Season One Talk: The Umbrella Academy

[Stardancer Supreme]

8 hours ago, LadyPenelope said:

I’ve just finished watching - loved the whole thing and can’t wait for season 2, but I too couldn’t bear Vanya. She was just so dull throughout, which makes sense for somebody whose defining characteristic is ‘ordinary’, but wasn’t hugely fun to watch. 

However, I might be the odd one out here because I loved Luther - I thought he was utterly adorable and all the little moments of him trying to fit into small spaces made me very happy. I liked all of the others - I wasn’t sure about Diego to start but the stuttering and his relationship with his mother won me over - actually, I was on board with all of the relationships - loved Luther and Allison, loved Hazel and the donut lady, loved Five and Dolores (I was impressed by how expressive that mannequin was in their final scene!). I think I just loved the show. Except Vanya. Oh, and douchebag Leonard.

I could handwave Vanya's dullness due to the fact that she was drugged damn near all her life.  If Season 2 starts with the siblings starting over with their current knowledge, Vanya should be a bit more alive.

A few more nitpicks upon rewatch:

Why was Luther so focused on Reginald's monocle? Why did Diego take it just to chuck it in the river? Maybe Luther wanted it as a memento?

When Agnes closed her donut shop, why did she leave donuts on the shelves? That struck me when Cha Cha came to burn the place down.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I couldn't understand why injecting Luther (or anyone) with chimp serum would rescue him from the brink of death.

I don't know if we're supposed to talk about the comic books here so I'll put this in spoiler tags:

Spoiler

In the comics, Reginald transplants Luther's head onto the body of a Martian Gorilla after an accident. His Martian Gorilla body enables him to live on the moon so long as he wears a helmet on his head.

I for one did not mind Ellen Page as Vanya. I knew all along we'd eventually get a revelation she had powers. I did wonder what kind of doctor and/or pharmacy would continue to prescribe whatever medication she was taking indefinitely without regular checkups.

Quote

I'm not excusing what 4 year old Vanya did, but the fault lies with Reginald. When kids do something wrong, you tell them it's wrong, you explain why, and you tell them what they can do better the next time. You don't just say their name exasperatedly and then get a new nanny.

To be fair, the vignette was meant as a shorthand. Clearly Reginald did try to teach her right and wrong, hence the reprimand in each instance. We didn't get the conversation but the rebuke itself means there was one. I think the fact that he kept giving her second, third and fourth chances demonstrates that he did as much as he could before he finally gave up on her.

[koganei]

On 3/4/2019 at 7:48 AM, Zanne said:

What I've been left wondering about is all the children that Reginald did not adopt. Are there 30+ super-powered people out there with no training in their gifts? Are they secretly heroes or villains? Did they have no powers and he knew that which is why he never sought them out? I want to know about them!

yeah, i wish we see more of them too

maybe some of them are even more powerful than Vanya

[krankydoodle]

Unless I missed something, it seemed like the Umbrella Academy kids are the only ones in the world to have superpowers so I would've thought that people would be all over them for the rest of their lives. But it looks like no one recognizes them when they're out and about. Even when Allison wins over the cop for the ride-along, he's impressed by her celebrity as an actor and not because of her power. I would expect people to be afraid of her and seek out Klaus in hopes of contacting dead loved ones. Diego is still wearing a domino mask like they had when they were kids and apparently works as a vigilante regularly, but the home invaders still don't seem to know who he is. And Luther lived on the moon! Does no one else in the world know about that? I thought it would turn out that he had been lied to again and was just living in a simulation created by his father.

As awful as I felt for the kids, I felt even worse for Pogo. I'm not sure if they explicitly said so, but it seemed like Reginald enhanced him so we was more human-like. Being the only one of his kind, presumably not being able to go out much (if at all), and being stuck with just Reginald and a robot for years must have been rough to put it mildly.

I really wanted to like this, but thought it had a lot of issues and found it disappointing overall. Aidan Gallagher as Number Five was great casting, though, and one of the best things about the show.   

