‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season Two Review

Netflix’s original series The Umbrella Academy, based off a graphic novel of the same name written by My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, released its second installment on July 31 of this year.

The show follows a family of adopted siblings who were born with mysterious powers brought together by the death of their adopted father and the proclamation of the impending end of the world, and the first season follows the family as they reunite after years of silence as they try to figure out the mystery of their father’s death. 

There are seven children total in the family, and instead of having names, they are numbered one through seven, with number One being recognized as the leader.

All these children have powers. However, number Seven, also known as Vanya, was brainwashed to believe that she was a normal child because she was not able to control her power, so she was put on medication to suppress her power. 

However, years later, when the family reunites she has met a man named Leonard who eventually discards Vanya’s pills, making her powers emerge with a vengeance. 

Vanya lashes out and blows up the moon, which brings on the apocalypse, until her siblings come to rescue the day. 

One of the brothers has the ability to travel through time and uses this power to take his family back to the 1960s but ends up spreading them throughout the early 1960s. Season two starts with the introduction of the separate lives that the family has led while in the 60s. 

Season two has a more calm and laid back beginning but quickly picks up when brother Five announces that the apocalypse followed the family through the time jump. 

The season is centered around the planned assassination of John F. Kennedy and how the siblings’ father relates to the event, while trying to find and prevent the cause of the apocalypse.

There are many subplots involving the family and their relationships throughout the season and how they all come together at the end, including the subplot involving possibly the other superpowered individuals. 

The season ends with the family jumping back to 2019, but not their 2019. Changing the past has altered the future. It seems their father has adopted seven different children, with one familiar face, number Six, who throughout the whole show is deceased and manifested by one of the siblings’ powers. The season ends on a massive cliffhanger, making fans want more.