Umbrella Academy: 1.01 ‘We Only See Each Other At Weddings & Funerals’

Welcome to The Umbrella Academy! The new Netflix Original series is based on the popular, Eisner award-winning comics and graphic novels created and written by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), illustrated by Gabriel Bá, and published by Dark Horse Comics. Now the people you will meet within the series, well, they’re not your typical superhumans. They’ve all got their everyday issues and the majority of them have long left the life of aiding those who cannot help themselves, but the family are soon reunited and as always, it seems the end of the world is now fast approaching.

Meet The Family

Their story begins on October 1st 1989. We are taken to Russia where a seemingly normal woman jumps into the pool and doesn’t emerge, but the pool begins to fill with blood and she suddenly appears pregnant. According to our narrator, 43 women around the world gave birth and none of these women were pregnant when the day began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), eccentric billionaire and adventurer, travelled the world to adopt as many children as possible and ended up with seven of them.

We jump to the present day where Vanya (Ellen Page) begins to play a stunning Phantom of the Opera medley on her violin and we are gradually introduced to the now grown-up children. Number One, or Luther (Tom Hopper), is a hulking mass of a man who resides on the moon. Number Two, or Diego (David Castañeda), is a knife wielding and ass kicking man whom acts as a vigilante. Number Three, or Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), is a celebrity who graces the red carpet in gorgeous gowns and all her beauty. Number Four, or Klaus (Robert Sheehan), is a crazed man who leaves rehab with a 30 day chip, scores some drugs outside, and winds up in an ambulance. It also appears Vanya is known as Number 7.

The five adults soon learn about the death of their father and so we’re taken to The Umbrella Academy. A montage of shots shows that the Academy is a glorious mansion with various portraits—one with six children, then another with only five, and lastly, one with only four. Vanya arrives at the Academy and finds Allison already there, along with Diego who isn’t happy to see Vanya there after what she did. As for Luther, he is suspicious about his death, so Diego gives him a copy of the autopsy report. Luther still has his concerns though because it appears Hargreeves wasn’t wearing his trademark monocle.

We’re introduced to Pogo (Adam Goodley), who is a suit wearing and talking chimpanzee. Vanya enquires about how long it has been since Number Five disappeared, which is now over 16 years ago. Meanwhile, Allison has a flashback to a night they wanted to say goodnight to Hargreeves and he just ignored them all, which she really resented. In his study, she finds Klaus looking for something while Luther tells him to get out of Hargreeves’ chair and to drop the stuff he had pocketed. After he leaves, it’s clear there’s something between Luther and Allison, and we learn Allison is recently divorced and received custody of their daughter, Claire

Family Meeting

Gathered around the fireplace, Luther begins to discuss a memorial and that Hargreeves sounded strange as if he knew something was going to happen to him. He asks Klaus to speak to try to speak to him as he can connect with the deceased, but he needs to sober up before he can. Luther believes one of them killed Hargreeves as it didn’t make sense the monocle was taken because it seems personal, so they all end up walking away with that.

Flashback to 17 years ago, we see a bank robbery in process when a young Allison (Eden Cupid) appears in her school uniform and mask. We see her power of suggestion at work and she causes one of the robbers to shoot the other by simply suggesting it. Then Luther (Cameron Brodeur) is using his fists while Diego (Blake Talabis) is throwing knives, and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) makes an appearance by jumping through space. They ask Ben, or Number Six (Ethan Hwang), to go into the vault as there are more robbers in there and he turns into some kind of monster. Meanwhile, Hargreeves and Vanya (TJ McGibbon) watch on and it appears she has no special abilities. Hargreeves then introduces the six of them to the press at the end of the altercation.

Back in the present, Klaus tries communicating with Hargreeves and gets frustrated, which winds up with him accidentally knocking over the urn and spilling the ashes.

The rest of the group are  left to their own devices and Luther puts on Tiffany’s ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ at full volume, which causes in all of them having an epic little dance scene. The moment is interrupted when lightning and a huge storm erupts, which causes them to rush outside and Luther recognise it as perhaps a ‘temporal anomaly’ or some kind of black hole. Out of the hole comes Number 5, also known as Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), who is the same age as when he left. It appears he went to the future and got stuck and remained there for 45 years, so his consciousness is 58, but his body remains at the age of 13.

Farewells and Fights

Vanya talks to Number Five and he says he found a copy of her book ‘Extra Ordinary’ in the future, which is why everyone hates her for giving up the family secrets. Another flashback again to 17 years ago where the six of them train and Number Five uses his ability to get in front of them, along with them all receiving tattoos of the Academy’s emblem, except for Vanya which shows how excluded she has always been.

The siblings go outside, along with Pogo and their mother, Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins), to say farewell to Hargreeves and Diego begins to say how he really felt about their uncaring father. This causes Luther and Diego to throw punches, and ends with Luther accidentally knocking over the statue of Ben and Diego throwing a knife at Luther. They all begin to go their separate ways once more and it’s also revealed that their mother is in fact some kind of robot.

While getting a decent cup of coffee at a nearby diner, Number Five is approached by a group of people with guns, but he’s not overly surprised to see them. He then uses his abilities to appear and reappear causing significant destruction and kills while They Might Be Giants ‘Istanbul (Not Constantinople)’ plays. After killing them all, he removes a tracker from his arm and leaves. Meanwhile, it appears Diego has Hargreeves’ monocle, but his moment is interrupted when he overhears about the shooting. In the back seat of the car, Klaus is seeing and speaking to Ben.

Vanya returns home to her apartment to find Number Five there as believes she will listen to him and tells her of the destruction of the world. The date is happens? In eight days time.

Overall Thoughts?

The first episode certainly sets an exciting tone for the series with its banter between the characters along with the diversity of the siblings with Luther and Diego being on the more serious and brutal side, while Klaus is just an utter mess currently. After reading the graphic novels, it is certainly great to see the characters further fleshed out as there is only so much you can convey and put into graphic novels. It’ll be interesting to see their backstories be developed throughout the season and I am also very excited to hear some more fantastic music included!

What did you think of the first episode of The Umbrella Academy? Tell us in the comments below!