The third episode of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy sees us learn more about Vanya, while Hazel and Cha-Cha kick it up a notch in searching for Five, which results in the Hargreeves siblings having to battle it out like the good ol’ days.
In the previous episode, we learned how Five ended up in the future with a flashback along with him telling Vanya his story. Five enlists Klaus’s help in obtaining more information about a fake eye manufactured by MeriTech, while he later heads to a department store in search for his beloved Dolores and winds up being shot at by Hazel and Cha-Cha. Meanwhile, Vanya gets an adult violin student by the name of Leonard; Pogo tells Klaus to return the goods he stole; and Allison finds something on the surveillance tapes that she’s surprised by.
Extra Ordinary
5 years ago, Vanya (Ellen Page) headed to a pawn shop and purchased a typewriter to write her story about the Hargreeves family and we see all of them frustratingly reading her published book, Extra Ordinary. Flash to today, Vanya arrives late to a rehearsal and it seems people still do not notice or care for her. She later praises Helen’s performance who then criticises Vanya who has now been stuck in third chair for quite some time, and suggests that she might not have anything special about her.
With this, Vanya goes to see Leonard (John Magaro) at his antiquities store and it appears he also makes wooden figurines, including one of Vanya playing her violin as she “inspires him”. The pair then go for a walk and he invites her to dinner when they run into Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) who wants her to come back for a family meeting.
Allison and Luther (Tom Hopper) have been looking at the footage she found which sees their mother giving Hargreeves tea prior to him collapsing. The pair ask Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins) if she went to see him and she claims she doesn’t recall, but it seems she’s hiding something. Allison believes it’s their fault for decline as they left her alone, but Luther isn’t so sure since she’s “just a machine”. He then asks what happened with Allison’s family, and it appears Allison used her power on Claire when she would have meltdowns so she would settle.
Meanwhile, Diego (David Castañeda) is at the department store crime scene and Patch (Ashley Madekwe) says she’s willing to hear out any ideas he might have. As for Five (Aidan Gallagher), he tends to his wounds and sees Klaus outside looking for the stuff he threw away before he heads off to keep an eye on MeriTech. It appears he must also be suffering from some kind of PTSD as he sees himself stuck in the future once more before Klaus and Luther jump into his van.
Dilemmas and Diners
Hazel (Cameron Britton) and Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) receive a pay reduction for taking longer, and they’re not happy. At the diner, Hazel is enjoying some doughnuts and it seems he might be interested in the waitress as he asks about how she makes them and then also compliments her name. However, the moment is short-lived when Cha-Cha returns and asks what happened during the shootout. The waitress does recall the child having a tattoo of an umbrella on his wrist.
Back at the Academy, the siblings watch the footage of their mother with Hargreeves the night he died and Diego then confesses he took the monocle from Grace after the funeral. He says he threw it away as Luther would have gotten very angry if he found it on Grace. Vanya speaks up and says Grace was designed to step in if someone’s life was in jeopardy and Vanya wonders if all the things Grace said to them were actually from their father, but Diego says Grace evolved as Hargreeves only ever loved himself.
We see a flashback of the children preparing for a mission and Grace looking after them all as they got ready and it appears Diego had a close connection with her. Back in the present, he goes to speak to her and enquires as to whether she’s acting of her own volition or if it’s because Hargreeves programmed her.
Umbrella Academy, Assemble!
Hazel and Cha-Cha break into the Academy and see the portrait of Five confirming their target. Meanwhile, Klaus is submerged in a bathtub and sees screaming people. When he comes up for air, he proceeds to listen to ‘We’re Through’ by The Hollies, but doesn’t notice the two hitmen walking past. As for Allison and Luther, they’re enjoying looking at the moon. Diego is the first to come across the two hitmen and throws knives at them before the shooting breaks out.
Luther and Allison join the fight and Cha-Cha goes after them while Hazel searches for another weapon to use when Vanya appears, but Luther distracts Hazel before any serious harm can happen. Cue Nina Simone’s ‘Sinnerman’ as the chasing and fighting continues with Klaus wrapped in a towel and oblivious to what’s happening. Luther ends up crushed by a chandelier as the hitmen escape, but he pushes it off and reveals his true body to them, which is that of a gorilla before he runs away ashamed.
Diego goes to check on Grace who didn’t even notice the fight and also doesn’t realise she’s sewing through her skin. With that, he decides to turn her off. He then takes out his anger and sadness on Vanya for being at the Academy as she’s a liability and so she leaves and decides to go see Leonard at his house.
At the end of the episode, Cha-Cha and Hazel are back at the motel, and it appears Hazel managed to nab a towel-wearing Klaus who’s in the trunk of their car.
Overall Thoughts?
A bit of a subpar episode, however, a fight scene always earns some extra points, especially when paired with great music. It’s enjoyable to be learning a little about each of the Hargreeves children each episode, and it seems we learn a lot more about one of them at the start of the episode. It’s great to see these little bits of backstory are weaved into the rest of the episode, and in this case, we see how Vanya has always been an outcast and her siblings don’t really see her as one of them and never will, along with also being an outcast to others.
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