The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
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Season four of “The Umbrella Academy” swings and misses

River Allsen, Reporter
August 28, 2024
Courtesy of Netflix
Netflix released the fourth and final season of “The Umbrella Academy” August 8. Sweeping through the web as an epic fail, the show left fans tremendously upset by the finale. From overwhelmingly negative reviews to a 58% Tomatometer score, this unfortunate conclusion leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouth of reeling audience members.

“The Umbrella Academy,” a show that first swept through the Internet in February 2019, details the lives of seven supernatural children and follows them into adulthood. Each season faces the same predicament: avoiding the apocalypse. The series stands as a thrilling and action-filled story, lighting up the screens of dedicated fans around the country. After waiting two years for closure, audiences agree that season four provides a disappointing finale to a promising fan favorite. 

After a long, anticipation-filled two years, “The Umbrella Academy” season four serves up an underwhelming finale, with a Tomatometer score of 58%, lower than every other season — shocking critics and fans alike. The all-time low reviews for the season led fans to believe Netflix’s executive decisions seem difficult to justify. With criticism so intense, the show raises the question: how does the audience feel?

 “It was okay, and the ending made me cry. But it absolutely did not live up to the past seasons. It could have definitely gone on for longer, but it seemed like they were just trying to find a stopping point. They could have done more, they were not underfunded, everyone watched that show,” sophomore Ameliah Green said.

 The general conclusion drawn from the reviews believe that the season seemed rushed and lacked development. The audience feels the show left no time to develop a coherent plot leading to a train-wreck ending: a rushed love story between a married woman and her husband’s brother, to an apocalypse caused by two other lovers. Netflix consistently disappoints audiences, producing miss after miss. For instance, Netflix renewed “Project MC2” in 2015, despite the  average rating of six out of ten stars and later “Ozark” with six seasons and a critics score of 73%. On the other hand, Netflix canceled fan favorites such as Inside Job and Shadow and Bone despite shining reviews from fans. These controversial decisions leave audiences questioning their subscriptions. 

While a hefty portion of the audience rates this season as a dumpster fire full of plot holes, there stands the minority who loved it. Claiming the ending seemed bittersweet and strong, critics enjoyed the unexpected ending, expressing that they loved the spectacle. However, these shining reviews seem few and far between, with a majority of the audience calling it a miss..

“I think my favorite part was the bittersweet ending. It really put into perspective how no matter what they did to prevent the apocalypse, it would continue to happen in every timeline. Although it was sad to see all of my favorite characters go, it made sense to end things that way,”  senior Camryn Zwang said.

With the results in, this new season seems an unfortunate miss. A disappointing end to such a mind-bending and action-filled fan favorite program, the underwhelming ending hangs heavy in the hearts of audience members. Rushed plot development, the loss of depth and an unnecessary love story leaves viewers wondering what the producers thought when they let this finale air. With such a stark contrast between this season’s reviews and previous season’s praise, the finale of “The Umbrella Academy” crashed and burned. 

“In some aspects they were just trying to come up with filler, it did not make any sense and felt like they were just trying to fill the air, very random. The main parts to saving the world were brand new characters, introduced in the final season. It made no sense, and it did not live up to the previous seasons in the slightest. We waited two years for this and it was such a let down. Netflix as a whole is on a decline, this new season is not worth the watch,” sophomore Jasmine Kihara said.

 
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River Allsen
River Allsen, Reporter
River Allsen is a sophomore at NC and an ambitious new addition to the publishing team for the 2024-2025 school year. Allsen joined The Chant in hopes of improving their writing skills and gaining valuable interviewing experience as well as learning as much as they can about the world around them and understanding the views of others. Allsen enjoys writing poetry and literary analyses. While Allsen can commonly be found with the NC colorguard after school during rehearsal, during their free time they enjoy spending time with friends, eating a plethora of snacks and working on their poetry. Allsen hopes to study anthropology in college and is excited to learn new things from their experience with The Chant, shedding light on new subjects and forging new relationships with a wider range of people.    Find them on Instagram @bruhitsriver.
Zia McKinney
Zia McKinney, Media Team
Beginning her first year on The Chant as sophomore at NC, Zia McKinney joined the Media Team in hopes of using the platform to express herself creatively through art and writing. She aims to gain the building blocks to further her knowledge and education for greater opportunities later on in life. She can be found just about anywhere there are plants growing, her love of gardening shining through into her art. She enjoys hanging around her friends, and can always brighten any bad day with her energetic personality. Her hobbies include visual art, such as comic style illustrations, painting, crocheting, sculpture, costume design and character design.    Find her on Instagram and various other online platforms as @arijoystudios.