It’s safe to say that the first season of The Umbrella Academy went out with a bang—that is, an actual apocalypse spurned by Vanya’s powerful rage, which caused the moon fracture, fall, and ravage the Earth. Fortunately, the Umbrella Academy kids had Five on board, who suggested that they time-travel the hell out of there to a time before the destruction, hoping to prevent the eradication of the planet. Yes, all of them, even planet-blower-upper Vanya. The last shot of the season showed that the time jump appeared to work, as the Hargreeves siblings disappear just before everything else does.
In the just-released first few minutes of The Umbrella Academy season two (in an episode titled “Right Back Where We Started”), we find Five arriving on/in November 25, 1963, where the U.S. is being attacked by Soviet forces. According to a newspaper headline that Five finds: “Soviets Attack U.S: JFK Declares War On Reds.” It appears that the prevention of the Kennedy assassination ultimately led Russia to invade American soil. The Umbrella Academy soon steps up to stop the Soviet soldiers to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” and it’s pretty satisfying to see all the siblings working together for once, in a breathtaking action sequence.
But then Hazel shows up, looking like a Santa Claus from the future, and suggests that he and Five do another time jump, because the word is about to end again, due to the visible flight paths of some Soviet nukes. Double apocalypse! Dang, show, how are you going to top that? We’ll find out when The Umbrella Academy season two finally arrived on Friday, July 31; gotta say, we’re pretty psyched, as most reviews (like The A.V. Club’s) are calling it an improvement over the first. Hey, didja ever notice that a mushroom cloud looks just like an umbrella?