The Umbrella Academy Season 3
The Umbrella Academy season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. Image courtesy of Netflix.
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 review by Dominic Rizzi
Created by: Steve Blackman & Jeremy Slater
Rating: 👌 ok
The Umbrellas (Vanya, Luther, Diego, Klaus, Allison & Five), following their adventure in Dallas, return to the present only to find themselves in an altered timeline. After their encounter in 1963, Sir Reginald chose not to adopt them but 6 other children instead, building them into a competent and popular superhero team dubbed "The Sparrow Academy.” The Umbrellas deal with their new adversaries, led by their now not-dead brother Ben, along with changing family dynamics and yet another world-ending event caused by their time-hopping actions in the latest installment based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba.
This show started out as one of many different shows that were trying to capitalize on the Stranger Things boom, and has evolved into one of the last shows that someone can watch, turn their brain off and enjoy. This sounds a little antithetical considering just how densely packed each of these ten episodes are, but considering how much this show is throwing at the wall and then forgetting to move on to the next thing, I feel like we as the audience have earned that right. Capitalizing off the much beloved and critically adored second season, this season sees the Umbrellas right back where they started, but with things a little different. They find their home occupied by 5 completely new individuals (and a floating cube), Ben is very much alive and there’s a glowing ball of energy in the basement, which of course means another disaster is on the horizon.
I feel like the show has truly gotten to the point where it’s stopped caring about trying to make sure the audience knows what’s going on, which is both this season’s greatest strength and weakness. Every season is structured similarly, acting as a reboot of sorts in which there’s some new disaster where the Umbrellas have to band together, arguing and bickering over the smallest, most trivial of matters all the way up until it all goes boom at the end, forcing some kind of reset. Where that works to the show’s favor now is that all of those factors are upped to eleven, to the point where it’s almost farcical. All of these actors are so at home and comfortable with the parts they’re playing that one gets that traditional television feeling of spending time with some old friends as they deal with yet another ludicrous plan to save the world from certain doom. Where that doesn’t work is that this season is really playing fast and loose, throwing out certain storylines to bring in new ones only to then throw those out, all the way up until they hit the metaphorical, and in this case literal reset button. The best stories are where plot and character work together, and while Netflix shows have always sided more so on the plot dictating everything aspect as it usually contributes more so to their binge-watching release model, it results in an enjoyable, but overall confusing watch that makes the viewers wonder whether they really care, especially when it seems like the characters care more about certain hair products than saving the world. This again is in line with the show, but after how many world-ending events, one would think the Umbrellas would have gotten their sh*t together.
The Umbrella Academy season 3 review. Image courtesy of Netflix.
