Connect with us

Netflix

Umbrella Academy Review – Reunited & It Feels Not So Good (2 x 05)

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (L to R) ROBERT SHEEHAN as KLAUS HARGREEVES, EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN as ALLISON HARGREEVES and ELLEN PAGE as VANYA HARGREEVES in episode 205 of THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Cr. CHRISTOS KALOHORIDIS/NETFLIX © 2020

Published

on

In episode 205, “Valhalla,” of Umbrella Academy, the Hargreeves siblings have finally reunited once again, but each of them has personal issues they need to resolve before they can work together as a team. The Handler sets a trap for the Swedes, and Lila blows her cover.

This episode is a pleasure to watch for a lot of reasons, but the main draw is the excellent choice of music throughout.

From the opening sequence highlighting Pogo and human Grace’s backstory with the song “Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling, the incorporation of music into the narrative was taken to another level, and rather than become a distraction, most of the song choices add a pleasantly surprising element into the mix.

 

In one instance, The Interrupters’ rendition of  Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” plays as Five fights with Lila.

In this fight, it seems that Lila has teleportation-like superpowers, which would make sense because she could possibly one of the children born in 1989 (like the members of the Umbrella Academy were) as she’s shown to be a young girl in 1992 in the last episode.

Meanwhile, the episode is generally geared to a more positive tone that’s both funny and uplifting at numerous points.

Except maybe during the Viking funeral when one of the Swedes was killed by the trap set by the Handler.

Hargreeves Family Reunion

The team gets back together in Elliott’s residence as they discuss what to do about the coming apocalypse.

Diego insists it involves their father, Reginald, and suggests they hunt him down and kill him. But Five disagrees and only wants to interrogate him.

In one particularly hilarious dialogue between the siblings, Vanya says the most sensible thing when she asks the question:

“Has anyone done anything to screw up the timeline?”

At first, everyone falls silent, but then start pointing things out that each of them has done during their time apart and blame each other since any of them could have jump-started the apocalypse.

Their involvement in the timeline certainly suggests this because Diego stalked Lee Harvey Oswald, Luther associated with Jack Ruby, Klaus started a cult, and Alison got involved in the local civil rights movement.

Vanya rules herself out because she’s become a nanny at a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, but the team doesn’t write her off since she started the original apocalypse in the first place.

As Klaus hilariously put it “Is it because of Vanya?” he asks getting dirty looks from everyone, “What? It’s always Vanya.”

The meeting ends when Luther walks out and declares they shouldn’t do anything about it because they might be the ones responsible for actually pursuing a solution in preventing the apocalypse.

Twisting the Night Away

After their family meeting goes awry, Klaus, Alison, and Vanya go to the parlor to unwind, drink, and dance as they discuss their respective love lives.

They come to the disturbing conclusion that every member of the Hargreeves family sucks at love, and the healthiest relationship any of the siblings have had is Five and his mannequin girlfriend, Dolores, in season 1. Which is a pretty low bar, to say the least.

So after an uplifting music montage to the tune of “Twisting The Night Away” by Sam Cooke, Klaus decides to go back to his cult to release them from his influence, and both Alison and Vanya go to their respective newfound love interests to repair and resolve them.

Meanwhile, Luther and Diego receive an ominous invitation from Reginald for a “light” supper. So things are about to get real since Reginald seems to have tracked the siblings down, and plans to confront them head-on.

Viking Funeral

One of the Swedes dies as a result of the Handler’s trap, which she framed to look like Diego had done it by using one of his knives as bait, which Lila had taken from him when they slept together two episodes prior.

The highlight of this story arc, however, is the use of a Swedish version of Adele’s “Hello” which plays during the Viking funeral scene where the two remaining Swedes pay their respects to their fallen brother.

The result is awesome because, despite no lines from the stoic Swedes, the scene is somber yet hilarious at the same time.

VERDICT: 9.5/10

As mentioned before in this article, Umbrella Academy raised the bar when it comes to incorporating music into their stories, and “Valhalla” certainly did a masterful job in evoking a lot of comedy and meaning into scenes simply by picking the right song to underscore the tone they were going for.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Lorenz Bacani is a pop-culture enthusiast who's trying to watch as many good comic-book movies and TV shows as superhumanly possible. He received a bachelor's degree in Journalism and New Media at California Baptist University. Wrote for a news tabloid, worked for a couple of non-profits, and dabbled in some photography (mostly for Instagram purposes). He is probably currently binge-watching an old TV show for nostalgia.

Netflix

When Is Season 3 of ‘Ginny and Georgia’ Coming Out?

