This review contains major spoilers for the final season of ‘The Umbrella Academy’. Read with caution. 

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. In every timeline, this family of seven causes the apocalypse. The final season of The Umbrella Academy was released on Thursday, Aug. 8 to very controversial reviews. Fans had been waiting for years for the fourth season, and to say they were disappointed would be an understatement. While everyone went in with high hopes, the odd plot choices and uncomfortable plotlines quickly dashed them.

The Umbrella Academy follows a dysfunctional family of superheroes as they try and fail to save the world repeatedly while working through their relationships with each other and people outside their family. The third season set up a strong foundation for the Hargreeves family to finally be happy, albeit powerless, but the start of the fourth season finds the family equally miserable.

The major plots of the first three seasons imply that their powers are what makes them so despondent. Unfortunately, taking away their powers leaves the Hargreeves just as depressed, maybe even more so. And of course, they get their powers back less than two episodes in, despite not wanting them. The show’s writers seem to believe that the show will only be interesting if the characters are sad. It would have been easy to make a season where the Hargreeves ended up happy and powerless, but instead, the writers took the easy way out.

At the end of the show, instead of wrapping up the plot lines and character arcs in a satisfying way, the writers decide that the best thing to do would be to kill all the characters off to “fix the timeline”. At first, this choice made sense because the characters had been fighting for so long trying to save the world, it felt natural that they would finally realize that the only way to win is to surrender. However, after sitting with it longer, it became clear that the writers had dug themselves into a hole through various plotlines that they didn’t want to wrap up, so they chose to cheat and get rid of their problems. This means that not only do we not get to see the characters be happy, but we never get a satisfying end to their story.

The ending wasn’t the only bizarre writing choice. One of the major plot lines of the season included a romance that left everyone feeling a little bit gross. Five and Lila ended up in a romantic relationship while they were in-laws, and to make matters worse, the actors were 35 and 20 at the time of filming and had known each other for five years. Fans were rightfully frustrated at this choice, as it was not just inappropriate but also infuriating. Many people were interested in how the show would end this romance without absolutely ruining the relationship between Diego and Five, or Lila and Diego, but the writers ultimately gave up and no one got to find out.

The acting in the show was amazing as always, and the soundtrack was iconic. If there had been a different plot line, the season could have easily won many awards and quickly climbed the ranks of its seasons. The actors did the best they could with what they had, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to save the show.

Overall, the smaller details of the season are amazing and very well executed, but the overarching theme and plot led to its downfall. Even though The Umbrella Academy has had three good and satisfying seasons, this last season has left a stain on its reputation that can never be erased.