R29 Binge Club: Umbrella Academy Season 2 Recap

Picking up mere seconds after the end of the first season, The Umbrella Academy has done it again: Our seven misfit super-siblings caused yet another apocalypse. They're two for two! You might be asking yourself, how did they get here again? How did they not learn their lesson the first time? What is with these siblings and the apocalypse? Why can't these literal superheroes keep it together long enough to save the day? Some of these questions have answers in season 2 of The Umbrella Academy. Some.

Since we’re jumping right into the chaos with the Hargreeves family, there are a few things you need to remember in case it's been a while since you binge-watched season 1. For starters, these heroes only know how to work solo; put them all together and they get dysfunctional. That's because they were all adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), who raised them to be a team of superhero kids. They were referred to only by designated numbers for their entire childhood, and fought together until a tragedy ripped them apart. After Reginald's death, they were brought back together to stop the apocalypse. In season 2 it becomes clear that plan didn't take. 

Luther (Tom Hopper), Number One, has super strength and spent the last few years hanging out on the moon. After an accident that almost killed him, Reginald turned him into a half-ape man. Diego (David Castañeda), Number Two, can curve the trajectory of objects around him, and usually uses this to throw knives — he’s also got some intense daddy and mommy issues. Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is Number Three and with the power of suggestion can convince anyone to do anything by simply saying “I heard a rumor.” Klaus (Robert Sheehan) is Number Four and has the ability to communicate with the dead, a skill that’s often hampered by his drug and alcohol abuse. Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) can jump through space and time. As a kid he accidentally jumped to 2019, living to age 60 before jumping back in time as his 13-year old self. Ben (Justin H. Min) is Number Six and he's got literal tentacles, but the most important thing to know about Ben is he died in 2006 and is now a ghost — Klaus is the only sibling who he can speak to. Vanya (Ellen Page) is Number Seven and grew up believing she didn’t have powers. Turns out Vanya's actually the most powerful of all: She can manipulate sound waves to cause massive destruction. 

That, of course, leads us to the first apocalypse. Reginald suppressed Vanya’s powers her entire life, which renders her unable to control them once they’re finally unleashed. Though her other siblings manage to stop Vanya from causing massive destruction first-hand, they indirectly bring about the apocalypse anyway. When they try to stop her, Vanya accidentally blasts the moon (naturally), and a giant meteor begins hurtling towards earth. Five time-hops his siblings back in time, hoping to stop this mess before it happens. The last scene of season 1 is this ill-fated jump. We don’t know where — or when — they’re going to end up, until the first moments of season 2...

The opening of season 2 gives us a recap of what’s just happened, reminding us that the only six people to survive the apocalypse in 2019 are the same people who caused it: Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, and Vanya. This narrator isn’t messing around. 

Thankfully, Five’s last-ditch suggestion to jump through time is successful. Sort of. He accidentally scatters his siblings across three different years, spanning from 1960 to 1963. Not only has he sent everyone back half a century, but he’s also sent them to Dallas, Texas. Whoops. 

The first to arrive are Klaus and Ben, who find themselves dropped into 1960 on a very sunny day. They, however, don’t know this yet as they wander out onto one of the main roads in Dallas to investigate. After picking up a magazine with the date, they both have the same conclusion, “shit.” 

What follows next is undoubtedly the greatest montage of Umbrella Academy season 2, as one by one, the rest of the siblings arrive set to Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started,” which also happens to be the name of the episode. Don’t you love it when that happens?

Allison — who, don’t forget, had her throat slashed by Vanya at the end of season 1 and hasn’t fully regained the ability to speak yet — arrives at night in 1961, and quickly realises that Dallas is unwelcoming to her as she stumbles into a diner that proclaims “whites only.” 

Luther is dropped into a rainy day in 1962 where he immediately begins screaming for Allison. 

