Netflix’s live-action adaptation ofThe Umbrella Academybrought the bizarre comic books to life in a way that suited the small screen, but the show’s quality fell off to a notable extent towards the end.Every season ofThe Umbrella Academyfocused on the same characters, but the world itself felt like it had run out of road in later installments.
Airing between 2019 and 2024,The Umbrella Academyquickly gathered a devoted followingfor its fresh storytelling techniques. Originally written by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, Netflix’s take on the story remained faithful to the source material in some ways, but also took some pretty big creative liberties for understandable reasons.
The Umbrella Academy’s endingteased the possibility of a continuation someday, although, given the show’s dip in quality, such a sequel or spinoff is unlikely. Still, if a certain era of the show is ignored, or taken with a pinch of salt,The Umbrella Academycould easily make the list ofbest shows on Netflix.
The Umbrella Academy Was Almost A Masterpiece, But Season 4 Tarnished Its Legacy
Netflix Didn’t Stick The Landing With One Of Its Biggest Hits' Final Season
The Umbrella Academy’sRotten Tomatoesrating currently sits at a respectable 78%, although that average has been brought down quite considerably by the less-than-stellar final season.The Umbrella Academyseason 4 has a score of just 56%on the site, and fans rate it even lower at an abysmal 19%. Before season 4,The Umbrella Academyfelt like must-watch TV.
The show adopts a tone and formula not often witnessed in the superhero genre.It combines the shiny powers of Marvel and the gritty darkness of DC, while also adding elements of its own, to create something that’s truly spectacular. Sadly,The Umbrella Academyseason 4’s uneven storyline and various plot holesmeans the show as a whole will be divisively remembered.
1
10
77%
85%
2
91%
87%
3
54%
4
6
56%
19%
36
78%
61%
The brilliant chemistry amongThe Umbrella Academy’s ensemble castis largely what carries the superhero show’s failed final season. While it was always possible that the show’s impressive streak was going to be broken by a dud run eventually, I don’t think anyone quite foresaw just how drastically the adaptation would fall off as it drew to an underwhelming close.
Of course, live-action superhero shows generally don’t tend to run for many seasons. When they do, they almost always hit a rough patch that disgruntles fans. Saying that,I thought at first thatThe Umbrella Academywould end without experiencing this unfortunate phenomenon, but it fell at the final hurdle and failed to uphold the high standard it had set for itself.
Netflix’s Superhero Show Could Have Ended On A High Note After 3 Seasons
The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Wasn’t Good Enough
The Umbrella Academyseason 1 provided the Netflix show with a solid foundationwith plenty of room to grow, while also being a very good batch of episodes itself. The next two seasons delivered massively on the promise that had already been on display, allowing the characters to explore various sci-fi and superhero tropes in new and exciting ways.
The Umbrella Academywould have protected its legacy far more effectively if it had stopped at the end of season 3, when the show was still at the very peak of its powers.
The show’s success across its first three seasons seemed to suggest that another run would be of a similar quality, but that wasn’t the case. Looking back,The Umbrella Academywould have protected its legacy far more effectively if it had stopped at the end of season 3, when the show was still at the very peak of its powers.
That being said, the current season 3 finale doesn’t work as a suitable way to endThe Umbrella Academy. So, it would need to be reworked to give all the brilliant characters a fitting farewell. This obviously didn’t happen, and I can understand the temptation to keep a hit show going. However, making another season just didn’t pay off.
If You Can Ignore Its Ending, The Umbrella Academy Is Still One Of Netflix’s Best Shows
I Would Still Highly Recommend The Show To Anyone Who Hasn’t Seen It
The Umbrella Academyseason 4 isn’t completely without merit, nor is it unwatchable. There are some cool moments that manage to recapture the magic of earlier runs, but between those occurrences, it’s largely a frustrating watch. Still, watching the show through to its final episode is a better option than stopping at the end of season 3.
For those who haven’t seenThe Umbrella Academy, I would still highly recommend watching it. However, it’s important to be prepared for the final season, and to temper expectations going in. If you can accept that the show goes notably downhill in season 4, then the entire experience is still definitely worthwhile.
Plus, it should be noted that a brilliant show ending its story on its own terms isn’t always a given. There have been countless canceled shows that ended unceremoniously despite having a great deal of promise. So, althoughThe Umbrella Academyseason 4 isn’t great, at least the show received closure.
One advantage that the show has in 2025 is that the entire thing can be binge-watched. When fans were waiting for season 4, anticipation built for two years and the payoff was not worth the wait. If you watch all ofThe Umbrella Academyin one go, the issues with season 4 are probably a little less noticeable.
