10 Reasons The Umbrella Academy’s Final Season Missed the Mark

The Umbrella Academy follows a family of super siblings based on the comics by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. The final season had a lot of questions to answer after the Hargreeves kids ended up powerless in the wrong timeline at the end of The Umbrella Academy Season 3.

But with only six episodes, countless (and seemingly meaningless) storylines, and an ending that left us feeling like we’ve just wasted the last four years of our lives caring, The Umbrella Academy‘s final season missed the mark.

If you haven’t watched The Umbrella Academy Season 4 yet, spoilers ahead.

Here are 10 Reasons Why the Final Season Missed the Mark:

1. The Cleanse plot

So many plot points in The Umbrella Academy Season 4 left me feeling the same way Klaus Hargreeves (Robert Sheehan) does in the finale: “Am I the only one who’s very, very, very confused?”

The overarching villain this season was The Cleanse or another end-of-the-world-apocalypse scenario. You know, the kind of thing the Hargreeves Family has been up against since the beginning.

But this whole shattered timeline thing felt very similar to what Marvel is doing with the Loki storyline.

The stakes in The Umbrella Academy Seasons 1 through 3 seemed higher, but in the fourth and final season, it was hard to get behind the overarching doom of it all because the story was rushed, half-baked, and a little lazy.

2. Jessica’s storylinef

Jessica’s (Victoria Sawal) involvement in The Umbrella Academy Season 4 created more questions than it answered.

While we finally get clarity regarding the death of Ben Hargreeves (Justin H. Min) and the Jennifer Incident, we get very little in the way of  answers regarding Jennifer being in a giant squid as a child.

Since there are other alien-based characters in the series, it’s almost as if Jennifer was an alien herself and connected in a deeper way that never got explained. Moreover, this plot point seemed conveniently added to move the final season to an end.

After all, if no one ever caught the giant squid and released Jennifer from inside, this problem wouldn’t exist. 

3. Abigail’s desire to take Reggie down

In somewhat of a twist of fate, it’s revealed Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell) wanted the world to end in Season 4.

With the help of her other-worldly powers, Abigail morphed into various characters to kickstart The Cleanse. Abigail claimed ending the world was her penance for creating the marigold and durango particles, but we never got enough information on Abigail’s backstory to long for her penance.

When I first saw Abigail appear in Season 4, I was excited. I was happy she and Reginald finally got their happily ever after, and she was so nice to the Hargreeves kids (probably to protect her ulterior motives but still).

I wanted more from her, and, like Jennifer, Abigail’s addition to the Season 4 plot was grandiose.

4. Ben being the only super-sibling Jennifer was drawn to

For The Cleanse to happen, Jennifer’s durango needed to pair with marigold, the glowing gold stuff Ben dosed everyone with at their family reunion dinner so they could regain their superpowers.

All of the Hargreeves siblings had marigold in them, but Jennifer and Ben were the dynamic duo to bring the end of the world for unknown reasons. This could be why they introduced the squid plot, but Jennifer’s connection to Ben is really left up to our imagination.

It’s never explained why Ben was the only sibling Jen was drawn to and necessary to Jennifer’s world-ending purpose, causing us to wonder what we may have missed that made him so special.

5. Including Sparrow Ben in the narrative instead of Umbrella Ben

On Season 3, we meet an alternate version of Ben Hargreeves, who is a member of the Sparrow Academy.

This alternate universe version of the Umbrella Academy is the lesser version, in my opinion, with very few characters to enjoy — miserable Ben Hargreeves among them.

The beloved Ben Hargreeves we came to know and love in the first two seasons don’t appear at all in The Umbrella Academy Season 4, which is another heartbreaking disservice.

He wasn’t in the first two seasons enough, and his rapport with brother Klaus was one of the most heartfelt parts of this show. Having him instead of Sparrow Ben in the final season, even only for a scene, would have been better and more enjoyable than solely Sparrow Ben. 

6. Five and Lila’s foray in the subway

Lila (Ritu Arya) and Diego’s (David Castañeda) love story begins in Season 2. When we catch up with them on Season 4, they’re married with children but in a bit of a rift. 

Needing a break from her life as a mom, Lila joined Five (Aidan Gallagher) as a member of the CIA. Later, they were stuck in a subway system of timelines for five years, and the two succumbed to their urges.

Maybe it’s because I love Lila and Diego so much, but this is yet another storyline that was included for no reason. Let’s just say in a six-episode season of high stakes, a sub-plot love story isn’t necessary.

Additionally, it was an inauthentic move from Five, who was previously solely focused on saving the world and had little time for romance. I guess being stuck in a time-hopping subway system will change your perspective, though. 

7. Five and Diego’s fight over Lila

After discovering Lila and Five’s tryst, Diego obviously harbored resentment toward his brother. Five also resented his brother, probably because it looked like he was going to get the girl. 

When the Jennifer/Ben blob was growing exponentially and seemed unbeatable on The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Episode 6, “End of the Beginning,” Deigo and Five decided it was time to duke it out over Lila.

While this fistfight was the catalyst that put Five back in the subway system and on the path to understanding how to stop the end of the world, it was still incredibly infuriating to watch, especially as the other Hargreeves siblings struggled to fight this massive blob.

Like Five’s romantic streak, this was another moment that took us out of the series and highlighted the inauthenticity of every character’s actions in this scene. 

8. The villain in The Umbrella Academy finale was kind of lame

The end of the world is a scary thought.

Had Jennifer and Ben stayed in their half-morphed state, which was cool-looking and kind of resembled something from The Last of Us, things might have been different. Instead, the two morphed into this giant blob reminiscent of Pyros, the lava titan in Hercules.

It was childish and kind of cute. Maybe the multitude of other plot holes and misguided character choices kept me distracted, but seeing this world-ending enigma made me laugh more than it did tremble in my boots. 

9. How the Umbrella Academy succumbs to their fate

After realizing they have to sacrifice themselves to save the greater good, the Hargreeves family stood around waiting for their fate.

That fate came to them all. Too. Slowly.

The Cleanse slowly crept up and cocooned each of them. While the snarky comments from Klaus, Lila, and the like are appreciated, this scene was way too drawn out. To make things worse, the visuals weren’t top-notch, either.

10. The Umbrella Academy ceasing to exist

It’s pretty hard to make a fan feel like they’ve wasted four years of their life on a show. “End of the Beginning,” managed to accomplish that, though.

In the final moments of the series, after self-sacrificing themselves and succumbing to The Cleanse, the Umbrella Academy saved the world (again) and the siblings ceased to exist.

Their existence is what caused the split timelines, the previous ends of the world — all of it. To which I say, Don’t make me love these people if you’re only going to make their entire lives meaningless.

Learning they were never supposed to exist in the first place was all too convenient. We deserved something more epic and emotional from this finale. All of the Hargreeves going down together in the least epic way — there was hardly any fight! — was perhaps the greatest fan betrayal of all. 

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Did you also detest the final season of The Umbrella Academy? Let us know in the comments below!

The Umbrella Academy is now streaming on Netflix.

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