The Umbrella Academy season 4 episode 1 recap: "The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want"
Finally, The Umbrella Academy is back! The Netflix fan-favorite has returned for a fourth and final season and all six episodes are now available to stream. The premiere, "The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want," introduces us to the Hargreeves now that they've settled into their new realities: the reset timeline where they no longer have powers. Remember when Reginald reset everything at the end of season 3? Yeah, the siblings have all but accepted they aren't superheroes anymore.
But all of that might just change in The Umbrella Academy season 4! The premiere episode is a great reminder of why we love this Netflix Original so much.
WARNING: Major spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 4 episode 1 are below.
It's been six years since the events of the season 3 finale, and the season 4 premiere opens up by introducing us to two new characters who will be very important in this installment. Jean and Gene Thibedeau, played by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, respectively, play cards in a euchre league tournament. They interrupt their game to go out to the parking lot to meet a man who brings them a suitcase of old New York City paraphernalia. The couple is very excited to see a VHS tape of a movie called Love on Loan 2, which stars Allison Hargreeves. They end up shooting the man so they can take the suitcase without paying him.
The siblings are setting into their new normal
We then get to see what the Hargreeves siblings have been up to these past years. Viktor lives in Nova Scotia, managing a bar. He gets a call from Luther who asks him if he's going to Diego and Lila's daughter Grace's birthday party, but he's unsure. As for Luther, he works as a stripper at a sad-looking club, though he's trying to keep his spirits up. Diego works as a delivery man who gets yelled at by his boss, while Ben gets released from prison. Luther goes to pick him up, but Ben isn't trying to hang out. Lila gets ready for the birthday party and we learn that she and Diego have three children now.
As evidenced by the VHS tape Gene and Jean score, Allison is an actress, though she's not that successful right now. Instead of movies or TV shows, she acts in commercials. Klaus lives with Allison and her daughter Claire, though Ray is nowhere to be found. We later find out that he left them. Klaus is totally paranoid now, wrapping his belongings in bubble wrap and wearing a helmet for car rides.
Introducing The Keepers
We then see Number Five who's wearing some sort of disguise at a support group. One man talks about Reginald, somehow knowing about what he's done. Five gives a fake name and shares his story, saying he's been to other timelines and is really 63 years old. It's surprising to see Five open up like this, but it's soon revealed that he's actually working for the CIA. A man sitting next to him tells him he'll show him a real meeting, which interests him.
At work, Five gives his boss his report of the support group, who we learn are called "The Keepers." Five explains that they've got cult-like tendencies and they're people who believe everyone is stuck in the wrong timeline. Five's boss isn't really interested, though, and tells him to work on other cases instead.
Luther brings Ben to Grace's birthday party and we learn that he was in prison for a shady crypto exchange situation. Allison convinces Klaus to take Claire to the party despite him not wanting to attend. At the party, we see Lila and Diego bicker, Ben and Five talk, and Diego try to convince Five to get him a job at the CIA. Luther is particularly chipper this season so far, which is endearing. But his siblings are not on that same vibe. Diego questions where Lila was that morning and doesn't seem to trust her.
Lila finds Allison in the car and convinces her to come inside, which is pretty awkward. The siblings haven't seen Allison in a long time and they don't know what to say to her. Diego opens up to Luther about how unhappy he is, but he feels bad for saying so when Luther says he and Sloan would've killed to have what he and Lila do.
Viktor gets kidnapped
Surprisingly, Viktor shows up at the party, but before he can go inside, a man stops him in the parking lot, played by David Cross. He tells Viktor that he needs to come in the van with him, and Viktor suspects his dad must've organized whatever this is. The man suddenly tases Viktor and abducts him.
After the party, Five, disguised as Jerome, goes to another Keepers meeting, this time at someone's home. To his surprise, he sees Lila there interacting with the guests and going by the name Nancy. Five confronts her and she explains that her transition from assassin to mother and wife hasn't been easy. During the meeting, Jean and Gene show up to give a presentation, calling the timeline mess-up "The Umbrella Effect." Their goal is to try and restore the correct timeline, showing photos of the Hargreeves siblings as kids along with photos of Reginald and Abigail.
Jean and Gene talk about an upcoming "cleanse" that would get everyone back to the correct timeline, telling Five and Lila from the audience that they're preparing a lecture on it soon.
After the meeting, Lila and Five talk at a cafe and Five admits that it's possible Reginald's reset didn't fully take. We then see that Diego's been following Lila, suspicious of her behavior, and without being able to see Five from the front, he thinks she's having an affair.
The siblings follow an alarming letter
Luther brings Ben home to their old house where he's been living, and it's super rundown and barely livable. Luther is alarmed when he receives a letter and calls the rest of the siblings over. The letter says that Viktor has been kidnapped, telling him where to go to find him. The siblings all take off to meet this person at a nearby dry cleaner's, where they find Viktor tied up to a chair in a back room. The kidnapper appears and says he needs their help. He pulls out a newspaper clipping about the Umbrella Academy saving the Eiffel Tower along with a photo of siblings, which confuses them as they don't have any recollection of doing that.
The man tells them that he found a bunch of stuff like this in his daughter Jennifer's car, and he thinks something terrible has happened to her. He explains that she's part of The Keepers group and he needs help finding her. The siblings know that without their powers, they might not be any help, but Five tells the man that they'll find her in 24 hours.
Their powers are coming back
The siblings walk outside and demand an explanation from Five, to which he pulls out a glowing jar of marigold from the box, a magic potion that can give them their powers back. They all go grab a bite to eat and discuss the big question: Do they even want their powers back? They can't decide; Klaus says no but Ben says yes and tries to convince the group that they all want them back. Majority rules, however, and Ben is turned down, which forces him to take matters into his own hands.
Ben takes a sip of the marigold secretly before pouring the liquid into shot glasses for the siblings. He convinces everyone to take a shot before they leave, even Klaus, who's sober, though no one else knows what they've actually just drank. The episode ends here, leaving us on a cliffhanger for what's to come when the Hargreeves get their powers back.
Read all of our The Umbrella Academy season 4 recaps here: