The Umbrella Academy – Season 4 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Six Years, Five Months and Two Days

Episode 5 of Umbrella Academy season 4 starts with Five and Lila jumping through to alternate timelines, becoming more and more disillusioned over time. They spend years looking for their way home, marking off each station as they go. The pair grow up together, living a dysfunctional life but getting on like a house on fire.

The pair try to stay positive but by year six, they’re still in the stations and eventually decide to take a few days off to chill and unwind. In doing so, the duo end up hooking up together properly. Lila tells him not to be weird, given what they’re doing doesn’t feel wrong.

At the station again, Five find a notebook on the tracks which belongs to him. It’s stashed underneath on the side and it includes a way to get themselves back home. Five shows this to Lila after five months and she’s shocked that he would have kept this from her all this time.

Lila claims that what they have is just survival, rather than a real future, as she wants to look after her kids and return to her family. While Five wants to remain in this blissful ignorance, Lila has her key to get home and decides to use it.

Back in the present, Klaus tries to get out of his situation and enlists the help of Thunderbolt, the dog whose grave he’s in. Allison and Claire manage to find Quinn, and torture him for information. They show at the graveyard soon after, follow Thunderbolt’s barking, and bust Klaus out.

Viktor and Reggie drive together to try and save Ben and Jennifer. They show up at the motel they’ve been holding out in, and find the destruction left in their wake. According to Reggie, this is just “Phase 1” as the pair are only going to get more destructive over time.

Ben and Jennifer can’t keep their hands off each other and there are some nice little nods to Carmichael here, including a goldfish bowl in the motel reception area and a hanging air freshener in the car they share. Viktor rings Ben, who picks up a payphone and tries to point out what the Cleanse is and how it’s going to get worse. Ben though, refuses to listen as he’s finally happy, and he hangs up on them. Viktor refuses to give up hope though, despite Reggie’s insistent doubts, and the pair double their efforts to try and find him.

Meanwhile, Diego and Luther are shown around the CIA and handed over to an agent called Bud. Luther believes they should go back to finding Ben, realizing the place is full of CIA rejects in the basement. We’ve even got agents drinking on the sly. Diego refuses to see the truth, until he talks to Bud who reveals how all these agents are an embarrassment.

Luther heads on up to the Director’s office but he’s caught red-handed while looking for information. However, on their way down, he notices the umbrella tattoo on the director’s wrist. He’s one of the Keepers. After grabbing reinforcements, they all fight in the elevator but Luther knocks them all out. Diego and Luther are forced to fight their way through the basement, and naturally they have their clothes off too during the skirmish.

Jean and Gene talk to Danny Muntz afterwards, who takes control of the situation in the diner. Gene doesn’t like Muntz and he threatens the guy with a gun until he leaves.

Meanwhile, Viktor and Reggie walk right into an ambush while following Ben and Jennifer. Victor uses his powers to stop the Keepers and keep them going on this path, but it’s definitely touch and go for a while. On the road again, Reggie admits that he was wrong and Viktor is an asset to the team after all.

As for Ben and Jennifer, they both find themselves struggling to contain the power they hold inside. Backdropped by this is Muntz, who finds Gene outside and stabs him. As fate would have it, Muntz is actually Abigail and after killing Gene, assumes his identity and heads on inside to see the Keepers. However, word reaches the group that Ben and Jennifer have been found. They play the song, as everything looks set to kick off in a big way.

The Episode Review

The penultimate episode to Umbrella Academy sets everything up for a dramatic finale to follow but in doing so, sees so much pointless busywork throughout the season. Given we only have 6 episodes, there’s really not been a lot to write home about if I’m honest. Diego, Luther, Allison and Klaus’ storylines could be removed completely and you’d lose absolutely nothing from the main storyline.

It’s almost as if the writers couldn’t decide what to do with these guys and just went for whatever they thought would pad out he run-time best. This season has been crying out for a character death or two to really up the stakes because as we approach the finale, there’s really not been anywhere near as much tension and suspense as seasons past.

The storyline involving the Keepers is pretty good though, all things considered, but this show is a far cry from the heights it once had all those season ago. It’s a shame but the writing definitely suffers here. Hopefully things improve for the finale and this one bows out on a high.