The Umbrella Academy: Why Klaus Hargreeves reigns supreme in season 2

The second season of the Umbrella Academy proves highlights why Klaus remains the best part of the show.

The Umbrella Academy came back and, believe it or not, it was even better than before. You couldn’t help but notice how much everything improved during the second season. The fight scenes, the character development and even the already-great acting was taken to another level.

Despite not being a major fan of season 1, the second season has now made this writer want to go back and revisit it. That’s how incredible it was.

In spite of all the differences, though, one thing that remained the same was Klaus Hargreeves. And. yes, he was still the best part of Umbrella Academy.

Klaus is the eccentric brother of the Umbrella Academy family. He’s proud of who he is, loves to push people’s buttons, and has a lot of depth to him. Just when you think you know him, he does something outrageous. It’s what keeps him fresh and intriguing. You never know what you’re going to get.

But it isn’t just the randomness of his character that makes him great. There are a few more layers to Klaus that make him crucial to the show’s success.

Destiny’s Children

There’s no way you got the Destiny’s Children reference and didn’t laugh. Of course Klaus would name his cult after the iconic singing group Destiny’s Child. Since he’s the leader and since Beyoncé was the lead singer, that essentially made him the Beyoncé of this scenario.

Klaus fancies himself that important and extraordinary. Finding out how he became a messiah of sorts was funny. He would luck into a situation like that. While it leads to him living the life he feels he deserves, Klaus abandons it when things go too heavy. That is the part that makes this interesting.

Klaus will be the first person to tell you he deserves the world and more. He almost never outwardly admits when he’s wrong and feels like he needs people to follow him and do whatever he asks.

However, it may have taken a few years, but Klaus finds out that living that life isn’t as fun as it seemed. He realized that a life like this can become claustrophobic because he barely had any time to himself. On top of that, he was responsible for the lives of hundreds and thousands of people. That’s a kind of pressure only a select few can handle.

However, he didn’t come to this realization on his own. He had his brother to help him figure this out.

Klaus and Ben

Ben had been following Klaus for 17 years. Throughout the season, we find out that it isn’t just because Klaus used his powers to bring him back; it was also because Ben was scared to move on. It’s definitely a good thing Ben stuck around. Without him, Klaus would have been even more of a mess than he was.

For example, Klaus was willing to tell Destiny’s Children that the world was going to end in a few days and leave them to fend for themselves. Thankfully, Ben stopped him from making a mistake that would have haunted him more than the spirits he summons.

Klaus hates being the bearer of bad news. He wants everyone else to do the dirty work while he has fun. Ben helped him get to a point where he stopped being so selfish. Klaus still fights against his want to party all the time and leave others to clean up his mess, but we’ve continuously seen how, when it’s all said and done, he’s willing to do the right thing.

A lot of that can be attributed to his time with Ben. Now that he’s gone, it’ll be interesting to see how he handles life.

Klaus and Dave

Feeling trapped around Destiny’s Children wasn’t the only reason that Klaus left his cult. He also wanted to see Dave. He was the man Klaus loved and lost in the Vietnam War during season 1. Klaus knew that Dave was going to enlist after JFK was assassinated so he set out to try and stop this from happening. He failed.

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On top of Dave enlisting, he actually did it earlier than it happened in the original timeline – all because of the conversations he had with Klaus. And this was after Dave punched him because his father didn’t like that Klaus was out and proud. This was what started Klaus’ downward spiral into relapsing.

Another sad moment for Klaus. After being sober for so long, he gave in to his urges and got drunk. It’s one thing to lose someone you love. It’s another to feel like you sped up the process or that there was nothing you could have done to stop it. The latter may have been the biggest issue. Try as he might, Klaus couldn’t save someone he loved. He may have been better as the season progressed, but this won’t be the end of it. This is something that’s undoubtedly going to affect him again in season 3.

Continuing to be Klaus

As this writer mentioned in another article, the core of a character’s personality shouldn’t change – especially if it’s what made us love or despise them in the first place. Klaus’ role in The Umbrella Academy has been to be a funny, reckless soul that ultimately tries his best to grow as a person. All of these things remained true in season 2.

Klaus was still the fun loving, sometimes immature, and flamboyant person we’ve grown to love. He’s also continued to put us on a rollercoaster of emotions. Sometimes he seems like he finally gets what’s going on and that he’s matured, and then he’ll do something so brazen that you’re reminded that he still has more to learn.

This won’t be the last of Klaus’ growth and regressions. It’s almost certain that he’s going to continue to do ridiculous things that will get him in trouble. He’s also going to have moments where he’s going to become a better person. For Klaus, it’s two steps forward and one back. It may take a while for him to get there, but he’ll eventually fulfill his potential. This writer can’t wait to see what he does in season 3 of The Umbrella Academy.

What did you think? Was Klaus good in this season as well? Let us know in the comments below!