The Umbrella Academy - Spoilers Allowed *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[BartonHollow]

Watched the first four of this so far. Very quirky and Wes Andersonish but the music is brilliantly done, and it's very original even within the superhero genre

Was Vanya killing all those nannies in rage? Father seemed really unconcerned about individual deaths, but very concerned about the apocalypse. If he's an alien that would make it understandable that he didn't care that much about individual humans dying, but then why would he care about all humans dying.

Although, I suppose most of us are not too worried about an individual bee dying but a lot of us are worried that they might go extinct, perhaps we are like bees to Father.

He was fixated on the day they would be called upon to save the day

Perhaps as an alien he had foreknowledge it would come but by that stage he'd alienated all but Luther anyway, and basically sent him away on a futile errand because he was a constant reminder he'd failed.

He managed his own death remember? Suicide with the help of Pogo and Grace to force the remaining children back together

Yes, definitely very focussed on the apocalypse, but still a bit callous about the dead nannies. I wonder how those job adverts were worded, 'Seven beautiful and unusually talented children. Perfect for a nanny looking for a challenge. High pay, possible death.'

Ah, I didn't realise Hargeeves was an alien. That makes sense. When he released the lights from the jar, did they somehow become the children that were born on the same day?
I couldn't decide at first if we were supposed to think the nanny deaths were accidental or deliberate. But I think they were deliberate because Vanya knew she could focus in on the noise of the kettle and use that to power a surge. When she realised it didn't work with Grace, she stopped using her power.
I guess that's why he didn't try to teach Vanya how to control her power because it wasn't just about lack of control, it was about her deciding to unleash it when she was unhappy (eg with the nannies) bored (when she hurt him with the glasses).

Maybe Harold seeing his own planet die made him utterly fixated on trying to save earth - to the point he killed himself to bring the children back together to save the day?

Maybe the Consortium were involved in his planet's destruction too?

I think there's a link to the exodus from that planet and all the births yes

But he tried to get as many of the children as possible and only got 7

Have the other 40 odd got powers

They must do

Harold is Leonard

Reginald Hargreaves is the alien

I got the impression (from somewhere) not all the 40 odd children survived

I also think Vanya wasn’t purposefully killing the nannies - I think it was the superpower equivalent of a kid pushing away a spoon when they don’t want to eat (they only went flying when the spoon got close) and the noise around her also caused the power surge
Reggie’s reaction to these incidents did seem quite understated though I agree!

Sorry I meant Reginald (dog)

DOH even

I'm on episode 7 and sort of gripped but sort of finding them all really annoying.

In a way, Vanya killing Leonard and causing the end of the world proved Hargreeves right.
Although if Five hadn't come back to try save the world then it might not have ended at all because in the alternate episode, Vanya found the dad's diary before she'd killed anyone or knew about her powers. She might still have killed Leonard but that wouldn't have been a big loss

I think they are all quite annoying baking, a lot of the storyline is driven by their deficiencies rather than their powers.

I think that's the point though Black

It's Emo X Men

Yes, I saw and interview with Gerard Way and he was talking about how it is sort of the opposite of most comic genres, where superheroes become stronger when they group together and they are generally supportive of each other. This lot spend most of their time squabbling and criticising each other when they're together. I like the darkness of it.

I find Vanya the least likeable though, the others are fairly messed up but they do have some empathy, Vanya is all about poor her.

I think the reason Vanya is all poor her, is exposition device over character because her alienation and isolation that leads to her exploding needs to be understood by the reader/viewer

It's not like she can be well I had this crappy, extremely abusive childhood but hey I wrote a book and I'm fine now

It doesn't fit the narrative arc

I suppose that she has been taking emotional suppressants for so long that she probably only has toddler/teenager ability to manage her emotions. So really she can't help slicing open her sister's throat or turning her (ex) boyfriend into a pin-cushion, but she could be sorry about it afterwards or shocked at what she did (ok, maybe not sorry about the boyfriend). I accidentally ran over a squirrel a couple of years ago (my huge power was a big car, the squirrel was fatally stupid but innocent), I couldn't prevent it but I did at least feel a bit sorry for the squirrel afterwards.

I'll see how I feel about her if there is a second series. If her attitude is that she's shocked that she's destroyed the world and she wants to find a way to atone and work to control her emotions in the future, then fine. If she's all "I couldn't help it, nobody understands me, the world deserved to die because I'm unhappy" then I will continue to find her a bit of a pain in the neck.

I wonder if the next season will tell us what changed in their history that means that they don't have computers or mobile phones.

Well I do know Kennedy didn't die so that's the difference

Computers existed before Kennedy died. Not personal computers but big mainframe things that lived in their own rooms.

Has anyone watched Altered Carbon? It's by the same bloke.

@ikiboo I struggled with Altered Carbon, I watched a few episodes and ditched it. Maybe I need to give it another go!

I watched Altered Carbon also - all of it

But I found it a massive struggle

And although S2 is coming I don't know if I remember well enough what actually happened in S1 to be able to pick up where I left off

Takeshi is wearing an Anthony Mackie sleeve this year though I do know that

I loved Altered Carbon, I loved the books too. I think it's nearly two decades since I read the books, so watching the show was like coming to it new. (I've just checked my Amazon account and I ordered Altered Carbon in 2003, so quite a while ago.)

I'm looking forward to S2, but I might rewatch S1 first. That's what I did with Expanse because it was so complicated.

Hang on Kennedy didn't die? But i thought we heard shots and hear the radio/tv commentator saying he wasn't. When didn't he die?