#and now five is 19-ish and Lila is 35-ish

[where-dreams-dwell]

**** Spoilers for TUA S4 ****

My frustration with the Lila/5 plot in S4 is that they had such a complex and layered relationship already, developed across S2+3 and which truly felt earned by the time we rejoin them in S4. Why would you ruin that by introducing romance?

Lila and 5 have always had a fascinating relationship, mirroring one another and matching one another in a way no other character’s can.

Lila is the only other character to have lived, worked in and experienced the Commission and to therefore know how 5 thinks and operates because of it. Similarity 5 was also once the tool of the Handler, used to do her dirty work and to be wielded against her enemies for her own interests. Lila was in many ways 5’s replacement; the Handler decided to raise her from a child so she would be more malleable and easy to groom in comparison to 5 who was a grown man with trauma from decades of isolation when she recruited him.

Even in this they are mirrored: 5 would definitely see similarities in the Handlers parental manipulation to Sir Reginald’s brand of parenting. Both parents out for their own interests and keen to have superpowered children to deploy as and when they wish.

In S2 once both of them are aware who the other is and how powerful they are, their interactions show their balanced nature. They meet one another punch for punch, witty quip for witty quip. Lila’s powered aids in this as she is literally using 5’s own ability to fight him: visually they are mirrors of one another through that fight scene, through to the end of the season. Lila is the only character we’ve seen able to fight 5 to a standstill for any period of time.

Then throughout S3 we see their relationship develop from grudging acceptance via the proxy of Diageo (she’s my brothers girlfriend vs he’s my boyfriends brother) to actual reliance upon one another. By the end of S4 they acknowledge and appreciate one another’s strengths and truly feel like sibilings in their bantering and teasing relationship. 5 actually calls her family, and Lila’s behaviour towards him becomes familial: ruffling hair, teasing, dancing alongside them all.

There would have been such opportunity for more growth in the subway if they kept it platonic.

Let’s dive into 5’s trauma-bonding to Delores due to lack of human contact; Lila takes up drawing and paints a mural of Diageo and her children, which she talks to every evening. It starts as something funny and to poke fun at their situation but she confesses to 5 that she’s actually come to rely on it, imagining their responses to her questions and guessing what their life has been without her. 5 has the opportunity to be honest about Delores and his love for her; he knows she’s a manaquin but

Have them bond over abusive narcissistic parents: Sir Reginald and the Chairwoman had a lot in common, how is Lila dealing with that as a mother now herself? They grew up running training drills and completing missions: stuck on their own they probably would create obstical courses of doom and fight one another for first place.

Let’s fucking talk about 5’s clear trauma from his first isolation: the poor guy was alone for 40 years with no one, and as a result he put his sibling bond upon a pedestal and risked everything to save their lives. This continues through multiple timelines and in the face of all their shenanigans, even when they are foiling his own plans; through it all 5 will defend his siblings at the expense of anything and everything else. This trauma-bonding to his siblings, when he’s been separated from them for twice as long as he was with them, shows the lasting impact of this isolation on his ability to form relationships or let relationships end. Now he’s once again separated from them; he’s probably going to be bouncing off of the walls about that, and it would be fun to watch.

Plus being on his own again?! Let’s have 5 rage at Lila about it, break down and despair over having to do this all over again. This time he has Lila to talk to but he’s still trapped in a version of his own personal nightmare. The whole attempt to save his family must feel completely useless because here is is again, at the end of the world, alone and without his family.

The plot wouldn’t have had to be changed much at all and we would have gotten fantastic character exploration, and more of the sibling bonding moments that are so key to carrying the show through its more ridiculous or fantastical moments.

On top of all of this one of the key characteristics of 5 and one of his main motivations is his love for his family and his need to protect them. He’s lied, betrayed and murdered people in cold blood all in the name of familial love. Why *on earth* would a character with that history ever consider a romance with his brothers wife and the mother of his brothers children?! Are they trying to argue that if Sloan has been able to come with them after the reset and it was her who was trapped with 5 for all those years, then he would have started something with her too? That goes against a core tenant of his character and is a bridge he just wouldn’t cross no matter how alone he felt.

And why does this character just *have* to have a romantic love plot when their entire character arc across 4 seasons has been about their devotion? Whether devoted to their siblings or their ‘manaquin-love’ coping mechanism, 5’s actions have always been to protect the people he loves.

Calling any of these characters stories lacking because the love wasn’t romantic shows how little the writers understand their own story. Nothing felt missing or absent from 5’s character, and their actions have always fit into the wider show narrative that love makes you do crazy things. Whether it’s Alison’s devolution to Claire, Sir Reginald’s devotion to Alyssa, of 5’s devotion for Delores The Umbrella Academy is united and driven by love.