The Umbrella Academy finally gets back together in “Valhalla”

At the midpoint of its new season, The Umbrella Academy offers up a family reunion, baby Pogo in space, and the return of the dance number.

The fifth episode of The Umbrella Academy’s second season plays out like a wild dysfunctional family reunion, with people coming together in a heartfelt way one moment only for a fight or argument to break out in the next. Throw in shooting an ape into space, and you have a very entertaining episode.

Young Pogo gets his time to shine in the opener as we see Grace and Reginald train him for space travel. But something goes wrong during his first mission, and at Grace’s request, Reginald injects the dying primate astronaut with a serum that heals his wounds. We then see him dozing as Hargreeves reads him the same thing Five yelled at him in Greek at the end of the last episode.

Back in the “present,” Five and the others watch Reginald drive off. Before they leave, Five questions Lila’s motives and threatens to kill her if she shows up again. Diego also wonders why she didn’t help him and can sense she is lying.

When Five and Diego return to Elliot’s place, Luther reveals he attempted to see their father when he first arrived in the past. Reginald brutally rejected him and sent him on his way, which isn’t surprising given everything we know about the hard-edged leader of the Umbrella Academy.

Back on the farm, Vanya and Sissy wake up after spending the night together only to have it all interrupted when Carl returns from his business trip early with news of a big sale. In a celebratory mood, Carl tries to get affectionate with his wife, who tells him to stop. Vanya gets angry to the point where she cracks the kitchen window with her powers. Before she can do any real damage, she is comforted by Harlan, who seems to understand what’s going on after Vanya used her powers to revive him when he ran into the lake.

Lila confronts the Handler about the Swedes blowing her cover, and learns that the Commission doesn’t know about her mother’s little plan. Lila is pretty steamed about the situation and hands over one of Diego’s knives, which her mother specifically asked for to retrieve. Later, the pair trick the Swedes into walking into an ambush where one of them is exploded to death. Diego’s knife planted on the scene, the two remaining Swedes have a new target.

The best part of the episode is the long-awaited reunion of The Umbrella Academy. Back together again, they revert back to their dysfunctional ways before splitting up to drink, fight or sulk. Five chases down Lila and fights her until The Handler shows up with an offer. Allison, Vanya and Klaus booze it up and dance before going back to their husband, secret lover and cult respectively. Luther and Diego argue about being heroes when an old man drops off an invitation from their father: he wants all of them to join him for dinner.

It was great to see the gang back together again. The drunken dance to Sam Cooke’s “Twistin the Night Away” is an excellent follow-up to the infamous “I Think Were Alone Now” sequence from the first season.

It was also nice to get some background on the gun-toting trio hunting The Umbrella Academy. The Viking funeral scene was the most sympathetic they’ve ever been, and the Swedish cover of Adele’s “Hello” that played over it continues to prove that the show deserves all the awards for its music choices.

The other notable scene was the fight between Five and Lila. She manages to give Five a run for his money with some above-average evasive maneuvers and continues to be a welcome addition to the ensemble overall.

So it was exciting seeing the group back together, but seeing them reunite with their father is lightyears more intriguing. Overall this was a stellar set-up for the long-awaited encounter between The Umbrella Academy and The Monacle.

Episode Grade: B

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