Can You Stand the Rain in ‘The Umbrella Academy’?

This month Netflix will release a new series in its fantasy category — The Umbrella Academy. The series is based on a Dark Horse comic of the same name that came out in 2007. The comic was written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. I haven’t read the comic, so this review will focus on the Netflix series itself. I previewed the first five episodes in this Netflix original series, following 6 people born to women who miraculously got pregnant on the same day they delivered the children. There are 43 of these special children. For example, the show opens at an indoor pool in Russia. A clearly-not-pregnant teenage girl and boy are flirting by the pool. The girl kisses his cheek and jumps into the pool. As the girl emerges from the water, it turns bloody and reveals her now swelled stomach. They get her out of the pool and deliver the child. A billionaire with delusions of grandeur named Sir Reginald Hargreeves literally buys 7 of the babies born on that day. He raises them with the help of a female robot he builds to be their mother and an anatomically correct talking assistant chimpanzee named Pogo. Each child (seemingly) has a special ability such as super strength, teleportation, the power to cause/make rumors come true, and some type of morphing/transformation ability. It is these kids who become Sir Hargreeves’ superhero team (minus 1) known as The Umbrella Academy.

That’s the set up. About the first 5 episodes… *Very light spoilers sprinkled on your salad tod…