Getting the Band Back Together

Well the kids failed preventing the Apocalypse, Vonya fired a laser at the moon breaking it into pieces and destroying all life on earth. Thanks to 5, the team jumps back in time to have another go and they arrive in Dallas, TX. Events are intertwined with the Kennedy assassination in the fall of 1963 . However, everyone arrives through time separately 6 months to a year apart. So they are spread out through time before 1963 and are all apart when season 2 starts. Five arrives and finds out the Academy's presence is setting off a new Apocalypse in 10 days and he must once again stop it.

The season is broken up into a number of story threads. So let's take a look at them.

Vonya and the Rednecks

When Vonya shows up in Dallas, she is immediately hit by a car and gets amnesia. A redneck Texan family of 3 takes her in and she becomes something of a nanny for the couples autistic son. The main story line is Vonya falls in love with redneck wife and has an affair. Evil redneck white husband gets jealous and tries to end the relationship. Most of this story thread focuses on talking about feelings and such so I skipped most of it. Redneck Dad calls the FBI who arrest Vonya and take her in for questioning. This leads to another apocalypse in the current time line which of course the Academy must avoid. This story thread takes a significant chunk of the show.

Luther

Luther comes through to Dallas alone. He ends up working as a bodyguard for Jack Ruby. Yes, that Jack Ruby. His story is pretty small first half of the season. He does more and more as the team re-assembles.

Allison

Allison also comes through alone. She marries a civil rights leader in Dallas and takes part is protests in the area. The fact that she got married breaks Luther's heart but that isn't really explored at all. A little soap opera and a little humor in this thread. It is also irrelevant to the main plot.

Klaus and Ben

After making Ben real last season, he is back to being a ghost. Klaus decides to start a cult and is its leader for a couple of years. As the story picks, up he is fleeing he own cult as the pressure of leadership is too much for him. Klaus tries to convince his boyfriend from Vietnam to not enlist so he won't get killed, but it doesn't work. Ben possesses Klaus so he has a little personal time with one of Klaus' followers. The cult is mainly used for comic relief. This has nothing to do with the main plot really.

Diego and Lila

Diego finds himself in an insane asylum since he is constantly ranting about saving the President from assassination. He meets another patient, Lila, who becomes his partner and love interest. They break out and are a big part of the main plot as Lila is the daughter of the Handler and works for the Commission. Diego is actually offered a job at the Commission during the season.

Five

Aidan Gallagher is amazing again as Five, the leader of the Academy. He is a 60ish hit man for the Commission who is now trapped in a 14 year-old version of himself. Five once again carries the main plot. He has saved his family from the Apocalypse in 2019, only to find out there is another Apocalypse caused by his family in 1963, 10 days from now.

Other Plots

• The Handler is back and has been demoted at the start of the season.
• Three Swedish Commission hit men have been hired to kill members of the family (again). Dark comic relief I guess??? They popup throughout the season.
• The Academy meet their Father in 1963 long before he forms their group. There are several different encounters.

Main Plot

Five tries to fix the timelines while dealing with his completely dysfunctional family. (Pretty much the same plot as last season.) The Time Commission and the Handler are also involved again making things more difficult for Five.

Cons

• The first half of the season is spent reassembling the family. Each little side story is explored and I find this part pretty meh. Lots of talking about emotions and such.
• The family is still almost completely dysfunctional like last season.
• Hollywood seems to be obsessed with exploring dysfunction. For me, dysfunction is neither funny or interesting.

Anyway, it takes a while for the actual plot to get going. Once it does in the last few episodes of the season, the show is pretty good. The ending itself was really enjoyable. However, the wasted time getting everyone back together, the side stories, using exactly the same plot, these cannot be overlooked so I give season 2 a 3/5. Somewhat enjoyable with caveats.

tags: netflix, tv, umbrella academy