Here are our final scene-by-scene recaps of Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episodes 8-10
The following are our final recaps on Umbrella Academy Season 2; the Netflix superhero drama created by Steve Blackman. Based on comics by Gabriel Ba and ‘My Chemical Romance’ Frontman: Gerard Way. These are the most detailed recaps you will find available on the internet. The purpose of which, is mostly, to answer any questions you may have about the show in elaborate detail. This final recap will focus on episodes 8 through 10. Above, is our summary podcast if you don’t feel like reading. Below, are our other coverages of each episode.
Umbrella Academy Season 2: Episodes 1-3
Umbrella Academy Season 2: Episodes 4-5
Umbrella Academy Season 2: Episodes 6-7
Episode 8: The Seven Stages
We open on a large, multi-story city building, where Vanya (Ellen Page) sits in a dark interrogation room. A man arrives and reveals himself as special agent Willy Gibbs (Morgan Kelly). He shares that both Sissy and Harlan Cooper have been released, and then proceeds to interrogate Vanya. Believing her amnesia to be suspicious, as well as her Russian name. While interrogating, Gibbs slips into speaking Russian, which Vanya is able to both follow and reply due to her childhood training. This raises concern. Gibbs then reveals that he’s FBI. One who sees Vanya as a communist threat to the country. Threatened, Vanya’s eyes grow pale as she summons her power. Before she can attack, a nurse in a white coat (Julia Chantrey) wraps a rag over Vanya’s nose and mouth causing her to go limp. Now unconscious, the FBI proceed to turn off a nearby tape recorder.
In the alley behind Morty’s, Klaus (Robert Sheehan) is still recovering from Ben’s possession, as Five (Aidan Gallagher) flips out in anger over the failure of the Umbrella Academy to meet at the rendezvous time. Luther tries to calm Five down and so tells Klaus to check on Allison — who uncharacteristically, didn’t make it. Klaus agrees, but before heading off, faces Ben (Justin H. Min) and tells him that he revokes his possession privileges. Ben professes he regrets nothing (as he’d thoroughly enjoyed himself with Jill in the last episode).
Inside Morty’s and Elliot’s building apartment, Luther speaks with Five, who says that he openly regrets that it has come down to this. Confused, Luther follows him uncertain what that means.
Back at Allison’s, Ray (Yusuf Gatewood) freaks out to an oddly composed Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) as there’s still a white man dead on his couch (the tall Swede). Suddenly, Klaus arrives, and Allison shows her brother the dead Swede. Klaus immediately understands. He asks if they’re burnin’ or burying (the body)?
At his stolen cat-lady home, The Leader of the Swedes stares hatefully at his own hand, unable to forget the memory of murdering his own brother. He holds a hatchet up to his wrist and prepares to strike, but one of his cats knocks the message canister from earlier into the garbage can. He notices something strange about it and holds the container under a lamp. Using the hatchet, he scrapes some of the paint off revealing the inscription: Rocco & Family plumbing. He smells it and recognizes the stench of lavender, remembering that same smell from the woman from the sauna: The Handler.
At The Handler’s office, Lila (Ritu Arya) tries convincing her mother to hire Diego (David Castañeda), who sits next to her. The Handler (Kate Walsh) disagrees with her choice, especially considering that he’s Five’s brother.
“Sweetheart, your vagina needs glasses. He is not worth it.” – The Handler
Lila reveals defends her choice, wanting fresh blood loyal to them as not many at the commission likes The Handler right now. Lila claims Diego will be loyal, and more than anything: her responsibility, which The Handler accepts so long as Lila agrees to kill Diego if he ever slips. The women happily nod in agreement. Diego is bewildered about what just happened.
Meanwhile, Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins) inspects some of Reginald’s notes, including files on Castro, Kennedy, and Dealey Plaza in a hidden room. Reginald (Colm Feore) finds Grace and asks what she’s doing in here. She reveals how she was following a lead and that Diego told her that he was intending to harm the president; Grace reveals that she wants to share a life with Reginald but needs to know he is a good man. Though he can’t explain all the details about what’s about to happen with Kennedy, Reginald assures her that he is and requests that Grace needs to trust him. That all will make sense in time. Grace rejects this and then leaves.
Luther (Tom Hopper) wakes up to find Five chugging a jug of water, stressing the need to stay hydrated. Five puts baby powder on his armpits. He reveals to Luther that he has no choice: he must go and find his former self — a physically older Five — who arrived in Dallas 15 minutes ago; a Five sent on a mission to make sure the President was assassinated.
More importantly, this Five has a briefcase that can bring them home. But there are two significant problems. First and foremost, Five is a really good assassin. Second, is that being this close to yourself intime can cause: Paradox psychosis, a debilitating disease that progresses in 7 Stages. As a result, Five asks Luther to join him and be his spotter.
At Sissy’s ranch, Carl (Stephen Bogaert) gets off the phone with his brother, who thinks that Vanya was a KGB agent. Carl claims Vanya was trained to prey on their family’s weaknesses. Skeptical, Sissy (Marin Ireland) doesn’t know why Russian agent would be in farm. Carl believes Sissy should speak with reverend Moore, likely someone to address with about her homosexuality; Carl also believes Harlan (Justin Paul Kelly) needs a family, not a nanny. Back in interrogation, Vanya is strapped to a chair with electrical cables attached to her head. Her feet are dipped in a tray of water. Agent Gibbs shocks her. She convulses. Afterwards, the nearby nurse drops LSD into Vanya’s eye, causing her pupil to instantly dilate. From Vanya’s POV the numbers on the overhead clock distort. She sees feels the wetness at her feet turn into a tray of moving eyeballs. Gibbs asks Vanya again, who she is. The Butthole’s Surfers: ‘Pepper’ plays in the backdrop, as the psychedelic song melds with Vanya’s melting point of view. The clock looks now like a big blinking eyeball. Vanya splashes her feet in the water… it takes her somewhere far away:
In the recesses of her mind, Vanya descends a wet staircase. She reaches the bottom of the steps. Emerges in her academy uniform. She enters what’s revealed to be the dim-lit dining room of the Academy, where Sir Reginald Hargreeves sits at the head of the long table along with Vanya’s adult siblings — also dressed in academy uniform. Vanya sits along the opposite end of Reginald. Suddenly, the siblings eerily stare at Vanya, just as Gibbs asks in the interrogation room:
“Who are you really? Where did you come from?”
Elsewhere, at an Irish pub, Five and Luther peer around the corner and find an older looking Five sitting at the bar alone. Luther asks if they can grab the briefcase and run, but Five reasons that aganets are trained to protect them with his lives. Plus, it endangers everyone just being in the same room. He then shares that if (old) Five doesn’t go back to 2019, everything unravels, and Five ceases to exist. The best chance is to talk and reason with (old) him. There’s just one problem:
“I know myself better than I know… Myself.” – Five
“You just itched your neck! That’s stage two of paradox psychosis!” – Luther
“No, I didn’t! I didn’t itch my neck.” – Five
“Denial is stage one!” – Luther
Luther suggests that maybe he should go first, instead of Five running into his own tiny doppelganger. Fidgeting anxiously, Five reluctantly agrees. Luther approaches old five, who calls him big man, and then tells him that he’s number one. Five (old) grabs his briefcase so secure it. Luther wants to introduce him to someone, then iterates several times to (old) five: don’t freak out. Luther steps back to reveal Five. (Old) Five’s jaw drops.
Meanwhile, Lila and Diego walk around the commission hallways, as Diego is upset, being about being held hostage against his will as he’s running out of time. Especially, as the world is about to end. Lila tells him they have all the time in the world. She reveals to him the mission of the commission: to maintain the one true and correct timeline.
“Oh, you still mad about that, ya big baby?” – Lila
“No, I love being drugged, kidnapped and threatened with murder.” – Diego
She then takes him to a classroom for orientation and then kisses him goodbye. Diego sits in a filled classroom as an instructor (Janet Monid) plays an orientation video. A cartoon briefcase, called Mr. Briefcase, not unlike the Mr. DNA in Jurassic Park. Mr. Briefcase appears onscreen to detail what they do here. Diego doesn’t care but takes take heed to the learn about the infinite switchboard where they monitor the entire timeline. The instructor falls asleep and Diego slips out.
In an Irish pub, Luther sits with both Fives, both younger and older. Five tells himself (physically older one) he’s about to break the orders of the commission but botches the jump causing him to regress into his youthful body. Five, wants him (older) to jump with the correct calculation so that he remains a full-grown man. In exchange, he and Luther will take the briefcase (older) Five won’t need. Paradox resolved and timeline restored. Finding it quite a bit to take in, (old) five says he needs to piss, heads to the bathroom, and takes the briefcase along with him. Now alone together, Luther thinks it went well. Five doesn’t as he doesn’t trust… himself.
At the commission, Diego walks down a hallway in the upper floor. He finds the infinite switchboard, number: 2589. He goes inside and finds cables, switches, and screens built into the wall. He flips knobs and plugs in different switches, soon electrifying himself. Suddenly, Herb (Ken Hall) taps Diego’s shoulder and so Diego pulls a knife on him. Herb then says it’s an honor to see number 2, as he’s a legend. Diego likes this. He asks if Herb has used the switchboard, who confirms that he’s certified to use the “I.S.B.”. Diego asks him to look up November 22, 1963 assassination of JFK. Herb claims it’s violation of company protocol 67D, especially now considering that there’s been a coup’ de dat. Confused, Diego asks if that’s some sort of Cadillac? Herb clarifies that The Handler has gotten out of hand in taking over the commission. That she’ll kill both of them if they found them here. Still, Herb agrees to help Diego. He fiddles with screens and dials until the screen comes into resolution.
They see Dallas November 22, 1963. At the moment of what’s supposed to be the gunshot that kills Kennedy, an explosion occurs in the adjacent FBI building. It’s blamed on Russia and so the US responds by nuking Cuba. Moscow then destroys Alaska. All-out nuclear war occurs. Realizing it all begins here, Diego asks Herb for a better angle on the building. They then see Vanya rising from the air of the FBI ruins. Diego flashbacks to season one: Vanya is the bomb. She will always be the bomb. Diego needs to go back to Dallas now. Herb says that they need: La Résistance!
Herb takes Diego to an assembly, where we see Dot (Patrice Goodman) and a handful of other staffers stand and greet them. Dot says: Don’t mess with case management! At that moment, light from a window falls onto a briefcase sitting on a table.