[hoopznyo]

19 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

Unless I missed something, it seemed like the Umbrella Academy kids are the only ones in the world to have superpowers so I would've thought that people would be all over them for the rest of their lives. But it looks like no one recognizes them when they're out and about.  

Especially since people were gathered outside the house with signs when they were kids. And there was that tell all book.

[theatremouse]

1 hour ago, krankydoodle said:

Unless I missed something, it seemed like the Umbrella Academy kids are the only ones in the world to have superpowers so I would've thought that people would be all over them for the rest of their lives. But it looks like no one recognizes them when they're out and about. Even when Allison wins over the cop for the ride-along, he's impressed by her celebrity as an actor and not because of her power. I would expect people to be afraid of her and seek out Klaus in hopes of contacting dead loved ones.

It's not clear to me whether even when they were famous if the public knew exactly what their powers were, or just that they had them and went around saving the day. If they were framed just as super people, but the specifics weren't out, I could see how once they stopped being a super team, their fame would fade. In fact I think part of that is a commentary on how fame can fade. Alison became an actress and is now famous for that, but the siblings without the branding of the group, went and did something else. It's sort of like how super major fans can probably name all the Osmonds, but most people now could probably name Donnie and Marie (because they still actively work in entertainment) but not the rest of them at all. It's different because it's heroes and not singers, but that's the gist I think. 

[blueray]

I think that as they became teenagers they stopped making public appearances. They all started to slowly leave and do something else (especially after they turned 18). The public probably forgot what they looked like so wouldn't recognize them on the street as adults. Alison is the exception but she is known as an actress not a superhero.

[koganei]

why everyone hates Luther?

[krankydoodle]

15 hours ago, theatremouse said:

It's not clear to me whether even when they were famous if the public knew exactly what their powers were, or just that they had them and went around saving the day. If they were framed just as super people, but the specifics weren't out, I could see how once they stopped being a super team, their fame would fade.

It seemed like they went on missions for at least a few years and Luther's and especially Ben's powers would be hard to hide. I don't know, but if a few people with powers of any sort are born into a world without them, I'd think it would be hard for everyone else to ever let that go.

Even if they didn't have powers, I'd expect them to be followed if only for the way they came into the world. There'd be people who'd see them as a sign of the end times, or messiahs, or whatever.

To be fair, we aren't shown that much about the rest of the world. IIRC, we don't know the circumstances of the flashback to Reginald's origins, so maybe weird things happen sometimes and this is just one among many.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I Think We're Alone Now:

 

Klaus' best lines (according to Netflix):

[blueray]

That didn't even have my favorite line of Kauis is "maybe they are here for kenny's birthday". Just the way he said it made me laugh.

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, krankydoodle said:

It seemed like they went on missions for at least a few years and Luther's and especially Ben's powers would be hard to hide.

This reminds me, what exactly is Luther's power? Super strength?

[hypnotoad]

Quote

I thought Ellen Page was the weakest link in the cast. I'm sorry but the actress playing Vanya needed a little more oomph and Page was just doing her usual emo hipster schtick.

Yes, she was doing her usual emo hipster thing but I thought it was appropriate for the character. Vanya was a whiner but if the others had issues with dad for their reasons, she certainly had valid reasons to hate him for always keeping her separate and alone. I loved it when she had her powers.

My least favorite character was Luther. Yikes - talk about boring. And his stupid solution for Vanya? Ugghh. I wasn't always thrilled with Allison either but I think she redeemed herself.

Klaus was my favorite. OMG he was awesome. I also very much enjoyed Hazel and Cha Cha.

I am looking forward to season 2 ... if it happens.

Edited March 10, 2019 by hypnotoad

[chaifan]

I was on the fence about watching this at all - the premise didn't really excite me - but I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.  I was not happy with the ending at all - I think the time jump 2nd chance at redoing everything is a bit lame.  And it leaves us with what in Season 2?  Starting everything over?  Constantly second guessing what they're doing?  meh.

