Anika Begay
Summary
-
The Umbrella Academy
Season four explores a new timeline where the Hargreeveses have no powers, highlighting character development. - Ben plays an important role in season four, bringing emotional depth to a character that needed to be explored.
- Newcomers Gene and Jean Thibodeau, played by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, flesh out the main story of the final season.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4 offers a thrilling conclusion to one of Netflix’s most emotional series in recent memory. The show has always been elevated by its multiple timelines, alien races, and dysfunctional sibling dynamics. The series focuses on the Hargreeves family, telling the story of adoptive siblings whose mysterious births created a bond that has the ability to save the world or destroy it. After causing and fighting multiple apocalypses across three seasons, the Hargreeves’ story finally comes to an end in The Umbrella Academy season 4.
The fourth season features some changes from previous seasons. The Umbrella Academy Season 3 ended with the Hargreeves in a new timeline where they didn’t have their powers, which led to the characters going down different paths. Season 4 offers an in-depth exploration of this new timeline and how the siblings changed without their powers. The setup was intriguing, and even though the show’s final season had fewer episodes than the others (6 episodes versus 10), the story never felt rushed.
Related
The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Cast & Character Guide
The Umbrella Academy season four saw the return of the Hargreeves and other familiar characters, as well as new villains and allies.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Sets a New Status Quo
The characters evolve in interesting ways
The Umbrella Academy Season 4 explores what has happened to the Hargreeves since the family split up at the end of Season 3. Without their powers, the characters are forced to work normal jobs, which leads to quite a few funny scenes and sad moments early on. It was exciting to see that, even with a smaller episode count, The Umbrella Academy took the time to focus on character development as much as the big action scenes we expected.
It was great to finally get a deeper look into the character’s role in this world and see Ben interact more with his old/new family.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 offered a counterpoint to the Hargreeves in the form of Sparrow Academy. That storyline led to Ben’s version of Sparrow staying. This was a great decision, as Ben has a big role to play in the show’s final season. It was nice to finally delve deeper into the character’s role in this world and see more of Ben interacting with his old/new family. The Umbrella Academy Season four gave each of its characters moments of glory before saying goodbye.
Every season of The Umbrella Academy rotated out the few family members that were most heavily focused on, with one notable exception. Aidan Gallagher’s Five is always at the center of the season’s biggest stories, and as someone who thinks the character is the best on the show, I was happy to see Five play a key role in season 4. That said, there are plenty of standout characters, with Lila, Diego, and Luther having the arcs I enjoyed the most after Five and Ben.
Newcomers play major roles in The Umbrella Academy’s thrilling finale
While family continues to be the focus of the series, The Umbrella Academy Season 4 has some excellent newcomers that help keep things interesting. Nick Offerman as Gene Thibodeau and Megan Mullally as Jean Thibodeau provide quirky villains that play a role in major events throughout the season. The married couple leads the Keepers, a group that band together in the belief that they are all living in the wrong timeline and have even acquired evidence to prove it.
All the characters get their chance to shine, with some fan-favorite couples being re-explored and some very interesting dynamics blossoming between a couple of the characters as well.
David Cross’s Sy Grossman plays a key role in putting the Umbrella Academy back together, with a funny and unpredictable performance. Victoria Sawal is instantly charming as Jennifer, a key character in season 4. Liisa Repo-Martell’s Abigail Hargreeves also returns to shake up season 4. Abigail is Reginald Hargreeves’ wife and is alive in this timeline. Abigail and Reginald’s differing approaches to the Hargreeves brothers are a highlight of the season.
Despite a shorter season, The Umbrella Academy Season 4 doesn’t rush through its story, giving the series a strong finale. All the characters get their moment in the spotlight, with some fan-favorite couples once again explored and a very intriguing dynamic blossoming between a couple of characters as well. The Umbrella AcademyThe finale of is epic, bittersweet, heartfelt, and most of all, fitting. You’re in for an action-packed, hilarious, and emotional final season as the Hargreeves family story comes to a magnificent close.
All 6 episodes of The Umbrella Academy Season 4 is now available to stream on Netflix.
The Umbrella Academy
4.0
The Umbrella Academy is based on the comic book of the same name created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. The Hargreeves, collectively known as The Umbrella Academy, were born with superpowers and their adoptive father harnessed their abilities. However, as the siblings grew older, they drifted apart as they dealt with their trauma. They are reunited after their father’s death, and Five returns from the future with bad news: the world is about to end, and The Umbrella Academy must stop it before it happens.
- A good balance between character development and action
- The Hargreeves Brothers All Have a Moment to Shine
- The Umbrella Academy Ends on a Heartfelt Note