At the pub bathroom, Five washes his hands and looks in the mirror. (Old) Five pulls out the prosthetic eye. Luther finds him looking at it and tells him: it’s a waste of time. That he isn’t sure why his dead self was holding onto it in the first apocalypse. Luther then reveals that it’s Vanya who destroyed the world. Not the person that eyeball belonged to. He tells his brother that Vanya’s more powerful than all of them put together. Mad about how they treated her as kids, she destroyed the moon and ended the world. (Old) Five says this is perfect knowing exactly what already happens:
“Forget about the little jerkoffs plan it’s way too complicated. A much better plan is for us to travel to 2019. All we have to do is make nice with Vanya, stop her from destroying the world. Easy-peasy.” – (Old) Five
“But what about Five. I mean you. I mean… young, you.” – Luther
“That’s not me that’s a prepubescent photocopy that got botched in the time jump. Besides it’s too late for him anyway.” – (Old) Five
“Too late?” – Luther
“Paradox psychosis? Best thing we can do is put him out of his misery.” – (Old) Five.
“What?! You’re saying kill him?” – Luther
“You’re thinking of this all wrong we’re not killing anybody. Look at me. I’m Five and I will still be alive. All we will be doing is getting rid of a mutant doppelganger. Amputating a vestigial nipple!” – (Old) Five.
Luther is baffled. They leave the bathroom and then rejoin Five. (Old) Five wants to get going as there’s less than an hour until the assassination. Together, both Fives begin farting relentlessly (Stage 4 of Paradox Psychosis).
Inside the FBI building, Vanya is asked who her handler is. We see inside her mind, where Reginald asks if she’s prepared. Her siblings defend her saying she’s not ready. Their father says Vanya deliberately chooses not to remember. Suddenly, waiters come and serve them as their mother (with a half-robot face) serves them: brains. Hargreeves asks Vanya if something’s wrong? The family enjoys the brains. Vanya hesitantly picks up her fork and knife, then cuts a tiny piece off the edge of her brain. The family watches her eat it. She puts a piece in her mouth and gags, as memories come flood back and Vanya sees herself as a baby in Russia. Back in reality, lights flicker. Gibbs wants to stop it and so raises the dial to lethal levels and begins electroshocking Vanya. She writhes in the chair. Back at home, Harlan mysteriously has a similar reaction. He and Vanya apparently psychically bonded.
At the Chestnut house, Allison ties a rope around the rug carrying the dead assassin. As Ben asks Klaus what it was like when he possessed him:
“It’s like having sex with a lesser-Baldwin. You can hear him clattering around in there, but do you really care?” – Klaus
Klaus asks Ben what it was like driving him:
“It was like having no skin but still wanting to touch everything.” – Ben
Allison and Ray struggle to carry the body. They drop it when a flash of light appears and Diego arrives with Herb, briefcase in hand. Allison reprimands Diego. Herb declares: Numbers 2, 3, 4, almost an Umbrella straight flush over here! Diego meets Ray, Klaus meets Herb (who reveals the commission maintains the time-space-continuum), and Diego reveals he knows what causes doomsday: Vanya. Diego tells them they need to stop her explosion in the FBI building, as it leads to an attack on Russia and nuclear war. Ray freaks out over everything. Herb says that he can help by having the rug shampooed and the body removed. Allison tells Ray she loves him and wishes they had time for a nervous breakdown. But she has to go. Ray kisses her goodbye then watches her and the family go, as Herb wears an awkward expression. The siblings leave to stop Vanya.
At that moment, Lila returns to the classroom and finds Diego missing. She hurries out. At the FBI building, Vanya continues to be interrogated. In her mind. She speaks with her father:
“I know you don’t want it but you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.” – Reginald
“I’m not pretending.” – Vanya
“Of course you are. You choose to live in a fantasy. A land of make-believe where you don’t have to face up to who you really are. Rather than face the complexities of your own existence, you choose to hide inside someone else’s. A silly life. On a silly farm. That’s not meant for you…” – Reginald
At that moment, the siblings get to the FBI building. In her mind, Vanya takes a bite of the brain and her memories return. She remembers killing Leonard. Killing Pogo. Causing the apocalypse. Elsewhere, Harlan mirrors Vanya’s convulsions. In the interrogation room, energy pulses around Vanya. The FBI raises the dial to lethal shocks and try to kill her. She then remembers… everything.
In the hall outside the interrogation room, the elevator door opens, as the siblings find dead FBI agents everywhere. Many, still stuck to the walls. The siblings struggle against energy waves of Vanya’s power. They hide behind a desk. Confused, Klaus asks who are they saving Vanya from, since the FBI seems to be dead? Diego doesn’t have an answer.
In the interrogation room, Agent Gibb’s body sticks to a ceiling, his eyes hollowed and bloody. The dead nurse lies dead on the floor adjacent. Vanya’s eyes open revealing glowing irises. Elsewhere, Harlan’s eyes do the same.
Episode 9: 743
On the 5th floor hallway of the FBI building, Klaus, Diego, and Allison cower behind a desk, as ripples of Vanya’s uncontrollable power pulse from the interrogation room. The siblings debate on how to reach her without dying. Klaus says that he’s not a hero, he’s sexy trash at best, and that he can’t be much of help. Diego calls him pussy. The brothers argue. Allison takes her cue. She crawls towards Vanya’s room, blood now leaking out of her nose. Suddenly, Vanya’s memories flash as she remembers herself causing the apocalypse, causing increased intensity of her energy waves. Though Allison struggles to keep going, she’s eventually thrown back and knocked out. Diego sees this and says that he’s going. Klaus then shares with his brother, final words. Something important:
“You look like Antonio Banderas with the long hair. I just thought you should know.” – Klaus
“Thanks man.” – Diego
With these final words, Diego stabs his knives into the floor and uses them to scale forward. Vanya’s power hits him like an incessant gale. He sees a fire hose and realizing he’s not going to make it, pulls a reel which unlocks the hose as a rope. Diego then falls and is knocked out, landing next to Allison. Klaus steels himself. It’s his turn to play the hero:
“Okay, Klaus. You can do this. You fought in Vietnam. You survived a family of seven. And you once… wore a sarong… to a fraternity party and got a shitload of numbers!”
Klaus uses the hose to pull himself down the hallway. Vanya’s power continues to surge. Klaus bleeds from the ears and nose until he finally reaches the end of the hall. He launches himself onto the interrogation room door. Suddenly, the door to the room flings open, throwing Klaus across the room next to his siblings. Semi-conscious, Klaus sees Ben standing over them, who gazes at Klaus. And then Vanya. Ben slowly walks down the hall without resistance (He’s a ghost after all) as he sees Vanya in the room strapped to a chair. He approaches his sister.
Elsewhere, Luther walks with (Older) Five, who tells him to get the proper math for him as he does his duties on the grassy knoll. Luther wishes there was another way. He sees (Younger) Five as just a little guy. (Older) Five then states:
“Everyone looks like a little guy to you. You look like King Kong and the Hitler Youth had a baby.”
Seconds later, (Young) Five tells Luther that (Old) Five is going to kill him, isn’t he? Luther struggles to maintain the lie. Five calls Luther a worse liar than he is a spotter. Luther genuinely asks Five, what good is a spotter if he won’t listen? In denial, (Young) Five proclaims that all he’s suffering from is bracing clarity and Luther’s murderous intentions. Luther clarifies, (Old) Five doesn’t want to kill him, just kill a version of him, to which Five defends he is that version of him! Five reprimands his brother:
“Yet again, you are experiencing daddy issues, this time with your own brother, which honestly is making you a bit crazy. But remember this: I’m 14 days older than him! I have seniority here! So, it is me you should be listening to, Luther. I’m the Daddy Here!”
It’s obvious to Luther Five is not of sound mind, to which Five replies that if he’s unwell: so is Five (older). They set up in a parking lot behind the grassy knoll. Both Five’s continue to fart repeatedly, showing significant signs of stage 4. Luther grows concerned.
At the Commission, The Handler gets a dress tailored, with AJ (Robert Atkin Downes) still in his fishbowl. Lila enters and greets her mother, just as The Handler summons Herb, who shares that Diego commandeered the infinite switchboard, hijacked a briefcase, and left The Commission. The Handler tells Lila to handle it. Lila realizes that Diego was only allowed to stay because The Handler thought he’d leave. She wants Lila to kill him and prove her loyalty.
While this is happening, AJ writes a message using pebbles saying: 743, which Herb can read before being ushered out by The Handler. Lila argues with her mother that she wants to keep Diego alive. The Handler grasps Lila’s face and tells her that she’s about to be the most powerful woman of all-time. That Lila will be her right hand, but only if she can trust her. Lila assures that says she can. Soon after, Herb looks for and finds file 743.
In the FBI building, Ben approaches Vanya, whose eyes continue to glow, along with Harlan’s. Ben reaches for Vanya’s hand and then merges his spirit with her body.
Back at the Ranch, a pale-eyed Harlan stares blankly up in the air. He says: “Vanya,” before passing out. Carl barges into his room and blames Vanya about what’s happening. He threatens to take Harlan away, but Sissy says he doesn’t belong in one of those places. Carl puts Harlan in the backseat of his car anyway. Sissy grabs a gun.
“You aren’t gonna take my son from me. They’ll never give him back” – Sissy
“Well, maybe you don’t deserve him anymore.” – Harlan
“Maybe you should watch how you talk to me for once.” – Sissy
Back at the commission, Lila finds Herb in the hallway and threatens him. She tells him to say where Diego went, or she’ll staple his coat onto his nose and let him die on his own farts. Herb reveals he helped Diego escape. He then asks if she’s really going to kill him. Which Lila replies:
“Of Course Not. I love him…” – Lila
“Oh, that’s…” – Herb
“Say a word and I’ll crush you!” – Lila
Herb reveals that he must share something with Lila. He gives her the page from the 743 file and Lila’s utterly shocked. She tearfully looks at the document, hand over her mouth.
At the fence overlooking Dealey plaza, (Old) Five puts together his sniper rifle. (Young) Five sees the briefcase and wants to grab it. (Young) Five blinks to (Old) Five, who teleports behind him with his rifle aimed at the boy, but Luther snatches it. He wants the two Fives to calm down. Suddenly, (Young) Five kicks Luther in the balls with (Old) Five’s permission. Afterward, the two Five’s spar, as Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself plays in the background — the two Fives, quite literally, battling against themselves — as they punch and kick one another while blinking in-and-out.