Like many others noted, I'm also very curious about all the other babies born on the same day.  Is there any connection between these babies and the little lights released from the jar in the flash back scene with Reginald's wife?  How did Reginald know these 7 had powers?  Do any of the other babies have powers?  And exactly what kind of compensation did the families get - most families, unless in the most dire of circumstances - don't just sell their children, no matter what the price. 

I loved the setting of the house.  Loved the grand foyer, the main room with the bar, the mezzanine level.  But it bugged me that the kids' bedrooms were soooo tiny and gloomy. 

If Grace doesn't have a bedroom, where does she keep all her lovely outfits?

My biggest question, which no one else seems to have commented on, is just how did they figure out Allison's power?  It's one thing if she can influence simply by making a statement, but how exactly did they figure out her power is invoked with "I heard a rumor..."?  I mean, it's not exactly an ordinary phrase for a little kid, and she had it by age 4 (and those kids looked at least 6 years old, not 4). 

And I sort of get the other children more or less forgetting about Vanya's powers, if they were truly 4 when all that went down.  But they don't remember her killing 3 nannies?  I'd think that would have stuck.

In the end, it's a comic book, so I suppose there's a lot of hand waiving to do.  5 made the show for me, with Klaus & Ben running a close second.  I'm with others who detested the whole Cha Cha and Hazel story line. 

ETA:  To the Mods:  for shows that dump all at once, please set up separate episode threads!  With one thread you have to wait until you've seen the whole series to be able to come here to read anything, for fear of spoilers.  Just think - you could promise your advertisers 10x the viewers if there were separate threads!

Edited March 11, 2019 by chaifan
Added a plea to the mods for separate episode threads

[meep.meep]

Leonard Peabody was born on the same day as the Umbrella kids.  He didn't have any powers other than being creepy.

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, chaifan said:

And I sort of get the other children more or less forgetting about Vanya's powers, if they were truly 4 when all that went down.  But they don't remember her killing 3 nannies?  I'd think that would have stuck.

Reginald/Pogo/Grace probably just lied to them about it. Or Vanya didn't actually kill the nannies. I know some posters here thought she didn't kill them and honestly it wasn't super clear to me either way.

8 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Leonard Peabody was born on the same day as the Umbrella kids.  He didn't have any powers other than being creepy.

But he wasn't born to someone who hadn't been pregnant before that day. It was a normal birth.

[theatremouse]

The others weren't in the room when Vanya attacked the nannies so there's no reason for the other kids to remember anything about that other than "Ms. So and so doesn't work here anymore." 

[Etta Place]

8 hours ago, chaifan said:

 Is there any connection between these babies and the little lights released from the jar in the flash back scene with Reginald's wife?  How did Reginald know these 7 had powers? 

....

ETA:  To the Mods:  for shows that dump all at once, please set up separate episode threads!  With one thread you have to wait until you've seen the whole series to be able to come here to read anything, for fear of spoilers.  Just think - you could promise your advertisers 10x the viewers if there were separate threads!

In my house, we thought that maybe the firefly type things could have been whatever caused the pregnancies. It would have taken a while for them to take effect, or maybe in that flashback Reginald was actually on another planet or timeline in the same time period of the pregnancies. 

I’m torn on the issue of separate threads. I would love it, personally, because it will take me weeks to watch a show and it sucks not to be able to discuss it or read anything here till I’m done with the season. But in the shows that I’ve seen where the season is released at once and there are episode threads, the only one that gets more than a comment or two is the last one. Maybe it would make sense to have them grouped instead- like episodes 1-3, 4-6, 7-10?

[Ruby Gillis]

14 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Leonard Peabody was born on the same day as the Umbrella kids.  He didn't have any powers other than being creepy.

But his mother had a regular pregnancy right?  She didn't suddenly inflate like the superpowered mothers?

[blueray]

Quote

ETA:  To the Mods:  for shows that dump all at once, please set up separate episode threads!  With one thread you have to wait until you've seen the whole series to be able to come here to read anything, for fear of spoilers.  Just think - you could promise your advertisers 10x the viewers if there were separate threads!

