Why this important character from The Umbrella Academy was absent from season 4

The Umbrella Academy wrapped up its final season in a wild way, though fans are a little bit miffed at one character not returning. Why were they MIA?

Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for The Umbrella Academy season 4.

We're talking about Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez), the Sparrow that Luther (Tom Hooper) falls in love with and marries in season 3. That season ends with Luther briefly dying only to be resurrected into this new world minus his super-strength and mutated body, but Sloane is not with him. 

Given how important she is to Luther, Sloane’s absence this season is notable, so what happened?

Why isn't Sloane in The Umbrella Academy finale?

Speaking to TV Line, showrunner Steve Blackman explained he had a plan to use Sloane in season 4 but was held back by logistics. The season only had six episodes rather than the 10 episodes of the previous seasons, which sadly meant cutting out some plot points. 

"I never got to do the Luther-Sloane storyline that I wanted to do this season. I wanted Sloane to be alive, just not remembering Luther, and him trying to get her to love him again. For logistical reasons, we just couldn’t make it work. We just couldn’t make it happen."

Indeed, season 4 opens with Luther now making a living as a stripper and Sloane is nowhere around. He briefly mentions Sloane when he tells a married Diego, “Sloane and I would have killed for this.” He also asks Five if he knows where she is, hinting that a search for her will take place but it never does.

It’s too bad they couldn’t work in a cameo for Sloane in that finale now in a happier life. Blackman acknowledges for fans how the story “felt incomplete” but chalks it up to The Umbrella Academy’s shorter final season as the reason why this character never made her return.

The final season of the quirky series picks up six years after the season 3 finale with the Hargreeves siblings adjusting to a new reality where they are powerless. When a mysterious threat appears, the gang has to reunite, regain their powers, and try to stop another apocalypse.

This builds up to clashes with various enemies and a mysterious “Cleanse” that should wipe out reality. Eventually, Five discovers a score of alternate reality versions of himself who explain the birth of the Hargreeves splinted the multiverse and led every timeline to destruction. 

The only way to stop this is to prevent those kids from ever being born, basically erasing the characters we knew from existence. Despite reluctance, they agree, and the final scene shows new versions of the various friends and loved ones of the family (including long-dead characters) who are now in a new, happier world. 

The Umbrella Academy is streaming on Netflix.