In the FBI building, Ben descends the steps in Vanya’s vision. He enters a pitch-dark room where he finds Vanya’s white violin on the table. He peers into its acoustic holes and finds… Vanya. He is lying on the floor in the fetal position with her back against some columns. Ben calls to her and she raises her head crying that she remembers everything. Ben drops his gaze. He comforts his sister and tells her it’s not too late. Vanya feels guilt over the people she killed. Ben scoots closer, then gently takes her hand, and comforts her. He reasons that just because their father couldn’t control her anger doesn’t mean she can’t. That she’s not a monster. Just his sister. And right now, their siblings are risking everything out there trying to save her. Ben reminds Vanya that she’s not alone at the table anymore. This calms her down. Ben smiles at her, but then, starts to dissipate. He shares to Vanya that he can’t go back with her and she realizes that she is hurting him. Ben tells her it’s okay. He died 17 years ago. The rest has all been gravy, and at least this time he can say goodbye…
“Can I ask you a weird favor?” – Ben
“Anything.” – Vanya
“Can you hug me as I go? It’s been a long time since…” – Ben
Vanya immediately gives Ben a big hug. Finally, he asks Vanya to tell Klaus something for him, then disintegrates and disappears. At that moment, Vanya opens her eyes…
In the ranch, Harlan also opens his eyes. Sissy holds a gun up to Carl. He says they were fine until the Russian she-devil showed up. Carl asks if Sissy loves Vanya. Sissy replies that she does and that Carl should just let them go. They argue. Harlan gets out of the car. Carl forces the kid to make a choice and Harlan chooses his mom. Carl then grabs the gun from Sissy’s hands and it accidentally hits Harlan, but the bullet ricochets off a shield Harlan constructed using Vanya’s power. It hits Carl in the chest. He falls onto the dirt, dead.
At The Handler’s office, Lila holds up a piece of paper to her mother: the document to kill order 743. We see a quick flashback of The Handler, who had stamped the kill order using AJ’s signature. The Handler grabs a letter opener knife for protection. Lila reveals that she knows who killed her parents. We see a flashback, revealing (Old) Five pulling the trigger. Back in the present, Lila reveals that AJ Carmichael gave the order (unrealizing that her mother forged the order). The Handler drops the knife. AJ the Goldfish, droops in his fishbowl, defeated. Lila blames Five for making her an orphan.
Moving into the corner, The Handler reminds Lila that she’s her family. She then suggests that maybe this was what Diego was looking for: burying the evidence so that Lila didn’t find out. Lila believes Diego’s too stupid to do this, but The Handler spins it saying that Five has been puppet master the entire time. She suggests that it’s time they solved this problem. Lila agrees, kisses her mother on the cheek, and then leaves. The Handler whirls around to face AJ. Knowing he revealed the truth about 743 somehow, she eats him.
Back at the fence behind Dealey plaza, the Five’s lunge at each other knocking each other down. Luther grabs the sniper rifle, aims it, and says that he’s the one in charge now. Both Fives tell Luther to shoot the other one. Forced to choose, Luther aims the rifle at (Young) Five, and then turns at the last second and knocks out (Old) Five with the rifle butt. Happy his brother is on his side, (Young) Five opens the portal to the umbrella academy back in 2019.
At that moment, Vanya wakes up in the interrogation room. She looks at the bodies of Gibbs and the dead nurse. Freeing herself, she finds her siblings all knocked out at the end of the hall. They wake and the siblings reconnect, all having saved the world!
Immediately, Diego notices Kennedy is still minutes away from arriving. He opens window blinds and sees the crowd at Dealey plaza. Diego confirms doomsday is over, Vanya is okay, and so he leaves to try and save JFK. At that moment, a man with a black umbrella heads steps out to head to the grassy knoll.
On the parking lot behind it, (Young) Five has the portal opened into the past. (Old) Five comes to and sees the briefcase, but Luther points the gun at him to stop him. The Fives make a deal with each other and (Old) Five is given the proper time travel formula so that he won’t turn young again when he goes back into the past. Before (Old) Five enters the portal to 2019, Klaus from the other side of the portal tosses the fire extinguisher. It clonks Luther on the head. Now distracted, both Fives try and grab the briefcase as the portal begins to shrivel. Luther kicks (Old) Five as the portal closes but in the process, the briefcase gets cut in half by the closing portal. Five gets mad at Luther. Luther tells him a thank you for preserving his existence would be nice.
Meanwhile, President Kennedy’s car turns as the family sees Hargreeves on the grassy knoll. Diego sprints across the street and tackles his father, revealing it to be: Hargreeve’s driver. Shots are fired and Kennedy is assassinated. The driver gives Diego a message written on his father’s legal pad:
‘Told You So.”
Later, at the tiki-lounge, a small TV shows news coverage of the assassination footage. The Majestic 12 celebrate. Hargreeves arrives, upset, as he stated JFK was not supposed to be touched. The Majestic 12 apparently lied to him stating that Kennedy ruffled too many feathers. They then shared that everyone wins: The 12 get Hargreeve’s rocket technology to arrive on the moon, and Hargreeves’ interests on the dark side of the moon won’t be affected. Hargreeves then tells the men that he won’t see them ever again. However, one of the 12 threatens that Hargreeves will see them again and that he’ll keep sharing his fancy technology or else they’ll tell the world who he really is. Irked by this, Hargreeves comes down and removes his coat. He reaches behind his head and takes off his human face revealing alien anatomy underneath. He rushes over to the men as we hear screaming and gunshots, with Hargreeves killing everyone in his revealed to be alien form.
At the switchboard room, The Handler is called by an operator, as a red-light flashes. She asks if he’s shown anyone else and he conforms no. She then stabs the operator in the chest. The Handler declares an order: all personal are to be recalled. War is declared.
In the monitor of the switchboard room, we see Sissy’s ranch house.
In the barn… a bright blue light shines through gaps in the roof.
