#Like Diego and Lila's very real problems

[blessedchaosgod]

I hate that there is no way to appreciate the good parts of this season without acknowledging that everything about it was ruined

[kneworder]

did you watch tua s4 and if so what did you think :3

yeah i watched it

[fivelasanctum]

Everything is real

S03 ep.07 and S04 ep.06 parallel: Been doing my rewatch of the series and noticed this gem inside Lila's psyche when she was talking to Allison being reminiscent of her yelling that her and five's life in the alternate timelines wasn't real. A blatant contradiction to what she mentioned here. "This isn't real Five! None of this is real!" -Lila S04 ep.05 Events when time travelling are real and still impact you, just can happen quickly and feel like a whirlwind. She also goes to mention to have something or someone to focus on to essentially keep you sane and grounded.

Five comes in right after they have this conversation, zooming in on him as he came to fetch them for the plan. Hmmmm...xD When Five and her get lost in the subway time travelling system, her focus point is her kids. Just as Lila became Five's purpose for surviving. To protect her and try to get her back home to them. Five also became her focus point. Just secondary to their shared goal. Being together, relying on the other for survival (initially), comfort and affection. Eventually falling for each other since they can sit down and have time to see how they are mirrors of each other in many ways. Lila has shown she has mental barriers both around her heart and mind. Self preservation. Much like Five with his own control over his emotions and keeping others at a distance from all his years alone and serving as an assassin. Lila has the same trauma... with being brought up by the handler and living in the same life. She lied about Stanley to Diego as a way to test him if he would be a good father because she was scared and didn't want to be rejected. Possibly lying about being with many people to make him jealous. Mind games that she probably was taught by the Handler.

In the above images you can see that lila is a very human character with inexplicable flaws. Seeing herself far too broken to have a family and cowardly. She tends to go for the jugular to hurt when she has been harmed or upset emotionally. She goes into denial and tries to run away from her problems to a certain extent. Whereas Five has always cut to the quick with his brutal honesty. Telling her Diego loves her but also the cold truth of how her mother never did. Making her almost cry so she lashed out by diminishing his experience by calling Dolores out for what she actually was. Something to note from their argument in season 4 leading up to their return to their present timeline. He confronted her about what they shared in all those years and that the marriage was broken. Lila lies to herself sometimes and wanted to run away from having to think about anything outside of seeing her kids.

I strongly feel she said those words to Five about it being all about survival and it not being real because she felt betrayed with his lies. Even though his words weren't wrong. She couldn't say anything to his reasoning for doing it. "You know why." Still - it's true to her character. When she saw the hurt on her lovers face...think that's when most of the anger faded from her. Replaced with a sense of powerlessness, sadness and resignment. Yearning to stay there in their happiness bubble (it was still their Anniversary when all this went down) but needing to have her kids back. She appeared as though she was ready to cry because in her heart she didn't want anything to change regarding the two of them. Just trying to push him away yet can't stand hurting him. Perhaps it's difficult for her to hold herself back from that defense mechanism.

This is the look of someone eager to get back to her old married life with the kids right? Again, ready to cry with the situation weighing heavy on her heart. Think why she had tunnel vision to focus on just seeing her kids again was because she didn't want to ponder what happens next with her relationship with Five, talking to Diego...figuring everything out. Damn. This was suppose to be a short post but turned into a mini essay. In short...she was lying about what they have not being real. Just tried to push it away due to in the moment anger with the reveal.

[fivelila]

The other side of everything

I think all of you have read the repeated sentences about what's wrong with Fivelila. So I thought I'd write my thoughts on it and maybe some of my headcanon.

1) Age gap

Problem: Ritu is 15 years older than Aidan. Five and Lila have an age difference in both directions, mentally he is much older and physically she is older.

My take: About the age of the actors, I'll say this much - the opposite is so common and many people don't find it strange. For example, did you know that Julia Roberts was 23 when her film Pretty Woman came out and that Richard Gere is 19 years older than her? And I haven't noticed anyone being disgusted by how that's possible. I could find some more extreme differences, but I don't think I want to.

Aidan is 21 and yes, he did TUA when he was younger, but a lot of people still think he's a kid. But no, he's not. Deal with it.

My headcanon: Lila is older than she looks. And that's thanks to the Handler and the work she does for the Commissions. Does any of us know how long has she lived somewhere outside of time? Sounds like another possible parallel to me.

2) Lila was cheating on Diego

Problem: Lila was unfaithful to her husband.

My take: Lila made it clear that she wanted a break with Diego and wanted to reconsider their marriage. Yes, the circumstances ended up being pretty wild, but it was more than obvious that she wasn't happy in the marriage. Among other things, it was over six and a half years for her before anything happened with Five. There are countries where such a long separation between spouses could also help to bring about an immediate divorce if necessary.

I also think that the only thing that connected them the most was their children and not that they were compatible as partners. A completely natural thing that happens really often in real life when someone builds a relationship on desire, which they mistake with love.

3) Five is homewrecker

Problem: Five is the reasons why his brother's family fell apart.

My take: It's not true. Five was not the reason that Lila and Diego had problems in their marriage. Yes, she was still his brother's wife and that's a bit morally grey, but their situation was complicated enough (as I wrote in the previous point) and it's completely understandable. By the way, don't people like this family precisely because their morals are often a bit grey? I guess that's probably only true sometimes, huh?

4) Five cheated on Dolores

Problem: Five was unfaithful to Dolores

My take: Sorry, but this is the biggest piece of shit ever. If someone prefers a relationship that Five made up in his mind just to keep himself from going crazy and heal his trauma, then our fandom isn't the one that's wrong. By the way, if Dolores was real and played by Rachel Delduca, she's definitely older too! I couldn't find the exact age, but it's pretty obvious that she's older than Aidan.

5) Five killed Lila's parents

Problem: Five was the killer of Lila's family and Handler could have kidnapped her. Her family may be alive, but it won't change the past.

My take: Yes, this is about the only thing that could never work in another story. Lila gets her family back, but it doesn't change what happened to her. Still, I think even she knows very well what it's like to work for the Commission and what it was like when an order came down. Handler bears most of the blame, even though she wasn't the one who killed them.

My headcanon: I don't think Lila had clean hands either, though we never really saw that much in the story. Still, even she could have been the murderer of some random parents of some random kids because that was her job. For example, she killed several people on the Commission to get access to past records in the barn, so it would be a bit hypocritical for her to blame others for actions that she herself had done before.

If you have any other thing I should discuss, please post it in the comments, I'll do another post about it.

