Netflix - Umbrella Academy Season 2: Our review of the first episodes

By Mulder, 29 july 2020

The first season of Umbrella Academy was an undeniable success in the way it transcribed a cult comic book series into series form. By giving a real depth to the characters, offering a scenario with multiple twists and turns and above all spectacular special effects, the first season not only became one of the series preferred by many viewers but also created a real community of fans in the image of Stranger Things (45 million viewers worldwide). The apocalyptic final minutes of the first season hinted at an even more exciting second season, and the first five episodes that we were able to discover totally captured our attention.

This time the series takes place in the early 60's and cleverly mixes the atmosphere of fantasy films dealing with time travel (one will think nostalgically of the wise cult cinematic back to the future) and superhero films. We find with intact pleasure the Hargreeves family, each member of which found themselves in a different vortex taking them to different years of the 60s. The first anthological scene of the first episode shows that Umbrella Academy has lost nothing of its aestheticism but also of the care given to both special effects and storyline. It was also an interesting idea in the current context of having placed the action in Dallas (Texas) in a past time in which, to our great sadness, segregation was tainting American society at that time. The early episodes also broach certain American sects in which the belief in a better world and junk leaders found their place.

By taking into account some of the rhythm problems of the first season, the creator of the series has taken more care to improve the cohesion of the plot and also manages to make viewers want to watch almost the whole series at once (the ten episodes constituting this second season make this possible). In the same way, by giving more importance to certain main characters, this second season never forgets to also offer action scenes worthy of current Hollywood blockbusters. While Season 2 of The Boys is coming soon on Amazon Prime video, Umbrella Academy Season 2 stands out as an unbridled, immersive superhero series that regains all the charm of Season 1 and makes us want to discover all the episodes. Available in its entirety from this Friday, we can only advise you to book your weekend because you'll love this second season and hope to have a third one. The score of 97% obtained on Rotten Tomatoes is well deserved.

Synopsis:
Five warned his family (so, so often) that using his powers to escape Vanya's apocalypse in 2019 was risky. He was right: the leap in time disperses siblings back in time in and around Dallas, Texas. Over a period of three years. Starting in 1960. Some, having been stuck in the past for years, built lives and moved on, some of them the only ones who survived. Five is the last one to land in the middle of a nuclear apocalypse, which -- spoiler alert! -- is the result of a disruption of the timeline by the group (deja vu, anyone?). The Umbrella Academy must now find a way to get together, find out what caused the apocalypse, stop it, and return to the current timeline to stop this other apocalypse. While being hunted by a trio of ruthless Swedish assassins... But seriously, no pressure or anything.

The Umbrella Academy
Created by Steve Blackman
Based on The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá
Developed by Jeremy Slater
StarringEllen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, John Magaro, Adam Godley, Colm Feore, Justin H. Min
Composer : Jeff Russo
Executive producers: Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, Jeremy Slater, Scott Stuber, Beau Bauman, Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, Peter Hoar, Jeff F. King, Steve Blackman
Producers : Kevin Lafferty, Sneha Koorse
Cinematography : Neville Kidd, Craig Wrobleski
Editors : Jon Dudkowski, Timothy A. Good, Amy Duddleston, Wendy Tzeng, Todd Desrosiers, Brian Beal, Amanda Panella
Production : Borderline Entertainment, Dark Horse Entertainment, Universal Cable Productions
Distributor : Netflix, NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Original network : Netflix (Monde)

Review : 5/5

Written by Boris Colletier (Mluder)