“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.
