The fourth season of The Umbrella Academy has dropped on Netflix, and fans are saying goodbye to the weird and wonderful series. Throughout its four seasons, The Umbrella Academy has brought to life the unforgettable Hargreeves siblings, and followed them as they travel between space and time. With season four, the series looks back at previously unexplored moments, and finally reveals how Ben died, while also looking ahead to a future post-The Umbrella Academy.
We’ve recapped what went down in The Umbrella Academy season four finale, which ended the entire series. Here’s what you need to know about the very last episode of The Umbrella Academy.
Ben and Jennifer’s connection causes the Cleanse.
A reminder: Earlier this season, it was finally revealed how Ben’s (Justin H. Min) death occurred in the original timeline. As kids, the Umbrellas were sent on a mission by their father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), who told them they needed to stop a dangerous weapon from getting into the wrong hands. During the mission, he advised them to not, under any circumstances, open a particular shipping container. Ben disobeyed the order when he heard movement inside, discovering a young girl named Jennifer, whom he helped to safety. However, both Ben and Jennifer were almost immediately shot to death by Reginald, and the rest of the Umbrellas were forced to repress their memories of what became known as “the Jennifer incident.”
In the present day, Ben and Jennifer (Victoria Sawal) found themselves drawn to one another, but their attraction began to cause a dangerous reaction. Reginald’s wife Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell) revealed she felt responsible for Ben and Jennifer’s deaths. “Years ago, I synthesized a new element,” she told the gang. As well as creating “marigold,” the particle that caused the Umbrellas to be born with their powers, she inadvertently created “durango,” which was inside Jennifer. “When marigold and durango interact, they cause a reaction, a physical reaction,” she explained. Unfortunately, the reaction between the particles would be so powerful it would cause “the extinction of everything we know,” which became referred to as the Cleanse.
Having found one another, Ben and Jennifer feel a sense of serendipity, but their bodies begin to react in an extremely volatile way. They both break out in a red, pulsating rash, and their skin starts growing huge boils, while their blood flows like lava. Before long, Jennifer becomes incredibly ill, and the pair hide out together in an old department store, which is where they are at the beginning of the finale.
The Keepers assemble.
The finale begins with Jean and Gene (Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman) broadcasting a signal over the radio to alert the Keepers it’s time to assemble. Throughout season four, the Keepers have been awaiting the Cleanse, an apocalypse level event that will reunite the disparate timelines, which have begun bleeding into one another. All over the city, people grab weapons and march to the department store where Ben and Jennifer are hiding.
Jean announces to the crowd they are ready to “return to our rightful lives” with the Cleanse, and they won’t be dissuaded. Reginald and Viktor (Elliot Page) arrive with armed agents, and decide to try talking to Gene and Jean, in an attempt to stop them from killing Ben and Jennifer. However, Gene and Jean refuse any demands made by the Hargreeves family. It’s also crucial to remember that Gene is no longer Gene; Sy (David Cross) murdered Gene in the previous episode and inhabited his skin, so he starts acting rather strangely. Jean becomes suspicious and believes Gene has been corrupted by their enemies. To silence her, he murders her with a sword in front of everyone, and claims she betrayed them all.
Five and Lila return home.
After getting trapped in the subway for seven years, and becoming romantically involved with one another, Lila (Ritu Arya) and Five (Aidan Gallagher) make it back home. While they have been gone for seven years, no time has passed for anyone else, and they welcome Lila and Five with open arms. Lila’s husband Diego (David Castañeda) and their children embrace her, while the Hargreeves siblings are happy to see their teammates.
Diego discovers Five and Lila’s affair.
However, Diego becomes suspicious when he finds Lila is wearing a bracelet, which was made for her by Five. Diego is devastated when he learns about the affair, but there is little time to process the betrayal. Instead, the Umbrellas race to help Ben, after discovering his location from the news.
The Umbrellas attempt to save Ben.
Reginald plans to violently breach the mob made up of Keepers. Viktor, however, sneaks into the building where Ben and Jennifer are holed up. There, he finds Ben and Jennifer in a scarily deformed state, the reaction between them growing like tree roots across the walls. Unfortunately, the reaction between the pair has caused them both to experience anger, and Ben knocks Viktor to the ground to stop him from answering the phone.
