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The Umbrella Academy

 


I just finished watching the second season of The Umbrella Academy. For those who don’t know, The Umbrella Academy is based on a Comic book series by Gerard Way. In the story, dozens of women around the world suddenly give birth on the same day. This in itself would not be unusual except for the fact that none of them had not been pregnant up to the time of delivery. An eccentric millionaire travels the world to adopt as many of these children as he can, believing there to be something special about these children. He is able to adopt seven of the children and it turns out that each one has their own super power. This all happens in like the first fifteen minutes of the first episode, and things just get weirder from then on as we follow the now adult children as they come to terms with their own screwed up lives, which is mostly caused by their screwed up adoptive father.

I watched the first season with glee and looked forward to the second, which did not disappoint. I said this series is weird. There are wheels within wheels within wheels. Who is this father and what is he really trying to accomplish? There are assassins from the Time Commission try to make sure certain people are killed at the right point in history (or is it just on somebody’s whim?). There is a talking chimpanzee, a ghost, a robot mother, and a man living on the Moon. The seven superhero children are all pretty much dysfunctional human beings. They have all gone their separate ways, but they have to come back together to try to prevent the end of the world. It is violent and funny, with great music (seriously, the use of songs in this series is so well done, it is worth watching the show for the music alone). Oh, and Kate Walsh makes a delightful villain.

This show is not a likely pick for me. I am getting really tired of superhero movies and TV. I thought if I never saw another show about superheroes, I would be just fine. But then I started watching The Umbrella Academy. It is witty and unexpected, and as I say, weird. I like weird.  I was hooked at once.

Different layers of the show get peeled away as questions gradually become answered. One question that has yet to be answered is: just what was (or is) the father up to. I don’t know yet. But I am willing to watch a third season to find out.

 

(My science fiction novel Star Liner, is now available in paperback or as an e-book through Amazon and other online sources).

Link to Star Liner

Comments

  1. brightshadowskySeptember 27, 2020 at 4:40 PM

    I think my favorite bit is a teenage boy playing a jaded 58 year old man! ^_^ He's fantastic!

    ReplyDelete

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