The Umbrella Academy: Episode 13

13. The Swedish Job

The three blondes that The Commission collectively calls The Swedes (Kris Holden-Ried, Jason Bryden, Tom Sinclair) go after Vanya next but are repelled by the involuntary manifestation of her powers. Five finds her and fills in the gaps in her memory. Allison locates Klaus’ residence, and the siblings catch up. He later uses Ben to get Ray out of prison. Klaus pays his Vietnam War lover’s younger self a visit. Luther tracks Allison through his boss but finds Ray at their house instead and discovers that she is now married. Heartbroken, he lets his opponent beat him up, much to Jack Ruby’s chagrin. Allison and Ray go ahead with their sit-in and stir the pot of racism in Southern Dallas. As things start to escalate and the police gets involved, she is forced to use her powers in front of him, now confused and terrified. Lila nurses Diego back to health, sleeps with him, then sneaks out to go to a hotel room where she meets The Handler, asks if she can order room service, then refers to her as MOM.

I love and hate Allison’s subplot this season. I hate it because it is a reminder of what racism can do to a country. I don’t know, but America is just so fucked up when it comes to the issue of race. I understand that many societies suffer from that, especially those considered as migration hotspots, but the problem seems even more pronounced in ‘Merica. On the other hand, I love the storyline because of the very same reason: it is a reminder that we, or they, still have a long way to go. It’s also nice to see Allison be given a subplot with social relevance. It just feels like this is something bigger than her and she is tackling it head-on, which is so admirable. Anyway, the title is just so misleading. I thought we would be getting more info about the Swedes in this episode, but we don’t get any! If anything, it is that Handler/Lila plot twist that caught me off-guard. Yes, we never saw that coming, despite having doubts about Lila’s relevance in the storyline. I hope she doesn’t become a full-on villain. I am kinda shipping the Diego/Lila boat, ya know.

“Oh... You know, dicks, drugs, debutantes. My holy trinity.” –Klaus

<<Episode 12                Episode 14>>