The Umbrella Academy Season 1 Episode 1 Recap – We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals

A man and a woman checked each other out in a public pool. They were equally good-looking and attracted to one another. The man makes a move and sits beside the woman. He tried to kiss her, but she refused. After a few minutes, the woman kissed the man on his cheek and jumped into the pool. The woman didn’t surface, but the water turned red, which caused panic. When the woman surfaced, she was already pregnant. The people around the pool helped her out, and she gave birth instantly. Forty-three women gave birth that day, and none of them had been pregnant the day before.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, opted to locate and adopt as many of the 43 babies as possible. Reginald only managed to get 7 of them. He took care of all seven babies to give them a better future. All seven of them were leading extraordinary lives fast forward to the present. There was Luther, an astronaut, Diego, a superhero, Allison, a famous star, Klaus, an alcoholic, and Vanya, a violinist. All of them were busy with their jobs when the news of Reginald’s death broke out. The news spread like wildfire as people didn’t hesitate to ask them how they felt and if they would attend their father’s funeral.

Vanya arrived at The Umbrella Academy. Vanya called out to their mother, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk. Allison greeted Vanya and hugged her. On the other hand, Diego told Vanya that she shouldn’t have come. He went upstairs to Reginald’s room and saw Luther scoping the place out. Diego told Luther that he had already checked everything and handed Reginald’s autopsy report. Reginald died of heart failure, and there’s no reason to check his bedroom because no one killed him. A man named Pogo found Reginald dead, but Luther had already talked to Pogo. He told Luther that Reginald’s monocle was missing. Luther knew that Reginald wasn’t alone when he died and someone had taken his monocle. Diego didn’t care about Reginald’s monocle; he despised the man and told Luther that he got what he deserved.

Vanya went to the building’s library, where she found all their old things. An ape walked into the room and welcomed Vanya back home. It was Pogo. Vanya asks Pogo if Reginald ever read her autobiography, but he answers that Reginald never read it. She asks Pogo how long since Five went missing. Pogo responds that Five was missing for 16 years, four months, and 14 days. Pogo kept track per Reginald’s request. Vanya used to leave the lights open just in case. Five would ever come back. She even left behind snacks for Five, and Pogo remembered how he used to find the snacks all over the place.

Allison went to visit Reginald’s study. She remembers that Reginald didn’t have time for them, he would always be working, and he didn’t even give them time to say good night. She went into the study and heard Klaus rummaging around Reginald’s desk. Klaus and Allison are catching up when Luther walks into the room. He knew he needed to leave, but Luther told him to return what he stole. Klaus emptied his pockets and left, but Luther didn’t bother to check him. Klaus still managed to steal something from Reginald’s study. He took out a golden book just as he left the room. Luther asks Allison where Patrick and Claire were. She responds that Patrick filed for divorce eight months ago and that he got custody of Claire. Luther told Allison to use her abilities, but she refused.

Allison chooses not to use her abilities as she doesn’t have any control over the outcome. She didn’t want to make things come true and not be able to take them back. Diego, Luther, Klaus, Allison, and Vanya, gathered in the library to hold a memorial service for Reginald. Luther told everyone that they have more things to discuss as he didn’t believe that Reginald died of natural causes. Luther thinks that someone stole Reginald’s monocle and that his death was personal rather than natural. He explained that Reginald told him to be careful who to trust. Diego understood that Luther thought one of them killed Reginald. Everyone felt offended that Luther would even think they could kill their adoptive father. Luther tries to talk some sense into everyone, but they all leave the room.

Seventeen years ago, The Umbrella Academy went on its first mission as a superhero team. There was an armed robbery in the Capital West Bank, and they took care of all the robbers inside the bank. The children were numbered from one to seven; however, only six of them were shown in public by Reginald. Vanya was number seven, and she didn’t have any special ability. She wanted to join her siblings at the bank, but Reginald refused. Reginald went down to the bank as his children came out with their masks on. He told the world that they were The Umbrella Academy.

Back at the academy, Klaus went over to Reginald’s urn and started talking to him. His special power is being able to talk with the dead. Klaus tries to communicate with Reginald, but he doesn’t get any response. Klaus felt frustrated that he couldn’t make his power work. He tries to reach for a drink, but he bumps into Reginald’s urn and spills his ashes across the bar. Since Klaus couldn’t reach out to Reginald, everyone decided to do their own thing for a while. Luther and Allison went to their old rooms to reminisce. Vanya stayed at the stairs keeping to herself, and Diego decided to crash on the couch.