[tootalltech]

the more i think about tua s4 the more it’s like. wow they really just lost steam after the first four episodes huh? like the first four weren’t amazing necessarily, but there was some interesting stuff being set up. i wanted to see what would go on with ben and jennifer, or where the hell five and lila were, or how they would fix some dynamics within the group like between klaus and allison. and i thought gene and jean were kind of good villains, like they were just on the classic tua spectrum of funny, unsettling, and weird. and then it’s like they just didn’t know how to wrap any of it up. like i would fully believe that the ending of the show was not how they meant to conclude it, but they couldn’t think how else to “fix” things in so little time. the five and lila thing i still just really don’t get the purpose of, but it did still feel very rushed and maybe the writers didn’t want to try and figure anything else out about the subway thing they created and five’s new powers being connected to it. and that problem is solved if they have five and lila give up looking (no matter how out of character it is for both of them) and create some lame sibling drama to fill the screen time they could’ve used to explain any of their own world building. not to mention that they then go “oh actually none of it matters anyway because they’re gonna destroy all those timelines and there will just be one real one”- which now that i think about it is another plot hole but that’s another post.

anyway. i guess what i’m trying to say is that some of season 4 was fine. like. the “you’re a good brother” moment from diego to five who looks a little guilty yet touched bc he knows he’s still kind of lying to diego, but he also knows if he were in lila’s position he wouldn’t want his partner to just be told that he’s getting himself into dangerous situations again like that? that’s good. that’s diego, lila, and five’s dynamic right there. lila thinking it’s absolutely hilarious that diego would ever think she’s cheating on him with five? that works, because it is ridiculous. and lila and five both sneaking into the keepers meetings at the start was very in-character for both of them as well. they’re the two former commission agents who get bored with normal life very easily (another reason it makes no sense to have them settle down with each other, lmao). it’s like they understood the three of them decently well before the fifth episode, and when it started they just kind of lost the plot. so i personally will just be ignoring the last two episodes. diego and five love each other even if they are both very grumpy sometimes. and diego and lila still have communication problems but they also are never going to leave each other (and hey, even david castañeda understood that). and then five and lila are commission frenemies who on some level still can’t stand each other but also know they need to work together a lot of the time. and i’m sure they and the rest of the umbrellas figure everything out and stop the fourth apocalypse and live happily ever after. the end.

[handofmidas-writes]

I didn't hate season 4. Or the love triangle. Let me explain.

Okay. Listen. Listenlistenlisten.

I know everyone is pissed about season 4. I hear you. I get it. I don’t think anyone is thinking that this was a well-executed season. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

But hear me out.

The bones of the thing are good in principle. The arc makes sense at the heart of it. Again, hear me out.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The entire series is about saving the world by stopping the apocalypse. And as all the Fives in the deli have shown, the apocalypse is due to the Hargreeves siblings’ very existence. Reginald has fucked over every iteration of the kids to bring back his wife who died as a result of her own actions in creating marigold. He couldn’t give her up, and he was willing to rip universes apart to get her back. Five has tried time and time and time again to save his family, ad infinitum. He knows how to solve the problem, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Until this Five. They are, as we here on tumblr love to say, doomed by the narrative.

Five also says the universe loves balance. We saw this in season 3 with the kugelblitz. They were an impossibility in the universe and the kugelblitz formed to solve the problem by eliminating them. Impossibility for impossibility.

One of the Fives founded the Commission to solve the problem. It happens every time.

Abigail’s purpose through the whole season is to ensure the Cleanse, to reset the universe to the correct timeline. She shouldn’t be there. The kids shouldn’t be there. They are a direct result of Reginald releasing marigold into the world to enact his plan of resurrecting Abigail. The universe is trying to return to homeostasis, balance itself. And in every iteration, it needs to rid itself of the marigold, the substance that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Ergo, the principle is sound, in my opinion.

The execution was shit, as I’m sure we all can agree.  I don’t like that they cease to exist, necessarily, and I think there were other avenues they could have taken to avoid that. But I can stomach it.

The shit storm is certainly in the characterizations. They did almost everyone dirty in some way or another. I think it could have been saved with a few more episodes, but we know that Netflix sucks like that and the season definitely suffered after the strike. I won’t be going into all of the characters just now since I’m apparently a loquacious bitch and don’t have the space. (And I know this is all being screamed into the void anyway. None of y’all will be reading any of this lol.)

Here’s where I’m going to ruffle feathers. I buy into the whole Diego/Lila/Five thing. And here’s why. (Cut here because this bitch got real long. Like 1.5k words long. Oops.)

The first episode is called “The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want.” Is it a slightly contrived Now That We’re Not Superheroes Our Normal Lives Kind Of Suck thing? Absolutely. Has it been overused in basically everything ever? You bet. Does it kind of work here? Yeah, actually.

These people legitimately don’t know what to do without powers. They’re coming fresh off the heels of trying and failing to save the world 3 different times. That takes adjustment. A lot of adjustment.

Lila and Diego fall into parenthood, which is a huge thing in and of itself. It’s not surprising that Diego turns into the stereotypical suburban dad, the breadwinner because that’s what he thinks his role should be. It doesn’t fully make sense that Lila turns into a housewife, but I can see her trying to throw Diego a bone and trying to make up for how she’s treated him in the past. Not to mention proving herself as a mother.

It makes sense for Lila to want to get out of the house and do her own thing, without her kids and her husband. It makes sense for Diego to resent his low level job when all he’s wanted to be is a badass and a hero.  Their frustration about their family life is understandable. Being a family is a lot of effort. There’s a loss of freedom when people become parents. And these are two headstrong people who have things to prove to themselves, to make sure they show up for their kids. Which leads to breakdowns in taking care of themselves and their relationship to each other.

Now, the sticky bit comes in with the whole love triangle. I know folks hate the subway subplot. Here’s the thing, despite how it was executed, it makes sense, too.

It’s an interesting way to portray the Many Worlds Theory and it’s plausible enough that Lila and Five connect in this way because of their shared knowledge of the Commission. It makes sense that they explore it together.

Which leads me to this: Five is incredibly lonely. He spent 40 years alone in an apocalypse and tried everything in his power to get back. He fell in love with a mannequin because she was the only thing keeping him tethered and sane-adjacent (sweet Dolores, we’ll never forget you, queen). He was desperate and alone and persisted because he had to.

He joined the Commission to try and stop said apocalypse and then inadvertently ended up in another. He’s tired of trying to save his family over and over and now he’s not sure there’s anything he can do to save them this time. And now here he is, stuck in the labyrinthine Subway of Fuckery with Lila and they can’t get out. Lila who has the same training as him, the same knowledge base, who went with him to the remnants of the Commission in season 3 and tried to save them all. Let’s call them frenemies, I guess.

And now here they are. Stuck together and feeling helpless. Enduring every fucking thing under the sun, watching each other’s backs, and they only have each other. And they’re tired. They’ve been searching for a way home for six fucking years. So, they decide to stop running and catch their breath. I won’t say it’s an inevitability, but Five is so lonely and scared. And Lila is lonely and scared and without her children. But they’re safe with each other, and they take comfort in each other, and it’s so easy to blur those lines.

So yeah, they end up together in the now infamous cottagecore greenhouse with the strawberries. And they try not to think about Diego. Is it right of them to do this? Well, no. But are people messy as hell? Yes. And are their actions understandable? Also yes.

So, to me, when Five finds the notebook and keeps it hidden from Lila, it tracks. Because he’s so fucking scared of what’s going to happen now. What if they still can’t make it back? What if they can’t save the world this time? What if it all comes down around his ears again? So he hides in easy domesticity and thinks about the solace they’ve found in each other.

And Lila, understandably, blows up when she realizes Five has hidden this from her. Because for her, this was a way to cope. To survive, as she says. She loves her children. And she loves Diego. She didn’t stop loving them. She couldn’t stop loving them. But she might just love Five, too. And isn’t that scary as hell?