Diego arrives on the very specific date of September 1, 1963, also in a rainstorm. He wanderers to a TV store nearby to see President Kennedy give his “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” speech. The wheels in his head are already spinning so yes, let’s just go ahead and spoil this now: Diego is 100 percent going to try and stop JFK’s assassination.

Vanya arrives on October 12, 1963, still clad in her monochrome White Violin getup. Frantically, she runs into the street and is immediately hit by a car. 

As for Five, he arrives on November 25, 1963 — right in the middle of the apocalypse. Stumbling out into the street he finds a newspaper that reads “Soviets attack U.S.” and realises that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. (As far as I know, there was not a Soviet-attack-induced apocalypse in 1963.) “What the hell did we do now?” he wonders, and, well, cue his siblings. 

Though they might have previously been scattered across Dallas, over the last three years — on this timeline — they’ve come together to fight as one. Vanya, using her power, stops a nuke from exploding; Klaus commands an army of ghosts to attack a group of Soviet soldiers; Luther stops a blast with his bare back; Ghost Ben unleashes his tentacles; Allison rumours some soldier’s brains to literally explode; and Diego is able to take down half a dozen troops with a simple spin through the air. Seeing Five, Diego asks where he’s been, but before he has time to answer, Hazel (Cameron Britton) shows up. Remember Hazel? He was a bad guy turned good guy in season 1, and he’s clearly aged since the last time we saw him. 

“If you want to live, come with me,” Hazel tells Five, and the two zap away as a giant nuclear explosion appears in the distance, wiping out everyone else. Honestly, this is a typical day for the Umbrella Academy. 

Hazel and Five jump back 10 days earlier to November 15, 1963. Five comments that he’s no history buff, but he knows that there wasn’t a nuclear holocaust in 1963. This is true, as Hazel explains that he’s here simply to warn Five of what will happen in a week and a half from now if the current timeline stays on this trajectory. He gives Five his time-traveling briefcase and slips something into his pocket. 

There’s no time for small talk as a group of unknown men, all with bleach-blonde hair, show up and kill Hazel on the street. (I hope you weren’t looking forward to Hazel being a big part of season 2, because he is not. Bye, Hazel). In the chaos, Hazel’s briefcase is destroyed, rendering it useless to Five. But now at least Five knows what’s going on. He’s got 10 days to find his siblings and stop the end of the world. Again. 

When the Hargreeves siblings showed up in the 1960s, they all did so in the same alleyway, and Five stumbles back there. Noticing a camera up on the roof of a nearby building, he heads inside to poke around. He meets a man named Elliot (Kevin Rankin) who might as well be wearing a giant tinfoil hat. Elliot is obsessed with all things weird and unexplained, and Five convinces him that he’s an alien who needs help. Also, it turns out that Elliot has been tracking the Hargreeves siblings and has photos of everyone showing up over the last three years. Convenient!

According to Elliot, all the siblings have come back to the alley over the last few years, hoping to find the others, but no one ever has. Five realises that his brothers and sisters are already in Dallas, and he’s just got to find them. His first lead is a newspaper clipping showing that Diego was arrested not that long ago.

The last two months of 1963 have not been kind to Diego. He’s in a mental facility because he keeps talking about how the president is going to be assassinated — which, you know, in early November 1963 sounds crazy. In a group circle, he’s less than enthusiastic to cooperate after he’s asked about his daddy issues, and once again tries to stress the fact that the president is going to be killed and he’s the only one who can stop it. During arts and crafts time, he’s approached by another patient, Lila (Ritu Arya), who tells him that she knows he’s planning an escape. She wants to come along, too. 

Before they can talk more, Diego is pulled out to talk to Five. Five asks if he knows where the others are, and Diego has no idea. But Diego does know where Lee Harvey Oswald is, because that’s why he’s in the facility to begin with — he’s trying to get to Oswald before Oswald gets to JFK, naturally. But they don’t have time to talk about this future assassination, because Five warns Diego that another apocalypse is coming which doesn’t go over well. Eventually, Diego agrees to help... but only after he’s saved Kennedy. Diego’s hero complex has gone from zero to 60 so fast and sure, saving Kennedy seems like a good idea but also, maybe take it one step at a time, buddy. 

