Review: One of The Umbrella Academy sacrifices themselves in “743”

The penultimate episode of The Umbrella Academy season 2 has one twist after another, building a huge amount of momentum ahead of the big finish.

“743” is a wild ride that sets up what promises to be a truly epic season finale. There are a ton of game-changing revelations in this episode; it may be the most powerful outing of the series so far.

“743” begins with Vanya still tearing apart the FBI building in Dallas, her powers creating a wind tunnel in the hallway outside the room where she was being tortured. Allison is the first to try and get to her sister, but is blown back. Diego tries to knife his way across the floor to no avail. Klaus tries to use a hose to rappel his way down the hall, but in the end only one person can save the day: Ben. Being a ghost, Ben is able to walk down the hallway unperturbed, and eventually possesses his sister, entering her mind.

While Vanya is going berserk, poor Harlan has apparently gone catatonic. Carl tries to bring him to an institution, but Sissy confronts him with a shotgun. The gun goes off, and Harlan uses his abilities to deflect the bullet back at Carl, killing his father and terrifying his mother.

Back in Vanya’s mind, Ben meets up with his sister, who believes she shouldn’t live because she is a world-destroying monster. But Number Six tells his sister that’s not true, and that she can still learn to control her powers. In the end, Ben deteriorates and dies for good. He hugs his sister before he goes, telling her this extra time with Klaus was all gravy; he died long ago.

Meanwhile, Luther contends with Five’s paranoia (both Fives) as the Paradox Psychosis continues to take over as the trio approaches the presidential motorcade. Luther’s attempts to get the Fives to stop fighting fails miserably, and the two time-traveling assassins engage in a teleporting mirror match. Luther eventually knocks out the older Five and tells Kid Five to open the portal to 2019, where it all started.

Adult Five, apparently knowing he’s beat, at least asks Kid Five for “the right equation,” so when he goes to 2019 it at least won’t be as his 12-year-old self. Kid Five obliges, but then a fire extinguisher shoots out of the portal — the same one that Klaus threw in the series premiere — and hits Luther in the head, knocking him down. The Fives fight over the briefcase, and finally Luther kicks Adult Five through the portal, which snaps the briefcase in half as it closes. They’re still stranded in the ’60s.

At the Commission, Herb reveals to Lila that Diego took control of the Infinite Switchboard, stole a briefcase, and left. Now Lila must keep her end of the deal and kill Diego. Before the Handler sends Herb away, A.J. — now in a fishbowl on the Handler’s desk — ingeniously finds a way to tell Herb to find file 743, which reveals that Five killed Lila’s parents. In reality, this was all part of the Handler’s off-the-books plans, but the Handler talks her way out of that part of it, and points her revenge-driven daughter at Five. Then the Handler eats A.J. Gulp.

Diego, now back in 1963, sees Reginald make his way to the Grassy Knoll, and makes a mad dash to stop his father from killing the President. He tackles the man to realize it isn’t Reginald at all, but an old man who works for him. John F. Kennedy is shot and killed, taken out by the Majestic 12.

Apparently, that wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Reginald confronts the group of influential spooks about going against his wishes, and tells them they will never see them again. One of the Majestic 12 claims that if Reginald doesn’t continue to play ball and supply them with advanced technology, they will reveal “what he really is” and what he is doing on the Dark Side of the moon. So Reginald very casually removes his jacket, and then his skin, and brutally kills everyone in the room.

There’s a lot to unpack here. Ben’s sacrifice was unexpected, and a fitting conclusion to his arc. Even from beyond the grave, he proved he could be a hero.

Vanya and Harlan’s connection is intriguing, and adds some tension to this final stretch. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the White Violin’s powers.

And then there’s the reveal that Reginald is actually an extraterrestrial with dealings on the dark side of the moon! With only one episode left in the season, it’s hard to envision how all these plots threads will be tied up.

Episode Grade: B

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