People are many faceted, my friends. Does it make what she did morally right? Of course not. But does it make sense? I truly think it does.

The limited number of episodes is one of the largest contributors to the half-baked-ness of it all. There’s not enough time to flesh out a proper resolution to the whole thing. Which led to Diego’s hunch from episode 2 of Lila cheating with Greek guy/Five accidentally being correct foreshadowing. Which then resulted in a heavy confession from Lila in front of the entire family (which I was digging, just like the siblings, tbh). And then the boys started throwing punches and the whole love triangle thing went completely down the shitter (a dubious and debatable statement, I know).

So, that leaves us with Lila who is now in the middle of two brothers. Said brothers are now physically fighting out bad blood and pent up frustration. And only part of it is due to Lila.

Diego’s character is criminally underdeveloped. He was always halfway between the underdog and class clown and his characterization in this season falls spectacularly flat in all aspects. He’s a character who has fought to prove himself over and over again, and is still trying to do that here, but nothing really lands. Diego and Luther are comic relief mostly. And Diego’s role, unfortunately, ended up being a stick in the spokes of a sloppy love triangle and pretty much nothing else.

Five is obviously the favorite in Blackman’s eyes. Five is knowledgeable. Five always has an idea. Five is the one the family looks to for answers, more often than not. Five is the one who almost always opts to save his family in some way, shape, or form. And this has resulted in Five being sad and helpless, in a way. He has been building this emotional bomb for decades and across timelines without any real release or acknowledgement. So Blackman chose to have Five get his emotional release in the form of “a love story” with Lila. Doing it this way, with the limited number of episodes, left Diego’s part woefully inadequate.

No resolution really takes place here. Diego kind of “wins” insofar as he convinces Lila to take their family to the subway and she takes his hand first when they all say goodbye. Five gets the teary “I hate you for this,” after she ends up choosing self-sacrifice with the others, which we know means “I am so incredibly sad and I hate that you told us the truth because it means everything ends for real this time and I’ve had to let my family go.” Then she holds his hand, too, showing that all is forgiven, here at the end of all things.

There’s definitely not a resolution for Diego, and it can certainly be inferred that he still pretty much hates Five’s guts. I get the feeling that Five is just resigned to finally ending the cycle. He knows he’s hurt Diego badly and I think he does feel bad for it, but it’s not translated into the final scene, which leaves the whole situationship hollow and earned it the well deserved hate for hilariously poor execution.

So that’s it, friends. That’s my unpopular opinion and way too many words justifying it. I surprisingly have more I could blather on about, but I’ll spare y’all from including any more in this post. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

And for a final palate cleanser for those of you who do not care about any of this: I think we deserve a side plot of Five and Derek the Twink from the CIA. The true OTP. (Also Brisket Five, who is the real MVP.)

[xtraordinaryfangrl]

S3 Allison Hargreeves is NOT Canon!

—

I finally bit the bullet and watched Episode 5 of TUA S3 - the episode where Allison borderline SA’s Luther and I have no idea what the writers were thinking when they wrote that into the script.

Actually, no, that’s the problem! They weren’t thinking!

Up until that point, I was genuinely enjoying this season. The Sparrows were annoying but intriguing characters. The Diego and Stanley dynamic was everything and seeing him as a legit father in the final season will break my heart. I loved Viktor (or V, as I affectionately call them) and his transition as well as everybody’s reaction. Especially Allison’s, and her comradery with him in those first few episodes made me feel things. BITTERSWEET THINGS. Their relationship has always been so interesting to watch and I’ve grown fond of them as a duo despite the tension and angst they’ve displayed throughout the show.

I felt the desperation Allison had to get her daughter back, the way it boiled and bubbled up to rage. I understood her motive and empathized with her pain, even agreed with her and the rest of the Hargreeves pack on the Harlan situation. I could see her delving deeper into her “Wandavison Era” and I was ready to side with her on everything, then THAT scene happened.

Her relationship with Luther always creeped me out because of their romantic history. They were raised together before they got together and called the same man father - which is just another weird layer to the incest trope. She forces him to kiss her when she could have just… threatened to rumor him? Or at the very least show she could still control one thing at that moment by making him stand still?? That would have driven her point across just fine, WITHOUT Jedi mind-tricking a non-consensual sexcapade???

What’s worse about Allison’s character assassination is that she most likely doesn’t see anything wrong with what she did, and neither does Luther because like the doe-eyed himbo he is - he immediately skips off to see Sloan as if he’s the male lead in some early 2000s rom-com! They didn’t see an issue with what happened because the writers didn’t see an issue, and that’s MY issue with this.

Nowadays, no matter how a story is told, everything is up to the audience’s interpretation. But sexual manipulation, depression, and other important topics that real people experience should not be treated as an ambiguous “oh it can be taken multiple ways” plot point.

If St*ve Bl*ckman or whoever mapped out Allison’s S3 journey was a competent screenwriter, they would have refocused her contempt on The Sparrows. And if they REALLY wanted to make her past with Luther a central point, they could have put her “you’re blowing me off for some knockoff you’ve known for five minutes?” line to good use by making Sloan her target instead of Harlan.

—

I don’t know. This was a whole rant and maybe none of it makes sense. But aside from the few good things to come from S3 (such as V coming out as trans and Diego/Lila pre-parenthood shenanigans), nothing else happens. Any “canon storyline” after S2 is an acid-laced fever dream as far I’m concerned.

[rainforestakiie]

I have just finished Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy. I am so disappointed.

Spoilers.

Five had to have a love story? I do not understand. Why did they pick Lila? Why couldn't they have given him a love story without disrupting the show and the Diego/Lila dynamic? I don't get it.

From the very top of my head, a love story for Five could have been a really simple and engaging thing.

Just use the mannequin "Delores."

I've seen a lot of "make her real" ideas, but let's take it a step further.

One of the other 43 children with the marigold has the power to project their consciousness into objects—something like that, at least. This person has never had any training with their powers, and the very first time they used their power was when they were young and out shopping with their mother.

They were looking at the mannequins because of the pretty clothes, and accidentally activated their power. They shot their consciousness into the mannequin and became trapped inside it. Their consciousness began to age within the mannequin, and soon, like in the show, Five finds them but is unaware that "Delores" contains a human consciousness.

Eventually, the mannequin is destroyed, and the now 60-year-old mind goes back in time to their body. When the object their consciousness is trapped in is destroyed, their consciousness automatically returns to their body. But since their body did not exist when the mannequin was destroyed, it went back in time to a point where their body did exist.

You could say their body didn't age from the moment their consciousness left, so when they return to the year 2019, they're 13 years old with the mind of a 60-year-old. Now they can literally be Five's love interest without any problems.

You could take it a step further and say the person is now terrified of their powers and is claustrophobic. Until Five eventually finds them, the two bond, and Five even trains them to use their powers.

Their name could be Delores or not—it doesn't matter. But there you go: a compelling love interest with an interesting backstory, full of trauma and baggage, just like how The Umbrella Academy loves to do.

