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THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

About:

On October 1, 1989, 43 women spontaneously gave birth despite showing no prior signs of pregnancy. Eccentric billionare Reginald Hargreeves made it his mission to find and adopt as many of these children as he could, and he ended up with seven of them. The kicker? All of the children were born with unique powers... save for Number Seven. They were raised and trained by Reginald as a group of trained crime fighters: The Umbrella Academy. The Academy fell apart in their early teen years after the disappearance of Number Five and the death of Number Six. The TV show takes place in 2019 when the siblings, now 30 years old, are brought together for the first time in years for Reginald's funeral.

The Umbrella Academy began as a comic series written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The first issue was released in 2007, and there are currently three volumes and two spin-offs. The most recent installment was published in 2019, the same year Season One of the Netflix original TV adaptation was released. The show has four seasons and ended in 2024. It's loosely based on the comics, in that there are some identical plot elements, and the core characters are more or less the same, but the show frequently adds on its own subplots and characters.

What To Read/Watch:

Comics:

  • Apocalypse Suite (2007-8)
  • Dallas (2008-9)
  • Hotel Oblivion (2018-19)
  • Sparrow Academy (2025)
  • Tales From The Umbrella Academy: Hazel and Cha-Cha Save Christmas (2019), You Look Like Death (2020-21)
  • Short Stories: Mon Dieu! (2006), ...But The Past Ain't Through With You. (2007), Safe And Sound (2007), Anywhere But Here (2009)

TV Show:

  • Season One: February 2019
  • Season Two: July 2020
  • Season Three: June 2022
  • Season Four: August 2024

Companion Books:

  • The Making of The Umbrella Academy: Behind the scenes of the show
  • The Commission Handbook: A Complete Commission Guide to Temporal Anomalies
  • Young Blood: YA prequel

things i want to add: brief reviews of each szn, my thoughts on s4, my fav things about the show, the soundtrack

Why I Love It:

I started watching TUA when the first season released on Netflix. While I wasn't a huge My Chemical Romance fan at the time, I was still hearing and seeing a lot about the show online. It piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a shot. I was instantly obsessed, and my favorite character was 100% Klaus. When S3 came out my dad started watching it too, so we went back and rewatched the whole show together.

I think one of my favorite things about TUA is the relationship dynamics. While there are romances that play a pretty big role in the plot, I also think it's really cool how prominent the familial platonic dynamics are. When you put any combination of the seven siblings together, you get some interesting results. As someone who sometimes isn't big on reading/watching romance and just wants to see platonic relationships, this show kind of scratches that itch. One of the other things I love is the inherent weirdness at the core of this show, and the comics. It's so cool to watch this world that yes, is explicitly 2019 America, but is full of these pockets of weirdness - the Commission and AJ Carmichael, the siblings' powers, the mix of futuristic and retro technology. I think it's cool that TUA is kind of a new type of superhero media, in that it doesn't really show them at their prime. We do get some flashbacks to their youth, but the show really focuses on the effects of childhood fame, abuse, and loss that are seen decades later as the siblings enter their 30s - these washed-up adults who don't really know what they're doing in the real world beyond the Academy. Which is exactly why the show's tagline is "Super Dysfunctional Family"!

The Soundtrack

This fits into the "Things I love" category, but I wanted to make it its own category! One of the most iconic things about the show is its use of music, especially during fight scenes (Which is one of the reasons why I hate S4- more on that later, I'm sure.). There are so many songs throughout the series that I think are so iconic, and whenever I hear them on the radio I'm instantly reminded of the exact TUA scene. Here's some of my favorite music moments in chronological order:

  • The Walker by Fitz and The Tantrums (S1E1): This insanely catchy song plays during a flashback to the Umbrella Academy's first ever mission, and you find yourself grooving in your seat as little children murder bank robbers.
  • I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany (S1E1): If you ask someone what THE most iconic TUA music moment is, chances are pretty high they're gonna say this. The siblings have all reconnected for the first time in years, and things get messy pretty much immediately. They go off to separate rooms, and Luther puts on a record. Despite all the beef they have with each other, each sibling starts dancing, and I love the zoom out to the whole house.
  • Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants (S1E1): The pilot had SO MANY good songs! This one features when Five singlehandedly takes down the Commission soldiers who were sent after him... in a donut shop with a butter knife.
  • In The Heat Of The Moment by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (S1E5): This happens during a flashback to Five's time in the apocalypse, and I liked this song so much it was on my Spotify playlist for a while.
  • Saturday Night by Bay City Rollers (S1E10): The siblings are on their way to stop Vanya, and this plays in a bowling alley as they all sprint down the lanes and slide past the pins to escape from Commission soldiers.
  • Right Back Where We Started by Maxine Nightingale (S2E1): This is one of the most iconic songs of the whole series for me! The siblings have just been dropped into 1960s Dallas, and they're trying to figure out where and when they are.
  • My Way by Frank Sinatra (S2E1): Five is once again dropped into an apocalypse, where he witnesses the rest of his siblings utilize their powers to take down Soviet soldiers. This song while the powers are in slo-mo is amazing.
  • Sunny by Boney M. (S2E3): A flashback montage to Klaus inventing his cult. Once again a great example of a poppy fun song playing while some truly absurd shit is happening onscreen.
  • Golden Brown by The Stranglers (S2E3): Lila Pitts has been introduced this season, and with this song in the background we discover at the end of the episode that she is actually The Handler's adopted daughter.
  • I Was Made for Lovin' You by Kiss (S2E4): Another fight scene moment - Diego, Lila, and Five fight off the mysterious Swedes in the Mexican Consulate.
  • Hello by My Kullsvik (S2E5): One of the quirky things that happens a few times in this show is its usage of covers. I love this one because it's specifically a Swedish cover of Adele's Hello, that's shown as the Swedes bury and mourn their fallen brother.
  • Polk Salad Annie by Tony Joe White (S2E7): I'm weirdly obsessed with this song usage? Five is tasked with murdering the entire Commission board, which he does, and next door is this Polka convention. I love how random and midwestern it feels.
  • Everybody (Backstreet's Back) by Backstreet Boys (S2E7): Can I be honest and say that TUA set the precedent for boyband fight scenes? This scene with Allison and her husband Ray fighting off the Swedes & the now-iconic Bye Bye Bye scene that introduces Deadpool & Wolverine... they're sisters to me.
  • Dancing with Myself by Generation X (S2E9): Five fighting the older/past version of himself. Set to "Dancing with Myself". Come on.
  • Footloose by Kenny Loggins (S3E1): What other superhero media has a dance battle??? (GOTG does not count btw.) The Umbrellas and Sparrows "fight" to the tune of Footloose, and it's then revealed that all of that was in Diego's head - Jayme's venom creates hallucinations. So so good and I love watching the behind the scenes of them preparing the choreo.
  • Ride Wit Me by Nelly (S3E7): This only plays for a few seconds, but I adore the absurdity: Klaus is stuck in the trunk of Reginald's car while Reggie himself, THE Reginald Hargreeves, is singing along to this on the radio. Must be the monay!!!
  • (I've Had) The Time Of My Life (S3E8): During Luther's bachelor "party", the guys do some karaoke. It's fun to see them have this moment of happiness together as brothers.
  • The End. by My Chemical Romance: Okay this kind of doesn't count, but I wanted to include it! The trailer for S4 has this song in the background and I loved it! Fans have been hoping for a MCR song to be used in the show for years, and while this isn't quite "in the show", I think it fits well with the vibe.
  • The Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang (S4E1): We get insight into what the siblings' lives are like post-6 year timeskip, and learn that Luther is an unsuccessful stripper. Minus points for it also being the credits song, I'm not really sure why they did that when this already played at the beginning of the episode.
  • This is me pointedly not adding Baby Shark. I actually found the scenes kinda funny but it does not count as an iconic TUA soundtrack moment.
  • Carol of the Bells by Bel Canto Choir (S4E2): I'm not exactly sure why a Ukranian cover was used, but I think it's pretty cool with the car crashing in slo-mo. Also the whole Christmas vibe of the fake town.
  • Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers (S4E5): Can you believe the first iconic fight scene song is in the SECOND TO LAST EPISODE??? I know. The fight scene itself isn't even that great, but it's a much needed Diego and Luther bonding moment this season so I'll take it.
  • Map of the Problematique by Muse (S4E6): Maybe I just love Muse but I actually enjoyed this inclusion! It's when the Keepers are all coming together to protect the Cleanse, and this was one of the few moments this season where I felt a glimmer of the TUA sauce.
  • Big Umbrella Academy (Steve Blackman) wants me to add I Think We're Alone Now but I can't because the context in which it plays is so bad. They made an attempt I guess.

As you can see and as I've hinted at, the list of iconic songs gets shorter...And on a separate note, Gerard also contributed three songs to the soundtrack! Happy Together, Hazy Shade of Winter, (both featuring MCR guitarist Ray Toro) and Here Comes the End featuring Judith Hill. The first two are covers that are featured in S1, and the latter is in S2. Perhaps there is also correlation between the quality of the soundtrack & if the season has a Gerard song in it...