The Umbrella Academy has come to an end after four seasons. There were six episodes to tell the final story, and here’s my ranking of them.
Overall, I liked the ending. It felt final, and there was some good closure for the characters. There was that one episode and storyline that I despised, but not for the reasons a lot of others did. It had nothing to do with the age gap and everything to do with character development.
So, let’s get into the ranking of the episode. Here are my least favorite to favorite episode out of the six.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 5
I wanted to like the fifth hour of the season. The idea of Five and Lila getting stuck going through different universes on the subway to get back to their home was well created. Time didn’t pass for everyone else, but years passed for the two of them. It was reminiscent of Five being trapped in the apocalypse world for so long, and of Klaus being in the Vietnam War with none of his family realizing he had gone missing.
To be honest, initially, the two of them gaining feelings for each other did make a little bit of sense. As much as they had so much baggage between them that it shouldn’t have worked, they only had each other throughout that time.
What threw me off was Five’s anger when Lila wanted to return home. It was his anger when she wanted to get back to Diego. She and Diego were having their problems, but I don’t think they ever stopped loving each other. And Lila definitely never stopped loving her kids. Five should have understood that.
The rest of the episode was a little forgettable apart from that. I’d rather pretend that it didn’t happen.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 4
The fourth hour had some potential. The Hargreeves siblings had to pick up the pieces of the big reveal about Ben’s death. They learned that his death was at the hands of their own father, who had zero care in the world about doing this.
This certainly helped to push the story forward. It connected to why Ben was so drawn to Jennifer in this timeline. He was always drawn to her, and the two were the ones who would have started the Cleanse in the first place.
However, the story lost it for me with Klaus’s side mission. He went straight back into his old and selfish ways, making it clear that he hadn’t learned anything in the six years of being normal. I appreciated the nod toward Misfits when Robert Sheehan’s character is trapped in a grave there, but that’s about it.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 3
This episode brought up an answer that we’d wondered three seasons about. We finally found out what happened to Ben all those years ago. It seems odd that he was a teen when he died, though. Why would he be an adult as a ghost? I decide to let that slide.
This episode is where a few things start to get a little messy with the siblings being separated. However, we do get some great moments with Jean and Gene to further their storyline, adding to some humor. It felt a lot like the first season with Cha Cha and Hazel.
There isn’t that much to say about the episode, though. It is a rather forgettable one, which means that the bad didn’t stand out!
The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 6
Next up is the series finale. Look, I like the way that it ended. The idea that they had to sacrifice themselves and get rid of all the marigold was a perfect way to end something and make it clear that there is no coming back from it. I also loved the marigolds that grew by the tree in the remade timeline.
I do have a couple of complaints, though. The first is Five’s attitude the whole episode. He has always viewed himself as the smartest of the siblings, and this episode just showed how he was actually the dumbest in a sense. He created the agency that would attempt to prevent the apocalypse, and the other problems created only to make everything worse!
I adored Lila’s development at the very end, but I wish it could have been under better circumstances. I couldn’t really empathize with some of the other characters, especially Alison, who I loved in the first two seasons.
While I could have done with Reginald’s wife coming into the story a little sooner, I loved that it was her who encouraged him to allow the Cleanse to happen. It was time to right many wrongs, and he listened to her.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 2
Seeing the siblings attack Ben for him taking away their choices to get their powers back was beautifully done. It was an important conversation about consent, which is a topic that everyone should know and understand. This is important for all walks of life!
The episode also set up some great action scenes and offered some wonderful storylines to develop throughout the season. Not all of them did, but that didn’t take away from an episode well written.
Seeing Klaus not end up with his powers but then have to at the very end was a bittersweet twist. We knew he would need to, but it would have been nice for him to decide that he didn’t actually want to die when it came down to it. Instead, his choice was taken away just like with the others.
The Umbrella Academy Season 4, Episode 1
Watching the Hargreeves just get to be normal for an episode was a lot of fun. It didn’t even get boring. We had this opportunity to see how they could have lived their lives.
While some relished in the ability to be normal, others struggled with it. We got to see how Lila and Diego felt weighed down by normal life and decided not to communicate. It’s such a problem for marriages, and this show gave us that realistic look. I just wish it could have also given a realistic look at fixing the problem.
We got to see how Alison didn’t have the dream life she expected, but she was making it work. There was a chance to see Viktor thrive in Canada, and Klaus got a chance to just have himself to himself when he needed it. Actually, seeing Klaus so afraid of injuring himself was the perfect twist. Now everything could hurt or kill him.