[concernedbrownbread]

Hi I read your This Unbearable Tragedy and I’m having a blast! And yes please I would like to hear your thoughts on your fic

OMG thanks for asking!! Sorry for the late reply. I had so much to say that I wrote wayyy too much and then had to cut it down, lol.

(Also for those reading the fic rn, Chapter 3 is delayed to next weekend.)

So, the main things that I immediately thought of when I started planning a fix-it was "there's not enough Ben in s4" and "why would they set Allison and Reginald up to parallel each other and not follow through?" and also "that is NOT where I saw these characters going". In essence, I thought that s3 was setting up a certain narrative with all of this and then was like ???? when they went (haha) off the rails. So I'll talk about those three points below. SPOILERS for the fic and s4. It's a long post!

Before I start: one of the major points of this fic (and s4 ig) is that timelines are spilling into each other. That doesn't just mean artifacts. It means people. The Keepers get memories of other timelines. Why shouldn't Ben and Reginald?

Character Arcs

Yeah ... I think the general consensus was that the characters weren't themselves in s4. I actually had no problems with the set-up in ep 1-2, but then ... Five and Lila happened. And the narrative seemed to hate Diego, reduce Luther to a himbo and not much else, and for some reason try very hard to make Reginald a dad to Viktor. Klaus, Allison and Claire had a kind of nice sideplot but I didn't love it. It tortured Klaus for no real reason and made Allison his saviour? And for what?

Anyway, for my fic, I start off the characters the same with some subtle differences.

We don't see Diego at his job. His job is to be a dad. That's his whole thing, that's the best part of him. He's a brother and he's a father, and the narrative will reward him for that

Lila starts by screaming. Can you tell she's NOT okay? She deserves a break and a breakdown, and she'll get both I swear. She is NOT a house wife because she simply wouldn't be. She loves working. I did almost make Diego a househusband though

Side note on Lila's parents: they don't exist because why on earth would Allison think of that and not think of bringing Sissy back? It's clear her fantasy timeline is selfish.

Luther is a stripper still but again, his job is a side note. His first scenes is with Klaus (which, again, was a relationship set up in s3 and never explored??). He's trying damn hard to keep his family together and I want people to appreciate that!!

Allison's first scene is still the studio, but I wanted to expand it to include Klaus. Her story is still of love.

Also Klaus has his own place because he has goddamn agency in this narrative. He and Luther deserve to have a home of their own, and they'd make hilarious roomates imo.

Ray of course, exists

Five is interesting to me because while it makes sense for him to be in the CIA, I can't see him staying with the CIA. This will be explored in ch5. I have a really cool piece written for him.

Viktor my beloved <3 I have no notes, I just want to say I love him. I will of course not let him near Reginald unless to beat Reginald up.

Anyway, I'm going to write a whole separate post for the characters. You opened the Pandora's box anon!

Ben (and Klaus)

I gotta say ... I tried, I really tried, to like Jennifer. She's just such a non-character. We know very little about her, her trauma barely gets explored, the Squid is stupid because all it does is exist and then Ben is like "hehe I have tentacles too! Means we're connected" WHAT?

I was excited for Jennifer. Curious about the Jennifer Incident. Very vindicated when I learned Reginald killed them because lets face it, that's super in-character. But I just ... couldn't get behind Jennifer. So I scrapped her.

Look, if there was anyone that Ben was going to be soulmates with, it was Klaus (platonically).

I mean, isn't that what we learned over two seasons? That Ben and Klaus are inseparable?

(I also don't get the whole Durango thing. TUA has never been all that science-y but at least they tried, but this season they didn't care at all. They really just threw in matter/dark-matter and pretended it was something.)

Anyway, I also don't understand why the fact that Ben was DEAD in another timeline is never bought up properly. In fact, Ben is barely bought up by the siblings? After they discuss his death, they all go off on their own. Viktor's the only one who seems to care (which is fine, I love Viktor and seeing him try to reach out to Ben was nice). Five and Diego are fighting each other during their fight against Ben??? Doesn't make sense - Five saves Ben in s3, Diego hugs Ben so tightly in s2, WHERE. IS. THE. PAYOFF.

(I think that is really what I hated about s4. There is no payoff to all that was built in s1-3. They bring in whole new narrative points without concluding the old ones, and then everyone dies. The end. UGH.)

Anyway, MY BEN needs his Klaus. His memories are a little janky, because timelines, but there has always been one constant. There has always been Klaus. I think even in childhood, they were close (and I'll try to explore that more in the memories). More than that though, Ben needs his FAMILY.

And he might deny that they are his family, but they are. And they will do so much to help him. Including, but not limited to, BEATING REGINALDS ASS (/j)

Allison and Reginald's choice

Okay, the final scene in s3 where we see Allison & Ray and Reginald & Abigail made me think that s4 was going to take this further. Allison and Reginald both made a selfish choice - not in resetting the timeline, but in directly going against the wishes of the loved ones they magicked into the timeline. Ray in s3 is very clear that though he loves her, and will always love her, his place is in Dallas 1963, where he has people he cares about. A life he cares about. Abigail is a bit more subtle, but I remember thinking that it was clear that she wanted to die/was content with dying. I was a pretty casual fan then so I don't know if this was true, but that was the vibes I got from s1, and I was pretty happy that s3 confirmed it just ... not in the way I wanted? I don't mind she destroyed the world because she wanted to die - it's clear Abigail and Reginald think themselves above human lives. I just wish they explored it more.

And again, this parallel was something I got from just the ending of s3. It wasn't a deepdive or anything. I feel like it was such an obvious choice for s4 to go "What happens if you can't let go of the person you love?" And then ... they don't even mention Ray properly. Damn.

I just don't understand why they didn't do it? They set it up so perfectly. UGHHHH.

The main reason Ray exists in my fic is because Allison has to reckon with the fact that she really did pull Ray out of his time, out of his life. And I want her to realise how awful a choice that was. At the same time, I want Reginald to face the exact same thing and choose to do the opposite - hold onto Abigail tighter. Chapter 3 is going to explore a bit more of Allison and Ray, while further down the line we'll see more and more of Abigail.

(ALSO OMG!!! Abigail and Five parallel each other in wayyy more interesting ways than Reginald and Five. I cannot WAIT to write that. But this is more a headcanon hehehehe.)

Other Notes

I think s1-3 set up a lot of things that I assumed was going to be explored and wasn't. I'm going to try and touch upon all of them

the Jennifer Incident felt lacking. s1-2 really were so good because there was a slight mystery to it all, and when there wasn't, there was a ton of dramatic irony - ofc we knew Viktor was the bomb, but it was interesting to see the family figure out that mystery. In the same way, ofc we know Ben is the bomb, but I really though s4 would allow the family to actively search for why and how to stop him. I'm more of a angst & fluff writer but I shall try to write some semblance of mystery here.

Marigold. I will explore. I have Thoughts. chapter 3 will answer more on why it was found by Ben in particular.

Relationships that were set up in s1 will be revisited because as the "last season" I expected it to be. Ofc, Klaus and Ben is the big one, but also Klaus-Diego, Viktor-Allison, Allison-Luther, Five-Viktor, etc. Some new ones will be there, especially with Ben who had little interactions (on account of him being a ghost) and with Lila.

