At the end of the last episode of Umbrella Academy, Vanya had a heart to heart with Sissy and they decide to run but, Carl catches on, Daddy Hargreeves gives Five a theory as to how they can fix things right before he takes the Handler up on her offer to take out the board in exchange for her helping him get his family home and the remaining Swedes descend upon Elliot’s loft and torture him to death to find Diego. This time around Five goes toe to toe on an assassination mission to give the Handler full control, which we are sure is going to end up in a spectacular double-cross, Ben works on possessing Klaus and Vanya doesn’t want to leave without Harlan and Sissy.

That Fight Scene Though: Watching Five do a hatchet job and run through the board members while occasionally stopping to take drink is entertaining AF but, not as entertaining as watching the secretary try and come for him before he gets rid of the head of the board. It was quit, it was efficient and it reminded us what a little bad ass Five really is.

Brotherly Love: Watching Klaus try to stay awake so Ben can’t ghost jack his body is hilarious but, watching them argue is even more awesome. I loved the sweetness of the, lamenting over Dave and Jill, their respective unrequited loves, and when Klaus finally agrees to let Ben use his body to talk to Jill because he knows how it feels to have someone you are in love with and not be able to talk to them. It seems like Klaus is getting some clarity and empathy and Ben is finally going to get some connection.

The Devil’s In the Details: Well, the OG Handler kept her bargain with Five, after he killed the whole Commission Board, she gave him a time suitcase to get his family out of Dallas and 1963 BUT, the suitcase is only active for 90 minutes and he’s got to get all of his siblings together even though they all have their own agendas and are scattered through the city. What could possibly go wrong?

Episode MVP: Emmy Raver-Lampman‘s portrayal of Allison is pure fire. Because of Klaus’s eccentricity, Ben’s levelheadedness, Diego’s temper, Luther’s smugness and, Vanya’s brokenness Allison gets overlooked. Every episode she brings pure fire, compassion, and badassery but, it gets lost in the pure awesomeness of all of the other characters. This episode gave Allison a time to shine and shine she did. Her trying to keep a hold of something real or fighting the Swedes she was all fire all episode and as far as Emmy’s performance goes in making us feel connected and believing everything she was going through? Her name says everything I feel about her portrayal of Allison.

Oga for Oga: It’s Swedish for an eye for an eye and it’s an appropriate title for all of the carnage that the Academy and their Nemesis cause. Watching all of the time tricks and timeline changes go through, this show is the Butterfly Effect of Crank and there is always going to be a thing that causes the wings to just snap off. I liked all of the tender moments, doubts, fears, and feelings that come to a get pulled out on to the rug just to watch that same rug pulled from under us. The creative team is amazing at sucking us in and managing to keep the momentum going as the episodes progress, not just because we are in love with the characters but because they’ve created a world that feels so real we’re invested in how things turn out. We’re heading towards the final 3 episodes and I’m wondering how this is going to all wrap-up but, I’m also glued to the TV waiting to enjoy every last twist and turn that awaits me.

In episode six we see Allison land in the alley. She still can’t speak and she’s in a time where it wasn’t “good” to be a black person especially a woman. After seeing the “Whites only” sign she runs off disoriented and runs into a group of white men who hit on her, she attacks and ends up running from them, straight into a Black-owned salon. She still can’t talk but, she has a job and that’s where she meets Ray.

Team Zero: Diego and Luther fill Vanya in on the invite from dad and try as they try to figure out if it’s a trap. Ben confesses to Klaus in a roundabout way why he was itching to get back to San Francisco and they argue about how to best tell the cult what’s going on and he decides on telling them that he is a fraud but, it doesn’t go quite how he expects it to go. Allison gives Ray the rundown on her past and the future and he has lots of questions, starting with Barack Obama and the fact that there was a black man in the White House and be really wants her to prove it.

Dinner With Daddy: After all of the siblings receive the mysterious invitation from Daddy Hargreeves they find themselves accepting individually and showing up to meet him at the same time. The team reverts to their old roles in their dad’s presence and he is really mad that they keep calling him Dad because he doesn’t like kids.

