Summary
The Umbrella Academy Episode 7 had all the bearings of a landmark episode, but it felt more like filler with a few minor answers.
This recap of The Umbrella Academy Season 1 Episode 7, “The Day That Was”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
The Umbrella Academy Episode 7 is a rerun of the previous chapter after “Number 5” (Aidan Gallagher) reset the timeline to the morning of the famous family meeting. But before we see this timeline unfold again, with young time traveler’s influence, we learn about Harold (John Magaro), or as Vanya (Ellen Page) knows him, Leonard.
It turns out that when born, his mother died after birth, sending his father into a cycle of alcohol problems, with frequent beatings. Harold became traumatised by his upbringing and attached himself as a loyal supporter of The Umbrella Academy. He conjured this belief that because he was born on the same date, he must also have powers. Sir Reginald Hargreeves embarrasses him in front of other supporters. Feeling rejected, he kills his father with a hammer and spends 12 years in prison.
But while the audience understands who Harold is, “The Day That Was” plays out that the family does not. “Number 5” has to tirelessly explain to his family the company he used to work for, and frustratingly they do not understand it, and Luther (Tom Hopper) is once again stuck on the Moon theory.
Without Diego (David Castañeda), Klaus (Robert Sheehan) asks Luther to tie him up so he can force himself clean. Luther once again goes down the path of understanding that the moon missions were pointless, adding a sense of sympathy to the character to see him go through this again. He demands Klaus brings Dad’s ghost, before claiming he wants to be carefree, storming off with his big ape shoulders.
We also learn that Hazel (Cameron Britton) was also requested to terminate Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) – meaning The Commission asked them both to kill each other. Hazel asks the diner lady to run away with him, much to the annoyance of Cha-Cha who seems determined to try to kill him again. Unfortunately for her, Hazel is one step ahead of her, tying her to the radiator and walking off to a barrage of verbal abuse. I’m still confident that Hazel will end up being a crucial key to all this; his belief in love and fate is usually a plot device that overcomes these types of events.
Klaus does eventually find Luther in a night club completely wired and dancing away, with women surprisingly enjoy his large ugly hairy ape body. After some attempts to get Luther out of the club, he ends up in an altercation and falls to the dance floor. Everything turns black and white. Nothing surprises me anymore, and The Umbrella Academy Episode 7 continues to suspend the fictional belief. Klaus momentarily visits the afterlife, and “God” points him towards his father, who for some reason is a barber. His father explains he knew all this would happen, and the only way he could bring the family back together is by killing himself. As more answers spewed from the old man’s mouth, Klaus returns to the living world.
Diego eventually finds Harold Jenkins’s file, with Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) shocked that it is Leonard. They visit Harold’s house, to learn that he is not there. Their entire snooping is stopped in their tracks as Diego is arrested. He is a lead suspect in the murder of the investigator he had an acute romance with.
The landmark moment of “The Day That Was” is Vanya and Harold visiting his grandfather’s family home. His eagerness to find out her powers was pretty apparent, such that I am surprised Vanya is so gullible as a character. She cannot seem to find her powers, leaving Harold impatient. On the way home, they get attacked by a group of men, with Harold getting stomped on the ground. In an emotional moment, Vanya lets off some force field that blasts all three men away and quickly takes Harold to hospital.
The chapter ends with all members of the Umbrella Academy just as lost as they were in the previous episode. All hope seems to be lost at this point. Interestingly, replaying this period of time again was not the most effective part of the series. It almost felt like a filler with a couple of minor answers that we already kind of new.
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The key question we need to understand at this point is: what is so powerful about Vanya that her father tried to keep at bay?
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You can check out our thoughts on the next episode by clicking these words.
