'The Umbrella Academy' Season 1 - TV Review

Based on a comic book series written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, this is a ten part (one hour each) mini-series from Netflix - although the ending very clearly shows that they intend to carry on.

The name of the series is also the name of the group, seven children with superpowers raised by a dictatorial old man who essentially bought them from their parents. They're about as dysfunctional as a family can be. By the time the series starts, they've all gone their separate ways - but are brought back together by the death of their "father."

While his death does bring them back together, it doesn't make them get along. No one - not even Number One / Luther (Tom Hopper) is too torn up about their father's death, but a couple of them try to find out how he died. And Five claims he's just returned from the future (the others are 40 years old, but he appears to be 13 and spends the entire series dressed in his old school uniform) and the end of the world will happen in seven days, so he sets out to prevent that.

It's violent, ludicrous, and populated with a bunch of very hard-to-like characters. Perhaps the most likeable character is Ben - one of the seven, but he died quite young. Now Klaus is the only person who sees him - Klaus being the member of the family who stays constantly high in a deliberate attempt to suppress his power to see the dead.

I didn't dislike it, but watching a bunch of not particularly well acted or scripted unpleasant people fight and kill others isn't really my idea of a good time.