I agree. As seen by my first post, I had to go on this thread and not read it as I was afraid of spoilers. But I was curious if other's just saw him as Nathan.  I didn't come back again until I finished it. I would posted/read after each episode or so which would have been more fun.

[tennisgurl]

I would assume that, if a bunch of babies around the world were suddenly birthed by women who hadn't been pregnant, that scientists around the world would be all over those moms and babies, especially if any of the other kids started exhibiting powers. I wonder if government scientists picked up any of the babies, or if they would have taken the kids if Reginald hadn't gotten there first? 

Maybe thats where some of the other babies went, and they were raised as experiments in a lab somewhere? Plot for season two? 

[pootlus]

21 hours ago, Etta Place said:

Maybe it would make sense to have them grouped instead- like episodes 1-3, 4-6, 7-10?

I like this idea if we can't have separate threads for each episode.  I had to stop reading the thread until I'd seen the entire season, which meant that I forgot some things that I meant to post about (I have a shocking short-term memory).

[tennisgurl]

I would love to have threads by episode, or a few episodes per thread. I have a lot to say about so many individual episodes and things, and its hard to do that with just the one thread, as wonderful as this thread may be. So much goes on in every episode, it would be cool to have a place to talk about it in more depth.

[formerlyfreedom]

Decisions made regarding the forum update were made by the site admins; if you have questions, please feel free to post in the Bugs, Questions and Suggestions topic to bring it to their attention.

Let's please get back to the show. Thank you.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

My tip for these one topic per show threads like Umbrella Academy: feel free to post your thoughts after each episode without reading the previous posts. I know it goes against my old school message board training which says you should read every post before replying, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I scroll down to the end of the thread and post after each episode. After I finished watching the entire season, I went back and read all of the other posts in the thread.

Warning: I was once accidentally spoiled when I did this in another thread (my laptop got hung up while I was scrolling down) so now I hold my hand over the screen while I scroll down to make sure I don't accidentally read anything!

It was tempting to start reading the previous posts when shit started hitting the fan on Umbrella Academy but I really didn't want to be spoiled so I resisted the urge.

[A Beaverhausen]

On 3/5/2019 at 12:09 AM, ShellsandCheese said:

I really enjoyed the series but I thought Ellen Page was the weakest link in the cast. I'm sorry but the actress playing Vanya needed a little more oomph and Page was just doing her usual emo hipster schtick. She was my least favorite character, and I was hoping by the third episode that she would just go away, lol. They had a really jacked up childhood; they had a robot for a "mom" for goodness sakes and a talking chimp as a butler. Their dad purchased them and turned Number One / Luther into a partial ape. And Vanya was all woe is me, dad always told me I was so normal and I wasn't special. Truth is Vanya was simply someone who couldn't hack it in real life. And Ellen Page was probably the worst possible actress to play the character. 

I thought that Mary J Blige was by far the weakest link. I hate stunt casting in general but here it was showcased in sharp relief. Her delivery was wooden (yes I know that superhero shows have wooden dialogue, but she never rose above hers). I wish they had given that part to an actual actor, because for me she was a big speed bump in the action. 

[Anela]

21 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Warning: I was once accidentally spoiled when I did this in another thread (my laptop got hung up while I was scrolling down) so now I hold my hand over the screen while I scroll down to make sure I don't accidentally read anything!

When I do this, I try to go to the main forum, then click on page one. Then you can reply without reading anything else. At least when there is more than one page.

[hoopznyo]

Can someone tell me how the stapler got in the bank robber's hand?

[theatremouse]

5 hours ago, hoopznyo said:

Can someone tell me how the stapler got in the bank robber's hand?

Five did his super-fast teleport-travel thing and swapped it faster than the robber could see him doing it.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I think that as they became teenagers they stopped making public appearances.

