The Umbrella Academy follows the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes called the Umbrella Academy - the Monocle, Spaceboy, the Kraken, the Rumor, the Séance, Number Five, the Horror and the White Violin - as they work together to solve their father's mysterious death while coming apart at the seams due to their divergent personalities and abilities.
The major problem succinctly identified... "First off, I think it really is a bit annoying how much Page's personal life has bled into the show. Acting should be allowed to be about pretending to be something you are not. At some point, maybe it would have been better to cast someone else in the first place." -some_one
The fact that you quoted this, yet completely refused to acknowledge the paragraph it was leading up to, says a lot more than the rest of your words here ever could. Please think things through instead of just explaining your thought process so far. Quite often there is more to things than it seems at first.
I see what you did there;
Exactly what you said I did.
ROFLOL!
by some_one posted 9 months ago
JediTmak said:
The major problem succinctly identified... "First off, I think it really is a bit annoying how much Page's personal life has bled into the show. Acting should be allowed to be about pretending to be something you are not. At some point, maybe it would have been better to cast someone else in the first place." -some_one
The fact that you quoted this, yet completely refused to acknowledge the paragraph it was leading up to, says a lot more than the rest of your words here ever could. Please think things through instead of just explaining your thought process so far. Quite often there is more to things than it seems at first.
by JediTmak posted 9 months ago
Seasons one and two were refreshingly good. Season three the show stopped being about the Umbrella Factory and the team(s) and became about Page's transition with a little bit of Umbrella Factory happening in the background. Very disappointed in what was looking to be a great show, being so thoroughly cheapened by politics.
The major problem succinctly identified... "First off, I think it really is a bit annoying how much Page's personal life has bled into the show. Acting should be allowed to be about pretending to be something you are not. At some point, maybe it would have been better to cast someone else in the first place." -some_one
Even while acting their parts, the other characters seemed to be painfully tip-toeing around Page and her agenda, giving blatant notice to the otherwise lack of story. Even when she was not in the shot, the majority of conversations, still gravitated around her or ended with her entrance, severely limiting the backstory of new characters and forcing the existing, now you would have to say supporting cast, to be little more than a few minutes of distraction here and there, adding to the disjointed chaos.
Chaos added to the story in seasons one and two and could have been beneficial, if not smothered by Page. It really does put new meaning to the term "stealing the show", which I always attributed to a stand-out performance for good reasons until now.
Not sure if it can be saved by a fourth season, or if this continuation will follow the same path as season three and just whittle away all but one of the family into relative insignificance. Giving credit where due, the part of the father is played very well and strangely this role does not find itself dismissed, as readily as the roles of the other cast in relative importance.
First time I wished a show was cancelled after the second season to save its integrity. Very disappointed. I feel sympathy for the supporting actors and hope for their sake, that season four can save the franchise.
by lighton posted 1 year ago
halne said:
I don't know what everyone else thought about season 3. I thought season 1 was quite special, season 2 lost its way and its magic, while season 3 seemed a bit contrived early on, especially the humour, but it won me over by the end, particularly the last two episodes.
I finally found the time to finish season 3 and I agree! It felt like they wanted to move the show towards an ending in case they wouldn't get season 4 approved, but I'm happy that we'll get one last season.
Surprisingly, Abigail Hargeeves was first introduced all the way back at the beginning of the season 1 finale. The mysterious scene takes place "long ago" on what appears to be a farm on a different planet, where several rockets launch into the sky. It suggests Abigail and Reginald are husband and wife -- and both aliens. On Abigail's deathbed, she asks Reginald to take her violin with him and give it to someone else to cherish (of course, Viktor ends up being the recipient). "The world needs you, Reggie," she says. Did Reginald and Abigail's planet die? Was Reginald's plan all along to create The Umbrella Academy and use his children as an energy source for the universe-resetting machine to bring Abigail and their original planet back? Maybe season 4 will have those answers.
Damn, I had mostly forgotten those scenes from the beginning of the season 1 finale! I watched those again after finishing season 3, and now everything makes more sense. :)
by lighton posted 1 year ago
halne said:
Next-episode has the show marked as a Returning Series. Does that just mean that they haven't officially announced it's finished?
