On July 31st, 2020, the second season of The Umbrella Academy came out. After a year and a half of waiting, fans were finally able to get their hands on new content of all their favorite characters! It only feels appropriate to properly analyze the season and all the ups and downs of it. To be frank, the season had a lot of ups and downs. It wasn’t perfect, but it still had amazing moments. It’s important not to be blinded by admiration in these situations. We will look at the positive, negative, everything and anything!

The season starts off right where season 1 ended. In a shocking revelation, each of the siblings has been sent to a year in the sixties. They’re trying to find their family, but can’t find a way to make it back to one another. As it turns out, they’re all in a different year. Some have to spend years in the sixties, while some spend months. Waiting until they can find each other. It becomes apparent when Five finds the rest of the siblings and tries telling them that they brought the apocalypse to the sixties with them. As the season goes on, they work their hardest to stop the apocalypse from happening and get back into their correct timeline in 2019.

I’d say this season was at an all time high in terms of characters in general. Seeing the characters interact with each other felt even more charming and fun than it ever did in the past! Each scene where a duo reunited after years of not talking to each other was wonderful to see and it just warmed your heart every time. One relationship I found really interesting to see was that of Ben and Klaus. Both of these characters faced a lot of criticism from fans of the show. Many said they seemed out of character, especially Klaus. I thought the show did a really interesting take on their relationship. In season one, the two were a great duo, most of their arguments were played for laughs and you could really tell they cared about each other.

In season two, though, their relationship wasn’t as fun to watch. I think this was a really brave way to go and I loved it. After years of only having each other, it makes sense that there would be a huge strain on their relationship. It feels realistic to an actual unhealthy situation with your sibling. The constant being at each other’s throats, even when unintentional, is honestly a great way to portray a relationship like theirs.

The criticism is completely valid in my opinion, though. Klaus could act borderline cruel this season and it was just so different and out of character for him. When you really think about the situation he’s in, it only makes sense that he’d act a bit different. He goes from being abused by his dad and pretty much neglected by his siblings, to being the leader of a cult. This drastic of a change in his situation in such a short amount of times would definitely cause him to change. As someone who’s been abused his whole life, he’s bound to not act like an angel all the time like what’s expected by most fans of his.

Aside from relationships between the inner circle of siblings, it was interesting seeing what was going on for each of them in their own individual lives. Most of the siblings had already began to start a new life in the sixties before Five found them. For example, when he finds Allison, she’s married to someone new and has started an entirely new life that’s completely different from what she had before. She goes from living the coddled life of a famous celebrity, to the protesting life of a black activist in the 60s. It’s really interesting to see that change in her character, and I wish that was something we could have seen more of. Personally, I think an entire episode seeing her grow as a person while she lives through the sixties would’ve been amazing.

All that being said, there were definitely some confusing aspects of the season. The biggest one for me involved my favorite character, Diego, and a new character, Lila. They become close friends when they’re both stuck in a mental ward at the beginning of the season together. Eventually, the two escape together and they find a place to stay with Five and another new character named Elliot.

Diego and Lila bond a lot over the season, but it’s soon revealed that Lila is working for someone who wants to harm the Hargreeves family, The Handler. This definitely could have been an interesting place to take the story, but in my opinion, the execution was sloppy and confusing. At first, you’re convinced the two have something special. Then, you think Lila is just a liar and manipulator that Diego has fallen for. And then it spirals more out of control between them. However, sadly, it just doesn’t make sense to me. The show doesn’t portray their relationship well and I’m not convinced that Lila has any feelings for Diego. It could have been executed way better. The way it was executed just confused me. There were plenty of parts of season two that were confusing, to be honest, but that was one of the more forefront issues for me.

The thoughts on season two of The Umbrella Academy are pretty mixed. You could make arguments saying it’s the better season of the two, but you could also say it’s the worse. It all comes down to preference in the end. The show is amazing regardless. It really breaks barriers in my opinion and is just all around spectacular. If you haven’t seen it, you should try it for yourself and see how you feel about it all!