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It was...uh...yeah. Season 1 was brilliant. There was action and humor and pathos and excellent acting. Contrary to how I usually am when I watch a show, I loved every single character (except for the ones I was supposed to hate). Season 2 was, IMO, equally brilliant. I loved...well, since I said "no spoilers", I'll just say I loved how (almost) everyone had their own, interesting storyline but still came together as a family when it mattered most. In the end, I liked one main character slightly less, but then again, that character had gone through a lot and I found what they did totally forgivable. Season 3 was...somewhat less brilliant. I still liked it, a LOT, but it felt less cohesive and more "let's toss a bunch of stuff into the storyline and see what happens!". Some of it made very little sense. The character I liked slightly less in season 2, I liked a LOT less in season 3, even as I once understand why they did what they did. But things happened at the end that I really enjoyed.

I was dreading season 4 for two reasons. First, I'd heard it was an absolute train wreck (only an 18% approval score over at Rotten Tomatoes). Over at YouTube, I've been watching various clips of the actors giving interviews and was accidentally spoiled to a couple things either through a spoiler-y thumbnail or a flat out spoiler in the description 😡. A number of videos recommended to me were entitled something along the lines of "what went wrong in season 4 of The Umbrella Academy?". But second, I was dreading the end of a show I really enjoyed. I realize these days almost all non-network shows have shorter seasons (anywhere between 6-13 episodes) and often fewer seasons as folks these days get bored easily and are quick to jump on the Next Big Thing. But I actually kind of prefer longer seasons. Yes, you get filler episodes and standalones but done right, those can be very entertaining. I *do* understand actors not wanting to commit to shows with longer running seasons though.

Anyways, I went into season 4 a little apprehensive but willing to keep an open mind. And...all the folks on Rotten Tomatoes and You Tube were correct. Season 4 IS a train wreck, and not in a fun, "grab the popcorn!" way. There were enjoyable moments, sure, but mostly I was either scratching my head and saying "huh?" or screaming "THAT would NEVER happen!". I felt like several of the characters were written extremely OOC and there was even more of a sense of "let's try this! Now let's try that!" to the storyline. Very disappointing...but I still cried at the end, both because of how the show ended and because it ENDED. I adore this cast--they all get along and have a strong "sibling vibe"--and while I'll be happy to watch them in other projects, I'll likely never see them again as the Hargreeve family.

Off now to watch about two dozen clips on YouTube that I've saved until I was done watching the series...