Yes, but - they're using the last name Hargreeves publicly. Allison identified herself as Allison Hargreeves. Isn't that a tip-off who they are/were? Certainly the world knew Sir Reginald Hargreeves was the Dean of the Umbrella Academy. He wasn't exactly publicity shy. Young Leonard knew who he was and where to find him, and so did all the paparazzi. Seems like the world should know that movie star Allison Hargreeves was also the Super Hero Allison/Rumor. 

[hoopznyo]

2 hours ago, theatremouse said:

Five did his super-fast teleport-travel thing and swapped it faster than the robber could see him doing it.

thanks

[islv]

I know this is insane, but if it weren’t for Allison seeing him, you could have said Leonard was just Vanyas imagination trying to get out.  The story about his normal birth, life as a single child and subsequent murder of her father could be her fantasy.  The scene where Reginald kicks Leonard out while the other children watch smugly, mirrors her life exactly.             

What if they wrote it that she is the one that found the book? She gets rid of her pills. She kills the first chair….

When she gets frustrated she can’t make the power come (thanks to Allison) she pays someone to beat her up, because she couldn’t do it to herself.  When she finds out Allison rumored her so she couldn’t get the powers she always deserved, she’s furious and kills her, because she is Leonard. When she realizes the truth, Leonard is her, he “disappears”.

She’s the most powerful one, maybe she’s the craziest too. 

There’s even a scene where Allison is talking to Vanya, and Vanya says “Leonard seemed real.”                 

Of course I know that’s not what happened…

 

I thought Vanya’s depression made her seem more real and different from most main characters.

I’m kinda surprised Reginald didn’t kill Vanya. I know I’m the worst person in the world for saying that, but I wouldn’t kill her, I just thought he’s the sort of a-hole that would. Especially if he knew she was going to cause the apocalypse.

Why did Allison tell her that? If Vanya is going nuts with a power, she just found out about, while she felt horrendously betrayed by everyone she knew, is now really a good time to mention, “Hey, I used my power, when you were four, to manipulate you into thinking you were worthless and it helped ruin your entire life. Sorry.” Maybe save that for later?

Also, what was Allison doing in Vanyas apartment when Leonard found her there?

[Fukui San]

I finished watching this a few days ago. I've read the comics a while back, and I enjoyed this quite a bit. The show channels the style of the comic to a surprising degree. It's amusing to hear some of the commentary here that imagines that things are explained more in the comics. I would like to tell you that the comics are even more bonkers than the series. It's like Superhero Mad Libs full of randomness for randomness sake. The first page features a pro wrestler giving an atomic flying elbow to a gigantic space squid in a wrestling ring. Neither are ever mentioned again. It's glorious madness, in my mind anyway, but there are no answers as to what happened to all the other kids, for example, at least not in the first two trades that have been published so far. The show has fleshed out what were honestly kind of quickly drawn superhero tropes rather than flesh and blood characters.

Anyway, if you want a spoiler clue as to what might be in store next season, see the spoiler below.

Spoiler

The main thrust of the second trade centers around the Kennedy Assassination. Number 5 has to make sure it happens, most of the others try to stop it. The interesting thing is that the first season of the show used characters and plotlines from the 2nd trade already. Hazel and Cha Cha don't appear until the 2nd Trade, Klaus' Vietnam experiences, and a lot of #5's story from the 2nd trade were used in Season 1. So we're very close to being in completely uncharted waters. There is a third trade coming out soon, apparently. Incidentally, in the comics the head of the Time Corps or whatever they call it isn't a sexy lady but a guy with a fishbowl for his head with a sentient fish inside it. #5 eventually eats the fish for revenge. Just a taste of how messed up the comics are.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Fukui San

[peachmangosteen]

9 hours ago, Fukui San said:

  Hide contents

Incidentally, in the comics the head of the Time Corps or whatever they call it isn't a sexy lady but a guy with a fishbowl for his head with a sentient fish inside it. #5 eventually eats the fish for revenge. 

Oh wow I love this lol. I wish they had done that in the show.

