The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 4 Review: The Majestic 12

Reviews, Television, The Umbrella Academy

More reunions. More betrayal. A couple of fights. A little romance and party crashing. The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 4 had a lot going on!

Sure enough, one of my predictions about Lila and the Handler turned out to be true. The Commission killed Lila’s parents, and The Handler took Lila in and raised her as her own.

The Handler didn’t just raise her as a daughter but as a soldier.

She’s definitely up to something, though. She’s had an ax to grind with Five since the beginning, but now she tells Lila to protect him at all costs. 

Even Lila is confused. Lila and The Handler have a Stockholm Syndrome relationship because she is definitely loyal to her.

Handler: If you want to kill somebody, why don’t you kill Diego?
Lila: No.
Handler: Are you sure, darling? I’m sure it will make you feel better.

It seems she may actually care for Diego. When offered the chance to kill him, Lila turned it down.

Lila also *technically* didn’t lie to Diego about her parents being killed. She still can’t be trusted, though.

We knew it when Lila first showed up, tagging along with Diego on his mental institution breakout, and apparently, Five knows it, too.

Oldtimer Five has a little bit more healthy skepticism than his brother does and calls Lila out.

Five: Cut the crap, all right? My dimwitted brother might buy your bullshit, but I don’t trust you for a second.
Lila: Oh, ye of little faith.
Five: Stick it up your ass.

Five knows Lila can’t be trusted, but does he suspect she’s with the Commission? Yet another mystery to be solved.

I suspect even though Lila stuck to her mission of protecting Five instead of helping out Diego (who was fighting TWO people as opposed to the one Five was up against), she will find herself at a crossroads.

Crazy and traitorous though she is, Lila and Diego (Liego?) have a connection. She might very well find herself questioning her allegiance.

If she actually does choose Diego over The Handler, will he even get over the betrayal? Unlikely. Even if he somehow does, his family (namely, Five) will not.

Diego isn’t the only one having to deal with betrayal, either. 

Ray seems to think Allison was paid by Dallas PD or some other organization to infiltrate and spy on his civil rights plans. 

Truly his thoughts aren’t that far-fetched. They’re wrong, but it’s possible for him. As he said, Allison dropped out of the sky one day (quite literally) out of nowhere. Now police officers are listening to her?

It doesn’t help her case that he’s just met, not one, but TWO WHITE brothers of hers. It all looks quite suspicious.

Raymond tries to get her to tell him the truth. You can see he wants to give her a chance, but she won’t speak up.

Allison is obviously in a hard place, but if she wants to make her marriage work, she would tell Ray everything.

Then again, maybe she doesn’t actually want things to work with Raymond after all.

Allison: Luther, I never gave up on you, any of you. I just assumed Five would come back eventually, but the last time he jumped–
Luther: Yeah, he was gone for years.
Allison: I just, I needed something to hold onto, and Ray gave me that.

According to her, Ray was just “something to hold onto” while she waited on Five to come back. So what does that say about her marriage?

If Ray heard her say that, he’d pack his things. Or he should, at least. She basically said he was just a placeholder.

Was Luther her true love and Ray just someone to keep her bed warm while she waited on Luther to return? It kind of seems that way. Maybe Luther wasn’t pining away for no reason, after all.

Luther himself seems to be making amends and reconnecting with his family. It was a relief for he and Allison to relay to each other how everyone made it alive.

He even seemed to have come to terms with Allison’s marriage.

It was hard, right? Losing everyone and getting stuck here? I’m glad you weren’t alone.

Luther

HIs next step was with Vanya. Stronger and smarter than they anticipated, she knew Five left something out about what happened in 2019.

Luther spills the beans, and Vanya took it surprisingly well. Sure, she blew up the moon, but she seems much more capable of handling that news now.

Five wasn’t too sure himself if it would be a good idea to tell her and with good reason.

Vanya: Were you even gonna tell me?
Five: You know what? In my defense, no, alright?! And can you blame me? When you get angry, shit blows up.

Things are different now, though. Vanya feels loved and has people she cares about. People are being honest with her for once. 

These small changes (over just a month) have clearly made a difference in the management of her powers.

The powers come in handy when she gets back to the farm, and Harlan runs off after hearing she wants to leave them.

Vanya rushes after him and finds him at the bottom of a lake. (Small complaint: She was maybe a minute behind him. How did he drown so fast?)