Published

on

When Will Season 3 of Ginny and Georgia Premiere

Ginny & Georgia centers on the heartwarming yet extremely complicated bond between a mother and her daughter after they put down roots in a New England town. 

With so many compelling storylines and incredible characters of all ages, it’s no wonder that the coming-of-age drama has become a fan favorite among Netflix audiences. 

And that’s why fans can get excited as the streaming giant renewed the series for two additional seasons—yes, that’s right, season 3 and 4 are officially happening. 

The cast of the series took to Instagram to announce the good news:

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Brianne Howey (@briannehowey)

The second season of Ginny & Georgia premiered on Jan. 5, 2023, which means that a third season is likely far off, especially considering Brianne Howey, who plays Georgia, just announced her first pregnancy, which will possibly delay filming.

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Brianne Howey (@briannehowey)

As for a premiere date, well, there isn’t one just yet. With the writers’ strike ongoing, it may be a bit before production begins so it’s difficult to come up with a date for new episodes. The season could likely arrive in February 2024 if we’re looking at the previous premieres for both seasons 1 and 2, which both debuted at the start of 2021 and 2023, respectively.

But with Howey’s pregnancy thrown into the mix and the writers’ strike, that could delay things a bit, and it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the series returned during the summer when there’s a lull in content and fans are seeking out something to binge-watch and get invested in. 

You can also see more of our content about the final seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Riverdale, and Firefly Lane

Continue Reading

Netflix

Who Is Rhys Montrose on ‘YOU’ Season 4?

Published

on

You Season 4 Episode 6 Review Best of Friends

YOU Season 4 introduced a plethora of new characters as it revamped the series with a murder mystery format. 

*Warning – stop reading if you haven’t finished YOU Season 4 – Spoilers Ahead *

The shakeup made sense considering Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) uprooted his life following the fiery events in Madre Linda that killed Love Quinn and started over in London, assuming the identity of Professor Jonathan Moore. 

Rather quickly, he got pulled into an elite group thanks to his co-worker and neighbor, Malcolm Harding (Stephen Hagan), who was the season’s first victim. Joe/Jonathan naturally despised Malcolm’s group, though he did find Rhys Montrose (Ed Speleers), an author running for Mayor of London, to be a bit of a kindred spirit. They came from the same broken background and shared many of the same views.  

As the first half of the season unraveled, Joe sought out advice from Rhys on a handful of occasions, engaging in plenty of long heart-to-hearts with him, so it was kind of shocking when it was revealed that Rhys, as audiences have come to know him, was never real.

Rhys Montrose existed, yes, but he was never friends with Joe, nor was he the Eat the Rich Killer. The version of Rhys that Joe bonded with was a hallucination conjured up by his subconscious to protect himself and eliminate his darker, more deranged thoughts. 

YOU Season 4 Finale Episode 10 Review The Death of Jonathan Moore

You. (L-R) Ed Speleers as Rhys, Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in episode 410 of You. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

For much of the season, we saw Joe desperately trying to set himself free from Rhys’ grasp. At first, he saw him as public enemy #1, who somehow figured out Joe’s real identity and roped him into a murder spree by threatening to frame him for the deaths if Joe refused to participate. 

However, once Joe realized that Rhys was a figment of his imagination, he began to look for ways to silence the evil little voice forever, while also trying to figure out a plan to cover up the death of the real Rhys Montrose. 

Joe was tasked with killing the mayoral candidate, who he assumed at the time was the Eat the Rich Killer, by Kate’s (Charlotte Ritchie) father, Tom Lockwood. When he arrived at Rhys’ secret countryside hideout and tied him up, he was infuriated that Rhys claimed not to know who he was, nor would he admit to kidnapping Marienne (Tati Gabrielle). Eventually, Joe’s rage and anger took over, and he “accidentally” killed Rhys, which is when fake Rhys showed up and revealed that Joe was having a semi-psychotic break. 

In the end, Joe’s suicide attempt ensured that his hallucinations were forever gone, though he did embrace the darkness he was trying so hard to snuff out, making him more dangerous than ever.

As for the real Rhys Montrose’s killer, he pinned it all on poor Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman), a fan of Rhys’s from the beginning, who flew too close to the sun in her attempts to bring down Joe Goldberg. If only she just listened to Marienne’s advice.

A huge congrats to the YOU team for pulling off yet another jaw-dropping twist, and to both Badgley and Speleers for completely immersing themselves in their dual characters. 

Continue Reading

Netflix

YOU Review – Best of Friends (406)

Published

on

You Season 4 Episode 6 Review Best of Friends

Just when you thought you figured out where the season was headed, YOU pulls out the rug from under you yet again.  