Five continues to be old man on this side of crazy. Sometimes he has good advice. Other times his ideas are unhinged. Early chapters he's mellow because life is normal now but when things go to shit ... oh boy let's NOT forget how paranoid this guy is.

Lila is also a little crazy. Good for her.

Commission!Five is explained more than just a throwaway line in the Five Deli. Five Deli and the Subway is explored more too ofc.

DOLORES MENTIONED BECAUSE SHE IS GODDAMN IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING FIVE. Not even as a "love story" (Five's love story is his familial one), just as a part of his psyche. She is mentioned in EVERY season. She deserves to be mentioned here.

Pogo. I will not say more.

Reginald. Is Reginald.

Anyway, I have a lot more to say but I'll stop here. Sorry this is so long! Thanks for the ask <3

[chemnections]

What are your thoughts on the fourth TUA season?

i just finished bingeing it and am in the processing phase right now. my very first impression of it is i didn’t hate it, but i am disturbed by the ending.

suicide isn’t the answer. and the world is better with you in it.

it is so disheartening to see this sort of ending on a story about a dysfunctional and abused family - it sends the message that it never gets better. but it can get better - it truly can. and maybe they were going for more of a nihilistic approach, a “life goes on until it ends”, maybe a classic “all the characters have settled down and had family’s and lived to an old age” was too “boring” of an ending for the weird interesting umbrella academy. that all the characters “tried” to have normal lives but never achieved 100% happiness at all times because that’s not what life is, life is hard and we don’t have the answers why. but imagine watching the first season for the first time then having the ending spoiled that they never truly worked through the dysfunction than they all committed suicide as a group - because they had “no choice” but come on they didn’t go down fighting and it was written so that they “wouldn’t have a choice” to justify it. but it is what it is. as an untreated teenager into nihilism i probably would have found it profound. but as an absurdist treated adult, this messaging horrifies me.

and they know it’s fucked up because they made sure to save the kids - because that’s a step too far (even though had would their kids exist without them ever existing?). as if orphaning them isn’t horrible and traumatic. and then to display them happier than they were before with their parents. . . sure they had their memories erased, but that doesn’t save trauma from missing parents even if they are loved and taken care of. asked people who never knew their parents, or even people born out of an egg/sperm donation. most do wonder/want to meet their birth parents.

one potential saving grace that has yet to be seen is if by killing the umbrellas, gerard is putting the narrative of mcr’s dysfunction, shade and break up to rest. i am hoping.

and it does worry me how this theme appears in gerard’s current art. it worried me when they released foundations of decay. “from his own hand his spirit flies”. i hope he has found a place of stability and relative happiness and these themes are retrospectives from a past dark point.

and before i get messages saying gerard doesn’t write for the show, imo he does have great influence over the show and that steve blackman consults closely with him. they are past the point of original material. i’m seeing quotes saying the rest of the writer team wasn’t onboard with the ending, but blackman was determined. the actors thought he was joking. if it really was left open to the writers and producers to decide the narrative of i think the brainstorming would have been a much broader conversation as it does take several minds to build upon someone else’s world. tinfoil hat on, i think blackman asked gerard what ending he wanted.

i actually like that lila had an affair in the sense that i was worried they were going to have her marriage and kid “cure her” of her lying manipulative ways. that actually marriage and being together would “cure” both diego and lila of their ills and problems which they would hold above everyone else. so maybe that’s why i like this season generally, it did subvert my expectations in a good way. because in a real sense diego had to learn that when you get into a relationship with a liar, that they don’t stop lying. and that lila wasn’t going to stop being cruel because of love. and fuck, lying that stan was his kid isn’t something he should have forgiven. he should have seen the signs and walked away. so i kinda like how this season roasts him a bit for his own inaction in his own life and his audacity to complain about it. like the line “lila said you couldn’t get pregnant when breastfeeding” - he should have educated and verified that for himself instead of playing the victim as if he didn’t participate. life just happens to him. and they barely showed the additional two children - but they are twins.

lila cheating with five was foreshadowed in season three. it was something that really stuck out to me. when diego asked confused what lila and five were doing together when she was in the bath. scene in the bath in general. “i’m shaving my nest you perv” - quote just off of memory. i thought it was a very weird suggestion, especially thinking of who those characters are based on. i brushed it off as being a fucked up fantasy being put in, maybe to piss someone(s) off. but now it can be seen that it was setting up the groundwork for the affair. i guess i should google how old aiden gallagher is, maybe they were waiting for him to come of age before putting his character into a relationship.

i have seen a steve blackman quote saying they wanted to put five into a relationship, but if they wanted more romance how about something established or star crossed lovers storylines they already had - like klaus and dave, or not have ray abandon alison for no apparent reason given. they also had ben. or kept sloan alive. or they could have brought back deloris because people did accept that way more than they did luther and allison. but there may be a practical availability and budget side to this.

and so many repeating themes along then way. the piss bottle lol.

still very much collecting my thoughts on all of this, would love to hear other people opinions!

[kitkatkitchen]

Umbrella Academy - Season 4

Final thoughts (spoilers obviously)

Okay, I’m going to say that this was my least favourite season. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it thoroughly haha

The ‘disappointing’ parts:

- Five and Lila - so weird and not needed! I feel Lila and Diego’s marital problems could have been outlined and accepted in a different way than the cheating way

- Klaus’ weird side plot - I LOVE klaus and I enjoyed his little shenanigans! However I don’t really see the point in his side plot? Or how it relates to the plot of the Cleanse? Klaus’ whole arc has been about not being taken seriously because of his addiction but that arc was not solved this season because all they did was make him the most useless part in ending the apocalypse? He at least could have kept the dog!

- Plotholes - Why did Klaus’ tattoos dissapear and then not reappear with the Marigold like Luther’s body? What’s the full story behind Ray and his absence (all that was mentioned was a separation with no real meat to it or emotion)? Etc etc

- Rushed - why did they choose to do six episodes? I guess we’ll never know. Some things could have been solved with more time? Maybe I could have grown to like Lila and Five if they had been given more than one episode? (I know it was seven years but it feels rushed from an audience perspective)

The parts that made it The Umbrella Academy:

- amazing acting from all parts. I’m so biased when it comes highlight Robert Sheehan but I always will. His ‘daddy issues’ monologue was CORRECT and so well acted <3 And, of course, Justin H Min knocking it out of the park! I really grew to love Luther this season! Tom Hopper does an excellent blend of comedy which makes up for our usual comic relief (Klaus’) more serious plot line. Also Claire’s actress (I don’t know her name, will find out) was great! I really enjoyed when her character was on screen!

- The overall ending - I personally liked the idea that the siblings accept that they were the issue all along. Some of the final moments hit very well. I loved Abigail’s discussion with Hargreeves. KLAUS CRYING CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD SO THANKS FOR THAT. And the cameos at the end were so fun to spot!

- CIA fight scene - such a highlight for me in classic umbrella academy style ! Diego and Luther really stood out to me where they didn’t usually, this season.

- Jean and Gene - classic umbrella academy villains with great wackiness to them.

- COMIC ACCURACY! Always a highlight for me. I’ve been waiting for Klaus to float for a very long time and some great comic cameos!

