The Umbrella Academy Story Recap: What To Remember Before Season 2

With season 2 of The Umbrella Academy just a few days away, it’s a good moment to take a look back at the most important moments from season 1 that will surely have an impact on the Hargreeves’ new adventures. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy made its debut on Netflix in February 2019. The series was very well-received, surpassing one of the streaming giant’s most popular titles, and was renewed for a second season a few weeks later.

The Umbrella Academy follows the Hargreeves, seven siblings with extraordinary abilities but who don’t have the best relationship. On October 1, 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth at the same time, but none of them was pregnant when the day began. Not long after, eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves set out to adopt as many of those babies as he could, but he only got seven. As they began to develop unique sets of superpowers, Reginald trained them and formed the superhero team “The Umbrella Academy”. Sadly, Reginald wasn’t a good father to the kids, and they all ended up going on their own ways.

The Hargreeves reunited years later to save the world from the fast-approaching apocalypse, but all their efforts weren’t enough to stop the end of the world. Luckily, one of them, Five (Aidan Gallagher), has the ability to jump through time and space, which he used to transport himself and his siblings to a safer place and time, way before the apocalypse. Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy will catch up with the Hargreeves, who ended up landing in Dallas, Texas, and scattered between 1960 and 1963. Aside from finding a way to reunite, the Hargreeves will come across with new villains (a trio of Swedish assassins) and will continue to run away from The Commission. A lot of things happened in season 1, of which some are important to keep in mind in order to fully understand and enjoy season 2 – and here are the most important moments to remember.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves Is Dead

The event that brought the Hargreeves together after years of not seeing or even talking to each other was Reginald’s death. Reginald died of heart failure, or at least that’s what he wanted his children and the world to think. Luther immediately suspected something was wrong, but the autopsy report showed there was nothing suspicious about his death. It was later revealed that it was all planned by Reginald, as he knew the end of the world was approaching and the only hope there was for the world was his kids reuniting and joining forces – and the only event that could bring them together was his funeral. With the help of Grace and Pogo, Reginald planned his death and succeeded in reuniting all of his children, including Five, who had been missing for over a decade.

Vanya Is Not Powerless

Number 7 a.k.a. Vanya (Ellen Page) was believed to be powerless and was left out of all the missions Reginald sent the rest to. Vanya’s only talent was playing the violin, but as it turns out, she’s actually the most powerful of the Hargreeves siblings. Reginald was very well aware of that, and as he couldn’t help her control her powers, he used the powers of her sister, Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), to make her believe she was ordinary and kept her under medication for years. Harold Jenkins a.k.a. Leonard Peabody (John Magaro) found Reginald’s notebooks and learned all about Vanya, so he knew what he had to do in order to unleash her powers. Of course, he didn’t know how powerful and dangerous she can be, and so Vanya ended up being the one who caused the apocalypse when her powers reached their full (chaotic) potential.

Allison Can’t Talk Anymore

Vanya had a very hard time understanding and controlling her powers, and before provoking the end of the world, she almost killed her sister. When Allison confronted her at Leonard’s cabin, she tried to create a rumor so Vanya would listen to her and stay away from Leonard, but Vanya attacked her before she could finish her rumor, and slit her throat with the bow of her violin. For the rest of the season, Allison couldn’t speak, but the season 2 trailer showed that she recovered and can speak again. The same happened to her in the comics, but it’s yet to be seen if it will be due to time-traveling and its mysterious ways or something else.

Five & The Commission Have Unfinished Businesses

Five spent the whole season running away from Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) and Hazel (Cameron Britton), two time-traveling assassins working for The Commission, as well as from his boss The Handler (Kate Walsh) and The Commission in general. Five failed to fulfill one important mission: killing John F. Kennedy, which is why The Commission is after him. It didn’t help that he finally managed to reunite with his siblings just days before the apocalypse with the purpose of warning them and stopping the end of the world, something that The Commission doesn’t approve. Things will only get worse and more complicated now that he jumped back in time with his siblings, and The Commission will continue to go after him and the rest of the Hargreeves.

Klaus’ Powers Are Getting Stronger

Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has the ability to communicate with the dead and temporarily make them corporeal. This power has been a big burden for Klaus, and it didn’t help that Reginald didn’t know how to guide him, and often locked him in a mausoleum when he was a child. As a result, Klaus developed a drug addiction at a very young age as he found out that drugs repress his powers, and has spent years going in and out of rehab. In the episode “The Day That Was”, Klaus followed Luther to a rave, where he was knocked unconscious in a fight. Klaus died momentarily and saw Reginald, who told him he has not reached the full potential of his powers just yet. After that, Klaus did his best to stay sober and discovered that Ben (their deceased brother) was starting to gradually become more corporeal, being able to interact with them (by punching Klaus, saving Diego, and even using his powers in the season finale). If Klaus continues to stay clean, his powers could finally reach their full potential in season 2.

Hazel & Agnes Escaped The Apocalypse

Hazel was an assassin working for The Commission, and he killed a lot of people alongside Cha-Cha. However, during their mission to get Five, he met Agnes, a waitress, baker, and owner of Griddy’s Doughnuts. Hazel and Agnes fell in love, which gave him a different perspective of life, making him realize that he no longer wanted to be an assassin that goes back and forth in time. Hazel redeemed himself when he volunteered to help the Hargreeves stop the apocalypse, revealed Cha-Cha was the one who killed Patch, and left their guns to exonerate Diego. Agnes was then kidnapped by Cha-Cha, but Hazel rescued her, incapacitated Cha-Cha, and killed The Handler. Just as the world was falling apart, Hazel and Agnes escaped thanks to one of The Commission’s briefcases, and season 2 of The Umbrella Academy will see the return of Hazel, who now seems to be on the Hargreeves’ side.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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