The Hargreeves family gathers after their father dies. Photos courtesy of Netflix Studios’ “The Umbrella Academy”.
By Jessica Nguyen, Staff Writer
If you’re looking for an action, science fiction, black comedy, superhero and drama show, “The Umbrella Academy” got you covered. “The Umbrella Academy” makes it debut as Netflix’s latest comic-book adaptation by Gerard Way, lead vocalist and co-founder of My Chemical Romance.
“The Umbrella Academy” follows the lives of the dysfunctional Hargreeves family. The seven siblings were adopted by billionaire Reginald Hargreeves to form a superhero team known as the Umbrella Academy. After the death of their father, together they must try to save the world from a coming apocalypse in eight days regardless of the numerous obstacles that they encounter.
Each sibling has a different superpower ranging from ability to time-travel to being able to communicate with the dead. In fact, each character could probably have their own show and story-line. So, let’s break it down:
- Spaceboy or Luther Hargreeves (Tom Hopper) has super strength and a suspiciously strong and big body, which is explained later in the show but guessing might make you go bananas. He was sent to the moon for four years for an experiment and acts as the leader of the show (but isn’t very good).
- The Kraken or Diego Hargreeves (David Castañeda) is reckless, rebellious and good at throwing knives. He may seem tough but is a total softie for his mother.
- Allison Hargeeves (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is known as the Rumor for her power to alter reality just by the saying the words, “I heard a rumor” and anything that follows comes true. She is a famous celebrity and has a broken up family because she used her power on her daughter.
- The Séance or Klaus Hargeeves (Robert Sheehan) can talk to the dead—well, when he’s sober. You can always find him making hilarious comments even in the face of death.
- Number Five (yes, that’s his name) (Aidan Gallagher) can time travel. In fact, he jumped to the future, got stuck, aged into a 58-year-man, became an assassin, jumped back to the present and is now stuck in a 13-year-old body so he is super sarcastic and cranky.
- The Horror or Ben Hargreeves (Justin Min) possesses monsters from other dimensions under his skin. Most importantly, he’s dead, but still makes an appearance in the show as Klaus can talk to him. He is a precious bean and must be protected at all cost.
- The White Violin or Vanya Hargreeves (Ellen Page) is ordinary and has absolutely no powers…or does she? She is brilliant at playing the violin.
Not to mention, the family has a robot mother and a chimpanzee as a butler. The actors play each character exactly how one would imagine them; in particular, Gallagher makes you believe that he is actually 58-years-old when he is only 13.
While the plot of the show is complex, fast-paced and a little hard to handle, it is interesting with many subplots, development and twists throughout the series; plus, figuring things out makes the show so much better to watch. Not only are the Hargreeves trying to save the world, they are also trying to not die as two assassins, Cha-Cha and Hazel, attempt to kill them. As each episode goes on, you fall love with each character (except Luther) as you get to know them.
With Way as its creator, every song in the soundtrack fits each scene perfectly and if you’re a sucker for old songs, find the playlist on spotify!
With so many different components, “The Umbrella Academy” has something for everyone. So, if you are looking for anything to laugh, cry or get angry about, “The Umbrella Academy” only has 10 episodes and is super easy to binge! It is absolutely weird, quirky, but definitely worth your time. Watch out for season two!
