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Umbrella Academy (the spoilers post)
And here is the spoilery discussion post for Umbrella Academy, for those of you who have seen it or don't mind spoilers!
I'm flying out of LA today and don't really have that much time to write up my reactions, so I'm going to throw out a few random spoiler things under the cut; feel free to talk at me in the comments.
• WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ENDING. XD I guess it should not surprise me that a show this totally bonkers ended in one of the most utterly bonkers cliffhangers I've ever seen. I mean, you really can't outdo a cliffhanger that involves blowing up the moon and killing everyone on Earth in a fiery shower of asteroids.
• And yet it wasn't actually a depressing ending despite the planet blowing up. (This is a show that makes you say things like that on a regular basis. "So did Reginald Hargreeves graft his son's head onto a gorilla body?" was the kind of thing Rachel and I found ourselves asking each other as we watched it. "Did Ben die in some kind of interdimensional tentacle accident or what?"*) Time travel is in play, we know the main set of kids made it out and that they're all together and getting along with each other and plan to try to fix Vanya, and Hazel and Agnes also made it out and can have their happy ending running a donut shop off in 1955 or whenever.
*We nominated "Tentacle Accidents" for H/C Exchange because of this show. I have no regrets.
• I am still very annoyed about Eudora's death, which I assumed was going to be fixed via timey-wimey shenanigans and turned out to be a classic fridging instead - killing off a cool female character to motivate her love interest's angst. DO NOT WANT. Also I totally ship Eudora/Diego. I'm really hoping it'll be fixed in season 2.
• The characters are so great, though! I love how they all have their own particular set of damage. Especially Klaus, poor Klaus, and Vanya, poor poor Vanya. Everyone needed WAY more hugs than they got. Especially those two.
• I went back and rewatched the "I Think We're Alone Now" music video from the first episode when we were about halfway through the show, and I cannot get over how differently it plays out when you first watch it vs. after you get to know and care about the characters. The first time around, it was really funny, part of the show's whole bonkers, "what the hell am I even watching?" vibe. The second time around, though, it's a total punch in the heart. The juxtaposition of music and lyrics and the characters all dancing alone and being able to let go only when none of the others are around is so heartbreaking. Diego closing the doors to the library so no one can see him dancing got to me especially when I went back and rewatched that scene; I think that's one of the things that cemented him as one of my favorite characters, a complete 180 turnaround from how I felt about him when I first started watching. And that pulling-back scene at the end of the music sequence is so brilliant.
• The show in general is gorgeous - brilliantly designed and shot, brilliant use of music. Its weird retro vibe is really fascinating to me, because it's not taking place in any specific retro decade (e.g. it's not an 80s pastiche), but there are no cell phones, no screens, no TVs more advanced than old-style cathode-ray types. And it's supposed to be set in the present day, but clearly not our present day, although the clothing and hairstyles are mostly modern (in a timeless, no-specific-trend kind of way). The fascinating vague-retro feeling is part of what makes it feel so much like a comic book world; it's sort of like a pastiche of Kirby/Claremont-era superhero comics, where it could be anytime from the 1970s to the 1990s.
• As far as favorite characters go, I'd say for me it's probably Diego, Klaus, Allison, Hazel, and Eudora (who had better come back in S2, istg), but I really love all of them, including the non-Hargreeves supporting characters - aside from Leonard, whose death in a cloud of whirling cutlery was very satisfying, and good old Reginald, the Worst Father Ever.
I'm flying out of LA today and don't really have that much time to write up my reactions, so I'm going to throw out a few random spoiler things under the cut; feel free to talk at me in the comments.
• WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ENDING. XD I guess it should not surprise me that a show this totally bonkers ended in one of the most utterly bonkers cliffhangers I've ever seen. I mean, you really can't outdo a cliffhanger that involves blowing up the moon and killing everyone on Earth in a fiery shower of asteroids.
• And yet it wasn't actually a depressing ending despite the planet blowing up. (This is a show that makes you say things like that on a regular basis. "So did Reginald Hargreeves graft his son's head onto a gorilla body?" was the kind of thing Rachel and I found ourselves asking each other as we watched it. "Did Ben die in some kind of interdimensional tentacle accident or what?"*) Time travel is in play, we know the main set of kids made it out and that they're all together and getting along with each other and plan to try to fix Vanya, and Hazel and Agnes also made it out and can have their happy ending running a donut shop off in 1955 or whenever.
*We nominated "Tentacle Accidents" for H/C Exchange because of this show. I have no regrets.
• I am still very annoyed about Eudora's death, which I assumed was going to be fixed via timey-wimey shenanigans and turned out to be a classic fridging instead - killing off a cool female character to motivate her love interest's angst. DO NOT WANT. Also I totally ship Eudora/Diego. I'm really hoping it'll be fixed in season 2.
