The Umbrella Academy

I’m obviously not the target audience. I expected something completely different of a comic book series. What I got instead were characters none of whom I could relate to (except Hazel), a completely predictable story, constant whining of the characters over their lives and all too frequent and unnecessary attempts at romance. (24.05.2019)

The first episode wasn't a fantastic sensation for me, it was more of a slow start to the series, during which the creators introduced me to all the important characters. However, some moments looked really interesting, so I expect nothing but improvement with the next episodes. I was extremely pleased with They Might Be Giants' cover version of the song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", which was excellently performed for WOW by Silver Letomi. (21.05.2019)

Aha, so I miscalculated a bit last time. There was no significant improvement compared to the first part, and this time I was mostly focused on the character played by Ellen Page. Once again, the Americans couldn't handle the Russian names and named the sad girl Váňa, which is funny no matter how you write it. Additionally, this character doesn't possess any special abilities except spreading depression, so it strongly reminds me of Marvin the robot from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (22.05.2019)

The series is so far developing exactly the opposite way than I expected after the first episode. The quality is declining and not even this quite action-packed episode could prevent that, because the gang, which cleared the bank of armed individuals, is getting killed at home. At least the cultural aspect of things was not trimmed, Váňa and her violin might attract classical music lovers to the series. (22.05.2019)

This time, I didn't exactly feel overwhelmed with joy, but there was some improvement compared to the previous episode. I enjoyed the local necroscope, and I had a good laugh with the duo Hazel/Cha-Cha. I would have gladly skipped the final futile emotional attack, though, it completely missed me. (22.05.2019)

Neither a flop nor an amazing experience, it was simply a standard episode that was saved by the action-packed moments, without which it would have just been a boring stretch of the plot. For me, the episode still had one great moment: the attack with the ice cream truck accompanied by Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries". (23.05.2019)

Although the plot is slightly above average throughout, I have grown accustomed to it. I silently hoped that the creators would avoid two things that could bother me, but it was in vain, as they used both. In the name of political correctness, testosterone passion was brought up again. I am not a good mathematician, but I would say that one out of six doesn't really correspond to four percent. Well, but that's trendy. The second thing was even worse - Vána's amazing abilities really manifested. It was as unexpected as Jean-Claude Van Damm's victory at the end of each of his movies. (23.05.2019)

What kept the series above average has quietly disappeared, more and more romantic moments are appearing, and at times I found the plot quite boring. All I can do is hope that the creators have saved some aces for the final three episodes to at least liven up the pace of the season a bit. (23.05.2019)

When I think back on the plot, it seems like besides Allison's interactions with Vanya, not much else happened. And given how Allison looked, it seems like everything will turn out just fine in the end anyway. But hey, I did learn one valuable life lesson from all of this — I'll definitely be treating musicians, especially those who play string instruments, with a whole lot more caution from now on. (24.05.2019)

So, compared to the last one, there was definitely more action, but it still didn't quite do it for me. What really gets under my skin is the creators' apparent lack of effort to shake up the storyline and make it less predictable. And don't even get me started on the constant whining from certain characters about their cruel fate — it was annoying enough with one, now it's getting ridiculous. (24.05.2019)

I had high hopes that the creators would pull out all the stops for the season finale and make up for those occasional moments of boredom I experienced along the way. Unfortunately, they fell short. The biggest letdown for me was the casting of Ellen Page as the main antagonist. While I can usually tolerate her, she just didn't seem to fit into this role. Initially, Vanya came across as the embodiment of depression. This time, she was probably supposed to be menacing, but those weird contact lenses just made her look like a stoned emo. Honestly, it felt like the creators were poking fun at me the whole time. (24.05.2019)