User Reviews

Setting the table from where The Umbrella Academy left off in Season One, the siblings stopping Vanya's plot to destroy the world but inadvertently setting off the apocalypse and doing what they didn't intend to, I was curious where the show would go. I admire the audacity of any show whose willing to depict, in great detail, a giant fireball that subsumed and destroyed the Earth after a giant meteor collided with the planet. That's not necessarily an image people in middle America are prepared or want to mentally process.

Anyway, the siblings emerge from the time tunnel in the same alley in Dallas, Texas, created by Number Five to escape the apocalypse, but materializing at different points of the time stream in the early 1960s. This stuff is very amusing because the production design is uniformly excellent and the show comes up with amusing ways for the cast to stand out as anachronistic just before the social upheaval of this infamous decade.

Before we're acclimated to the new environment, Number Five sees he has emerged on Nov. 25, 1963, when Soviets and Americans engaged in a firefight on these very streets of Dallas, which culminates in a nuclear blast - which again destroys the world. An elderly Hazel saves Five right before the apocalypse happens again and takes him back ten days to avert disaster, right before he is shot dead by our new main baddies for this season.

It's at this point, I felt fatigue and deja vu, as all this new information unfolded rapidly. An apocalypse plot, again? Having Hazel return for a cameo, only to be unceremoniously assassinated, with the romance with Agnes being written away with a throwaway line, left a bad taste in my mouth. It has the look and feel of a new writing staff, wiping the slate of anything they didn't particularly care for.

Is this what happens in the comics, too? I dunno. But, with the siblings once again separated for awhile and being chased by new henchmen, there's a feeling of been there, done that. I hoped the show would do more with the early 60s setting but I'm not encouraged that it isn't just window dressing for now.

I really enjoyed this episode and what it sets up for the rest of the season. I also was happy to see where all the main characters ended up. I am sad to see Hazel die though.

With very accurate reflection of the phases of time, bunch of very interesting new mysteries and new characters, season 2's refreshing start makes us antcipate about the next episodes.(+ Can't wait to see that goldfish in the trailer!😄)

Over all I liked it, but why is 5's abilities suddenly arrested by 3 Norwegian Neanderthals armed with weapons that are almost from the Neolithic themselves after having taken out an entire hit squad with a number 2 pencil and a necktie, not to mention keeping Hazel and Chacha at bay?

I wasn't really a fan of S1 at first. But after some time and reading the comics. I came back to the series in the wake of this 2nd season and I actually REALLY enjoyed the first season, as clunky and convoluted as it was.

I was really excited to start season 2 after hearing it is a huge improvement over the first, and so far I don't know if I believe it.

I'll start off by saying that the opening scene of this episode is brilliant. From the music, to the strange new environment. It's a logical follow up to the first season's sudden final moments. Plus that last scene before the title card, that brilliant one-shot showing us a brand new apocalyptic event. What an opening.

But that's when things immediately start feeling off about this season. With all the characters separated in time. Sure it gives them all storylines to explore. But with Five constantly jumping from timeline to timeline, and all these characters all in different times and different stories. It feels like the writers just jumbled up all their characters, which FOR ME, left me incredibly confused for this entire episode. In need of an explanation I'm praying we got this season.

The highlights of this episode are Diego's asylum plot line. As the new character Lila actually interested me a lot, and the two of them have great chemistry on screen. Plus that whole escape sequence was great stuff. But Luther being a prize fighter? Allison having a husband and running a business... we're clearly gonna have a racism storyline. Which I'm fine with, it just doesn't seem like it's going to fit in or really go anywhere in the long run. But I'll see. And what's with Vanya now being some sort of country wife / babysitter? Or something. Are we forgetting she has powers and basically ended the world last time? Basically none of the Academy used their powers for most of the episode. It just felt like a lot of confusing melodrama and stuff that doesn't make sense.

The sudden appearance of the three blonde Swedes.... was interesting but.... if you remember S3 of Stranger Things when they introduced a bunch of evil Russians who never really spoke. It was embarrassing. I really think they're adding too many characters because so far almost none of them are interesting.

So. Great opening, great ending. But slow, jumbled and disappointing middle. Not entirely sure how I'm gonna feel moving forward but this is just a review and my take on S1E1.

I find myself feeling one of two ways when a show completely switches it's setting and that is of relief and the more common disappointment. Strangely, I felt absolute joy from the early moments of this episode. The new setting just works. It feels good. don't know how to explain it but it just does. Probably helps that we got a glimpse of things to come with an incredible action sequence and a fantastic use of 'My Way' although the action let's up as the episode goes on, seeing our characters adapt to their new setting is a lot of fun and interesting til the end. Loved it.

But after just one ep of season two I am doubting if I will continue.

Why? Cause I have seen this kind of plot arc before. Everyone will be separated from the group till about ep 6. Sure, Five found Luther and Diego but they still are not a unit. Once they are...

Need I go on? Any scifi show fan knows pretty much how this will turn out. Granted I am not ruling out a surprise or three; but honestly I am bored stiff with time travel, fixing the past, time lords who want to STOP time fixing the past, amnesia, and...

If the world was supposed to end on November 25, 1963 then good riddance. Maybe it did and all but three years of my life have been a hallucination?? Cool.

It's like Im hearing that the whole first season was wiped out, the team was assimilated throughout time (though only a year apart and they don't care to find each other) oh and the worlds ending again but no one knows how. Record scratch, a lot of this sounds familiar.

There had to be an opening episode like this if there was to be a 2nd season. This one does the job, though it apparently caused a lot of dismay among viewers. Diego being in an asylum turned out to be a good hook to hang things on.

Diego's new friend, Lila is helping keep the comedic side on track. The casting choice is great, as Ritu Arya manages her role very well. Her look of delighted surprise at almost everything that happens is perfect for her character. David Castaneda turns out to be great at comedy as well. Their escape scenes are the funniest bits of comic work in the episode.

I really like the Lila character and look forward to seeing more of her. Before now, none of the comedy in this series was working for me. I'm not really a fan of comedy in science fiction, but this is good.