• The characters are so great, though! I love how they all have their own particular set of damage. Especially Klaus, poor Klaus, and Vanya, poor poor Vanya. Everyone needed WAY more hugs than they got. Especially those two.
• I went back and rewatched the "I Think We're Alone Now" music video from the first episode when we were about halfway through the show, and I cannot get over how differently it plays out when you first watch it vs. after you get to know and care about the characters. The first time around, it was really funny, part of the show's whole bonkers, "what the hell am I even watching?" vibe. The second time around, though, it's a total punch in the heart. The juxtaposition of music and lyrics and the characters all dancing alone and being able to let go only when none of the others are around is so heartbreaking. Diego closing the doors to the library so no one can see him dancing got to me especially when I went back and rewatched that scene; I think that's one of the things that cemented him as one of my favorite characters, a complete 180 turnaround from how I felt about him when I first started watching. And that pulling-back scene at the end of the music sequence is so brilliant.
• The show in general is gorgeous - brilliantly designed and shot, brilliant use of music. Its weird retro vibe is really fascinating to me, because it's not taking place in any specific retro decade (e.g. it's not an 80s pastiche), but there are no cell phones, no screens, no TVs more advanced than old-style cathode-ray types. And it's supposed to be set in the present day, but clearly not our present day, although the clothing and hairstyles are mostly modern (in a timeless, no-specific-trend kind of way). The fascinating vague-retro feeling is part of what makes it feel so much like a comic book world; it's sort of like a pastiche of Kirby/Claremont-era superhero comics, where it could be anytime from the 1970s to the 1990s.
• As far as favorite characters go, I'd say for me it's probably Diego, Klaus, Allison, Hazel, and Eudora (who had better come back in S2, istg), but I really love all of them, including the non-Hargreeves supporting characters - aside from Leonard, whose death in a cloud of whirling cutlery was very satisfying, and good old Reginald, the Worst Father Ever.
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(Ngl, I also could have done without the Luther/Allison subplot.)
Otherwise though what a weird weird show. The premise is one of my favourite things (‘family drama but they all have superpowers’ yes yep ok sign me up). Klaus immediately became my fave and never stopped. Eudora was great. So was Mom Hargreeves. Hazel and Cha Cha managed to be both hilarious and terrifying which is always a good time for bad guys. And I really, really enjoyed the relationship between Allison and Vanya.
I’m still kinda processing the whole thing tbh, but I’m REALLY curious about season 2 already xD
a barely coherent series of reactions
I really like that all the siblings got major character development. Especially given how 2d they were in the comic.
The kid playing Five acted circles around everyone else. TBH given the plot he had to in order to sell it.
No Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffel.
Klaus in the comic had control of his powers as a kid. Klaus as an adult doesn't in the show. This makes for better story.
Vanya was like 120% better in the show.
I think my list of favorites goes: Ben, Klaus, then Diego.
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I loved, loved, loved this show, for many of the reasons you described.
My favorites are Klaus and Vanya, Vanya and Klaus. I want to know more about Ben. I could honestly care less about Luther and probably Allison; they felt like the most two-dimensional characters to me. I was yelling at Luther when he grabbed her and when they stuck her in the "protective room." Didn't they understand that they were creating the person that would destroy them by their actions? That made the ending SO much more satisfying, when they all ran to see if she was okay--and when Five realized it was always going to be Vanya, so they had to fix it so it wasn't her.
Klaus. When he popped in and it took all of a second to realize that he'd been sent to VietNam, I nearly lost it. The look on his face, there, the realization that he'd loved AND lost there. Wow. AND, at the end, when he was sober and able to help, but no one was ready to take him seriously--and he didn't exactly realize what he could do, was just...Yeah, I really don't have many words for this show--just ALL THE FEELS.
Diego's weird Oedipal thing with Mom was creepy, but fascinating.
I have to agree with you on fridging Eudora and add the very unsatisfying ending for Cha-Cha. If Hazel gets to be saved, why not Cha-Cha?
Tentacle Accident is THE BEST CATEGORY.
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And I enjoyed it way more than I expected to, though I thought the show could have been a little tighter with family dynamics. I get that "plot" needed to happen, but I wished they didn't feel the need to portion off the siblings into duos and trios-- I would have liked to see them mixing it up a bit more, or interacting as a group in longer scenes. I guess it works for the purpose of showing how isolated Vanya is from the rest of the family, but eh. I thought they could have upped the finale's emotional punch if they'd stuck tighter to character dynamics rather than sending them off, and keeping them pointed, in four different directions.
I have to admit I watched most of this show for Five. I mean, most everyone was great, but man, that kid can act. But also Vanya and Klaus. And Mary J. Blige. But Five!
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