SPOILER FREE REVIEW FOR THE ONLY SHOW IN HISTORY TO HAVE A MAN IN HIS LATE FIFTIES EMBODIED AS A 13 YEAR-OLD VERSION OF HIMSELF WHILST IN LOVE WITH HALF OF A MANNEQUIN. IF THAT’S TOO WEIRD ALREADY, LET’S JUST SAY IT GETS WEIRDER.

I’m no stranger to the Superhero shows on Netflix. I adored Daredevil and enjoyed Punisher and Jessica Jones prior to what will go down as one of history’s most chilling and brutal mass-murders, that being ‘The Marvel Netflix Massacre’. So, as the streaming service severed their ties with Marvel, they turned to a niche comic series never before adapted to any form of media: Dark Horse’s Umbrella Academy. Naturally, questions have been pondered over going into this series: will it be able to fill in the shoes of the Marvel shows? Will it connect with audiences? Above all else, can anybody get away with releasing a show with some striking similarities to the X-Men, in the same year as an X-Men movie, spinoff, and the apparently stellar Doom Patrol? You would think not. Yet here we are, bestowed upon us quite possibly the quirkiest, most irreverent and tonally-amalgamated Superhero show to date, in the best possible ways.

The Umbrella Academy is a Superhero drama/black comedy/Frankenstein’s Monster of varied tones created by Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater based upon the Dark Horse publication of the same name. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Robert Sheehan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castaneda, Aidan Gallagher and Colm Feore, among others. The story focuses on an ‘Umbrella Academy’ of seven Super-powered children born on the same day despite their mothers not being pregnant beforehand, adopted and formed as a team by reclusive billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreaves. Following his death, the Academy, who have gone their separate ways since being Superheroes as children, must reunite to stop an impending Apocalypse, despite the effects of their upbringing leaving them all emotionally-stunted and disparate. I won’t go into specifics, because you’re best to go into this show blind and ready to be surprised.

Undoubtedly in my mind, the core strength of this show is it being an unknown property to general audiences, myself included in that bracket. Thus, as the series progresses, Blackman and Slater are able to construct the perfect audience trap: they can leave questions unresolved for episodes at a time, lure us into becoming connected to the story through this, and then surprise us as the audience by resolving these plot threads and intriguing stakes in surprising ways. In simpler terms, the run of the series has unpredictability on its side. I laud this, because it’s a quality the Marvel Netflix shows didn’t have – as known properties, they couldn’t really go near plot twists, as they simply wouldn’t come off. Due to this, especially towards the end of the season, I became invested in the plot threads sewn throughout by the writers.

Admittedly, it took a little while for the show to win me over, and I feel this is due to its unconventional style, slower pacing (particularly in the early episodes), and my key criticism, that being the show is a bit of a tonal mishmash. This is a weird show where weird things happen, but as we grow to know and empathise with the characters, it doesn’t compromise the emotional beats the characters go through. I admire the way every main character is given a fleshed out arc: there’s not really a weak link in the main ensemble, and that’s in many respects due to both their performances and the strength of their characters. The pacing coupled with the general weirdness and anonymity of the characters early on was for me a hurdle to overcome, but as the season progresses, the pace smooths out, the story becomes more intriguing, the show embraces its inert oddity, and the characters actually develop, not just as individuals, but in their relationships with others too (although I’ll address a little criticism I have regarding this later). As for the tone, I don’t really know in which one The Umbrella Academy falls, and this will I feel divide people. Some people will enjoy the mix of different genre styles, as I did generally, although it sometimes feels like the show is just jumping from emotional beat to emotional beat without any real need, which is especially prominent when a poignant emotional scene will suddenly cut to Klaus being an idiot.

That being said, I enjoyed the imaginative nature of the story (I won’t get into specifics to avoid spoilers), and I love the production value and design. Even just the lighting in some scenes seems gives each one a unique feel, a welcome contrast to the often bland aesthetic of the Marvel shows (outside of Daredevil which was perfect in every way). The effects are excellent, and the design of the sets, costumes (barring one very jarring bodily article which will stick out like a sore thumb) and colour palette used across the series were great to see. I also love the songs that often accompany action sequences, which are probably too few and far between for my liking, but they’re well choreographed and entertaining. Ultimately, this all combines to make every scene in this show very watchable, and that combines with fresh characters to make engaging viewing.

Contrary to a lot of reviews I’ve read for this show, I don’t feel there’s a straight-up standout star of this series, as the whole ensemble is great. Lots of critics have praised Aidan Gallagher for his role as Number Five (did I mention they all have numbers? There are just so many bizarre layers to this show!), and I enjoyed his character. As child actors go, he’s a very strong and confident performer, and he does really well in delivering smug, witty lines. But like many of the other characters, there’s a level of disconnect I have with him. I was thinking it’s down to the fantastical nature of some of the characters’ pasts, but I’ve settled on it being because of how everyone hates each other. For half of this series, there are about two close friendships outside of the multiple character conflicts. Due to a number of the characters’ depressed nature, whilst they’re entertaining and compelling to watch and all fallible in some way, you don’t connect with them like you connect with Marvel’s characters, who have much more realistic character relationships. That being said, I enjoyed this show’s characters once I got to know them, most of all towards the end of the season. Maybe I’m just being too critical.

Luther is likeable, and I liked his character progression throughout the season. Diego too is acted well, and I love his relationship with his mother (something I’d love to see further explored in later series), although he’s probably the most cookie-cutter of all the heroes. Robert Sheerhan’s Klaus is sort of annoying, but I really warmed to him later in the season when he isn’t so much of a complete muppet. Ellen Page plays probably the most human of all the characters, and her character is taken in a very interesting direction, one which allows her to show her full acting range. Cha Cha and Hazel feel like an obligatory additional threat when they’re first introduced, but I also found myself liking them once their character motivations were revealed in full. Ultimately, it’s a very stellar cast, with my favourite characters being Number Five, Luther and Pogo (amazing CGI work on that chimp by the way. His only role is to gloomily look at things and exposit key details of the plot, but man, is that a good looking chimp).

Ultimately, I ended up having a great time with The Umbrella Academy. It’s eccentric, unpredictable, and refused to answer a theory that was itching at the back of my mind while watching the series. But I’m happy to settle for the impressive show we got.

VERDICT: STELLAR

Thank you for reading. Be sure to let me know what you thought of the series in the comments, as I’m sure my opinion can’t be the only one out there. Please feel free to like and share this review, and even follow my site if you feel like it. The benefits are plentiful, I can (maybe) guarantee.

Otherwise, all that’s left to say is that I bid you adieu! 🙂