Outside, the Umbrellas arrive at the department store in their van, only to be met by the mob of Keepers. They’re shot at, but use Five and Lila’s powers to transport themselves inside the building. Viktor decides to use his power to attempt to remove the “durango” from Ben’s body, but it doesn’t work. Reginald has snipers outside, and Ben is shot by one of them. Jennifer and Ben’s bodies subsequently fuse together, and they grow into a huge monster. The more they’re attacked, the bigger and more gruesome they become. The Umbrellas aim all of their powers at the monster, which only makes the situation worse.
Abigail reveals she orchestrated the Cleanse.
Gene sits down next to Reginald, and tells him, “I ended the world… and that’s a good thing my love.” Gene then pulls his face skin away from his head to reveal Abigail underneath. It’s been her all along—first as Sy, then Gene. In shock, Reginald asks why Abigail caused the Cleanse. “You left me no choice,” she tells him. “Dying was my penance for creating something so deadly,” she explains, referring to the marigold and durango. “Wasn’t it enough to see our world destroyed?“ she asks Reginald. “Why would you loose it on this one?”
Reginald and Abigail.
Reginald explains that he resurrected Abigail because he was lonely and loves her, but she disagrees. The consequences of Reginald’s actions brought about the Cleanse, and Abigail says, “It was my duty to set it right.” While Reginald had attempted to keep Ben and Jennifer apart, Abigail interfered to rectify the situation. “Well done, my love,” Reginald tells her, realizing she had no choice. Then, they’re consumed by the monster.
Five returns to the subway and discovers the solution.
Five and Ben become engaged in a fist fight over Lila. After hearing Lila say, “It’s over,” suggesting there’s no hope for their romance, Five jumps locations to the subway. He rides the train for an unknown period of time, before discovering a deli inside the station. There, multiple versions of Five exist, and one of them reveals they’ve given up trying to fix the problem. It’s then revealed that there’s only meant to be one timeline, and the shattered timeline has caused a plethora of problems. The Umbrella Academy caused the original timeline to split into “an infinite number of alternate timelines, and an infinite loop of time.” In every timeline, the Umbrellas have attempted to save the world, and they failed in every single one.
Five discovers a deli in the subway.
It’s also revealed that Five created the Temps Commission, in the hopes of fixing the broken timeline. Five realizes the Umbrellas are responsible for the world ending. “Our family is the problem,” he says. “We’re doomed to save or destroy the world over and over again, ad infinitum.” Unfortunately, there is only one solution—he needs to erase every trace of marigold from the world to restore the original timeline.
The Umbrellas use their powers to unite the timelines.
Five returns to the group, and tells them about the revelation he had while talking to himself in the subway deli. “The marigold that infected our mothers, bringing about our births, had an unexpected side effect,” he says. “It shattered the timeline. It broke it into an infinite number of alternate timelines. The timelines are bleeding into each other.” Basically, the only way to save the world is to remove the Umbrellas from it altogether. “So, we need to go back to the original timeline, before any of the other ones were created,” he tells everyone.
As for how the Umbrellas can return the timeline to its original form, Five tells the group, “We need to let the marigold in our bodies merge with the durango inside the Cleanse.” Lila concurs, saying, “They should cancel each other out.” The Umbrellas will then “cease to exist” and “be erased from history.” Unsurprisingly, not everyone is on board with this idea. Diego and Lila are concerned about their children and extended family. Diego instructs Lila to take their family to the subway to save them. At first, Lila agrees, and even gets on to a train. But at the last minute, she jumps off, knowing she has to be destroyed along with all of the Umbrellas. Back at the mansion, the Umbrellas join hands and use their powers in unison. The Cleanse consumes them all, until they are nothing but a glowing blob.
Finally, we are transported to a beautiful park, where people co-exist peacefully. This is the original timeline, and many of our favorite characters are living ordinary, happy lives. The Handler pauses while taking a run. Grace is pushing a stroller. Herb and Dot are having their portraits drawn. Allison’s daughter Claire is sitting with Lila’s family. The Swedes are very much alive. Hazel and Agnes are taking a walk together. Everything is blissful, and the world doesn’t appear to be ending. But a short post-credits sequence reveals glowing marigold flowers sprouting from the ground beneath a tree, suggesting the Umbrellas are still around, even if it’s not in human form. The series may have come to an end, but fans will remain hopeful that there could be a resurrection in the future.
Amy Mackelden is a freelance writer, editor, and disability activist. Her bylines include Harper’s BAZAAR, Nicki Swift, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, ELLE, The Independent, Bustle, Healthline, and HelloGiggles. She co-edited The Emma Press Anthology of Illness, and previously spent all of her money on Kylie Cosmetics.