Episode 10: The End of Something
We open on a lightly snowy aerial view of the Umbrella Academy courtyard, 2006. The family gathers around a coffin, revealed to be: Ben. Moments later, Pogo opens the floor to Reginald Hargreeves to speak for Ben’s eulogy:
“The world is full of injustice. Good people die along with the bad. This cosmic equation will never change unless evil itself is wiped from existence. Thankfully, there are powerful forces pushing back against the wicked and iniquitous. Individuals who have the strength to pull together against insurmountable odds to face adversity with unblinking courage and not to hesitate to sacrifice themselves for another… Unfortunately, none of you are such people. Despite years of training and weeks of preparation, you allowed number 6 to die on this mission.”
“It wasn’t our fault! – Allison”
“Excuses? I will not hear them. The Umbrella Academy has failed one of their own. The consequences of which are dire. Hold onto these feeling children. Let it fester in your hearts so there is never a next time…”
Klaus stays behind while everyone else mopes. He then conjures his power to summon Ben, who tells Klaus that he’s got to go, as he was being called into the light. Klaus calls his brother: Benerino. He tells him 1000 percent that the light isn’t going away, so he can stay. He then asks Ben if he wants to see him piss in their father’s gas tank. The brothers happily go off to do so.
Now in Elliot’s apartment, Klaus lies in bed, alone, while the other siblings watch the news on TV. They’re incriminated to be responsible for the JFK assassination along with Lee Harvey Oswald. The detailed news report includes Vanya (wanted for deaths in the FBI building at Dealey plaza), Diego (A Cuban exile and Holbrook Sanitarium escapee), Luther (Known as ‘King Kong’ in the fighting pits: a boxer with mafia ties), Allison Chestnut (a radical responsible for recent race riots at Stadtler’s), and Klaus (known cult leader and tax evader). The news report also holds a picture of an unidentified boy (Five): whom they believe is being held, hostage.
Now the most wanted family in the world, the gang also acknowledges that the commission will hunt them down wherever they go. Diego reveals that he knows all about them, as he joined them when they headhunted him for a job. Five grows slightly jealous. Diego iterates that he’s the one who figured out Vanya caused the apocalypse. He also used the infinite switchboard, calling it his ‘bitch’. Finally, Diego rubs it into Five’s face: that he stopped doomsday. While the family argues again, Vanya sees Harlan and remembers giving him part of her power.
While still trying to figure out a plan, Vanya tells the family she’s going to Sissy’s farm to find Harlan. That she might’ve caused him harm, explaining that when she saved his life, she made the two oddly connected. More importantly, Vanya asks the family for help. She’s scared and doesn’t want to face this alone. Diego says sorry, as they have other priorities. Five agrees — as he wants to make a stand here and now. With none of the family’s support, Vanya leaves.
Vanya enters Elliot’s car. Suddenly, Klaus jumps in. He asks about Ben and Vanya explains that their ghost brother traded his life for hers, saving the world in the process. Klaus smiles at this. He wants to know if Ben said anything. She shares that it was Ben who was scared to go into the light. That Klaus wasn’t guilty of making Ben stay. This makes him relieved. Vanya then says that Klaus should get out but Klaus refuses. He won’t let his sister face the unknown alone. Suddenly, Diego and Allison join, just as Five takes shotgun telling Klaus that the children ride in the back. Klaus moves to the backseat. Suddenly, Luther enters the back of the car. His large stature weighing it down.
“Anyone makes a fat joke and I’m outta here.” – Luther
Vanya smiles. The family, finally united on the same front, drives out in Elliot’s car — the vehicle tailpipe scraping along the pavement due to the weight. As the car turns a corner, we then see the Leader of the Swedes. He follows the family in his dairy truck.
Later, we see the family approach Sissy’s ranch and pull up to the barn where it is now oddly snowing. Sissy comes out with a rifle. Vanya asks what’s wrong. Sissy says Carl is dead, as Harlan tossed him the same way Vanya did to those policemen. Vanya introduces Sissy to the family and shares that she got her memories back and that the news has it all wrong: they’re not bad people. More than anything else, she tells Sissy that they’re there to help Harlan.
Sissy takes the siblings inside the barn, where Harlan levitates in the air with his powers swirling. Vanya jumps inside the power circle. Suddenly, a flash of blue light catches Klaus’s attention. He looks outside where he sees Lila and The Handler at a faraway distance. Five says he wants to see what they want, and Diego goes with him. Shortly after, Luther, Allison, and Klaus head outside and look onward at their brothers from a good distance.
Outside, The Handler tells the brothers that she’s going to take out the criminals responsible for taking out the Board of Commission. Five deduces that it was part of their deal, as The Handler set him up to fail. Diego is surprised Five killed the Board, as everyone at the commission is pissed. Lila says that’s not the only person Five killed. Tired of talking, The Handler says they’re all going to die but Diego says how as it’s a 7-on-2 battle. The Handler snaps her fingers and every single Commission Agent she recalled in the last episode, is now summoned, as the family stands in a field full of thousands of agents now on the field. The Handler looks at Five and Diego. The Handler drops a red scarf as the army charges. The Umbrella Academy runs.
In the barn, Vanya calms Harlan down. Suddenly, the two are interrupted by a barrage of bullets from the field agents outside. Harlan and Vanya’s powers surge and push each other apart. Harlan falls down a hay chute. Vanya tells Sissy to go after her son as she seeks to end this once and for all.