Overall, not my fave season but the finale made up for some parts that felt rushed or uncertain. I feel if they’d have kept to the ten episode format then a lot of these issues wouldn’t have occurred. For those wondering, season 2 is my favourite season overall <3

[multifandom-aroace]

I watched umbrella academy recently mostly because I saw that there was a new season coming out and I actually ended up liking it.

But would someone please kindly explain what the fuck is going on in season 4?

(I haven't finished it yet I'm about halfway through episode 5)

the writing is very rushed and they dropped loads of storylines for no reason - they said Ray walked out but they didn't elaborate at all, it was six years later but they kept saying tings about five years I am just very confused about that,sometimes it feels like they completely forgot that viktor played violin even though it was his main thing in season 1, literally none of them helped klaus stay sober Allison mentioned it when he was about to drink the sake but they all jsut brushed it off and he didn't actually end up drinking it but none of them tried to stop him (although they already showed us in season 1 how little they cared about him when he got kidnapped and they all forgot about him), then there was the van scene which... Just why? I did not need a whole five minutes of listening to baby shark and watching people throwing up I literally had to skip through the whole scene it was too disgusting, and lila and diegos relationship like they barely showed us anything with them and their kids even though the whole first episode was about their child's birthday party?? then they started having conversations that they definitely should have talked about earlier in their marriage. The fact that Diego assumed that she was having an affair showed that there had either been trust problems in the past or Diego was just really good at foreshadowing because this leads me onto whatever the fuck happened with lila and five????? The age gap, the fact that they are in laws, the complete lack of chemistry they had until then because he was a fucking child but also a 60 year old man at the same time. Like, Five if five was about 60 when he first went back to 2019, it means that he was around 72 in his mind but about 25 physically and I just don't understand how the fuck that would sit right with anyone to make him and a married woman in her early forties (I assume based on the 6 year time skip and extra 6 years). I saw in the montage and I was jsut praying I was looking too deeply into it but no it was real and I was uncomfortable especially because of the fact that there is a 15 year age difference between the actors like he's technically it is legal yes but morally I don't like it.

honestly I could go on so much more

I really hate everything they have done to this season I should have stopped watching after season 2, but even season 3 was better than whatever the hell this was

[nonsenseandstuff]

I watched season 4 of Umbrella Academy. And I have thoughts. This post is mainly for my own processing of thoughts and feelings.

I know a lot of people were disappointed with this season. I get that, it certainly had it's issues. But, on the whole, I still enjoyed it, and I have mixed feelings about some of the comments I've seen. So, I'm going to break down the comments I've seen and address them, mainly to get these thoughts out of my head, your mileage may vary, and give my opinions on the season as a whole.

Spoilers ahead!

First, personally my main issue with season 4 was the shorter season led to issues with character arcs and development.

Claire for example has no real personality. She has been Alison's driving motivation for the past 3 seasons but we meet her and she is... nice? That's pretty much all I can say about her. The same for Gracie and the twins. They weren't given any development or depth.

The shorter season, along with the time skip, made many of the characters developments feel reversed and their arcs felt flat at times. We don't see Luthor looking for Sloan, we don't see why Ray isn't with Alison, or Sparrow Ben integrating to the umbrella guys, or Klaus's struggles with sobriety etc, etc. Lila felt very stripped back as well.

Jennifer absolutely wasn't given time or development that she really needed.

I thought the overall plot was pretty good, and it kept the same tone and vibes that previous series had. It was fun!

Now, the comments I've seen:

The main thing I've seen people have issues with is Five having a relationship with Lila during their 7 years on the subway. 'He spent 45 years alone in the apocalypse, he wouldn't cheat with his brother's wife!' For me, this is split into 2 parts. First, that Five spent 45 years alone, he can cope with 7 years. Five imprinted on a mannequin and spent 40 years in a loving relationship with her because our boy doesn't do well alone. He loves hard and he depends on people. He does not do well on his own. He cares deeply for his family. It makes sense for his character to fall for Lila when she was the only one there. Secondly, it was his brother's wife. They thought they were stuck, that they wouldn't see Diego again. Having said that, I think it was a shitty decision from a writing Doylist perspective. I don't have a problem with age gaps in fiction, but I get why people are not comfortable with Five-who has literally been in a school uniform for the rest of the series- be with a woman quite a bit older than him. Or vice versa as Five is a lot older in lived experience. Five also seemed quick to give up this season and not as comitted to his family as he had been in the past, which this added to. He didn't seem like himself.

'There are plot holes'. The main so called plot hole that I've seen get discussed is why didn't they need the other 43 powered/marigold effected people to join them to save the world? Those people don't exist in this reset universe. Reginald didn't release the marigold because his wife wasn't dead and he didn't need to save her.

Where is Sloan? - Alison was the one who controlled the reset. Alison, who is manipulative and jealous of Luther having a life outside her (shown more in the comics). She chose not to bring Sloan over.

Why did Luther get his Monkey body back? This is an actual plot hole. The ape body was the result of surgery performed by Reginald on Luther. The marigold didn't cause it.

Where is Ray? Again actual plot hole. I'm guessing this was the actor not being able/willing to come back or a result of the shorter season.

Why was Jennifer in the squid, how did she know the cleanse was happening? Which reality did that happen in? The reset world or the original? It seemed to me that it was in the original, but it is a bit confusing. I think that maybe Ben and Jennifer were conencted interdimensionally, with Ben's ability to summon monsters from another dimension via the portal on his abdomen. Sparrow Ben had been drawing adult Jennifer which could show this sort of connection.

Why did the umbrella academy have to die/turn into flowers? Shouldn't they have still existed just without their abilities? No, they only existed because of the marigold. Their mothers were impregnated by the marigold and the pregnancies last a matter of minutes. They wouldn't have been impregnated without it, and even if their mothers had children, they wouldn't have been the umbrella kids.

No Dance Routine. Yeah, I missed the umbrella siblings having their dance number. But we got Jean and Gene dancing at least.

Wouldn't Umbrella Ben have told Klaus how he died? I don't think Ben knows. He was shot in the back of the head, and we don't see spirit Ben manifest immediately. I think most likely that Ben was summoned back by Klaus, and at that point none of them remembered how Ben died and Ben didn't know. He knew he and Jennifer both died but not how.

Why was Ben on the subway and why wasn't this referred back to? No clue. I'm guessing this was cut due to the shorter season

So yeah, overall, I would say that there were definitely issues. But it's still a fun show, and most of the issues were down to the shorter series and not really having time to explore the characters or plots as deeply as in previous seasons.

[alaffy]

The Umbrella Academy, Ep. 4x03 – The Squid and the Girl (Spoilers)

One thing I will say for the show so far is that, even though it’s a shortened season, it doesn’t feel rushed.  And it means that storylines that normally would progress longer than they maybe should, also have to move at a quicker pace.  Although, I think they could have dropped the dance sequence in this one.  Strangely enough, this is the first time that it felt forced. 

