Summary
The action intensifies in an explosive installment. The Umbrella siblings hunt for answers, and the Sparrows fight dirty. Things are heating up in this superhero dystopia.
This recap of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy season 3, episode 3, “Pocket Full of Lightning,” contains spoilers.
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Five mentioned the Grandfather Paradox at the end of episode two and chapter three, “Pocket Full of Lightning”, opens with an in-depth explanation of this complex notion, told in hilarious fashion. A fictional story illustrates just how this paradox could occur and how deadly it would be. In The Umbrella Academy’s universe, the paradox has already occurred, though, now in full swing with the angry, red vortex, a clear sign that all is not well in this timeline. The apocalyptic mayhem continues, with all the cast on different pages, trying to outsmart one another. Things are about to get rather messy.
The Umbrella Academy season 3, episode 3 recap
After his night with Sloane, Luther is seen dancing on his way home. The Umbrella’s No. 1 is madly in love and wants everyone to know it. He stops off at a newsstand to buy some condoms, and one of those deadly shockwaves courses through the neighborhood again. At first these waves were evaporating animals and idiots who poked at it (remember Marcus?), but now it’s causing scores of humans to disappear as well. Luther witnesses one of these horrifying events and then skips home to tell the others.
Time-hopping Five has also noticed the vanishing bodies and worries that the end is nigh. He teams up with Lila to try to solve the mystery once and for all. His first meeting with Lila (Diego’s ex) doesn’t start swimmingly though, as the two clearly have unfinished business and brawl. A naked Lila mimics Five’s intense powers, which makes for a fun altercation. They concede that things will always end in a stalemate and forgo the foreplay. Five notices Lila has two briefcases, yet both are broken. The odds that both wouldn’t work are apparently astronomically unfortunate. These two sparring enemies decide to team up to fix the broken briefcases and hopefully travel into the future to solve this apocalyptic dilemma.
Klaus spends the episode searching for answers too. He wants revenge on whoever killed his mother. Diego suspects Reginald, so Klaus kits himself in scuba diving gear and breaks into the mansion via the sewerage system. It’s interesting to note that Reginald isn’t the Sparrow’s fearless leader, far from it in fact. Klaus witnesses a pitiful exchange between Reginald and Sparrow siblings: Alphonso and Jayme. They force-feed the old man pills and then make him sign some important-looking documents. Klaus waits until the Sparrows have flown and then bonds with his father over old movies and ice cream. There are lots of these nice little touches in episode three, as well as a cute moment where Luther compliments Viktor’s new haircut. The show seems to be successfully duplicating The Guardians of the Galaxy’s mantra of crazy characters, hilarious banter and the odd instances of sweetness.
I said that things get messy and thanks to some double-crossing and a lack of simple communication between the Umbrellas, wires get tangled in a convoluted second handover. Allison lies to Ben and Fei, stating that they have Marcus hostage. The Umbrellas want the suitcase in exchange for the Sparrow’s No. 1. In reality though, Five has the suitcase, but never told anyone, and the Umbrellas most definitely don’t have Marcus. Are we keeping up? The Sparrows are informed by Grace that Marcus is with God now, having been sucked into the vortex. This drastically alters the Sparrows’ approach to the scheduled handover.
Meanwhile, Luther makes a mixtape for Sloane. A strange man called Lester, who likes to listen to his digestive system, checks into the hotel, and Grace starts speaking in tongues to the vortex deity. Lila and Five manage to fix the briefcase and are transported to a wintery wonderland dystopia. Then the two rival Academies meet for their fated rendezvous.
The ending
Like previous installments, it all ends in an explosive finale. The Sparrows turn back on their promise and attack the Umbrellas instead, with Sloane trying to warn Luther by mouthing the word ‘run’. Diego’s son Stanley rushes into the fray with a Molotov cocktail and sets fire to the hotel. The guests start to flee, and that strange man, Lester, strides into the mayhem. In a shocking twist, this elderly man fires out a lethal blast of energy, seriously maiming the Sparrows. Jayme and Alphonso look mortally wounded and the others escape out of the revolving doors. Viktor turns to face this man called Lester, who he recognizes as Harlan (Sissy’s son). Another impressive chapter in the chronicles of The Umbrella Academy. The action is heating up, cast members are in severe peril, and that apocalyptic vortex just keeps growing.
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