I’m definitely starting to feel the whiplash that Joe/Jonathan must be feeling right about now. 

Things have gone from crazy to crazier rather quickly, as Rhys unveiled his true plan—along with how Joe is involved—while Joe came out victorious in front of the elite group once again, and all while a new suspect started piecing things together and realizing that Joe knows way more than he’s led on. 

While Joe spent numerous hours trying to figure out a plan to get close to Rhys, Rhys just appeared at Joe’s place one night without so much as lifting a finger. Joe may think he’s the invisible one in the city, but for a man who’s so well-known and loved, Rhys seems to get around without anyone noticing. 

And he made the rules of the game very clear—either Joe finds someone to frame for all the deaths or he goes down as the Eat-the-Rich killer, which isn’t exactly ideal. A little incentive goes a long way, so while Joe tried to distance himself initially, he couldn’t shake the desire for self-preservation and took the bait. He took the task rather seriously as it was either kill or be killed; he knew someone had to go down for it, but it had to be the right person.

With time running out, he genuinely began to consider Connie, but despite being an irrelevant character, he couldn’t justify pinning it on someone who was struggling with addiction and trying to turn their life around.  Connie wasn’t a threat to anyone, except for maybe himself, so Joe couldn’t justify destroying his life. 

But Dawn, well, she fell right into his lap. The few times we saw her snapping photos of the elite, and focusing on Joe–including when she spotted him at Rhys’ mayoral rally—I was convinced that she recognized him from his previous life. And that seems to be what the series wanted me to think so that they could pull a fast one on us because when Dawn pulled Phoebe aside to a “safe room” to keep her protected from the killer, it was revealed that Dawn was just an obsessive stalker who was connived that she was friends with the elite, Phoebe in particular. Dawn was a threat to a lot of people, so Joe took advantage of it. He framed her by planting Simon’s ear in her belongings, and since no one would ever believe a word she said over Phoebe’s accounts of what happened, Dawn couldn’t prove her innocence. Plus, she made an ideal suspect since she was at nearly every single event where a murder occurred as she was stalking the group. I mean, it couldn’t have been any more perfect if Joe had tried to plan it himself. 

You Season 4 Episode 6 Review Best of Friends

You. Ed Speleers as Rhys in episode 406 of You. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

However, his heroics did raise some questions from Nadia, his student and the lover of all murder mysteries. She noticed that Jonathan seemed to be at the center of every single scenario, oftentimes being championed as a hero, though he’s not actually connected to any of these people in any meaningful way. It’s a dangerous thing to play detective, especially when you’re setting your sights on Joe Goldberg.  Jonathan seems to like Nadia, but if she threatened him, I don’t think Joe would hesitate to take her down. Self-preservation is his M.O., remember?

Once Joe thought he finally got Rhys off of his back by framing Dawn, he decided to give into his desires and pursue a relationship with Kate. Honestly, Kate makes some really poor decisions, starting with just accepting Jonathan for who he is now and promising never to ask questions about his past. She wants someone to see her for who she is in the moment so badly that she’s letting logic take a backseat. Why would someone want to deny their past so badly unless they did something truly unforgivable? Kate wants to shed her past because of her connection to her father and she thinks that makes her and Jonathan equal, but they are not the same. 

By the time she realizes the truth about who Joe is, it might be too late.

As for Rhys, did Joe think he was really going to get rid of him that easily? Rhys has always wanted a friend to help him get to the finish line so to speak. He believes that they are the same, so he wasn’t going to just let Joe slip away.

And while his motive wasn’t evident at first, he seems hellbent on taking out those who don’t deserve their success and wealth. The three victims, Malcolm, Simon, and Gemma, all threatened his mayoral run in some way, so they were taken care of, and now, he’s setting his sights on the ultimate villain–Kate’s father. She may have a complicated relationship with her tycoon dad, but I don’t think Kate would ever want to see anything bad happen to him, let alone at the hands of the man she’s in love with. 

However, Rhys doesn’t seem to give Joe much of a choice as he still holds all of the cards. One might think that Joe could just handle this in the same way he always does, but well, you can’t just try to kill a killer. He’d see that coming from miles away. Joe needs to be strategic and deliberate in his plan, so for now, he has to play along. I, for one, am curious to see what all the hubbub is about Kate’s father–is he really as terrible as she makes him out to be?

As for Rhys, what is the catch? Fans were disappointed with the first half of the season since his reveal as the killer was obvious—and his motives, including his desire to kill Kate’s father–are exactly shocking or game-changing. What are we missing?

What did you think of the episode?

Continue Reading

Trending