We’ll miss The Umbrella Academy’s sibling dynamics

The one good thing about the ending of The Umbrella Academy? At least everyone was together! The Hargreeves siblings (plus Lila, who has married into the family) didn’t spend all of the season together. But the few sprinklings of group scenes — from chaotic birthday parties in a children’s entertainment center to long, vomit-y road trips set to “Baby Shark” — cemented that the best parts of the show were always about family. The Umbrella Academy always worked best when the family was together, though that had a lot of range. Sometimes they fought about big, serious familial issues, like what to do in the wake of their father’s death. Sometimes they bickered about trivial matters, like what to bring to a 6-year-old’s birthday party. Less frequently but still importantly, they sang karaoke during bachelor parties and actually got along. [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/TUA_308_Unit_01116RC.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] But even with the world ending and multiple timelines going awry (again and again), those sibling dynamics always felt realistic. The core of the show came down to one chaotic family. They all experienced varying degrees of trauma growing up, which shaped them and their relationships. They despise each other, but they love each other. They can’t stand each other, but they’re the only ones who understand each other. Showrunner Steve Blackman told Polygon in a recent press day that he was inspired by The Royal Tenenbaums, and his initial pitch to Netflix was “a dysfunctional family with a body count.” “It took a lot of crafting over four seasons to get them to a point where like... they definitely matured,” said Blackman. “There were a lot of more immature dynamics in season 1. And they started to grow up a little bit more. By season 4 they’re much more sophisticated in their dynamics. They’re still having problems, but they’re more grown up [from] just, like, Hey you shut up, and stuff like that in season 1.” [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25522367/The_Umbrella_Academy_n_S4_E2_00_11_55_23R.jpg_The_Umbrella_Academy_n_S4_E2_00_11_55_23R.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] What made the show stand out was that it actually took time to look at these relationships — the good, the bad, and the ugly. Unlike other superhero media, which usually focuses its arc through the big action setpieces, The Umbrella Academy highlighted the other moments: recovering from missions, the inherent trauma of being a childhood hero, and the messy fallout of saving the world from apocalyptic destruction (again and again and again —). No matter what situation the Hargreeves siblings found themselves in, it was a joy (sometimes a painful one) to watch them all interact on screen. And apparently, that joy extended off-screen too. “Those are my favorite parts,” recounted Ritu Arya, who plays Lila. “Off-camera, we’re just hanging out like if we’re at school, playing games, and just messing around and you’ll just be hanging out with one pal and then you go and hang out with another. And it’s just like a dream. And that is very rare. I feel what I’m really going to miss about this show.” The Umbrella Academy is streaming on Netflix.