fbpx
ScifiTV

The Umbrella Academy, Season Two (blu-ray series review).

To escape the nuclear holocaust, Five transports the himself and members of the Umbrella Academy back into the past. It’s not an exact science and they all arrive at different times leading up to Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas and some of them take it into their heads to save him or will or maybe as we see them at different times. Interestingly, none of the standard clichés are explored here, just the ramifications of Kennedy’s survival.

This leaves Five trying to undo things again as he tries to reassemble them, not helped by the Time Commission who are supposed to be controlling the timeline and the Handler’s grab for power. None of which is helped by the length of time they have been there, getting married, getting jobs, becoming a guru or plain amnesic. Sensibilities get shaken up with the timeline as most of them give up on never being rescued. Also remember because Five was in future for nearly 50 years and physically grew young when he returned to the past, he’s still wandering around looking like a schoolboy. How much more should I go before it becomes spoiler?

The opening of the first four episodes has popular disco songs from the 1970s not 1960s. I’m not sure if that’s deliberate or poor research. It isn’t as though there wasn’t some good quality music back then or its not available on licence. At least by the fourth episode, I was finally getting their proper names into my head. Newbie Lila Pitts (actress Ritu Arya) being the most significant new introduction.

If there is a major criticism, both Vanya and Five are really too powerful, often being beaten simply by being blind-sided than being taken on solely by their powers. Saying that, the ramifications for change due to time travel are explored properly but there is still a worry that the next season, which I’ll have to wait for its blu-ray release to see, can be changed simply by going back into the past again.

The odd thing about the blu-ray release is that there are still no extras. I know there has to be a desire just to see the international actors purely in their parts and looking at the IMdB, in their normal appearance, they are mostly different but getting some insight into things going on behind the scenes, even a blooper reel, could be seen as of historical importance in the long term. Maybe when the series finally ends, the producers might consider something special, if only to see those who can play musical instruments do a jamming session together.

GF Willmetts

June 2022

(pub: Universal, 2022. 3 blu-ray disks 440 minutes 10 * 50 minute episodes. Price: I pulled my copy for £19.99 (UK). ASIN: 5000298953)

cast: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castaňeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, Colm Feore, Adam Godley, Jordan Claire Robbins, Yusuf Gatewood, Kate Welsh and Ritu Arya

check out website: www.universalpictures.com

UncleGeoff

Geoff Willmetts has been editor at SFCrowsnest for some 21 plus years now, showing a versatility and knowledge in not only Science Fiction, but also the sciences and arts, all of which has been displayed here through editorials, reviews, articles and stories. With the latter, he has been running a short story series under the title of ‘Psi-Kicks’ If you want to contribute to SFCrowsnest, read the guidelines and show him what you can do. If it isn’t usable, he spends as much time telling you what the problems is as he would with material he accepts. This is largely how he got called an Uncle, as in Dutch Uncle. He’s not actually Dutch but hails from the west country in the UK.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.