Craziest Scene: Allison goes full revenge mode when she rumors the counter guy at the diner who threw hot coffee on her lap during the sit-in and called the cops, to keep pouring coffee while he burns his hand, scaring her husband and maybe giving him a better idea as to why she doesn’t use her power all the time and makes him question if she ever used it on him.

The Vibe: I know I’ve said this before but, I really enjoy watching Klaus and Ben’s interactions, it’s like he has a real-life conscience that can and will kick his ass. I also like watching Dave and Klaus reconnect when he shows up at the commune and they have a talk where Klaus tells him all the secrets he knows about him and tries again to talk him out of joining the army by showing him his dog tags, which Klaus has carried with him since his return to 2019. He finds out that him trying to stop him at the diner makes Dave sign up sooner and the heartbreak in Klaus’s eyes makes the scene cause full-on waterworks. If you thought that the last season of Umbrella Academy was trying to break your heart, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Umbrella Academy “Valhalla“ let’s loose a lot of surprises and explains a few of the academy’s feelings and actions that show themselves when Five first runs into them. We learn that in addition to not knowing if Allison survived he also had a rather gut-wrenching meet up when he sought out his dad upon arrival. The whole thing destroyed Luther’s already fragile existence. We also find out about the connection between Hargreeves, Pogo, and human Grace which is a bit heartbreak in its own right. Allison and Klaus bond over the good booze which Ben isn’t pleased about because he thought Allison would help sober him up. Vanya wakes up naked with her “gal pal” Sissy and nearly gets caught when her husband shows up home early and we find out that Harlan has some of Vanya’s power. While Five, Luther, and Diego have no idea how to deal with the big reveal that dad and his cabal are about to trigger doomsday and, this might call for a full family meeting, Lila has a family meeting of her own and her mom comes clean.

The Gangs All Here: Five finally manages to gather all of his siblings in one place, Diego accepts Vanya’s apology and Allison is so happy to see Vanya, while still sans memory Vanya is just excited to have a sister and runs to her. They share the most love-filled, happy embrace before Klaus jumps in and after Luther sucker punches Five the three loved up siblings bolt for the salon to enjoy some family bonding time that ends in Vanya, Klaus and Allison twisting the night away. Since nobody knows he’s there but Klaus, Ben sits woefully alone in Elliot’s loft missing his siblings and happy to have seen their faces, even if they can’t see his.

Best Line: “He shanked you heart.” – Diego to Luther after hearing how his first meeting with Hargreeves went.

“My cult is gonna be so pissed. Ben! I told them we had until 2019.” – Klaus to his siblings upon learning that they brought the apocalypse with them to 1963

Heartbreak Hotel: Vanya confesses her feelings to Sissy because there are only six days left until the end of the world but, she refuses to leave with her. Klaus decides to confess to his followers while Allison tells Ray the truth about her and her family.

Those Triplets Though: The Swedes get a kill order from the commission for Diego and bury one of their brothers in a Viking funeral.

Overall: Another stellar episode that finishes out the first half of the season perfectly. One of the best things about it is that it was a full culmination of the first half of the season and was so well done that if they were to have left the season on the endnote they chose, it would have been one hell of a perfect cliffhanger that would have had us all clamoring for the next season. Luckily, we still have five episodes to go, and with the bar set so high, I hope it can do better than this episode when it comes time to bring us home in the end.

Considering the level of Leonard/Harold vibes I got from Lila when she was introduced I was still surprised when the end of the last episode gave us the big reveal. This episode started by giving us a little more backstory on Lila and her relationship to the OG Handler and the Commission and we find out that her new mission is to protect Number Five and not kill him. A battered Luther wakes up to a still amnesiac Vanya and they reconnect and have a heart to heart where he tells her what really happened at the apocalypse. Vanya heads back to the farm because she doesn’t want to be involved and Allison tries to track down her husband but, some hospitals don’t treat negroes. Five heads back to Diego, Elliot and undercover/double agent op Lila and they work on a plan to track down their dad, who they find out is a member of a shadow government that secretly runs things. And, Klaus is on his own personal mission to save Dave and it goes about as well as you’d expect.