Off on an idyllic farm somewhere outside of Dallas, we find Vanya in 1963. The woman who hit her when she first arrived, Sissy (Marin Ireland), has taken her in because Vanya has no memories whatsoever. She knows her name is Vanya and that’s about it. Vanya isn’t too troubled by this, as she spends her days looking after Sissy’s son, Harlan (Justin Paul Kelly), who is speaking impaired. This would actually be a pretty nice, new life for Vanya if it weren’t for Sissy’s sexist, drunkard husband, Carl (Stephen Bogaert), who clearly feels Vanya has overstayed her welcome. 

If you’re wondering what Klaus and Ben are up to, they’re coming back to Dallas from San Francisco and having some car trouble — but why were they in San Francisco in the first place? There’s no time for that explanation now. Ben’s upset about leaving San Francisco, and makes references to how “they” need Klaus back there and how Ben has “unfinished business” he wants to see through. Klaus is quick to point out that Ben is his “ghost bitch” and they’re going wherever he says they’re going. 

Abandoning the car, the two make their way to a bar along the road where Klaus steals a truck. He tries to “summon” Ben to fight off the men in the bar, but it’s clear that over these last three years Ben has become less than enthusiastic about Klaus’ behaviour. Eventually, the police catch up with the stolen car, arresting Klaus. (But not Ben, obviously, because you can’t arrest a ghost.)

Allison is thankfully doing a lot better, having made a life for herself with a man named Raymond Chestnut (Yusuf Gatewood), and now she’s Mrs. Chestnut. She and her husband are very involved in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and are eagerly anticipating Kennedy’s visit to Dallas in the coming weeks (though Allison is quick to point out that Ray shouldn’t get his hopes up about Kennedy). They, along with a group of other Black activists in Dallas, have decided to plan a sit-in the days before Kennedy shows up in hopes of drawing attention to the movement. While discussing these plans at the beauty parlour where Allison works, a nosey passerby sticks his head into the shop and wonders what they’re doing. Though the man leaves peacefully, he and Allison do get into a little scuffle and he warns the group not to step out of line. 

But that’s neither here nor there now, as Ray’s got an early anniversary gift for Allison, a copy of From the Earth to the Moon. Ray explains that he sees Allison staring at the moon every night, and well, that’s because she’s just trying to be as close to Luther as possible. 

As for Luther, he’s got himself a job as hired muscle for Jack Ruby (John Kapelos). If that name sounds familiar, I’ll save you the trouble of googling him right now: Ruby is the man who kills Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald kills Kennedy. Right now, though, Ruby owns a nightclub (this is true, he really did own a nightclub), and Luther works as a bouncer and a fighter for him. 

Back at the mental facility, Diego is finally going through with his escape attempt and he literally chooses the absolutely worst time to do it. On his way out of the facility he runs into Lila, who wants in on the escape, and they start their attempted departure. But, remember the Swedes who killed Hazel at the beginning of the episode? Well, now they’re here looking for Diego and will stop at nothing to kill him. 

While running through a tunnel under the facility, Diego and Lila are stopped by officers and before Diego can spring into action himself, Lila has taken them down. Diego asks where she learned how to do that, and Lila responds, “my mother.” 

Let’s head over to Ruby’s club, though, where Five finds Luther. Ah yes, the team is getting back together again! However, not so fast, because when Five warns Luther about the second upcoming apocalypse, Luther couldn’t care less. 

An ongoing thing for the Hargreeves children is that they are constantly bickering about their number order — sure, Luther is “Number One” but he doesn’t always act like the group’s number one, and it’s a point of contention. So you know what? I’m now in charge of picking the new Number One for the siblings, and for Episode 1, I have decided the honour of Number One goes to Five. 

