***I received no compensation of any kind. This review contains my unbiased opinion.***
The Umbrella Academy is a TV series on Netflix. Season one consists of 10 episodes.
If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know that I don't watch a lot of TV series. I mostly get bored or frustrated and give up on them. The few exceptions (Limitless, Life on Mars, My Own Worst Enemy) get cancelled quickly. That's part of the reason why I'm reviewing Umbrella Academy. I want enough people to watch it so that Netflix will order a second season. :-) Official Trailer below:
The gist of story is that 7 children with extraordinary powers are raised by an eccentric billionaire (my interpretation) to save the world. Only he isn't exactly a warm and loving father (he called them by numbers rather than names) and the children end up dysfunctional and almost all of them leave their home and go off on their own. They're reunited for their father's funeral.
It's when Number 5 shows up (he has the ability to time travel) and warns them that the world ends in 8 days that things really get kicked up a notch. It's a race against time--and against their personal issues--to prevent the apocalypse. Especially when there are those working to ensure it happens.
The show starts off a little slowly. After watching the first 2 episodes, I posted on Facebook that I wasn't sure what I thought. I was intrigued, though, and after numerous people told me to keep going, I watched episode 3 the next day. That's when I become totally hooked and I powered through the final 8 episodes in two days.
This is an ensemble cast, so if you don't like one of the characters, there are others to follow and root for.
For the most part, I thought the writing was smart and snappy. The one exception was a character I thought was TSTL (Too Stupid To Live). I debated with myself at first because the characterization was there to support the behavior, but as I watched further, it became apparent that it was mostly done for plot convenience. That's a large reason why I didn't like this part of the scripting. But that's about my only complaint about the series.
The acting was great! I especially love how Aidan Gallagher portrayed Number Five. This character is a 58-year-old man in the body of a 13-year-old boy. He made it believable. Everyone, though, made their character believable, even the TSTL one. When you're talking about a superhero series based on a comic book where almost everyone has some special power, this isn't necessarily an easy feat to pull off.
Also, the relationships between the characters added to the dynamics of the series. And contributed more than once to setbacks experienced in their quest to save the world.
One of the interesting choices made by the creators was in set design. I don't remember seeing any cell phones in the series anywhere. The characters use pay phones and home phones that would have been more in keeping with the 1980s than 2019. The other interesting choice was how dark and gray the vast majority of the sets were. Even the mansion where the children grew up seems dingy. My stretching my memory, but I don't believe there was any location in the show that was light and shiny.
This is not a show for younger children. It's dark, there's some violence that's stark, and the themes and nuances are for adults, IMO.
I highly recommend this series! You probably guessed this already. The first two episodes setup the rest of the series, but aren't as exciting as the final eight. I'm so glad I kept going because it turned out to be completely awesome.
5 stars and two thumbs up!
