Netflix's Umbrella Academy, adapted by Steve Blackman from a comic book written by Gerald Way and drawn by Gabriel Bá

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I only got three or four episodes into season one. It didn't appear to me to be doing anything particularly new with the Superhero genre, self-consciously wacky tone aside. Doom Patrol is a much better example of this kind of thing imo.

chap, Monday, 7 December 2020 14:04 (four years ago) link

I read the Apocalypse Suite series of the comic a few years back and didn't think too much of it. The art didn't float my boat and the basic premise was like, oh, this is Gerard Way doing a quirkier X-Men (or Doom Patrol, which I don't have too much background in).

When the show debuted on Netflix, I watched the first ep and, as it didn't deviate too much from the book, I didn't give it any more of my time. But I ended up bingeing the whole first season earlier in quarantine and really enjoyed it! More so than probably any other comic television/movie I've ever seen.

I haven't gotten around to season 2 yet, because I was waiting to re-watch season 1 with my wife, but we haven't gotten around to that.

peace, man, Monday, 7 December 2020 14:28 (four years ago) link

watched s1, found it kinda fun in concept but pretty painful at times in execution

it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 7 December 2020 14:47 (four years ago) link

Didn't finish Season 1, got tired of Sasha's dithering + the predictability of the plot elements that were just about making the characters suffer for longer.

Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 7 December 2020 14:49 (four years ago) link

Is Elliot Page going to continue playing Vanya?

DJP, Monday, 7 December 2020 19:36 (four years ago) link

(I love this show, esp the sibling dynamics; the Klaus/Ben show kills me every time)

DJP, Monday, 7 December 2020 19:36 (four years ago) link

s2>s1 imo

nxd, Monday, 7 December 2020 19:44 (four years ago) link

xxp: yes, he is.

Also, I haven't read all of the comics yet, but there is a current miniseries just about Klaus, titled You Look Like Death.

peace, man, Monday, 7 December 2020 19:46 (four years ago) link

Is Elliot Page going to continue playing Vanya?

Ack, sorry, I said Sasha but I meant Vanya. Thanks, Dan.

Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 7 December 2020 20:05 (four years ago) link

how far did you get into s1, because Vanya's dithering becomes kind of a crucial plot point

DJP, Monday, 7 December 2020 20:13 (four years ago) link

(although tbf the plot is kind of about taking a bunch of people and making them suffer each other in a bunch of different ways)

DJP, Monday, 7 December 2020 20:19 (four years ago) link

The only plot point that really took me out of things was later in the season when Luther locks Vanya up in the anechoic chamber and everybody else strenuously objects, but then they're all just sort of resigned to it and nobody does anything to try and free her.

peace, man, Monday, 7 December 2020 20:37 (four years ago) link

Nah I got halfway through Ep 9 and was like, I don't want to know how this ends. It seems like it's going to end badly for everyone and someone just made up this story and made all these people suffer unnecessarily and it's not for me. (I know, I know, all stories ever--it just wasn't for me.)

Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 7 December 2020 20:41 (four years ago) link

Yeah if you got that far, it's likely not worth diving back in. I will say that they fixed a good amount of the nonsensical unnecessary suffering in the second season (although they did replace bits of it with new unnecessary suffering, lol) but they do a lot more with the characters and their interactions that makes their eventual coming together feel a good bit more earned.

DJP, Monday, 7 December 2020 20:45 (four years ago) link

Always kind of wished that the showrunner was also my favorite C-tier WWE wrestler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blackman

Stone Cold Steve Ostentatious (Leee), Monday, 7 December 2020 22:33 (four years ago) link

oh the other s1 killer for me: I really really hated the Mary J Blige / Cameron Britton assassins, super cringe

it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 7 December 2020 22:56 (four years ago) link

Oh I loved them both

DJP, Monday, 7 December 2020 23:28 (four years ago) link

even though the basic plot points of both seasons were pretty similar, I also liked season 2 way more than season 1 - better character work, funnier and more action-packed. I really like the kid who plays Five and yes, the Klaus/Ben sideshow rules.

the ending of s2 with emo ben cracked me up - looks like they ended up in a timeline where mcr exists.

Roz, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 05:33 (four years ago) link

The siblings functioned much more like a family than a group of similarly-aged people who just wanted to be dicks towards each other in s2; I also felt they all functioned better as individual characters in s2 and had much more interesting things to present to the viewer than they did in s1. I also felt the casting played into the setting really, really well and allowed a lot of shading to the experiences of Diego and Alison that, as far as I know, weren't really present in the source material. (I'd say Vanya as well but her whole deal could have come directly from the comics, I'm not sure.)

DJP, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 17:34 (four years ago) link

Also Kate Walsh is great in this

DJP, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 17:35 (four years ago) link

I'll be back later

Okay okay but if there's any thread that suits paternal neglect, right?

DJP otm about the suffering, everyone in the first season might as well have nametags that say "I dealt with a profoundly unpleasant upbringing by <fucking off to the moon for 4 years / becoming Batman / destroying trust in the life I created / getting fucked up on literally anything to hand / time-travelling past where I had to deal with it / dying horribly / pushing it ALL DOWN INSIDE>"

Nah I got halfway through Ep 9 and was like, I don't want to know how this ends.

I might actually suggest just skipping to the first episode of the new season and trying it? Assume anyone who doesn't show up is dead, but you don't have to watch them die. I mean don't feel you have to of course, but there are worse plans.

But yeah everyone otm that the second season is better - starting with the haircuts (except for No.5). Very slight spoiler: they split up for a lot of the second series, and when they get back together, Klaus asks "I know this is impossible, did we all get sexier?" - and they did (except for No.5), just by being more comfortable in their roles!. Also Tom Hooper in season 2 is a delight.

I really like that they're all basically different genres, and I like the buzz and crackle when they turn up and interfere with each other's business - it feels like a family.

I do need to watch Doom Patrol at some point, but I cannot imagine that it will improve on the comic book to the same extent as this has (because that would cause the singularity)

Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 12 December 2020 20:32 (four years ago) link

Also lol from 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37G-tnBrsd4

Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 12 December 2020 20:32 (four years ago) link

I could watch Robert Sheehan being Klaus for like 10 seasons, he is the best.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Sunday, 13 December 2020 02:35 (four years ago) link

one year passes...

Gerard has a welcome and positive update:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbs1XLRuVfz/?utm_medium=share_sheet

peace, man, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 02:23 (two years ago) link

two years pass...

When I get a minute I'll actually catch up with the fourth season, but good work here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXJjW4atK3A

Andrew Farrell, Sunday, 11 August 2024 20:45 (four months ago) link

omg their dance to Cher was *chefs kiss*

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 12 August 2024 02:31 (four months ago) link

those 2 aside i’m finding this season less engaging than previous, but only slightly. and i haven’t seen it all yet. everyone just seems petulant.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 12 August 2024 02:33 (four months ago) link

I haven’t seen it yet but the ending has been getting terrible reviews :/

Roz, Monday, 12 August 2024 02:47 (four months ago) link

two months pass...

Yeah, I heard similar and dragged my heels, but honestly the series up until the last episode is pretty good - a lot of the cast bouncing off each other, the family gets a new member (the van), it was maybe as good as it's ever been?

(er, I'm not going to put up the hidden tag, this aired two months ago)

The ending for the kids makes a lot of sense - they have indeed been responsible for most of the apocalypses, the show never felt like the hurricane was going to reassemble the barn there. The parents, though, that was a big loud fart of an ending.

Andrew Farrell, Monday, 28 October 2024 23:59 (one month ago) link


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