Yes, Five is the reason they’re now all stuck in the 1960s, but he’s also the only one who is trying to do something about it. He’s got the most information and the drive to reunite his siblings, and it’s clear he’s going to go to great lengths to do so. Also, I want to talk about how for most of the episode he’s wearing bowling shoes, since towards the end of season 1 the Hargreeves end up at a bowling alley, and clearly there was no time to swap out for more comfortable footwear.  

Before we get back to the Hargreeves siblings, want to check in with the The Handler (Kate Walsh), who died last season? Because surprise, she’s not so dead anymore! Hazel shot her in the head, but thanks to a plate in her head, she survived the bullet. After surgery, she waltzes back into The Commission only to learn that she’s been booted from her top spot. She was dead, after all. 

The new guy in charge is actually, a, uh, fish? His name is AJ and he’s got a human body but where his head should be, there's a fish tank with a big goldfish swimming around in it. Just go with it. 

The Handler learns that she’s been demoted by AJ and she tries to fight it. But AJ isn’t budging, rattling off a bunch of things she’s done wrong in the past including a reference to a “743 incident.” This doesn’t mean anything right now, but trust me, the foreshadowing is great. 

So things are off to the usual Hargreeves family start: No one is working together, those who are on speaking terms are mad at one another, and also the world’s going to end in about a week. Same old, same old. 

Five is still trying to convince Luther that they have to stop the apocalypse, but it’s going nowhere. Luther is clearly pissed that they’re trapped in the 1960s, but also doesn’t care enough to try and help Five fix it. However, now’s not the time to get into it, as Luther has to take care of someone bothering his boss, Jack Ruby (who happens to be Carl, Sissy’s husband). Luther brings him outside and then realises that Carl left his wallet behind at the bar. Heading back outside to try and find him, he’s shocked to see Vanya picking Carl up. 

Let’s not forget that Vanya still doesn’t have any memories, so even though Luther’s standing right in front of her, she doesn’t recognise him. 

Considering he’s a minor in the eyes of literally everyone else, Five leaves Ruby’s club, and on the way out realises that there’s something in his pocket. He pulls out a reel of film, the same one that Hazel dropped into his blazer just seconds before he died. Elliot just so happens to have a space to develop film, and Five hands the footage over to him. 

Running through the streets of Dallas, dodging behind buildings and cars, Diego and Lila steal some clothing to try and blend in a little bit more. Diego’s ready to ditch Lila, telling her that he works better alone, but she’s not about to let him go that easy. Making a case that she’s helped him every step of the way so far, the two steal a car and hit the road. 

At home, Allison and Ray are cuddled up on the couch when there’s a bang on the door. Two police officers shove their way inside and arrest Ray, claiming that he beat a man on the street the night before — the man that Allison actually fought. Allison has to watch as her husband is taken away in handcuffs and starts to say, “I heard a rumour,” but she doesn’t go through with it. 

Across the street from this, the Swedes — remember them? Because they’re going to pop up a lot! — watch this happen with their guns at the ready.  

Over at the police station the next day, Diego is explaining a plan to Lila: They’re going to cut off Lee Harvey Oswald’s trigger finger, and then demand that he leaves Dallas in the next 24 hours. Lila is more than happy to point out this is a stupid plan, and before they can keep arguing about this, Five appears in the backseat. 

Meanwhile, inside, Klaus is locked up in jail. He’s minding his own business when another detainee is brought inside and this new guy immediately recognises Klaus. Bowing before him, this guy explains that he’s given up his life to follow Klaus’ teachings and is wondering if he could get some more sage words of wisdom. Klaus has just the mantra for him: Don’t go chasing waterfalls, stick to the rivers and lakes that you’re used to. 