Outside, Luther, Allison, and Klaus take cover behind farm equipment. Five and Diego run towards the house, as Five teleports the two away and they take cover behind a tractor. Five then realizes he’s out of fuel — unable to teleport. Diego tells Five to run as he covers him, stopping a barrage of bullets with his hands and slowing them down to a stop (revealing Diego’s power is total control of projectiles). Diego redirects the bullets to an oil drum, which explodes. Five gets inside of the house and kneels under the table as more bullets hit the building. At that moment, Luther puts his arms around Allison and Klaus. Diego huddles behind the tractor wheel. Diego hopelessly looks on at Luther, who’s also pinned. Sissy watches from the Barn…
Suddenly, Vanya rises high into the air from the barn. She sees her siblings pinned down with the commission army advancing from all directions. Vanya’s power glows a bright blue from her chest as the siblings and Sissy duck for cover. Vanya then sends a huge wave of power over the field in all directions. It hits every single commission agent, and sends them flying, leaving their bodies scattered. Seemingly victorious, an ominous glowing sphere sits in the middle of the field.
Everyone else looks up. Allison asks if it’s over. Diego looks out with a triumphant smile, until the family all take a closer look at the sphere, revealing: Lila and The Handler. Luther asks how it is that they are doing that. The handler tells Lila that it’s her turn.
Suddenly, Lila rises into the air also pale with bright blue light. She emits her own huge energy wave, sending everyone in the family, flying. Vanya slams into the Barn. Luther falls through the ranch house roof. Allison lands in a haycart. Klaus barely misses falling to his death, just as two ghosts catch randomly him. Diego falls behind the tractor which flips and pins his leg.
Back on the field, The Handler happily congratulates her daughter and tells her to let her know when she’s killed them all. Lila obliges.
Inside the house, Luther worries that he’s swallowed his tongue. Five calls him an idiot and helps him up. The brothers believe Lila must’ve redirected Vanya’s energy wave when suddenly, the fireplace falls. Five pushes Luther out of the way, burying Five in bricks. Suddenly, Lila teleports in. When Luther asks who she is, she admits that she’s someone who wants to kill his brother. Luther is… understanding, as Diego is a lot to handle. Lila corrects him in that she means Five. Regardless: Luther says they’re family. He punches her but she catches the blow, surprising him.
Outside the house, Allison sees Luther being thrown through a wall and out into the field. Lila grins at Allison, as the women face each other. They politely meet. Then Allison punches Lila. Lila kicks Allison in return. The women trade blows, which eventually leads to Allison grabbing Lila in a hold. She begins her rumor ability but Lila to redirects it back:
“I hear a rumor…” – Allison
“You stopped breathing.” – Lila
Afterward, Allison begins to choke. Luther rushes over to Allison, trying to tell her to fight it. At that moment, Five emerges from the rubble. He teleports to Allison and the two battle. Meanwhile, Allison stops breathing and Luther gives her mouth-to-mouth. He says sorry he had to do the thing to save her, and she kisses his cheek. The two hear Diego in the distance and rush over to him.
Inside the house, Lila and Five exchange blows. Five asks how she’s doing this, and she reveals anything they can do she can do better.
Downstairs, Sissy asks for Vanya but finds The Handler. She knocks Sissy out and approaches Harlan, who sits in a corner, power swirling around him yet again. The boy entices The Handler.
Outside, Vanya comes to just as Luther, Allison, and Klaus arrive. They find Diego and raise the tractor. Diego high fives Luther: the rival brothers now allies calling themselves: Team Zero. The family soon deduces, she Lila has many powers. Vanya states the obvious that none of her siblings have realized: that if Lila can do what they can do, she might as well just be one of them. Vanya then reasons that there must be more of them out there than just the seven. Diego interrupts them, just to clarify (after having dated/slept with Lila):
“But… she’s not our biological sister… right?!” – Diego
Back in the house, Lila knocks down Five (with a Skillet) and then steps on his throat. Five throws Lila off and declares that he wants to finish this thing, but Lila doesn’t want it to be quick as she wants him to suffer for what he did.
Lila reveals that Five murdered her parents, Ronnie and Anita Gill. Five remembers the flower merchants, but stressed, that it was never personal — always just a job. Besides, Five stresses that it was The Handler who gave him the kill order. Lila doesn’t believe him at first, but Five points out how strange it was that The Handler came to a job. Especially, as she was an executive. Five suddenly realizes why: The Handler was there to take Lila.
Just then, Diego arrives with the other siblings. He reasons that Lila is one of them. The Handler took her just like Reginald took them. He even suggests that October 1st, 1989 must be her birthday. The family tries to calmly approach Lila but she yells at them to stay back. Lila reprimands Diego, saying that she trusted him, got him a job, and even introduced her to her mother. But he ran off on her anyway. Diego reasons with Lila that she knew that he had to go off and save the world first. He then tells Lila that her mother is using her. Lila denies this, saying that her mother loves her.
Luther interjects by saying love shouldn’t have to hurt this much. Lila gags in disgust. Luther tried. Five says now is the time to kill Lila. Diego stops him and tries reasoning with Lila:
“Hey, Lila. Truth? She’s dangerous. And you’re scared of what she’ll do with all that power. That’s why you dragged me to the commission. Because I know what it’s like to love dangerous people. Difference is… they love me back.” – Diego
“Shut up.” – Lila
“The only thing she loves is power. Now, the minute she can’t use you, she will turn on you, and deep down, I know you know that.” – Diego
“You don’t know me Diego.” – Lila
“Don’t I? I know that we can be your family… if you just let us.” – Diego
The family agrees. Lila gazes hopefully at Diego, but suddenly, is interrupted by a barrage of bullets. The Handler murders the Umbrella Academy with a machine gun. Lila looks at her mother as The Handler surveys the bodies. Lila crawls over to Diego. The Handler strides over to her daughter, unsympathetically. Lila asks if it’s true what Five said. The Handler tells her daughter that they can be a happy family again. Lila rises to her feet and looks at the bodies of the Umbrella Academy. She holds a knife in her hand. Lila says that they (The Siblings) are her real family. Lila walks up to The Handler and asks if she even loves her. Silence. Lila raises the knife, just as The Handler kills her.