The info on our show pages just reflects the site's current knowledge about shows, which mostly depends on our source sites.
by z1rra_1 posted 1 year ago
I think the showrunners said that season 4 is probably the last season, so I think we got one more to look forward to.
by halne posted 1 year ago
In an attempt to swing the discussion towards a more positive tone, I think this show has revealed an actor that will surely become an mega-star in the future. Of course, I'm talking about Aidan Gallagher. He reminds me of a cross between Christian Bale, for his language skills and showing his talent so young, and Michael J. Fox in his hay day, for the way he delivers his lines so rapidly and with perfect comic timing. I hope he chooses his projects well, like Bale did in the early days (eg. American Psycho, The Machinist, The Prestige, Out of the Furnace, and even when the movie was mediocre, he was able to raise it a level, ie Harsh Times, Rescue Dawn), and avoids Bale's mistakes where he chased the money (ie Terminator and...Batman - yes, controversial, I know!).
I don't know what everyone else thought about season 3. I thought season 1 was quite special, season 2 lost its way and its magic, while season 3 seemed a bit contrived early on, especially the humour, but it won me over by the end, particularly the last two episodes.
The whole cast was pretty good too. It's good to see Tom Hopper in another great show, after the brilliant Black Sails. Robert Sheehan played such a lovable character, it will be interesting to see him in something completely different to see how he plays it. I really liked Emmy Raver-Lampman in season 1, although she wasn't very likeable in season 3, but I suppose you could say that's the sign of a good actor. David Castañeda was also very good.
I think the story ends well where it is, but I'd certainly watch more. Next-episode has the show marked as a Returning Series. Does that just mean that they haven't officially announced it's finished?
by proteinnerd posted 1 year ago
I'm up to episode 4 as well....tbh as much as its a cliche now to have a trans storyline, Page finally getting the haircut stopped the need for that terrible wig. That was a win in my eyes....that thing was ridiculous.
by some_one posted 1 year ago
Know what, let's intrude on this...
First off, I think it really is a bit annoying how much Page's personal life has bled into the show. Acting should be allowed to be about pretending to be something you are not. At some point, maybe it would have been better to cast someone else in the first place.
But then again, "a character got a haircut and asked to be called Viktor" really does not affect the story so much that it should bother anyone.
"I don't want politics in my shows":
Well, fine. But "there is a trans person" really is not political. The whole thing is a societal issue, yes. But the only reason we think it's political is because some politicians realized that it's easier to fearmonger about weird people and promise to stop them from being weird than to actually do politics. There is a trans person on this show now. They exist, even if you consider it a mental disorder, or whatever. There is also an autistic person in this show. Is that also political, just because he's there?
@sentient:
If you let emotion bleed into a point that can be made rationally, all you do is undermine everything you say. You have also been accused of making an Ad Hominem attack, which was accurate. That's an even worse idea, because at that point, you are not even discussing the thing you were talking about anymore, and that leaves no more room for anyone to actually change their mind. Just... please don't.
santah said:
We're all here because we enjoy our TV shows right? Not to take jabs at each other?
Well... I think I've made this point before:
We lack outlets, platforms. The tone of discourse is getting more and more aggressive all across society. It's often agreed upon that that's in no small part fueled by self-reinforcing media/social media bubbles, often even deliberately. But I think it's made even worse by the fact that even off those, there is no place to talk anymore.
The only places left to actually meet people disagreeing with us are the ones totally unrelated to the topics at hand - such as a forum about TV shows. But since everyone is already so angry at each other, those discussions escalate quickly.
I do understand why you don't want this kind of confrontation here. It really should not be here. But I also don't think that that's what you achieve by culling it. It would be enough if there was anywhere else left for it to go, but there isn't. This way, people being angry at one another are simply interrupted before they can come to any sort of conclusion, having nothing to take out of it other than that anger. That, and the notion that talking to people rationally is clearly pointless.
If you could find a way limit the culling to the actively hostile parts, I think that might make the whole thing a lot easier to deal with in the long run.
Now, about the actual show here:
Having watched only the first 4 episodes, I think this season is already a lot less entertaining than the previous ones. It might be the limited scope of it? Or the total inability of any of the characters to comprehend where/when/what situation they are currently in? A lot of the plot is driven by lack of communication so far, and much of that lack seems really forced...