Frustrated by this, Klaus moves to the other side of his cell and strikes up a conversation with Ray, who’s on the other side of the bars. The two start comparing Shakespeare quotes, when Klaus is released thanks to a call from the governor. Allison later comes to visit Ray (just missing Klaus by a few seconds) and promises to get him out. They both know they’re going to be fine, but Ray can’t help but wonder, what was Allison talking about when she said “I heard a rumour”? 

Allison manages to dodge the question and on her way out notices someone in the cell with “HELLO” and “GOODBYE” written on their hands. Ah yes, the clear sign that Klaus Was Here.

And where is Klaus now? Staggering back to a giant, deserted mansion where a picture of him as a prophet adorns the wall. 

Five brings Diego and Lila back to meet Elliot, who is freaked out by what he saw on the footage he developed for Five. He greets them armed with a rifle, demanding immediate answers. The group first ties up Elliot (Lila kindly paints his toenails green) before watching the film reel from Hazel.

It’s footage from a week in the future, showing a couple at Kennedy’s parade through Dallas. Five explains to Diego that Hazel died to get him this footage, but upon closer inspection, they’re troubled by a face they see in the crowd: Their dad, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, is standing on the grassy knoll. 

Diego, still hellbent on stopping Kennedy’s assassination, wants to spring into action right now. Five wants to deal with this rationally. The brothers eventually decide to track their father down, and low and behold his umbrella company has a location in Dallas, too! Conveniently, Reginald is in the phone book and the boys are off to see him. 

However, before they do, Diego checks in on Lila, who’s a little freaked out by the current situation. She’s hiding in one of the closets in Elliot’s place and explains to Diego she ended up in the mental facility because she started imagining things. Are her visions happening again? She’s not so sure anymore, but Diego reassures her that everything’s going to be okay.  

Over at Sissy’s farm, Luther rolls up in his car to deliver Carl’s missing wallet... and maybe have a talk with Vanya, too. He’s got a gun in his front seat and follows Vanya into the barn while she’s playing a game of hide and seek with Harlan. Their meeting does not go well. Luther is completely freaked out to see his sister, and Vanya is overjoyed that someone just knows who she is — she thinks maybe Luther saw one of her ads in the paper calling her a “missing person.” 

Luther wants her to cut the bullshit, and Vanya explains that she was in an accident and can’t remember anything. She starts apologising to him for hurting him in the past (she’s not even sure what she did, but she can sense she did something), but Luther starts apologising to her. “What did you do to me?” Vanya asks, and Luther explains that he let her down. 

Sissy, though, is less than thrilled to find a giant man in her barn with a gun and shows up with her own rifle. Trying to diffuse the situation, Luther hands over Carl’s wallet and leaves without another word to Vanya. 

This season’s troublesome blonde brother have a name now: The Swedes. They have now moved into a house full of cats. While they might not talk much, these three are quite scary. Their overarching mission is unclear at the time, but they are somehow associated with The Commission, and are clearly tracking down the Hargreeves siblings. Suddenly, a message in one of those telltale golden tubes shows up, and they're sent after Vanya. 

Vanya is still shaken by her meeting with Luther, but Sissy assures her that it’s nothing. She doesn’t seem like the kind of person to associate with men like that. This reassurance doesn’t stop Vanya from having dreams about what happened in her past, like how she brought about the destruction of the world and all. Unable to sleep, she drives away in Sissy’s car.

Five and Diego show up at Reginald's umbrella company and break into the building, immediately splitting up. Five heads down one corridor, stumbling upon empty room after room that’s been staged to look like a happy family lives there. It’s very reminiscent of those old homes that used to be built for nuclear weapons tests in the 1960s. He eventually comes across a classroom setting, where he hears a rattling in the corner of the room and discovers a chimpanzee. Yes, this is the beloved Pogo as a baby. 

Realising who it is, Five tries to approach the younger Pogo to talk to him, and it almost looks like it’s going to work. And then Pogo freaks out, slashes Five’s ear, breaks out of the building, and disappears into the night. 