Nearby, a dying Five gasps. Happy to see him alive, The Handler walks over to finish him and aims the gun at his face. At that moment, from behind, the Swedish assassin finds and kills her getting his revenge for sending his brothers and him on a fake quest that led to their deaths. He walks over to her dead body and then sees Five. The Swede then holds a gun up to Five’s face. Five flashes back to several life moments. He remembers what Hargreeves said regarding time travel:
“Start small. Seconds, not decades.” – Hargreeves
Five rewinds time, as events slowly turn backward. Five runs towards the barn door. As the Handler enters the barn, five ambushes her and takes away her gun. Lila asks The Handler if what Five said was true. Suddenly, the Swede appears in the doorway and shoots The Handler. Lila runs over to the briefcase, as Luther chases after her, but Diego stops him. Seeing Diego save her, Lila uses the briefcase and disappears in a flash of blue light.
Afterward, Five and the Swede face-off, guns aimed at each other. Five drops his gun and asks for ‘Enough’. The Swede concedes. They go their separate ways. Luther asks Diego why he stopped him, and Diego admits: because he loves her. He then finds his beaded bracelet which Lila had carried since the beginning.
Back beneath the barn, Harlan’s powers swirl uncontrollably. Vanya approaches Harlan and takes her power back, as an energy surge happens. Confused, Harlan looks normal again. Sissy rushes over to hold her son. Vanya looks at her family. They smile and she smiles back.
Later, Herb and Dot appear in the field amongst the sea of dead agent bodies. Herb and Diego then share a special nerdy handshake. Herb asks if The Handler is really dead this time, and Five and Diego agree that she is. Herb then says that they need a new board of directors, as Herb is made acting chairperson. Finally, Five asks for a favor: a briefcase. Herb obliges and tells them to take a pick, looking at all the dead field agents.
Inside the ranch house, Vanya tells Sissy that they have to get Harlan packed. Sissy sadly tells Vanya, that they can’t go. Vanya doesn’t understand. Sissy states that saw Vanya float. That though she isn’t scared of her, she’s certainly scared for her. Sissy asks Vanya if they could truly have a normal life, one where no one would come after them for being with her:
“Vanya, I would do anything for you. To protect you. But Harlan has been through enough, I can’t… I can’t put that child in anymore danger. I can’t.” – Sissy
Both women in tears, they understand one another. Sissy thanks Vanya for helping her find hope again. Vanya asks her where she’ll go. Sissy states that she has a friend in California. Vanya tells her to go and live a beautiful and wonderful life. Sissy replies that if Vanya could ever find a safe way back to her, take it. They kiss one last time.
In the Chestnut house, Ray finds the book he gave Allison: From Earth to The Moon. In it, he sees a piece of paper, pulls it out, and reads a farewell letter from Allison.
At sunset, Vanya and Diego sit on the ranch house porch. She rests her head on her brother’s shoulder. In the living room inside, Klaus kisses Dave’s dog tags.
Elsewhere, Dave stands at a marine enlistment bus.
On a rural road, the ‘Destiny’s Children’ bus opens to find the last surviving Swede walking aimless and alone. They invite him to join and he gets on the bus.
Back in the ranch house, Luther makes a call to Jack Ruby, who doesn’t answer. Jack watches coverage of Kennedy’s funeral and picks up a revolver, likely meant to kill Oswald.
Now driving, Sissy looks back at Harlan. Harlan’s toy sparrow levitates in his palm. The boy eerily carries a dark look in his face.
At the ranch house, the siblings stand in the front yard with a commission briefcase. Klaus tells them to wait, then grabs a nearby cowboy hat. The siblings form a ring around the Briefcase as Five activates it. They time travel and reappear in the Academy Foyer. Luther asks what day it is, and Five finds a paper: April 2nd, 2019. The group has passed the date of Armageddon. Now celebrating as a family, the siblings go through the arched entryway for a celebratory drink.
Suddenly, Diego finds a portrait of teenage Ben. He wonders why it’s there. They are greeted by Hargreeves, who stands up from a chair by the mantlepiece. He’s been waiting for their return. The family is confused and ask how he’s alive? Hargreeves is also confused as to why he shouldn’t be? Accepting this new reality, Luther declares that he is just happy that the family is ‘Home’. Reginald corrects them: this isn’t their home. Confused, Allison asks is this not The Umbrella Academy? Hargreeves corrects them: it’s The Sparrow Academy.
Suddenly, five silhouetted figures stand on the mezzanine above them. A sixth person strides into the living room, revealed to be Ben in an emo haircut and thin stubble goatee.
Final Thoughts
This season was better in every single way. With a more focused story and even greater character development. An all-around great job that I think deserves to be ranked up there with some of the best Superhero made shows on TV.
I said it before and stand by it: I believe Umbrella Academy Season 2 will be the best superhero adaption of 2020.
