The super-powered Hargreaves siblings are back for season two of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy,”出道的星期五,7月31日,they’re in quite the quandary. Inadvertently bringing about a world-ending cataclysm does, after all, present a pretty deep hole to climb out of. But as we learn in the show’s clever and creative return, the end of the world was merely the beginning of the story.
Based on a Dark Horse comic series created by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá, themade-for-streaming版本总有独特的佛罗里达州vor as it balanced comic conceits and superheroics with the specific interpersonal dynamics of the disparate personality types comprising the team (yes, there’s an X-Men dynamic at play, but a more apt comparison is HBO Max’s “Doom Patrol”). But while the freshman season had many strong points, it also felt pulled in too many directions tonally, and a bit too forced-quirky in a “Can you tell we love Tim Burton?” way. With this second set of episodes, showrunner Steve Blackman takes advantage of most of the heavy lifting vis-a-vis world-building already being in place, doubling down on the character dynamics while expanding the boundaries of what to expect from this fictional reality (far removed from the confines of stodgy old Hargreaves Mansion, thank goodness).
In dark and quirky ‘Umbrella Academy,’ the mysteries rain down
Picking up right where we left off, “The Umbrella Academy” year two sees the super siblings tossed back to the early 1960s. Initially separated, each finds their own way to fit in as time passes.
Muscle-bound Luther (Tom Hopper) works as a backroom brawler. Ghost-talking drug addict Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has formed a cult, while remaining haunted by deceased brother Ben (Justin H. Min). Super-persuasive Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) has found love with a civil rights activist (Yusuf Gatewood). Knife-throwing Diego (David Castañeda) is locked up in an asylum.
Meanwhile, the explosive Vanya has no memory of who she is or how she ended the world, and pint-sized genius Five (Aidan Gallagher) is the only one with full awareness of the impending end of the world, and it’s up to him to pull his various family members back together and puzzle out what they need to do to prevent the apocalypse — again.
The devious Handler (Kate Walsh) has her own designs on using the power of the timeline-monitoring Commission towards her own evil ends, and the presence of their dearly departed dad, Reginald (Colm Feore), continues to be felt in new and unexpected ways.
That’s a lot ofcharacters and storylines to juggle, but it reflects the show’s creatives feeling the wind at their backs that they keep them all moving smoothly. There’s a tendency with many streaming shows, especially as the season progresses, to tread narrative water here and thereto fill out the episode order,but they find the sweet spot here, with each 45-minute episode feeling like a full meal while stillkeeping fans cravingthe next installment.
Performance-wise, what worked before continues to work now. The cast remains the show’s strongest suit, with their camaraderie and chemistry all on full display. Allison’s story line, with activist beau Raymond planning a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter, really lets her character shine while also reflecting cultural concerns that still feel far too relevant to our current reality.Castañeda also gets some nice moments with an enigmatic new love interest named Lila (Ritu Arya, a terrific addition to the ensemble).
With plenty of twists and turns along the way, including a motorcade along a Dallas thoroughfare on a fateful November afternoon, the story arc winds down to a conclusion that feels satisfying butstill leaves roomfor a possible season three. I hope they get the chance to do that despite the restrictions the pandemic presents film and TV production.
What makes the second season of “The Umbrella Academy” such pleasant viewing is all the ways it lives up to the promise of the flawed-but-very-watchable first year. It’s an eventuality of which even the sternly implacable Reginald Hargreaves would heartily approve.
M“Umbrella Academy”(TV-MA) season two premieres Friday, July 31, on Netflix.