Let's start with Diego and Lila.  If it were a longer season, I’m sure the writers would still have Diego think that Lila’s cheating on him.  However, because it’s a small season, Lila’s already told him the truth.  The man Deigo saw was Five and that they were working.  And, like I mentioned in my last post. Diego finds this reality to be harder than the idea of her cheating on him.  She tells Diego she’s doing it on her own because she needs something for herself…look, the long and the short of it is they aren’t made for the suburban domestic life.  Also, at the end of the episode, she says they needs to take time apart. 

But now it’s time for the inevitable family fight and for the group to split up.  Ben has decided to look for Jennifer on his own.  Partly because he’s tired of the others, but also partly because…something happened between Jennifer and Ben as the van crashed.  Either she transferred something to him or something about their energies….now his arm is glowing and something seems to be crawling inside it.  But as Ben is trying to figure out where to go next, up pops Sy.  And now…I’m still leaning toward the idea that Sy is working with Jean and Gene; but it is also possible he’s a third, unknown factor.  At the very least, I would hazard a guess and say he knows something about the “Jennifer Project. (more on that in a minute) and how Jennifer is special and that Ben has a connection to her.  He has Ben focus to find Jennifer. 

We do find out why Jean and Gene want Jennifer.  It turns out that, in 1995, two fishermen found a giant squid. As they are being interviewed on tv, something starts to move in the squid.  They cut the squid open and Jennifer falls out.  When asked what was going on, Jennifer replied “The Cleansing.”  Also, at the pier, is Reginald. 

Jean and Gene have taken Jennifer to find out what “The Cleansing” is, but it seems like Jennifer doesn’t remember what happened at the pier. Well, sort of, as it seems like she does remember the giant squid.  The giant squid that Jean and Gene have hanging in their barn, which they lock Jennifer in.  Also, just like Ben, there’s something glowing inside her.  Also, it seems like when she glows, he glows. 

And just to finish Ben’s story up.  Ben is able to find Jennifer, but some of Jean and Gene’s followers start shooting at them.  They are able to escape because Jean and Gene end up shooting their own men.  At this point, the conversation Jean and Gene have strongly indicates that they expected Ben to come find her and they wanted them to escape (which is another reason why I still wonder if Sy is working with them).

Back to the siblings.  Alison asks Klaus how he’s doing and he’s not doing well.  He’s angry the Alison gave him the Marigold when he told her that he didn’t want it.  This starts a back and forth between them where basically…ok, it seems like Alison was there for Klaus to help him get sober and Klaus was there for Alison when Ray left.  But now, he’s accusing her of wanting him to be a mess so she can constantly “Fix” him and she’s basically saying that he’s just nothing but a problem in her life.  So, Klaus walks away.  He somehow ends back up at their home, where he begins to steal things.  Claire, who seems to have been a real driving force in Klaus getting sober, tries to stop him; but he walks out with the stolen items. 

Klaus finds his old dealer, who he owes money to, and pisses him off enough that he kills Klaus.  However, before the dealer leaves, Klaus comes back to life.  Later, we see Klaus hanging upside down in a basement and his dealer saying that he has an idea how Klaus can pay him back.

Meanwhile, Alison demands to know if the rest of the group has something to say because she’s sick of being the bad guy in the family.  Which…look, I’m not going to say that the family should “forgive and forget” everything Alison did last season, because she intentionally did some pretty horrible things.  However, they knew damn well that they also were saying that Alison should give Klaus the Marigold and none of them spoke up when Klaus was attacking her.  And they all know she didn’t do it to be cruel.  It’s one thing to hold a person accountable for their actions, it’s another to let someone take the blame for a group decision.  Alison is right to be pissed in this case.

In the end, though, they need to figure out what is going on.  Diego, Five, and Lila will track down Jean and Gene.  Luther, Viktor, and Alison will try to talk to Reginald. 

Diego, Five, and Lila go to Jean and Gene’s apartment.  It’s been cleared out.  Still, Diego knows that anyone in a rush is bound to leave something behind.  And he finds that something in the garbage shoot.  Meanwhile, Lila forces Five to use his powers and they end up in the Time Subway.  Lila and Five jump on/forced onto a train and end up in the original timeline; after Viktor had destroyed the moon.  There, they’re shot at by Five.  They escape and go back to their timeline.  Diego shows him the file he found.  It's on the fore mentioned “Jennifer Project.”  The file is mostly redacted, but they can see that whatever this file is about, it happened on the exact day that Ben died.

Meanwhile, Viktor, Alison, and Luther go to Reginald’s home and are…quickly invited in?  I’d be worried about that.  Accept we find that something’s have changed.  True, Reginald is still and asshole, but now his beloved is back and…she’s very much his missing conscious. Also, Reginald says that he was protecting Jennifer from the siblings. But he also says that Jennifer is quite different from them, in fact she's the opposite of them. So I have a feeling what he really means is that, in order to protect the world, Jennifer and the siblings need to be kept apart. Of course, they weren't and now Ben's glowing. Not a good sign.

Anyway, to wrap this up.  Diego, Lila, and Five come to the house with the redacted file.  Five starts asking questions about Ben’s death, specifically what happened.  None of the siblings can share any details because they can't remember, but have a very, very programmed answer.  Five says, and Reginald concurs, that the Reginald of their timeline purposely erased that event from the sibling’s minds.  Of course, this Reginald happens to have a machine that can piece those memories back.

So, Luther, Alison, and Diego are strapped to the machine.  Five wasn’t there at the time and he doesn’t trust Reginald enough to go poking in his head.  Viktor also wasn’t on the mission, but chooses to be strapped in because he wants to know the truth too.  Also, Viktor may not have been on the mission, but he was living at the academy.  It could be he saw or heard something that may not have made sense at the time, but becomes clear now.  I’m actually surprised that Reginald didn’t brainwash Viktor too, just in case.  Reginald starts the machine and the episode ends.    

[endiness]

s4 of tua thoughts/review

~

to start with the (semi) positives…

overall, i found the season… entertaining. i'm not quite sure if i liked it per se, but i did find it entertaining and i wasn't that mad about it or how it all ended, or at least the concept of the ending.

i'm so glad that the show focused on klaus and allison's relationship and their relationship with claire. klaus's relationship with ben is by far my absolute favorite relationship in the entire show, but if the show wasn't really going to focus on them in the last season, then i'm glad klaus and allison's relationship really got the focus because their relationship is probably my second favorite.

also, lowkey love the idea of them living together especially with allison still being an actress. it is giving "this happened in a fanfic" vibes. same thing with klaus getting buried alive. like, thanks for the fanfic content 👍 and also thanks for the continued misfits parallels 👍

i loved klaus getting to blow up at everyone. and i also loved allison refusing to be seen as the bad guyTM.

i don't think robbie was given the best material to work with this season, but when he did get good material to work with, he really brought it. like, his acting in the scene with claire when he relapses was great.

the show had me shipping five and lila, negl 🤷‍♀️ (also, i have to say: i cannot take people who say that lila cheated on diego seriously. like, no nope nah. if you are stuck in what more or less constitutes as a pocket dimension for over half a decade facing the very real possibility that you will never escape from it, like. it ain't cheating at that point. sry not sry. it just isn't.)

i think the show ultimately focused way too much on gene and jean for such a short season, but i do have to hand it to the actors for doing a good job.

