‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: It’s Time to ‘Grow Up, Buttercup’
The Hargreeves have been through a lot. And they try to learn from their mistakes. But the fifth episode of The Umbrella Academy Season 2 teaches them they still have some learning to do. (Spoilers ahead for The Umbrella Academy Season 2, Episode 5: “Valhalla.”)
How to deal
All of the Hargreeves are feeling down. Five reasserts his suspicions about Lila, and Diego calls her a liar as they leave the party. Klaus remains on a bender, and Allison is upset about Ray. Vanya is doing OK after her night with Sissy, but Carl comes home to ruin it all, and then she observes Harlan using his newly obtained abilities.
Back at Elliott’s, Five maintains that they need to talk to Reginald, while Luther explains that he’s already confronted him. When he arrived in 1962, he took a bus to the academy where they were raised, only to have his dad entirely rebuff him. Five says it’s going to take all of them to talk to Reginald.
Everyone’s gone apesh*t
The audience learns how the chimpanzee Pogo came to be a member of the Hargreeves family. He arrives from Congo, and a group of scientists, including Grace, teach him skills as Reginald observes. Pogo is sent into space, but things go wrong. Reginald saves him with a serum and brings him home.
Meanwhile, Lila is upset after her interaction with Diego. She argues with the Handler and shows her what she’s brought her: Diego’s knife. The Handler explains she has a plan. The Swedes get their next target: Diego. They follow the coordinates into the woods, where a trap has been set, killing one of them. Diego’s knife is there, connecting him to the crime.
It’s a family reunion
All of the siblings finally reunite. After a love fest (in which Klaus once again fails to tell them about Ben), they talk, and can’t seem to agree on a plan. Diego wants to kill Reginald to save Kennedy, noting that all of them are, in some way, connected to someone or something related to the president’s assassination.
After Five tells them he saw them all die, Diego leaves, and Luther tries to stop him. While they’re talking, they get an invite to dinner with Reginald the next day, Nov. 20. Five goes after them, only to get distracted by Lila, who he follows to a warehouse. They fight, and Five wins. The Handler shows up.
Facing their problems
When the others left, Vanya, Allison, and Klaus go to hang out and drink at the salon. They explain more of their family dynamics to Vanya, including Allison and Luther’s romantic tension. The audience finally gets what we’ve been waiting for: A dance number, this one to “Twistin’ the Night Away.” They all decide to be honest with the people in their lives.
We don’t see the outcome of Vanya and Klaus’ confrontations just yet. But Vanya goes to tell Sissy she wants to run away with her. However, she catches her having just slept with Carl, and Vanya leaves, upset. Meanwhile, the Swedes hold a Norse funeral for their fallen brother.