[Fukui San]

Correcting myself: I said that the third Trade of Umbrella Academy isn't out yet, and that's true, but the single issues that will comprise the third trade are largely out. So between what's left of the 2nd trade and the third trade I think the material that will be the basis of the 2nd Netflix Season is out there.

[Zuleikha]

I'm up through "The Day that Wasn't" but am thoroughly spoiled for what's going to happen. I like the show a lot, and it's nice that it's so different. But I find the pacing really frustrating. Because I'm spoiled I know how significant the Vanya plotline is, but it feels like a drag. I think Ellen Page is playing Vanya as Vanya is supposed to be, but Vanya's supposed to be a morose, self-pitying drip, which is not compelling! I also don't feel the like the show really established Vanya's exclusion. There were little glimpses, but all the kids seem pretty mistreated and isolated. We only saw the one flashback mission that showed the kids operating as a unit, and it seemed like a horrific experience for them (or at least Ben)! So I'm not really feeling the yay about Vanya's powers emerging that I think I'm supposed to, and if I weren't spoiled, I wouldn't have any reason to feel an "oh crap!" about it either.

Meanwhile, everything with Five/Hazel/Cha-Cha has such high stakes. I think it would have been better to know early on that Leonard is connected to the apocalypse so that we, like Allison, would be worried for Vanya. He so obviously couldn't just be a nice guy interested in Vanya that it's not worth keeping the confirmation of that reveal.

Klaus is compelling, but I don't understand how he was ever a member of the Umbrella Academy. I know he's scared of his power and thus hasn't fully mastered it, but that was true when he was young, too. All he can do is passively communicate with the dead. What on earth did he do in fights?

Allison/Luther is very weird! The show is twisted enough and their upbringing was twisted enough that I can buy the Hargreaves rationalizing the relationship as non-incestuous. But in the majority of the world, adopted siblings are siblings full stop. So it should at least be acknowledged! Also, the births were very weird and mysterious... just because they're unlikely to be full blood siblings, shouldn't they consider that they could well be half siblings? 

[revbfc]

What could have been really cool would have been to play up Vanya’s love of music.  Maybe she’s not the best, but at least show us her passion for playing.  All I got from her was that sitting with the orchestra was like sitting in an office cubicle, and that’s boring.  Classical music may be difficult for many to get into, but it’s not drudgery for those that love, and devote their lives to it.

[AnimeMania]

9 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

So I'm not really feeling the yay about Vanya's powers emerging that I think I'm supposed to, and if I weren't spoiled, I wouldn't have any reason to feel an "oh crap!" about it either.

The scene that bothered be about Vanya was the string of Nannies she had before Grace/mother. She didn't seem to care who she hurt with her powers. There didn't appear to be any "good guy" vs "bad guy" mentality to her use of her powers, although she did seem to have a great deal of fine motor control over her powers in the beginning. Maybe there was an emotional component that she couldn't overcome.

[blueray]

13 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

Klaus is compelling, but I don't understand how he was ever a member of the Umbrella Academy. I know he's scared of his power and thus hasn't fully mastered it, but that was true when he was young, too. All he can do is passively communicate with the dead. What on earth did he do in fights?

I think he served as the look out. Which is why he was doing it at the end when the go to the orchestra.

[pootlus]

On 3/18/2019 at 5:44 PM, Zuleikha said:

Klaus is compelling, but I don't understand how he was ever a member of the Umbrella Academy. I know he's scared of his power and thus hasn't fully mastered it, but that was true when he was young, too. All he can do is passively communicate with the dead. What on earth did he do in fights?

I agree he wouldn't be much use in fights - but really helpful in murder investigations!

[iMonrey]

It seemed like they were all trained in hand to hand combat in addition to whatever their super power was. Allison shouldn't have to fight at all, theoretically, but she was just as impressive as Diego in her fight scenes. I assume it's the same for Klaus.

[tennisgurl]

I assume that all the kids, save Vanya, got combat training and other skills to take into the field during a superhero mission, and learned different ways to use their powers against people. I mean, they were only allowed fun and games Saturdays between the hours of noon and noon-thirty, they had to be doing something during the rest of the week!

