The Umbrella Academy Season 4 review — A disappointing farewell to a timeless dysfunctional family

After five years of traipsing through different realities, The Umbrella Academy is ready to take fans on one last mission in Season 4 and, while it’s great to be back in action, the overall ride is quite disheartening.

Based on the comic book series of the same name, the show has followed the Hargreeves siblings — Luther, Allison, Diego, Klaus, Ben, Five, Viktor — along with Diego’s wife, Lila, as they are continuously transported into different branches of the multiverse and forced to save the world from an apocalypse they caused.

However, Season 4 sees the Academy face their biggest challenge yet as they’re forced to choose between saving millions of lives or one of their own, putting the them in their most difficult position to date.

 It’s a fitting ending for the most dysfunctional family on Netflix, though the road to the finale is filled with quite a few bumps.

A family reunion at the end of the world

Season 3 ended with the Academy being thrust into a new reality where the worst thing possible has happened: they no longer have powers. However, it’s the lack of godlike abilities that allows us to see how they could handle life as civilians and… let’s just say they’re not adjusting well at all.

Thankfully, the Sparrow version of Ben is now out of jail and ready to kick the siblings back to reality by giving them their powers back; just in time for the end of the world to begin.

While it’s interesting to explore how the siblings’ “normal” lives seem to represent their individual powers (Five still works for the government, Luther still uses his muscles as an exotic dancer, etc), their characters are much more fun when they’re shooting lasers out of their eyes or blinking through space and time.

After all, The Umbrella Academy is about a group of super-powered kids who never had the time to have normal childhoods because they were forced to participate in their father’s twisted idea of heroism.

Their dynamic works a lot better when you know Luther can throw Klaus through a wall or Viktor can kill them all with one chest blast. It makes their petty squabbles all the more enjoyable to watch.

When they’re simply human siblings trying to figure out life in a new timeline, it can feel a bit stiff and, at times, dreadfully boring.

The only real standout during the group’s human moments was, unsurprisingly, ​​Aidan Gallagher as Five Hargreeves. Even without his powers of teleportation, his snappy humor and dry wit kept me interested even when I had the urge to reach for the remote.

While I understand why the Hargreeves family didn’t want their powers back for traumatic (and valid) reasons, I was beyond glad to see that they were back in business by Episode 2.

The show’s biggest mystery only breeds more questions

Before Season 4 premiered, its trailers and marketing made it clear that the show would finally provide the answer to a decades-long mystery: how did Ben Hargreeves die?

Not even the comics have answered this question (which makes sense, since the series is not finished yet), and while fans will finally find out what happened on that fateful day in 2006, the revelation creates more questions than answers.

This partly comes down to the show playing a lot with the idea of the multiverse, so, while Episode 4 does show us what happened to Season 1’s Ben, it doesn’t explain what happened to Season 3 Ben.

Ben’s death also gives a lot of screen time to the most frustrating aspect of the season: “The Jennifer Incident.”

Netflix

This was the name given to Ben’s death and, in Season 3, it was explained that he let a girl named Jennifer die while Season 1 Ben died in her place.

I was intrigued to find out how Jennifer tied into every version of Ben but, much like his death, her inclusion in Season 4 left me scratching my head more often than not.

The concept of Jennifer could’ve changed everything viewers knew about The Umbrella Academy as a whole, as her relationship with Ben was a direct parallel to the one he has with his siblings –  if it had been done right.

Truly the only saving grace when it came to Ben and Jennifer’s storyline was the absolutely horrifying monster they become closer to the end of the season. While some of the CGI used in The Umbrella Academy can come off a bit cartoonish, the grotesque, almost skin-crawling creature seen in Episode 6 is proof the effects budget went to the right place.

However, their journey ultimately ends with a very boring conclusion, which is tragic as their arch is arguably the most captivating part of the show.

Too many storylines, too little episodes

Season 4 only has six episodes, a huge departure from the show’s usual 10-episode drop, making it the shortest out of the entire series.

This only plays into the show’s overall weakness, as there’s far too many plot lines to wrap up in just six hours.

While it’s fun to see the siblings go on their signature side quests, and I loved meeting all of the quirky yet dangerous new side characters like Jean and Gene, it’s really hard to get invested in any of it.

Netflix

Previous seasons seamlessly hopped in and out of its main story, but Season 4 missed the mark with this concept big time. It feels like whiplash; right when you’re getting locked into Ben and Jennifer’s backstory, you’re forced to follow Luther and Diego as they’re sent on a mission that ultimately goes nowhere.

You’ll feel as if you’re missing huge chunks of plot – but the worst part is… you’re not. Everything is laid out in front of you and you’ll still feel the massive gaps.

It’s incredibly disappointing that a show with such a unique and interesting premise ultimately shoots itself in the foot by racing to the end.

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 verdict: 3/5

This Netflix original had the opportunity to cement itself among legendary shows like Dark and Ozark. However – and I’m heartbroken to write this – it doesn’t stick the landing.

I can’t explain how much writing this breaks my heart as a longtime fan of this series. When I started watching The Umbrella Academy, I had high expectations about its ending because the show was never afraid to be unique when it came to how it used its characters or told its story. But, unfortunately, it seems like the series lost its spark somewhere along the way to the finish line.

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 is yet another example of a series that seems to forget what made it fun to watch in the first place and chooses to switch things up for the worst for its final outing.

While there are flickering moments that will have fans remembering why they started watching in the first place, the pacing issues and out-of-nowhere storylines will have some turning it off before the final credits roll.

The Umbrella Academy Season 1 – 4 is now streaming on Netflix. For more, check out updates for other Netflix shows including Stranger Things Season 5 and Virgin River Season 6. You can also find new TV shows and TV shows streaming this month.