Everyone was enjoying themselves as Luther turned on an old record player. They all started dancing in their own little space when they heard thunder rumbling out in the courtyard. They went outside to see what was going on. A small black hole was forming in the middle of the yard. Klaus threw a fire extinguisher into the black hole as he couldn’t think of anything else. Suddenly, Number Five appeared and fell from the spot. The black hole disappeared, and everyone was shocked to see young Number Five. Everyone went to the kitchen to speak with Number Five. He explained that he jumped through time and disobeyed Reginald, which was a big mistake. He got lost through time and space for 58 years. Number five knew about everything that happened, including Reginald’s death.

Five got changed and went to the library. He told Vanya that Reginald eventually read her book. It seems Vanya spilled their family’s secrets in her autobiography, which caused problems for everyone. Five tells Vanya that far worse things could’ve happened, but they didn’t. Vanya knew that Five was talking about one of their siblings, Ben. Ben died a long time ago, and it seems his death has something to do with Vanya’s autobiography. After their talk, Vanya and Five joined everyone else in the courtyard. They held Reginald’s memorial service, and Pogo said a few words. Diego didn’t feel any love or grief in Reginald’s passing. He told everyone that Reginald was one of the bad persons on earth and the worst father anyone could ever have.

Diego continued ranting about Reginald and how he didn’t bother to give them real names. Luther told Diego to stop talking and pay respects to Reginald, but he didn’t heed his warning. Luther engages Diego, and Pogo tells them to stop, but that doesn’t do anything. Nobody could stop Diego and Luther from killing each other. Luther kept throwing his punches and eventually hit Ben’s statue. The statue fell to the ground and lost its head. Five and Allison couldn’t watch Diego and Luther, so they went back into the house. Diego threw one of his daggers at Luther, and it just missed his left bicep by a few inches. Luther was shocked by Diego’s dagger and immediately went inside the house. Vanya followed Luther and Diego brought their mother inside.

Klaus stayed behind and began talking to Reginald’s ashes. He told Reginald that things were going smoothly, just like old times. Reginald pushed all of his children through various training exercises. They fought against one another to gain Reginald’s favor and become the best child in the academy. Vanya sat back and watched as her siblings clawed through each other to make Reginald proud. Back at the academy, Vanya decides to leave because she doesn’t belong there. Pogo tells Vanya that the academy is also her home and that Reginald loved her in his way.

Since Vanya left, everyone decided to leave as well. Five took the academy car to get a cup of coffee because there weren’t any in the academy. Klaus left with Diego, and Allison left on her own. Luther decided to stay and mend his wound while their mother sat in the hallway and started charging herself. It turns out that their mother is an android created by Reginald.

Meanwhile, Five enters a doughnut shop to get some coffee. Another man enters the shop, and the waitress thinks they are together. Five orders a cup of coffee, and the man decides to pay for it. Five noticed that the man works for a towing company. He asks the man if he knows his way around the city. The man confirms as he’s been driving in the city for 20 years. Five was pleased as he needed to find an address.

The man leaves, and armed men enter the doughnut shop. Five knew who they were as they pointed high-caliber rifles in his direction. They ordered Five to surrender and come quietly, but he wasn’t going to do as told. Five uses his powers to teleport in and out of the shop while slowly killing everyone in sight. They did their best to bring Five down, but they were no match for his power. He predicts every move and eventually kills everyone. After the fight, Five took a knife and removed an implant from his arm. It was a tracking device, and the armed men used it to track his location.

Diego stops by the river to throw away Reginald’s monocle. Klaus tells Diego that they were starving, pointing out a random person he was sitting with at the back of Diego’s car. The person turns out to be Ben’s spirit. Klaus could see and talk to Ben, although he wasn’t very responsive. Diego drops the monocle into the river and decides to get back to work. He receives a transmission on his radio that gunshots were heard from a doughnut shop in town. Diego drives away and drops Klaus off at the train station.

Vanya arrives at her apartment, where Five is waiting for her. Five tells Vanya that she’s the only person that he could trust at the moment. Vanya was ordinary, which means no one was interested in her. Additionally, Five knows that Vanya will listen to him. Vanya went to her medicine box to grab a bunch of stuff to clean up Five’s wound. He tells Vanya that he found nothing when he jumped into the future. The world was destroyed, and as far as he’s concerned, he was the only human being left alive. Five didn’t find anything useful except the date when it all happened. Five tells Vanya that the world will end in eight days, and he doesn’t know how to stop it. Vanya couldn’t do anything but offer Five a pot of coffee.