[Zuleikha]

I know Reginald was scared of Vanya and that's presumably the explanation why she didn't receive the hand-to-hand training that the rest of them did, but... Klaus doesn't seem to have gotten much out of that training. Adult Allison is clearly still a very trained, competent fighter. Klaus does not seem to be so much. So I can't imagine child Klaus was much better!

I'm still not done, but I'm a little confused by the limitations or lack of limitations of Allison's power. Is she mind controlling with the "I heard a rumor..." phrase or is she bending reality?

[AngelKitty]

4 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

Is she mind controlling with the "I heard a rumor..." phrase or is she bending reality?

I'm pretty sure she's mind controlling.

[peachmangosteen]

7 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

Klaus doesn't seem to have gotten much out of that training. Adult Allison is clearly still a very trained, competent fighter. Klaus does not seem to be so much. So I can't imagine child Klaus was much better!

Well, Klaus is a drug addict, so that's probably affected (Effected? I still have no idea which one to use lol.) his abilities. Presumably he wasn't doing drugs as a child.

[theatremouse]

13 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

I'm still not done, but I'm a little confused by the limitations or lack of limitations of Allison's power. Is she mind controlling with the "I heard a rumor..." phrase or is she bending reality?

I'm under the impression she's bending reality....although then Vanya shouldn't have needed the pills for suppression. But I could've sworn I saw an article about the show that said her power does alter reality so actually now I'm confused.

[Zuleikha]

although then Vanya shouldn't have needed the pills for suppression

That's the ep I watched most recently. Allison said, "I heard a rumor that you think you're ordinary." So she didn't actually do anything to Vanya's powers. Since she was so young, I think we can assume Reginald told her exactly what to say and that he was hedging his bets that Vanya's powers may be needed in the future. Or that in the show version of her, she only mind controls rather than changes reality. That was what made me wonder actually. It seems like there would be better ways to use Allison's powers if she can actually change reality (like maybe "I heard a rumor that you can't hurt anyone with your powers unless dad gives you permission to")

[Zuleikha]

I finally finished. Most of you all felt a lot more sympathetic to Vanya than I did! I thought she ended up revealing herself to be a horrible, selfish, evil person. She simply did not care about the deaths and hurt she caused because she couldn't control her power and when she did control it, it was mostly to facilitate attacking people. 

I was not satisfied with the ending of The Handler. I know the comic book ends the equivalent character in some equally blase fashion, but it didn't feel believable that she would leave herself so vulnerable to Hazel shooting her. She was prepared for facing down Five--she should have had some kind of defenses with her at all time.

The way the show handles Luther/Allison continues to squick me out. They are brother and sister! The show needs to at least acknowledge how Flowers in the Attic the whole situation is rather than portraying it like a standard romantic relationship.

If I had been in the writing room and got to have input on the outline, I would have ditched some of the plot-irrelevant side plots so that Ep 2 could have been a flashback ep to establish the full family dynamics as kids. My goals with that episode would be to clearly establish kids' powers and personalities and make everyone feel very, very sorry for left out child Vanya. There would be very little of dysfunctional dad Reginald and a lot of fame/celebrity Umbrella Academy. The show basically only showed us the dysfunction and unpleasantness and none of the upsides. So for me, Vanya's entire emotional storyline simply didn't work. 

[Chaos Theory]

I don’t think Vanessa was changing reality at all.  She was making people believe something that isn’t true.  The “I heard s rumor....”. Let’s say “you think your wife is cheating on you.”    Your wife isn’t actually cheating on you but you now think she is and if that gun your hind was pointing at Vanessa now it might be pointing at your wife.  

Edited March 24, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Zuleikha]

Do you mean Allison? There's no Vanessa.

Comic book Allison bends reality with her power. It's unclear to me whether show Allison has a weaker version of this power or not. I think she's definitely stronger than making people believe her--I think at the least, she's functionally mind controlling--but it's hard to point to anything in the show that's conclusive.