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So. Umbrella Academy S2
I enjoyed this one a lot more than I did S1. I found it completely enjoyable from start to finish. Not that it's perfect--it's got a lot of flaws, and as usual, I wish it were less violent--but as sheer entertainment goes, it was quality.
First of all, the siblings felt way more sibling-y than S1, and since I am only here for the sibling feels (and the aesthetic--I LOVE the production design and music choices), that made me so happy. We got to see new pairings interacting (I never expected Luther and Five to be so fun together, for instance), some great new characters, and the plot hung together relatively well. There were lots of fun lines, banter, and sibling bonding moments (the scene with Klaus and the girls in the salon just left me grinning so huge). And everything zips along without feeling too rushed, which is a rare balance to find.
My favoritest characters are Five and Klaus, with Diego, Allison (moving up from S1 when she didn't have much to do), Lila, and Ben right below them in the second tier. Then in last place Luther and Vanya. I still care about Luther and Vanya, I just don't have as extreme of feelings about them.
This season, I absolutely ADORED Ray and the rest of Allison's Civil Rights group. Sissy was totally wonderful. I actually really enjoyed the Swedes, too. Being in the 60s gave us a great aesthetic and some time to explore some interesting social dynamics. And seeing more of Sir Reginald was fun, as was meeting Grace. I just have a lot of feelings about Diego's love for his mom, so seeing him interact with Grace was wonderful. The Dave stuff absolutely gutted me--I really hope that we find out that in this timeline, he doesn't die in Vietnam. Even if he can't be with Klaus, I still want him to have a good life and find happiness with a man who loves him. What a sweet baby.
All of those positive things said, there are a few aspects of the show that made me very uncomfortable.
+ Diego keeps using words like “cabal” and “lizard people” and it’s like HELLO ANTISEMITISM. I get that within this world there really is a secret society running everything and it has nothing to do with Jewish people at all, but still, we do not need those things put out into the real world.
+ Vanya being electrocuted by the FBI dudes. Um, a queer person being electrocuted is NOT a good look, show.
+ like Ranya says, it’s very clear that the women (Allison and Vanya) and the queer character (Vanya and Klaus) have to suffer more than the other characters and none of them have happy endings with their romantic interests. *sigh*
+ I was also really sick of the Asian guy being completely underdeveloped and really an afterthought, but the writers really came through for Ben in the second half of the season, so hopefully going forward we'll get to see him be as fully developed as his siblings.
The show could also do with some tighter editing; too many of the scenes go on for too long. This show also thinks I care more about the fight scenes than I do.
Now back to some random things I loved:
+ I was so relieved to see Ben in the end. I was so scared he was gone for good right when we were finally getting to know him! And he's corporeal again which means we get to see him interact with others!
+ Klaus and the girls in the salon. The summary of their romantic failures, the dancing! SO CUTE!
+ KLAUS'S CULT. I even ignore the fact that it was anachronistic because it was so much damn fun.
+ Five is so convinced that Diego and Luther are both really dumb and...they are. They are so dumb. I love them.
+ Diego and Lila being super married right away. What a great ship!!!!
+ Just good ships all around! Allison/Ray was WONDERFUL and so was Vanya/Sissy. Even Ben/Jill was super sweet!
+ I like that even though, once again, Vanya almost destroyed the world, it wasn't her fault this time. I'm still not sure how I feel about her arc in S1 (I think they went a little too far in having her kill Pogo and also random standers-by. The Leonard thing I can let go in the same way I let go the fact that Five is a mass murderer. My moral approach to this show is very loose but there are lines for me) but this season I felt a lot better about her. The actress who played Sissy is wonderfully charismatic and I think really helped humanize Vanya a lot.
+ The way Lila's upbringing echoes the Hargreeves' and how they automatically are eager to welcome her into their family. (Though where was she in the last scene???? I assume she's got something she wants to clean up at the Commission, but I hope she's back with the others soon!!!!)
+ Klaus calling himself sexy trash. SO ACCURATE. I love me a disaster bi.
+ Old man!Five is kind of underwhelming, but that just makes me appreciate young!Five's actor even more. Give that kid a zillion Emmys. He's so good!
+ The scene where Allison is being pursued and ran into the salon and the women there immediately rallied around to protect her moved me a lot. They took her in without any hesitation because they know what it's like to be a black woman and be scared.
+ Their dad is LITERALLY an alien. I am amused by that.
+ I hate Diego's hair. He's so much hotter with it short. But the Antonia Banderas line was hilarious.
I might update this as I think of other things I especially loved.
An aside: I looked on AO3 to see what the big characters/ships are, and I was absolutely shocked to see so much Five/Vanya since they, like, barely interacted at all and when they did it felt not at all shippy. However, I seem to remember that at the beginning of S1, she was the only one who held out hope for him coming back, so maybe that was why? I'm going back to watch the first half of S1 because I've forgotten so much, so maybe that will shed some light on this inexplicably pairing.
Now. Does anyone have any fic recs?
And if you have posts about the season that I missed, let me know!
First of all, the siblings felt way more sibling-y than S1, and since I am only here for the sibling feels (and the aesthetic--I LOVE the production design and music choices), that made me so happy. We got to see new pairings interacting (I never expected Luther and Five to be so fun together, for instance), some great new characters, and the plot hung together relatively well. There were lots of fun lines, banter, and sibling bonding moments (the scene with Klaus and the girls in the salon just left me grinning so huge). And everything zips along without feeling too rushed, which is a rare balance to find.
