The Umbrella Academy Season 2 overall thoughts (scroll if you don’t want spoilers !)
I’ve watched season 2 twice and here’s what I’ve noticed. feel free to agree/ disagree, let’s have a discussion! :)
- Luther’s character development was amazing this season. although he was mainly depressed and stress eating, he did grow as a character SO much by immediately apologizing to Vanya. he could have easily got away with not telling her the full extent of what happened/ what he did due to her memory loss (and Five also not directly telling her she was the cause, or “bomb”). he’s still struggling with who he is and how he lost his motivation and leadership-ness towards the end of season one. not seeing any of his siblings, especially Allison made Luther feel alone again, like when he was sent to the moon. Luther has SO much more of a idea between when he can lead and when it’s okay for him to follow (example: him telling Klaus to look for Allison while he watches over Five who was obviously upset due to the situation). he was very smart with the whole old/young Five situation, even if he got his ass beat in the process. overall Luther is a great character and deserves so much more of a love interest than his sister.
- Diego. as far as we know Diego and Vanya actually got parts of Klaus’ powers this season. originally in the comics Klaus can levitate and has telekinesis. Diego’s was able to manipulate the bullets in the finale with telekinesis that wasn’t brought up earlier. it made sense and for the character since he already know how to manipulate knives and other things to his favor. another Diego power that wasn’t described that i was quite disappointed about is the fact that he can hold his breath underwater for long periods of time. although Diego’s love interest this season is Lila, i have a feeling he is more infatuated with her than in love. it’s known that Diego loved Patch, and was torn and wished to remember and honor her memory, so there a chance he fell for Lila or his idea of her, mixed with some of the personality traits of Patch. Diego went from basically resenting Vanya and always going toe to toe with Luther to forgiving her and actually working as a pair with Luther, while Luther let Diego have his leader or “Number One” moments this season.
- Allison. wow. we had a minor complaint of her not dating her brother and boy did they take that and run with it. she went from an adored black actress with a white husband and mixed daughter to a time where black and whites couldn’t even enjoy a cup of coffee in the same diner. now i’m not sure if this was intentional but i noticed upon allison’s arrival, 3 white boys are taunting her saying “hey girl”. although i’m not sure, i was wondering if this line/scene is a reference to the Emmett Till case (he died in 1955 so less than a decade then where this harassment takes place). it could be possible since Emmett did get murdered for saying “hey baby” to a white women and i think it’s a good yet subtle part on the show runners half if this was their intention. Allison’s want of showing she loves Vanya showed tremendously throughout this season, she’s basically glowing around Vanya, especially in the scene where she was hanging out with Klaus and Vanya.
- Klaus. Klaus went through so much this season (as it seems like he always does) Klaus’ adventure of seeing Dave and telling him not to enlist is a case of “right intention, wrong time”. he came off too strongly and scared off Dave. eventually Dave wanted to know why Klaus knew so much about him so he visted Klaus at his weird cult house. i will say he obviously did have some influence over Dave since he got dave to enlist in the marines instead of the army. Klaus having a cult makes sense for his character. the lack of “daddy’s love” and attention he got in season one was filled by his cult, even if he was a fraud and only superficial worshipping. he started to push Ben away this season, and ultimately you could argue it helped tainting/ damaging his relationship with Ben a tad bit, but at the same time Klaus secretly wanted Ben to get a break from him and go to heaven, even if that meant loosing his brother from being with him 24/7. i wish he had more of reaction when Vanya tells him about Ben. it could just be usual Klaus, hiding his feelings to not feel like a burden to anyone. with Robert’s acting abilities, as much as i don’t want to see klaus in pain, a meltdown scene of Klaus missing Ben would be startling at how well it can be done.
- Five. Five was an old man before he came back to the Academy in season one and it’s discussed that he messed up the calculations that put them in his kid body. it could be a possibility that when he was going back in time with his siblings he saw his siblings were turning into kids, panicked, and thought of a different equation in his head to make them adults. we have to remember as viewers that since he’s gotten back to the season one timeline he knows what it feels like to be not taken seriously due to his physical age and how he looks. so he wanted his siblings to be adults again? maybe it could also be because he couldn’t emotionally handle seeing the versions of his siblings from over 60+ years ago (in his mind) in front of him again. it could just be a simple miscalculation since math clearly isn’t Five’s strong suit since he’s 0/3, or could have a deeper meaning. you can argue both ways. i will say he developed more into trusting his siblings, even asking for their help on multiple occasions. you can tell he got more comfortable with the family he’s been missing and wishing to go back to for decades.
- Ben. Benerio. i just wanted to start off that it makes sense he wasn’t alive this season. although disappointed, when they were going back in time, none of the kids (Ben included) were born in the 60’s, so it can be argued that even if he was revived, he has no place in this timeline. you can argue none of the kids have a place there, but Five was focused on getting those around him (the alive academy) out of this timeline. Ben not being alive makes the most sense since he has passed before Five travelled. you can tell dallas made a huge tear between Ben and Klaus. i think that dallas was good for Be , even if he wasn’t alive, he got to grow as a person, even if that meant Klaus sort of forgot him and went on his own journey. i cried hysterically in the last two episodes about Ben because he’s such a genuinely caring character. i would compare his qualities to younger Vanya because when Luther locks Vanya up, Diego and Klaus say “Vanya? the one who cried when we stepped on ants as a kid?” also applies to Ben. it made me so happy when he stayed back and goes “i missed you guys” while they exposing each other for what they have done in this timeline to possibly mess it up
- Vanya went through a lot this season. i’m glad they changed the season one ending of Fove shooting her in the end and starting of the dallas storyline her being paralyzed and having amnesia. this season shows that vanya isn’t scared of her siblings anymore. for example, she got startled when Allison tried to rumor her again and accidentally hurt her, followed by apologizing profusely. this season she is unapologetically herself, saying she isn’t a disease and even leans her head on Diego in the last episode even though in last season they definitely were on rocky terms. Vanya frantically wanting to leave with Sissu and Harlan to give them a better and more accepting life in 2019 just proves how much she cares for others. the ending scene where Ben, the literal monster with tentacles basically falling out of him, telling Vanya isn’t a monster is so beautifully done. it’s also interesting how she is in way more control of her powers, even after Reginald made it seem basically impossible for her to control her emotions/ powers.
