Quick review:
Not a lot of plot advancement in this episode. The series is fleshing out the characters nicely though. I feel more for these versions than I did for the comic versions.
Spoiler thoughts under the read more:
Still unsure about that one guy. He could be trying to gain Vanya’s trust for some nefarious reason or he could just be a guy. I honestly don’t know. Here is where knowing the comic is throwing me for a loop. By this point in the comic Vanya had already been contacted by the evil group of musicians that wanted to destroy the world. Is this guy the toned down version of that group’s leader? I don’t know and I love that.
I am suspicious that he didn’t recognize Allison right away but then immediately connected her to the Umbrella Academy. It’s possible that he just happened to remember who Allison was and connected some dots or he was feigning ignorance to drive a small wedge between Vanya and her sister. If I’ve got my timeline straight, it’s been about thirteen years since the Acadamy was publicly active and they were only an active team for about four years. He could have seen them on tv or in newspapers or read the comics we see at the beginning of the episode when he was a teenager but would he have connected No. 3 the teenage superhero to Allison the actress?
Mom.
I have to say I side with Diego. She’s definitely not acting ‘normal’ but I don’t think she has any bad intentions. As painful as it was for him to deactivate(kill?) Mom, I don’t like that he took his anger out on Vanya. She was only in danger because she wasn’t taught to fight. This is another specter of their father’s training and upbringing.
I like that Hazel and Cha-Cha’s masks provide protection and aren’t just for show.
The fight in the house was unexpected. This is normally something that would happen closer to the end of the season either right before the final fight or a couple episodes before as the low point of the season.
The reveal of Luther’s body was more shocking than I thought it would be. The slow tearing off of his shirt and jacket and the way he just stood there staring at Allison. Then running to his room to hide was heartbreaking.
In the comic, he walks around uncovered and it’s just part of his backstory. It’s almost the first thing we learn about him. Here in this series, that has been grounded more (but not totally) in reality, you can’t have a man with a gorilla body just walking around. The way his body was always covered up and looked just a little too big felt like a nice compromise. And I have liked the little moments when Luther misjudges his size. Like in the first episode when he knocks his hanging models around while dancing and in this episode when he has to squeeze into the van seat. As someone with longer legs, I know that pain.
That’s all for this episode.