Key Scene: when Harlan hears that Vanya is leaving he takes off and drowns near the farm but, Vanya brings him back from the dead by lifting the whole lake up with her powers and in doing so accidentally transfers her powers to him.

Episode MVP: Klaus and Ben. Ben is the conscience that Klaus need and Klaus is the conduit for Ben to live a little. Klaus gives up on his three years of sobriety after his run-in with Dave and gets tracked down by his followers causing him to flee again. The two of them are fun to watch and provide a fun and interesting perspective on all of the very real issues that they are dealing with either directly or indirectly.

Big Reveal: Grace , robot mom, is modeled and named after a real woman that he met in Dallas and it gives Hargreeves a bit of a soul and I’m not just talking about his sick AF dance-like fighting skills. It shows he has a heart and watching Diego have a brief moment with her and watching the joy and sadness fall across his face when they meet it, sweet and telling.

Touching Moment: Allison meeting up with Luther at the outdoor eatery, as they embrace after seeing themselves for the first time in years (or decades, depending on how you look at it) and the clever and emotional style choice of having all of the people who were thee before and after the hug disappear while they embrace and things go silent making the scene all the more powerful.

Overall: This show is amazing, the writers, the stylization, the AMAZING Emmy worthy performances by the stellar cast, the timing, the not sweeping to the side political and social issues, everything Umbrella Academy does is pure magic and even though we are only four episodes in, this season already surpasses Season One in every way and considering how much we loved it, that’s a very big compliment and a super high bar to set.

In The Umbrella Academy “The Swedish Job” we find out how Klaus became a spiritual guru and acquired his mansion. After seeing one of his followers in jail while visiting her husband, Allison is able to track him down and they hug at not being the only one who landed in the 60s, using Ben to freak out the guard, he is able to get his brother-in-law released from jail. Vanya is chased into a cornfield by the three Commission assassins and without meaning to uses her power, sending a sound wave out that allows Number Five to find her and fill her in on what’s going on. Luther has his boss help him to track down Allison when he keeps imagining seeing her and can’t get her out of his mind. Diego is having his wound from his run-in with Big Daddy Hargreeves tended by Lila who followed him and Five and rescued him after he was stabbed.

Best Scene (s): Luther coming face to face with Allison’s husband Ray and finding out that she is married now. The intense exchange between the two of them is a little bit heartbreaking since Ray has no idea that the reason his wife looks up to the moon is that she misses Luther. He also introduces himself to Ray as her brother which is going to make things super awkward down the line.

Klaus finally tracking down Dave, his great love, at his pre-Army job at a hardware store and realizing that he’s why Klaus wanted to and needed to go to Dallas. It’s super sad that Klaus experience flashbacks to the war while he Dave mixes paint and knowing that Dave is going to die and he’s trying to save his life by stopping him from enlisting even though Dave has no idea who Klaus is because their relationship hasn’t happened yet.

Episode MVP: Ben. He’s been putting up with Klaus’s behavior and selfishness for a while now and he’s the only person who can give keep in check and focused. It was cute seeing him fall for one of Klaus’s devotees and even cuter watching him spook the guard to get his brother-in-law released from jail. It’s always entertaining to watch him be the counterpoint to Klaus’s impulsiveness and energy.

Overall Vibe: The episode wasn’t as intense as the last one but, it was somber, political, and beautiful. Watching all the heartbreak as Allison loses Ray because he sees her use her power as Klaus drags her away and Luther getting pummeled after figuring out what Allison has been up to and having his heartbroken. We also find out a killer secret about Lila and her connection to this whole mess that the Academy has gotten themselves into.

Right Back Where We Started: The Umbrella Academy‘s second season picks up after Number Five and the family bands epic time jump to save Vanya and the world from the apocalypse. We find our favorite super-powered siblings in 1963 Dallas and while the gang’s all there, they’re separated and have made do with the lives they were forced to settle into to stay alive.

