The Umbrella Academy season 2, episode 3 review: The Swedish Job

In episode 3 of The Umbrella Academy, some relationships surrounding the Hargreeves children get closer while others fall apart. The first major twist of the season is also revealed.

In the last episode of The Umbrella Academy, the Hargreeves children were on the trail of hunting both each other down as well as their father. In an epic showdown between Diego (David Castañeda) and his father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) Diego is left with a stab wound and his condition is unstable.

Luther (Tom Hopper) has found Vanya (Ellen Page) which leaves her stuck attempting to recognize where she knows him from, Klaus (Robert Sheehan) and Ben (Justin H. Min) are still fighting (which they have been since the beginning of episode one) and Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is ready to use the spotlight of the presidential visit to increase the profile of the Civil rights movement. Finally, Five (Aidan Gallagher) is still attempting to rally the troops as he is the only one who knows the sheer impact of the coming nuclear apocalypse.

Is Luther Having a Change of Heart?

In episode 2, Luther boldly told Five that he wasn’t going to do anything to fight the apocalypse as long as Five was involved, however after seeing and speaking with Vanya, and apologizing for not protecting her, is Luther preparing to join the team in attempting to actually stop the apocalypse this time?

In this episode, he’s asked Jack Ruby to use some of his connections to hunt down Allison so he can also speak with her. If he can make peace with both Allison and Vanya, will he be more willing to opt in?

I really enjoy the direction they’ve taken with Luther as he has to decide either to enjoy his current station in life or reconnect with his siblings to fight once more. It is also interesting to see how he’s taken something of an emotional beating by seeing Vanya have no recollection of him and discovering that Allison has been married for a year (without attempting to make contact) has, in a way, negated some of his physical strength.

Powers Unleashed

We have only really seen Five and Klaus use their powers openly. However, two more bring their powers to the forefront here. Vanya is able to instinctively use her powers as she is near-death at the hands of the Swedes (who went to the Stormtrooper school of shooting a gun). However, she is unaware of how or what she did. Five uses this as an opportunity to jog her memory and bring her back into the fray.

We witnessed Allison briefly use her power in a previous episode when the police enter her home, but in this episode she’s more brazen. She openly uses her powers of persuasion to have a cop stop beating her husband to near-death (right in front of him). Why more of the Hargreeves children (excluding Klaus) are using them more is an interesting choice as they are hoping to assimilate to their new life in the ’60s. If Allison were more open to using her powers, would it have stopped the sit-in from turning violent? Why choose to fly under the radar safely instead of using their powers to better their position?

Allison’s World is About to Get Rocked!

Married life seemed nearly perfect (excluding her husband’s arrest) for Allison in the first two episodes. She’s madly in love with her husband and she is at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in Dallas, championing real change. However three things happen that make her story arc potentially the most interesting:

Klaus helps get her husband released from Jail and reveals he is Allison’s brother. This leaves him somewhat confused.
Raymond returns home to find Luther standing at the front porch (“the biggest white boy he’s ever seen”), and once he finds out that they may also be related, he is even more confused and wonders what else Allison may be hiding.
Allison uses her powers to stop her husband from being savagely beaten by police officers in the aftermath of the sit-in. He sees it and he is in utter shock.

This has the potential to become the most powerful story arc of the season, as the picture perfect domestic life the two shared may now be shaken to the core as there are now plenty of questions popping up about Allison’s past. The civil rights movement storyline was already incredibly intriguing, but now looking at the potential destruction of Allison’s marriage with two family members back in the picture, the stakes have become that much more personal.

What’s next?

As Allison’s life is changing and Luther and Diego are still recovering from their battle wounds, what lies down the road for the Umbrella Academy’s Hargreeves children? This writer expects episode 4 to focus a lot more on Klaus’s actions to prevent a future event and Five will keep attempting to jog Vanya’s memory.

But after the big reveal in the final two minutes, whatever happens next is going to be quite explosive – and its safe to say I’m hooked and ready to continue with my binge of The Umbrella Academy because I, for one, can’t wait to see what is coming next!

Next. All 6 DC Universe original shows ranked from worst to best. dark

Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy is available for your binge-watching pleasure on Netflix. What did you think about episode 3? Let us know in the comments below!

Home/TV