My favoritest characters are Five and Klaus, with Diego, Allison (moving up from S1 when she didn't have much to do), Lila, and Ben right below them in the second tier. Then in last place Luther and Vanya. I still care about Luther and Vanya, I just don't have as extreme of feelings about them.
This season, I absolutely ADORED Ray and the rest of Allison's Civil Rights group. Sissy was totally wonderful. I actually really enjoyed the Swedes, too. Being in the 60s gave us a great aesthetic and some time to explore some interesting social dynamics. And seeing more of Sir Reginald was fun, as was meeting Grace. I just have a lot of feelings about Diego's love for his mom, so seeing him interact with Grace was wonderful. The Dave stuff absolutely gutted me--I really hope that we find out that in this timeline, he doesn't die in Vietnam. Even if he can't be with Klaus, I still want him to have a good life and find happiness with a man who loves him. What a sweet baby.
All of those positive things said, there are a few aspects of the show that made me very uncomfortable.
+ Diego keeps using words like “cabal” and “lizard people” and it’s like HELLO ANTISEMITISM. I get that within this world there really is a secret society running everything and it has nothing to do with Jewish people at all, but still, we do not need those things put out into the real world.
+ Vanya being electrocuted by the FBI dudes. Um, a queer person being electrocuted is NOT a good look, show.
+ like Ranya says, it’s very clear that the women (Allison and Vanya) and the queer character (Vanya and Klaus) have to suffer more than the other characters and none of them have happy endings with their romantic interests. *sigh*
+ I was also really sick of the Asian guy being completely underdeveloped and really an afterthought, but the writers really came through for Ben in the second half of the season, so hopefully going forward we'll get to see him be as fully developed as his siblings.
The show could also do with some tighter editing; too many of the scenes go on for too long. This show also thinks I care more about the fight scenes than I do.
Now back to some random things I loved:
+ I was so relieved to see Ben in the end. I was so scared he was gone for good right when we were finally getting to know him! And he's corporeal again which means we get to see him interact with others!
+ Klaus and the girls in the salon. The summary of their romantic failures, the dancing! SO CUTE!
+ KLAUS'S CULT. I even ignore the fact that it was anachronistic because it was so much damn fun.
+ Five is so convinced that Diego and Luther are both really dumb and...they are. They are so dumb. I love them.
+ Diego and Lila being super married right away. What a great ship!!!!
+ Just good ships all around! Allison/Ray was WONDERFUL and so was Vanya/Sissy. Even Ben/Jill was super sweet!
+ I like that even though, once again, Vanya almost destroyed the world, it wasn't her fault this time. I'm still not sure how I feel about her arc in S1 (I think they went a little too far in having her kill Pogo and also random standers-by. The Leonard thing I can let go in the same way I let go the fact that Five is a mass murderer. My moral approach to this show is very loose but there are lines for me) but this season I felt a lot better about her. The actress who played Sissy is wonderfully charismatic and I think really helped humanize Vanya a lot.
+ The way Lila's upbringing echoes the Hargreeves' and how they automatically are eager to welcome her into their family. (Though where was she in the last scene???? I assume she's got something she wants to clean up at the Commission, but I hope she's back with the others soon!!!!)
+ Klaus calling himself sexy trash. SO ACCURATE. I love me a disaster bi.
+ Old man!Five is kind of underwhelming, but that just makes me appreciate young!Five's actor even more. Give that kid a zillion Emmys. He's so good!
+ The scene where Allison is being pursued and ran into the salon and the women there immediately rallied around to protect her moved me a lot. They took her in without any hesitation because they know what it's like to be a black woman and be scared.
+ Their dad is LITERALLY an alien. I am amused by that.
+ I hate Diego's hair. He's so much hotter with it short. But the Antonia Banderas line was hilarious.
I might update this as I think of other things I especially loved.
An aside: I looked on AO3 to see what the big characters/ships are, and I was absolutely shocked to see so much Five/Vanya since they, like, barely interacted at all and when they did it felt not at all shippy. However, I seem to remember that at the beginning of S1, she was the only one who held out hope for him coming back, so maybe that was why? I'm going back to watch the first half of S1 because I've forgotten so much, so maybe that will shed some light on this inexplicably pairing.
Now. Does anyone have any fic recs?
And if you have posts about the season that I missed, let me know!
no subject
Yeah, the pacing was so much better this season. Really made a difference.
Old man!Five is kind of underwhelming, but that just makes me appreciate young!Five's actor even more. Give that kid a zillion Emmys. He's so good!
Agree! It's a shame the older Five doesn't match up to the younger, but it was still a lot of fun to see him plotting against himself.
The scene where Allison is being pursued and ran into the salon and the women there immediately rallied around to protect her moved me a lot. They took her in without any hesitation because they know what it's like to be a black woman and be scared.
+1 Allison and Ray in general were great.
no subject
IT SO DID. It never felt like something I just had to sit through to get to the good stuff, you know? The whole thing was enjoyable.
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Wonderful! They would all help him get adjusted to the good place. Maybe he even meets his crush.