Time questions aside, this was a great scene where we see Vanya deliberately channel her powers for the first time since arriving in Dallas. 

Her heroics just rose more questions, however. 

What really happened to Harlan? Did Vanya somehow heal him when giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? Did he already have this “light” inside of him lying dormant? If so, does any of this have anything to do with why he doesn’t talk?

Vanya’s time with this family might prove to be more than just a convenient shelter for her.

Harlan aside, there definitely is more on that farm for Vanya in the form of Sissy.

Sissy and Vanya (Sanya? Vissy?) have been giving off secret lover vibes since the beginning. Longing stares, long hugs, soft touches. The two have definitely grown to care for one another.

It was heartbreaking hearing Sissy plead with Vanya not to leave her. She was panicking, even offering to run away (without Carl) together. 

Sissy finally broke down and said how she really felt.

Your life gets small. A little smaller every day. You don’t even notice the box that you’re in… until someone comes along and lets you out. You tell me… how you let her go.

Sissy

How could Vanya turn her away? Sissy and Harlan have been Vanya’s safe haven since she’s been in Dallas. She loves them like family.

One thing that is unclear is whether Sissy truly loves Vanya or if she’s just acting out because she’s unhappy with her home life. 

A husband who doesn’t see her and a son who doesn’t speak to her. Sissy could just be using Vanya for the attention and devotion she’s not receiving from her family.

Leaving your husband for a woman is not something easily done in the 1960s. Homophobia was even more rampant, especially in the South.

Klaus saw that firsthand.

The poor guy just wanted to convince Dave not to join the army, so he doesn’t die in the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, they are joined by Brian, Dave’s homophobic uncle.

You know, pink can actually be very masculine in the right setting.

Klaus

Brian is visibly disgusted with Klaus’s presence. He taunts and bullies Dave into punching “the queer.”

Dave looked upset with himself, but he obviously is an impressionable kid who does what he’s told. Whether that be gay-bashing, committing a hate crime, or killing himself in a war.

That, unfortunately, was a breaking point for Klaus. He’d done so well with keeping up with his sobriety up until this point. 

Getting punched in the face by the only man he’s ever loved as a result of self-hate homophobia was too much.

Ben: You really want to throw three years of sobriety out of the window?
Klaus: In case you didn’t notice, the last three years have been a royal shitshow.

Ben tried, but failed at stopping Klaus. How did Klaus make it three years sober (when he most likely thought his family was dead) and throw it all away now?

Heartbreak can do that to you.

Diego experienced a sort of heartbreak himself.

No one was as close to their mother as Diego. Diego loved Grace, even though she was a robot. 

Seeing her again was both a relief and a disappointment, followed by a little disgust (she was at the party as Reginald’s date).

Was Reginald in love with this Grace in the 1960s? Is that why he modeled The Umbrella Academy’s robot mother after her. She was clearly very significant to Reginald.

There were too many blasts from the past for Diego. First, Reginald beats him up. Now he sees his “mom” who also has no idea who he might be.

Diego isn’t alone in shocking reunions, as Five finally sees Reginald after 45 years.

Trying to get Reginald’s attention as he gets in his car to leave, Five yells out some message in Ancient Greek.

Sir Reginald seemed to recognize whatever it was Five said, although he gave no indication of it. Was it something he taught them as children? Or was it something Five learned in his travels?

Reginald and this “Majestic Twelve” are very clearly up to no good.

Five hears them mention President Kennedy is making inquiries into Roswell and other “crash sites.” They don’t want him in their business, so have made plans for his assassination.

Conspiracy theorists unite! This is exactly the kind of thing people have conspired about for years. Kennedy supposedly stuck his nose in things he shouldn’t have, and forces other than Lee Harvey Oswald killed him.

In The Umbrella Academy’s universe, this may very well have been the case.

We know in season one, Five was tasked by The Commission with a mission surrounding JFK’s assassination. He actually jumped back in time to his family right before carrying out the task.

Whether Five was supposed to shoot Kennedy himself or stop whoever did it is unclear. We can only assume the questions around that will be solved during the remainder of the season.

Over to you, Fanatics! Was Kennedy murdered to cover up the presence of aliens? To whom do you think Lila will stay loyal?

Do Sissy and Vanya have a future? What about Allison and Raymond (or Luther)? Sound off in the comments, and share your thoughts!

Berea Orange is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.

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