Diego is dealing with his own problems, too. Down the other corridor, he finds offices that appear to be staged, when he hears footsteps in the distance. The silhouette sure looks like a young Reginald Hargreeves and Diego follows him to an abandoned warehouse. Diego, always one for a confrontation, begins fighting with this man and is shocked to discover that it actually is his father. “Dad?” he asks, barely above a whisper. And then that’s when Reginald stabs Diego in the stomach, leaving him for dead as he disappears into the fog holding Pogo’s hand. 

The Number One Hargreeves sibling is a toss-up between Diego and Vanya here, for completely different reasons. 

Diego — though at some points literally blinded by his obsession with saving Kennedy — is at least starting to spring into action. Also, the fight scene with Reginald is a pretty good fight, even though Diego gets stabbed in the end. He’s trying!

As for Vanya, she might not remember anything about her past, but it’s clear she’s trying to do something else with her future. She’s got a clean slate ahead of her and she’s trying to make the most of it. Also, her talk with Luther in the barn is absolutely heartbreaking, because she just wants to connect with someone so badly. 

We’re taking a trip back to 1960 to learn exactly how Klaus (with some begrudging help from Ben) became an accidental cult leader. When the duo first arrived, Klaus got cozy with a group of older, rich women who took him in. Realising he can use Ben to perform feats of wonder (see: levitation), Klaus slowly takes on followers who believe in him. One thing leads to another, and suddenly they’re in India praying. Then it’s off to San Francisco with Klaus being worshiped in the same, claustrophobic way Jon Snow was almost trampled to death during the Battle of the Bastards. 

However, Klaus is just about at the end of his rope with his spiritual group — which, by the way, he’s named “Destiny’s Children.” Klaus takes a fleeting opportunity to escape them, and soon Klaus and Ben are on the run again back to Dallas. 

Back in Dallas, Vanya’s running into her own trouble. Out for a drive in Sissy’s car, she comes across the Swedes. This is the first time she’s run into them so she doesn’t know who they are or what they’re capable of. (Actually, no one knows who they are or what they’re capable of. These three men have yet to utter a single word over three whole episodes.) 

They come upon Vanya in her car and she can sense that something’s amiss. Before she has much time to react, they’re shooting at her and Vanya drives the car into a ditch. Fleeing into a nearby cornfield, Vanya is pursued by the three Swedes until they’ve got her completely surrounded. Firing at her at point-blank range, Vanya, unknowingly, lets her powers loose, knocking all three of them out. 

I'm also pleased to report that Diego is not in fact dead, though the end of episode 2 sure made it look that way. Turns out that Lila was (suspiciously) following him and saw the whole fight. Somehow, she got Diego’s body back to Elliot’s apartment and performed some makeshift surgery on him, scorching his stomach wound closed. 

Five, completely indifferent to the fact that his brother has survived their father’s shanking, finally unties Elliot and puts him to work tracking atmospheric pressure. It might sound unlikely, but it actually works: Elliot is able to pick up on Vanya’s powers being discharged outside the city. Before Five has time to explain what’s going on, he’s off to find his sister. 

Five finds Vanya in the middle of the cornfield, which you’d think would be a hard task, but Vanya has levelled half of the field. Five has no time for pleasantries, quickly explaining that they’re siblings and he’s here to help her escape the “Ikea Mafia.” 

Somewhere else in Dallas, Luther is up for an early morning run through the streets. A group of kids run with him, cheering “King Kong” as he happily punches at the sky. But, a woman who looks strikingly like Allison catches his eye and he trips over the curb, face planting into the ground. The kids no longer think he’s cool. 

He eventually makes his way to Jack Ruby’s club, and Ruby notices that Luther is visibly distracted. After a little prodding, Ruby gets Luther to give up Allison’s name, in hopes of tracking her down. He’s willing to do it, just as long as Luther is able to refocus his attention — he’s got a big fight that night, and Ruby’s got a lot of money on the line. 

