and one another, leading to moments both exciting and deeply disappointing. They check into the Hotel Obsidian, Klaus' favorite place to crash and try to figure out how to make friends with the Sparrows and exist in a brand-new world.īecause this is "The Umbrella Academy," there's soon another apocalyptic event that needs to be stopped, though this one makes the first two seasons look like an afternoon in the park. Theoretically, they could even run into this timeline's version of themselves, which excites drugged-out ghost whisperer Klaus (Robert Sheehan) but terrifies big sweet Luther (Tom Hopper). Unfortunately, the present has changed dramatically as a result of their time shenanigans, and now they have to try and contend with a completely different timeline and set of rules. They had to stop an apocalypse there, too, before jumping through time once more back to the present. The second season saw them trying to deal with the repercussions of some faulty time-travel due to Five (Aidan Gallagher)'s powers not being quite enough to take them all to the same place and time. In season 1, the Hargreeves kids had to save the world from one of their own after Vanya, who in season 3 goes by Viktor (Elliot Page), embraced his powers and went rogue. That's pretty tough when you love piña coladas, and some viewers may finally grow tired of having their expectations and feelings yanked around in service of a confusing narrative. Season 3 is a frustrating mix of both, delivering exceptional arcs for certain characters while making baffling decisions with others, leading to an experience that feels sort of like eating those gag jelly beans: it's impossible to tell whether the next scene is going to be piña colada or vomit flavored. After a shaky first season, the series found its footing in season 2, focusing on the chemistry between its stellar cast and leaning into the weirdness. That means that the hits and misses are both as large and obvious as Luther's shoulders. There isn't really a middle ground for "The Umbrella Academy," because the show simply goes too hard and invests too much in its characters and wacky world-building to ever be bland or boring. It is absolutely excellent when it's good, but it's also truly terrible when it's bad. "The Umbrella Academy" has always been a little bit of a mixed bag.
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