Netflix users have been left outraged by the “horrendous” fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy.
On Thursday (8 August), one month after showrunner Steve Blackman denied allegations of toxic on-set behaviour, the show’s concluding batch of episodes were released on the streaming service, and fans are not liking what they’re seeing.
The series received acclaim for its first three seasons, but the fandom appears to be unanimous in its scathing criticism of the final instalment – and are vehemently expressing their disappointment on social media.
While season four holds a critical score of 61 per cent on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score sits at a paltry 17 per cent.
“What the hell happened?!?” one fan wrote, adding: “The first three seasons were awesome. Was there a different writer or something? Terrible final season.”
Another added: “Absolutely horrendous, wish I hadn’t bothered watching. Commits total character assassination on characters that I’ve loved for years. Disgusted and disappointed.”
One fan said that the final season “will go down as one of the most disappointing show endings in history”.
Many complained that the final season had a shortened run of five episodes, and also questioned the “completely unnecessary” romance that develops between the characters Five and Lila, played by Aidan Gallagher and Ritu Arya.
This storyline development is just one of countless moments that fans have said does not appear to consider the show’s character trajectories over the past three seasons. Many said that the final season “threw away” what they originally liked about the show.
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“We need an apology from The Umbrella Academy writers for whatever that atrocity is between Five and Lila… I’m cringing so hard right now,” one confused viewer said, with another chiming in on X/Twitter: “Season four is not who they are and or ever were. I blame the horrible writing decisions that were made.”
Another person who disliked the Five and Lila storyline was cast member Dan Castañeda, whose character, Diego, is married to Lila.
“I didn’t understand. I was pissed off,” Castañeda told Us Weekly of the much-maligned plot twist. “I was angry. I talked to Steve [Blackman] a few times. I was like, ‘Hey, does this really have to happen?’”
The Umbrella Academy, adapted by Blackman from the comic book series written by My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way, follows a family of adopted sibling superheroes.
It stars, among others, Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman and Robert Sheehan.
The Umbrella Academy is available to stream on Netflix now.