Speaking of Allison, she’s located Klaus and his mansion. Wandering into the empty house, she finds Klaus lounging in the pool and doesn’t even bother to take off her dress before she jumps in to give him a hug. Allison is quick to call Klaus out on his cult, which he waves off with a simple, “whoops.” But enough about Klaus, the conversation turns to Allison and she confesses that she’s married to Ray. 

Klaus puts two and two together and realises that Ray’s currently locked up in the city jail. Why doesn’t Allison just “rumour” Ray out, huh? Allison admits that she hasn’t actually used her powers since the night that Vanya slit her throat, and she was unable to speak for a whole year — that finally answers the question as to when and how Allison got her voice back.

Allison’s still finding her voice again, figuratively speaking. She and Ray have been planning a sit-in ahead of Kennedy’s visit but with Ray locked up, the group isn't sure about moving forward. Allison wants to, however, the men in her civil rights group think they should wait for Ray. She proposes a vote and while a few in attendance oppose the idea at first, Allison eventually gets her way with an overwhelming majority of support — the sit-in is back on. 

Don’t worry too much about Ray, though, because Ben has it covered. At the police station, he uses his ghostly ability to flicker some lights, toss a sandwich across the room, and type up a threatening note to the officer on duty: Free Chestnut or die. This gets Ray out of jail, and Klaus is waiting there to welcome him. Klaus also drops the bombshell on Ray that they’re actually brothers-in-law, and it’s clear that Ray has roughly 500 follow-up questions.

Five and Vanya grab a cup of coffee at a nearby diner and Five fills in a bunch of missing details: She’s got a lot of siblings, they jumped into a vortex to avoid the apocalypse, and oh yeah, there’s another apocalypse coming. Vanya asks what caused this, and Five is vague on details, clearly trying to hide his sister from the horrible truth. 

This is too much for Vanya to take, so she calls up Sissy. Back at the farm, Sissy is in the middle of dealing with one of Harlan’s outbursts. (Though they never outright classify Harlan’s learning disability, it seems that he’s on the autism spectrum.) Vanya and Sissy try to have a conversation, but Five cuts them off explaining that there are more important things happening, like stopping the end of the world. Vanya, reluctantly, agrees. 

If you’ve ever wanted to see Diego in some tighty-whities, episode 3 is the episode for you. Still recovering from his stab wound, he’s trying to get up and out of bed so he can track down his dad again. Lila stops him from moving, literally, by poking him in the stomach with the end of a broom. This manages to subdue him, and Lila then confesses how she found Diego the night before: Facedown and bleeding. She thought he was dead. 

This also happens to be the same way that Lila found her parents years ago. As she confesses to Diego, her parents were murdered in a home invasion and it’s not something she necessarily wants to talk about, but she feels comfortable sharing it with him. This leads Diego to lean forward and kiss Lila, which is met with a slap. But, the tension is short-lived as soon comes more kissing and speedy disrobing. 

By the middle of the afternoon, Ruby has tracked down Allison and gives the address to Luther. Next thing you know he’s showing up at her house with a box of chocolates but there’s just one problem: Allison isn’t home. But Ray is, having just been released from jail. When Luther explains he’s looking for Allison Hargreeves, Ray corrects him that it’s now Allison Chestnut. 

And so begins Luther’s downward spiral, as he eats roughly the entire box of chocolate he brought for Allison. Ray is so, so confused by Luther’s visit (he only just met Klaus, who also called himself Allison’s brother) and Luther is so, so heartbroken by the sight of Ray. He opts out of leaving any sort of substantial message for Allison, and instead tells Ray he needs to talk to her eventually. This is all communicated through mouthfuls of chocolate.

Allison, meanwhile, has started the sit-in at the diner in town. She marches in and demands to be served even though the waitstaff refuses her service. Slowly, she’s joined by the rest of her civil rights group as the other patrons inside heckle them with racist slurs. 