i thought the fight scenes were pretty good and tbh i really enjoyed just how brutal everyone got to be. like, diego jumping and spinning and manipulating the bullets is a classic. i think the way viktor's power displayed itself this season was cool. same with allison. s/o to klaus for finally getting to levitate, too.

now onto the negatives…

i did not care about, or like, jennifer at all. so the show wasting so much time on her was extremely annoying to me given that the season was so short. also, as someone who almost always absolutely despises "destined for each other" relationships because they are usually incredibly poorly written as writers generally tend to rely on that aspect of it instead of, y'know, actually bothering to develop their relationship… yeah, ben and jennifer's relationship did not escape my disdain. and i think it was such a waste of ben's character for him to have spent so much of his screen time on this completely brand new character and not with his family, which the show didn't do the best job of developing anyway given that this isn't og ben but sparrow ben.

also, i don't even understand the whole thing with jennifer anyway? like, why did reginald not just kill her from the beginning? wouldn't this have solved a bunch of problems? and why was everyone so obsessed with killing ben? didn't reginald say you had to kill one of the two vessels, meaning either ben or jennifer? like, just kill jennifer. literally who the fuck cares about her. 🙄

that klaus's storyline this season was being a hypochondriac, relapsing, sex trafficked, buried alive, and then erased from existence. nobody likes that. especially as most of those things weren't really treated that seriously by the narrative. like, klaus went through a massive amount of trauma in a very short amount of time (like he always does), he never got to deal with it (and while the show hasn't always been the best about addressing klaus's trauma, like! it definitely did a lot better in previous seasons!), and then he was just erased from existence. like wtf. also that klaus was 0% involved with the whole "reginald killed his ben" storyline. again, wtf. 🙃

i still cannot stand viktor 💅

i don't mind the concept of the "erase yourself from existence to save the world" ending, but i feel like overall the show did not do the best job in executing it. like, for one thing, if you're gonna go for that ending, i think it is an absolute must that things need to be character driven as opposed to plot driven. and this season was extremely plot driven. on top of that, i think the show introduced the whole idea way too late. like, things need to be building to that solution and not introduced at the last minute, basically. like, it should've been building to that solution since day one and not, like, what. 10-15 minutes before the end?

also, i feel like the whole thing was so unsatisfying for the characters? like, if you're going for that type of ending… it really only works if it feels like… things were resolved with the characters. and i don't really feel like that. like, i can kind of see it for allison because so much of allison's story was just trying to get claire back and with it ending with the way it did, claire was still alive which was ultimately allison's biggest goal. so i think for allison's story it can be satisfying. maybe not the best ending, but all things considered and taking every other character into account, i think that ending for her works better than everyone else. and i guess sort of the same thing with lila because a lot of her story was initially tied up with her family, too, and she ended up saving them. and kind of five in the sense that, idk, i guess he solved the problem that is the apocalypse, lol. (even though he was also trying to save his family and he didn't get to do that...)

but yeah, for everyone else? like, diego got erased knowing that his wife wanted a break and then cheated on him (i still think it's ridiculous to view it that way, like, as an audience member, but i think it's more understandable from diego's position, obviously, even if i was in the same position i'd be like fair enough tbh.) luther got erased kind of doing nothing all season? like, his story last season was very focused on sloan and that's where his story ended off and then the show just went with completely erasing her and that's that. 🙃 i already talked about klaus, but yeah. that he ends up getting erased after going through highly traumatic things that are never addressed. and, like, ben didn't even get to go out with his family?

just, overall, i don't think it was particularly satisfying for any of the characters because not a lot of the season was that character driven. (plus i think there's also stuff that just does not make sense with the ending. like, claire and lila's kids should not actually exist. allison was erased from the timeline as was lila and diego. their kids should just not exist. i don't care that they were in some kind of time travel subway. they should not exist. also, like, the actual problem was reginald releasing the merigold, so like. i think the focus should've been on stopping him from doing that in the past as opposed to like. we are kind of retroactively erasing ourselves from existence by letting this monster eat the merigold that made us in the first place.)

[skittlestrash]

random comments on some of these~

-luther did mention sloane a few times but a) not nearly enough!! and b) like you said, nothing about ever looking for her?? like. it would've taken two seconds and not even changed anything for him to be like "I searched for sloane for THREE YEARS and I'm just now getting back to being anywhere near happy" and then gone on with the story, but no.

-i will admit that i am super easy when it comes to most plotholes in most media because i never even thought about luther's body kjdhfkjd oops

-(i also have no real problem handwaving a bunch of stuff and never have, like klaus and marigolding the waiter, or ben and jennifer not noticing the destruction in their wake, but that's just me!)

-but desperate for answers on ray and ben in the subway!! for a second i was like 'oh maybe that was another ben on THE subway!' but then realized...there had been multiple people around him and it was very much a normal subway in that post credits scene soooo never mind!

-i'm not TOO annoyed about the random differences in powers (viktor's color being redorange now, ben's tentacles from his back now, lila's eyes??) but i sure do wish there had been any...comment on it besides just them being ??? at lila's eyes. especially since as you said, she still had the mimicry.

-man, speaking of their powers, i really DID love how many chances they got to show off like. extended powers, like how many bullets luther can apparently take now (like that bomb in season two! just like with diego and the bullets! if only klaus had had the opportunity to bring forth a whole dead army, sigh)

plotholes in season 4 i really don't understand now i've digested the season please feel free to explain or add your own:

- sparrow academy and especially sloane just being forgotten, luther just seeming to magically get over his wife disappearing and not fighting in any way shape or form to find her or get back to a timeline with her in it - especially as they show discovery of the phoenix academy you think five would mention that a timeline with sloane must exist out there - ben being teased on the subway train at the end of season 3 but just??? never showing up??? was that an alternative timeline? - allison doing everything last season motivated by the idea of being able to get to claire and ray only for ray to apparently leave her with zero elaboration as to why or what happened - making fatphobic jokes towards diego but actually he takes his shirt off and is still ripped as fuck? - upon regaining their powers luther getting his ape body back which??? literally had nothing to do with his marigold related powers it was because of an accident on a previous timeline? - lila getting laser beam eye powers seemingly from nowhere, but it's not as if this was ever addressed because she could still mimic powers (see: her using five's time travel ability) - very limited use of powers, there were a few cool moments in episode 2 but ultimately it felt like there was no need to even get them back as they rarely showcased them (with the exception of five's getting them stuck) - klaus throwing his marigold onto a passing man but this never getting any exploration - never explaining why jennifer was in a giant squid - never explaining why jennifer got locked up in a safe - ben apparently never discussing with klaus how he died??? - ben and jennifer not realising that the entire motel had blown up around them including murdering flocks of birds and staff when they checked out? - entire five/lila plotline but also five figuring out how to leave and not saying anything when he has always been the first to want to get back and protect his family - lila apparently hating bracelets despite the fact that diego making lila a bracelet and it keeping them linked was such a big plotpoint it was used as a teaser in previous seasons (and the bead bracelet just disappearing) - lila being so intent on saving her family and the kids by sending them to the subway and on an alternative timeline but only one 'true' timeline can survive anyway which would erase the subway - the kids existing when the parents that created them don't - the entire show being for nothing in that the umbrellas do not even exist anymore