Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy.
The big picture
- As
The Umbrella Academy
reveals that Ben died during the “Jennifer Incident” due to a toxic reaction with another person, which is linked to the recent apocalypse. - Compared to the comics, Ben plays a more significant role in the series, which allows for greater character development.
- The revelation of Ben’s death in Season 4 doesn’t have the impact it could have had, as there is limited focus on character development.
It cannot be denied that The Umbrella Academy is a strange, strange show. A lot of that is due to the source material, as the Dark Horse comics of Gerard Way and artists Gabriel Ba include elements such as a talking monkey butler and the zombie robot corpse of Gustave Eiffel, who tries to murder the entire population of Paris. But similar to the comics, there is a secret that The Umbrella Academy since the premiere: the death of Ben Hargreeves (Justin H. Min). Ben died before the events of the television series and the comics, and the series deviates the most from the original. by revealing what exactly happened to him.
Through season 4 of The Umbrella Academy, Lutheran (Tom Hopper), Victor (Elliot Page), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Diego (David Castaneda) and Klaus (Robert Sheehan) begin to question what exactly happened to Ben. Ben’s death turned out to be part of the machinations of the Hargreeves’ adoptive father, Reginald (Colm Feore); it also turns out that Ben has a connection to the “Purge,” the latest apocalypse that the Hargreeves are trying to prevent. So what really happened to Ben all those years ago?
The Umbrella Academy
A dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death and prevent an impending apocalypse. As they confront their past and battle outside threats, their fractured relationships and unique powers create a mix of action, drama and dark humor.
- Release date
- 15 February 2019
- Pour
- Colm Feore, Cazzie David, Genesis Rodriguez, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Elliot Page, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Jordan Claire Robbins, Jake Epstein, Mary J. Blige, David Castaneda, Justin Cornwell, Justin H. Min, Britne Oldford, Adam Godley, Tom Hopper, Javon “Wanna” Walton, Ritu Arya, Cameron Britton, Sheila McCarthy
- Seasons
- 4
- History of
- Steve Blackman
- network
- Netflix
- Streaming service(s)
- Netflix
- Franchise(s)
- The Umbrella Academy
- Directors
- Jeremy Webb
“The Umbrella Academy” reveals that Ben died during the “Jennifer Incident”
The details of Ben’s death are revealed in the season four episode “The Cleanse.” Up until that point, it was only known as the “Jennifer Incident” – a name that also belongs to a woman the Hargreeves were supposed to protect. In “The Cleanse,” it is revealed that Jennifer was locked in a container guarded by an arms dealer, and Ben eventually frees her. But what the other Hargreeves didn’t know is that Reginald shot Ben and Jennifer. And he actually had a reason for this: Jennifer has a particle called “Durango” in her body that reacts violently with the “Marigold” in Ben’s system, and if they stay near each other, it triggers a chain reaction that “resets” the universe back to its original state. Umbrella Academy Showrunner Steve Blackman revealed that he had spoken to Gerard Way about Ben’s death and even told Entertainment Weekly The The comics present an alternative view of the event:
“That was one of the unanswered questions when I spoke to Gerard, who has a slightly different take on it and is still trying to figure that out for the future… But I like the idea that in every timeline they are toxic together, that their coming together leads to the worst thing in the world in one way or another. I like the idea that even though not all of them were there (because Five wasn’t there and Lila wasn’t there), there is a shared trauma about what it must have been like to be there when Ben died.”
Ben’s role in the series “The Umbrella Academy” is bigger than in the comics
The revelation of Ben’s death is not the only major change the series makes to his character. In fact, one could argue that the series actually makes him a character. Outside of the third volume Hotel Oblivion (which was partly the inspiration for season 3), Ben rarely appears in the comics. In contrast he is a main character in the seriesas Klaus can talk to him thanks to his ability to manifest the dead. Season 3 takes another big twist when the Hargreeves find themselves in yet another alternate timeline where Ben is the head of the Sparrow Academy, a more competent group of superheroes founded by Reginald from that timeline after he encountered the Umbrella Academy in 1963.
Ben’s strong presence also allows the series to give him a character that didn’t exist in the comics. His dynamic with Klaus is one of the best parts of seasons 1 and 2notably in the season 1 episode “Changes”; Klaus tries to get high until an annoyed Ben punches him. It’s a beautiful human moment of frustration, as he’s tried to save his brother from self-destruction over the years. In contrast, the version of Ben at Sparrow Academy is more ruthless and willing to do anything to achieve his goals; he also carries a massive inferiority complex after being demoted to Number 2. Min deserves far more credit than he gets for creating two vastly different versions of the same character while building on what little is known about Ben in the comics; it’s a shame season 4 didn’t build on that.
The revelation of Ben’s death is full of missed potential
Ben’s death at Reginald’s hands and the fact that He was the cause of the recent apocalypse, should feel like a bigger deal than it is. But Season 4 never exploits this potentialand instead focus on stopping The Cleanse. A large part of this could be because Season 4 is only six episodes long, rather than the longer episodes of Seasons 1 through 3. As a result, one of the best parts of the series – the Hargreeves’ coming to terms with their traumatic past – isn’t given as much attention as it should be.
Ben and the others should have needed an episode or two to process what had happened and the resulting change in their relationship with their father. Reginald should have been the main antagonist of the fourth season, because almost everything his children have had to go through is the result of his actions. And that’s not even taking into account the deleted plot point from season 3 with an older Ben. Ultimately, the revelation of Ben’s death is a double-edged sword. While it answers a question fans have been asking since the beginning of the series, it also shows that more work needed to be put into this final season.
The Umbrella Academy can be streamed on Netflix in the US
WATCH ON NETFLIX