In another part of town, Klaus and Ben arrive at a hardware store. Ben is like “WTF” and it’s clear he is so close to just being done with Klaus completely. “Don’t do anything stupid,” Ben advises as Klaus heads inside, so you know Klaus is about to do something completely stupid. 

Inside the store, Klaus finds Dave. Remember Dave? During season 1 of The Umbrella Academy, when Klaus accidentally travels back in time to the Vietnam War, Klaus and Dave had a relationship. Sadly, Dave dies in battle and after returning to present-day 2019, Klaus carries the weight of Dave’s death. So what’s something Klaus can do to help Dave in 1960? Why stop him from enlisting, of course! 

Quick sidenote: The Umbrella Academy is playing hard and fast with their time travel rules, so honestly, don’t think too hard about any of this. Just accept that Klaus is going to try and stop Dave from enlisting in 1960 so they don’t meet in 1968. 

Using a lame excuse of looking for paint, Klaus asks Dave to mix some paint for him and has a flashback to Dave’s death on the battlefield. It’s a lot for Klaus to handle and is almost near tears by the time his paint is done. Dave clearly feels a little bit off by the interaction, too, clearly confused by what’s just happened. 

Now Ray has made his way to the diner and joins Allison and the others at their sit-in. Allison is thrilled to see him, but Ray is cold and distant with his wife — you probably would be too, if you had just met her two polar-opposite siblings she never told you about. Ray brings up Klaus and Allison shrugs it off as just being Klaus. But then Ray mentions how he met “the biggest white boy ... trembling like somebody’s lost puppy” and Allison realises he’s talking about Luther. 

She barely has time to process this information when the protesters and police officers reach a tipping point — and a clear reflection of our current reality in 2020. Distracted by the news of Luther, Allison isn’t alert to the fact that one of the servers at the diner is about to pour coffee on her. This startles her upright, and a physical confrontation begins between everyone.

Two officers drag Ray away and start beating him out in the street. Allison rushes at them, trying to intervene but it’s no use. She knows what she has to do, but it’s clear she doesn’t want to do it. Grabbing the officer’s hand, she whispers, “I heard a rumour that you walked away,” and just like that the officer does. 

The problem is that Allison did this in front of Ray and he can’t process what he just saw. The officers go from beating him to peacefully retreating in a matter of seconds, so what’s going on? Ray’s freaked, Allison is screaming, and through the crowd, Klaus comes and pulls her away. 

Luther’s in the middle of his own fight, albeit a completely different kind of one. He can’t stay focused in the ring and keeps flashing back to Allison and her new life with Ray. He takes punch after punch and asks his opponent to hit him as hard as possible. He just wants to feel something. His opponent does, sending him careening to the ground as the onlookers look on amid cheers and boos. In the crowd, Five and Vanya have come to the fight and watch Luther take this absolutely beating, confused as to why their massive, strong brother isn’t fighting back. 

At least someone’s having a good night, as we find Diego and Lila cuddled up in bed together. But if this whole time you’ve been thinking, “Hey, there’s something off with Lila,” you are correct. She slips out of bed with Diego and leaves Elliot’s apartment. 

Earlier in the episode we saw The Handler head to a pet store and drop off a room key in a fish tank — Lila retrieves it now. Using the key in the designated hotel room door, she moves inside and immediately makes herself comfortable on the bed, asking if she can order room service. 

“Of course,” The Handler replies, appearing from the bathroom. “Thanks, mom,” Lila says with a kiss on the cheek. 

Allison! She is handed a lot in this episode and manages to handle just about everything with honour and dignity. The fact that she’s finding her voice in so many different ways is great, and there’s something so cheerful about her jumping into Klaus’ pool to hug him. 

Also, it took Allison losing her voice to realise that she doesn’t always need it — in terms of her power, of course. Look at all she’s accomplished in the 1960s without rumouring anyone. It’s clearly changed her for the better, and she’s a stronger woman because of it.