The Umbrella Academy: Episode 6

6. The Day That Wasn't

Luther calls a family meeting to discuss how they can prevent the apocalypse, but not one of his siblings is interested after finding out that in the future Five has been to, they all die anyway. They spend their last few days pursuing personal agenda. Luther discovers that his mission to the moon was his late father’s way of showing pity by giving him a semblance of purpose. Allison books a flight to be with her daughter. Klaus strives to be sober and manages to summon his dead GI lover from the Vietnam War. Diego is hellbent on killing Hazel and Cha-Cha. Vanya takes Leonard to the mansion, but they leave after she feels shut out from the rest of the group as always. Ranting on the way back to Leonard’s, she makes parked cars shake and lamp posts bend to her will. She discovers Reginald’s diary and her secret powers. Five quickly ascends in the hierarchy of the Commission then betrays The Handler by time travelling to the start of his siblings’ day with a clue care of The Handler on hand: “Protect Harold Jenkins”.

Who dafuq is Harold Jenkins? We have four episodes left, are they introducing new characters? Anyway, this episode is clever by taking the Groundhog Day route. It also feels like cheating, but hey, Five is just maximizing his powers. Seeing him being ruthless in that desk position is fun and kind of scary, maybe because of the disconnect between his real age and the body he currently possesses. It amuses me how such a sci-fi concept like The Commission is being handled with a mundanely bureaucratic lens. When you observe Hazel, Cha-Cha, and The Handler, this is all just business to them, which lends a quirky brand of comedy to it all. You know, like, talks of pension and the like. How do you relate to an organization that controls something so otherworldly such as the conservation of time continuum? Hit your audience with daily realities they can relate to. There you go. As for Hazel and Cha-Cha, I hate seeing their partnership end like this. It’s a pity but the two are so much just like pawns being moved on the chessboard.

“Whenever someone chooses the wrong path and the timeline is changed, The Commission gets a report from field agents on the ground. These field reports are sorted and assigned to a case manager. They determine if anyone needs to be removed from the equation to ensure that the event happens as it should.” –The Handler

<<Episode 5                Episode 7>>