The Gang’s All Here: Klaus and Ben managed to land together in an alley in Dallas and realize that they’re in 1960. Allison shows up in the same alley in 1961 and walks to a dinner that’s whites only. Luther lands on a mattress in 1962 screaming for his siblings and Allison. Diego superhero lands in 1963 and hears a cry help so he does what he does best. Vanya arrives a month after Diego in all white and gets hit by a car stumbling out of the alley. Number Five shows up a month after Vanya to the Soviets attacking the US and the middle of a war zone.

The New Guys: With ten days til the apocalypse, Five notices a fancy roof set up and traces it to the source, a conspiracy theorist who has been tracking the blue lights and the “aliens” who arrived. He has pics of the siblings and knows what happened to Diego. The conspiracy buffs name is Elliot and I feel like he’s going to be a big part of the season.

What They’ve Been Up To: Diego is in a mental hospital because no one believes that he has to be a hero and that he’s from the future and he has a hero complex. He knows that Kennedy is alive and he wants to stop the assassination so he sets out to kill Lee Harvey Oswald but, no one believes him and it’s making him crazy. Oh, yeah and he really wants to kill Hitler after he saves Kennedy. Vanya has a job as a nanny for the couple that hit her with the car and she doesn’t have any of her memories. Klaus and Ben are headed back to Dallas after spending time in San Francisco where Klaus was a cult leader, they end up at a bar where Klaus steals a pickup truck after losing a poker game. Allison is married to a civil rights activist and knowing what she knows about the future. She’s still lamenting the loss of Luther and her other siblings and stares at the moon every night. Luther is using his super strength as an underground fighter for a very shady individual and he’s jaded AF, to the point where he doesn’t care that the world is ending in ten days.

Season Two Mission Statement: Old Hazel takes Five back to ten days before the current version of the nuclear apocalypse happens in an attempt to stop it and correct the timeline.

The Villains: While Hazel sits at the bus stop with Five three blonde dudes get off a bus and open fire with machine guns, killing Hazel and sending Five on the run to the top of a building. (Side Note, I totally called it when I saw the blue light in the season finale, he did get to time travel with them. His wife died of cancer after they got to spend 20 beautiful years together.) The Commission is gone.

Episode MVP: Allison because, that racist Mr. Mason deserved every bit of pain that she caused and I know that that momentary satisfaction is going to lead to severe consequences because of the time that they are living in but, I’m always down with racists getting some sense knocked into them.

Best Scene: I am all the way here for the scene after their landings where we see how they fight together in Dallas during the war that never was. There was something truly awesome about watching Vanya blowing up nukes with her power, clearly now under control, Klaus in his finest Russell Brand form, commanding an army of ghost soldiers, Luther leaping small buildings on Main Street in a single bound to defect fire, Allison rumoring the enemies into blowing their minds, Diego channeling the Winter Soldier and kicking all the ass before a mysterious man tells him to “if you want to live, come with me.” and after asking about what’ll happen to his family, goes with him somewhere in the timeline because a Mystery Man (aka a super old and gray Hazel) “You can’t save them if you’re dead.” as nukes head straight for them, is the kind of logic even stubborn Number Five can’t argue with.

Overall: The second season of Umbrella Academy starts off with a somber tone, there are still moments of levity and it’s still super fun but, it’s very heavy. Since it’s set in the past and we all know how crazy the 60s were we watch with the knowledge of all of the other wrongs they could help correct and of how they know all the bad that’s coming. I was a little sad that Klaus didn’t bump into Dave before the war and warn him but, there are still nine episodes to go and I have all the hope for true love. Since Allison is married now, I wonder how that’ll go over when she and Luther finally meet back up or if they’re going to fridge the husband to move the story along and give Allison a larger purpose. The new villains are scary AF and they’re after all of the Academy members except they don’t know they’re in danger. The music that they play with the scenes is still perfect and just as memorable as the scenes themselves. I like that they mix in the reality of the time people are nostalgic about the racism, homophobia, and sexism that were in full effect during the time. As usual, the creative team behind Umbrella Academy created another banger of an episode and it’s a super tough act to follow and I hope that means that it only goes uphill from here.

Personal Recommendation: Watch it! Why are you still reading this? Get to a TV, log into Netflix, and get your binge on!

Rating: 9.8