Summary
A great opening, especially with the introduction of The Keepers.
Season 4 introduces a new scenario for our alternative superheroes: They must live as ordinary, everyday people. Episode 1 sees the Hargreeves siblings, formerly The Umbrella Academy, living seemingly everyday routines. They are no longer who they used to be because they’ve lost their powers due to the timeline reset.
There’s also an introduction to The Keepers. A highly motivated conspiracy group is convinced that their timeline has been altered, with an unknowing, nostalgic urge to bring back their timeline by doing “The Cleanse,” though it is not apparent what that means in the first chapter. We get a taste of The Keepers at the opening of the episode, in which Dr. Gene and Jean Thibodeau pay for some artifacts that represent another timeline.
Living Ordinary Lives
A stressed-out Lila in ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 4, Episode 1 (Credit – Netflix)
Episode 1 of Season 4 is titled “The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want,” which is cleverly put if you think about it. These characters have always wanted to live normally, without the burden of having powers and constantly fighting apocalypses. And now that they have what they want, they still need to secure purpose—apart from Luther, who seems to love life and the simplest of things.
Viktor enjoys life in Nova Scotia, Canada, and seemingly sleeps with any woman he can while running his bar. Luther is a stripper at a club. Diego is a delivery driver, and his partner, Lila, is busy organizing their family life. Ben is soon out of prison after being involved in fraudulent activity. Allison is trying to land an acting career. Klaus is sober and helps the community, including assisting children to cross the road to school.
Of course, Five predictably has the most complex life out of the siblings, working for the CIA and spying on The Keepers. Despite raising The Keepers’ theory that they are stuck in the wrong timeline, his boss waves it off.
But the series stays on brand because when they all attend a birthday party for Lila and Diego’s child. It’s still dysfunctional, except this time, their ordinary lives feel warming. It’s awkward with Allison at the party, as her past actions have not been forgotten, but from a personality perspective, everyone is the same. They just don’t have powers.
The Keepers Secret Gathering
Dr. Gene and Jean Thibodeau in ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 4, Episode 1 (Credit – Netflix)
Who The Keepers are and what they are trying to do is quickly established. With only six episodes to wrap the final season up, it’s no surprise that the story is moving at lightning speed. Five heads to a secret gathering organized by The Keepers, and he’s surprised to see Lila there under the name of Nancy. She seems desperate to have some action in her seemingly everyday, motherhood-laden life.
Dr. Gene and Jean Thibodeau present to the members of The Keepers and discuss how they can restore to the correct timeline. They believe that the elites are covering up the timeline alteration for their best interests, and they have artifacts and proof from other timelines. And that’s when it’s mentioned again — The Cleanse, which concerns our characters Five and Lila.
The biggest takeaway is that Reginald’s timeline reset may not have fully worked, but Five wants to keep it a secret from the family.
I really like this story with The Keepers and their cult-like ways. It’s a good addition to the story and is a strong narrative for the final season.
Victor Kidnapped
Before I get to the whole kidnapping, it’s worth saying that I wish I had Luther’s enthusiasm for life. He lives in a rundown manor where The Umbrella Academy used to be located, and he loves it despite its terrible standard of living. Anyway, his enthusiasm quickly turns to concern as he receives a letter telling him that Viktor has been kidnapped and that he’s at the Dry Cleaners nearby.
The family finds Viktor tied up, and he’s saved relatively quickly. It wasn’t really a rescue mission. The kidnapper wants their help. He calls them The Umbrella Academy despite that group not existing in this timeline. He shows them a newspaper with the headline “The Umbrella Academy” clearly in the title.
The kidnapper then talks about The Keepers and how he hasn’t seen his daughter, Jennifer, since getting involved with them.
Despite the Hargreeves’ siblings having no powers anymore, Five agrees to help the man find his daughter, which shocks the rest of the group.
Ben Tricks His Siblings
Ben tricks his siblings (Credit – Netflix)
However, the real reason that Five was so eager to help the man was that he found a jar of marigolds in the man’s box of timelines artifacts. He asks his family if they want their powers back by consuming them.
However, the family, seemingly enjoying everyday lives, voted “no.” However, what they do not realize is that Ben has laced all their alcoholic shots with the marigolds. So they’ll be expecting their powers to come back real soon.
It’s a shame that the powerless superheroes will regain their powers this quickly, but with only six episodes, I’m assuming the writers had less space to flesh it out. I liked this family normal.
