Sentient goldfish in a bowl smoking a cigarette in The Umbrella Academy. Image via ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection By Carolyn Jenkins Published Jul 11, 2026, 11:07 PM EDT Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd | Metacritic Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King. Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Netflix has often catered to the lowest common denominator of programming, but there was a time when it had peak storytelling. In 2019, the streaming platform debuted The Umbrella Academy , an adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’ s inventive graphic novel. The Netflix series was just as delightfully weird as the source material and didn’t cater to anyone’s sensibilities. The ensemble cast included Elliot Page , Tom Hopper , Robert Sheehan , and Colm Feore , among many others who made up the titular team.
Despite its promise, the series came to a screeching halt in Season 4, with an ending that divided all who watched it. After averting apocalypse after apocalypse, the adoptive siblings' efforts are essentially for nothing as the series ends on a nihilistic note. If fans have learned anything from endings such as Game of Thrones , poor reception shouldn’t alter the legacy of the series. The ending of The Umbrella Academy shouldn’t tarnish the few seasons of immaculate character and plot.
Image via Netflix Aidan Gallagher as Five with David Castaneda and Ritu Arya looking confused in The Umbrella Academy Image via Netflix Image via Netflix The Umbrella Academy Image via Netflix Dan Castenada and Ritu Arya in Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. Image via Netflix Emmy Raver-Lampman, Tom Hopper, Elliot Page and the cast holding shot glasses in The Umbrella Academy Image via Netflix Close Image via Netflix Aidan Gallagher as Five with David Castaneda and Ritu Arya looking confused in The Umbrella Academy Image via Netflix Image via Netflix The Umbrella Academy Image via Netflix Dan Castenada and Ritu Arya in Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. Image via Netflix Emmy Raver-Lampman, Tom Hopper, Elliot Page and the cast holding shot glasses in The Umbrella Academy Image via Netflix From the start, The Umbrella Academy ’s visual style and sharp dialogue set it apart from everything else on the platform. The story wastes no time in introducing fans to the wacky circumstances of this fantasy world. One day, 43 children are born to random women all around the world who had no signs of pregnancy the day before. Eccentric billionaire Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) adopts seven of them, all of whom develop unique supernatural abilities.
Season 1 follows these found siblings after the death of Hargreeves, uniting the estranged family. Each has their own ills and complaints because of the brutal way they were raised, and throughout the narrative, they come together as a family in an attempt to stop the apocalypse. Each season focuses on a different end-of-the-world scenario, a butterfly effect impacted by…