‘The Umbrella Academy’ Reference No One is Talking About
Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy is rife with pop-culture anachronisms. Many fans noticed a majority of the jokes touching on music, movies, and events that had yet to happen in 1963. Still, there’s one pop culture reference from season 2 not many people are talking about.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 2 ahead.]
Klaus forms a cult based on 2019 pop culture
In season 2, the Hargreeves siblings travel back to 1963. As time travelers from the year 2019, they have a wealth of knowledge regarding what happens throughout the course of history.
As such, pop culture influenced many of the jokes showrunners peppered in to season 2 of The Umbrella Academy.
Take Klaus (Robert Sheehan) for example. He becomes the leader of “Destiny’s Children,” a cult with a belief system built on quotes from songs by artists like Gloria Gaynor and the Backstreet Boys. Of course, the people of 1963 don’t realize that — but The Umbrella Academy fans enjoyed picking out Klaus’ absurd use of lyrics for prophecy.
Diego makes a ‘Star Wars’ joke
While Klaus probably had the most pop culture references in season 2, other characters, like Diego (David Castañeda) made some as well.
After he attempted to go after Lee Harvey Oswald and stop John F. Kennedy from being assassinated, Diego was put in a mental facility. During a group session, Diego got into an argument with one of the doctors and made a reference to Star Wars, which had yet to be created.
“I’m a grown-a*s man Dr. Moncton,” Diego refuted. After pointing out Diego’s opposition to his father, Diego replied: “Yeah, why don’t you tell that to Luke Skywalker? I know you don’t get it, but that is an excellent reference.”
Of course, Diego was referring to the turmoil between Luke Skywalker and his father, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Naturally, no one from 1963 understood the reference — and they wouldn’t until 1977.
Number Five tips his hat to ‘The X-Files’
When Five (Aidan Gallagher) first arrived in the 60s, he connected with Elliot (Kevin Rankin), a kind, caring man who was slightly obsessed with the supernatural. He had been tracking each arrivals of the Hargreeves siblings, believing them to be aliens.
Five taunted Elliot slightly, asking if he knew anything about Area 51 or Roswell. Excited by the prospect of new information, Elliot asked Five for the truth.
“It’s all true, yeah?” Elliot inquired. “UFOs — crop circles?!”
Fans of The X-Files appreciated Five’s anachronistic response. “Well, the truth is out there,” he said with a smirk.
There are several mentions of ‘The X-Files’ in ‘The Umbrella Academy’
As it turns out, Five’s aside wasn’t the only X-Files reference in The Umbrella Academy.
“The writers [of The Umbrella Academy] really like The X-Files,” one fan wrote on Reddit. They cited a few times in the series where showrunners included nods to the sci-fi drama series. “The Majestic 12 [is] the syndicate, and the mention of the Roswell incident,[and] Five’s quote of ‘the truth is out there.'”
This fan noticed another subtle nod to The X-Files.
“The music played during one of the first episodes [is] the same [song] that played during the funeral of Scully’s father.” They’re referring to Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea,” which was featured in episode 1 of season 2.
