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https://blackgirlnerds.com/new-trailer-and-images-for-arcane-season-2/

From Riot Games, ARCANE returns this November on Netflix. The animated series, based on the League of Legends game and one of Netflix’s most successful animated series ever, is created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. Executive producers include Linke, Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck.  The Animation Studio is Fortiche Animation. Voices include Hailee Steinfeld (Vi), Annie Award winner Ella Purnell (Jinx) and Katie Leung (Caitlyn), Reed Shannon (Ekko), Amirah Vann (Sevika), Mick Wingert (Heimerdinger), Ellen Thomas (Ambessa), and Brett Tucker (Singed) among others to be announced.

Season One of ARCANE solidified Netflix’s position as a leader in adapting game franchises into animated cultural phenomena. Globally praised as one of the Best TV Shows of 2021, the adult animated series also earned four PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS (2022) including Outstanding Animated Program – the first streaming series to win Outstanding Animated Program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysqiEC6bLUI

The series swept the 2022 Annie Awards with wins in Nine categories including Best TV/Media, Best Writing, Best Voice Acting (Ella Purnell), Best Direction, Best Production Design, Best Character Animation, Best Storyboarding, Best Character Design and Best FX. The series was also recognized by the gaming community winning Best Adaptation at The Game Awards (2022).  In addition, the Arcane album was nominated for a 2022 Billboard Music Award for Top Soundtrack.

The post New Trailer and Images for ‘Arcane’ Season 2 appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/15-summer-reads-black-authors/

Originally Published Jul. 4, 2019.

Summer is upon us, which means it’s time to charge our melanin on the beaches and in parks, stretched out with a great summer read. Below you’ll find 15 of the hottest books for the season by black authors (in alphabetical order).

15 Summer Reads by Black Authors

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

Author Lauren Wilkinson, a New York native, debuted with her page-turning novel American Spy, which was named “one of the best books in 2019 so far” by Time.

The espionage thriller, which has been inspired by real life events, takes us back to 1986 with a black female FBI intelligence officer. This thriller is full of drama and romance—a no-brainer for a summer read.

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America (multiple contributors)

This 2019 YA fiction book features an intriguing compilation of short stories from some of today’s top black authors in the Young Adult genre, providing a glimpse of what it means to be young and black in America.

Contributors: Justina Ireland, Varian Johnson, Rita Williams-Garcia, Dhonielle Clayton, Kekla Magoon. Leah Henderson, Tochi Onyebuchi, Jason Reynolds. Nic Stone, Liara Tamani, Renée Watson,Tracey Baptiste, Coe Booth, Brandy Colbert, Jay Coles, Ibi Zoboi and Lamar Giles.

 Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

Author Jayne Allen, from Detroit, is best known as the lady that “smiles widely, laughs loudly and loves to tell stories that stick to your bones.” Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is one of those stories. Allen, however, prefers to call her style “chocolate chick lit with a conscious.”

This modern-day novel highlights many issues that women deal with today: fertility troubles, workplace womanhood, racism, mental health woes, and so much more! Readers will undoubtedly fall in love with the protagonist, Tabitha, and her two girlfriends who take the world on their shoulders in a tough journey to find their inner Black Girl Magic. If you’re a fan of Terri MacMillan or Omar Tyree novels, you’ll want to grab this one.

Darkness to Light by Lamar Odom

Two-time NBA champion and infamous Kardashian husband Lamar Odom has had his share of star-studded highs and death-gripping lows. In his revealing memoir, Odom gets transparent about the money, fame, drug addiction, and women that caused his life to spiral out of control and how he has managed to find hope at the other end.

Darkness to Light gives readers a real behind-the-scenes glimpse into a life that many thought they knew.

How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance by Akiba Solomon & Kenrya Rankin

How We Fight White Supremacy is a celebration of black resistance through highlighting many of the doers in the black community today. Amazon describes it best with, “[The book] offers a blueprint for the fight for freedom and justice—and ideas for how each of us can contribute.”

The revolutionary pages feature contributions from favorites like Amanda Seales, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Michael Arceneaux, Harry Belafonte, Alicia Garza, and 17 others.

Let Love Have the Last Word by Common

Instant New York Times best-seller, Golden Globe, Grammy, and Academy Award-winning actor/rapper Common dropped his second memoir in May and it’s already flying off the shelves. The rapper is known for being introspective and he goes deep in Let Love Have the Last Word.

Getting vulnerable, he shares of his experiences with love and how often he fell short of the goal. Common dives into self-love, God, children, family, partners, and even community, assisting us to comprehend what it means to receive and give love.

 More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth

Described as a part-manifesto, part-memoir, Elaine Welteroth, former Teen Vogue editor (known for revolutionizing the popular magazine through adding pieces dedicated to social consciousness), helps readers to come into their own, on their own terms.

This instant New York Times best-seller even had Yara Shahidi in awe. She shared, “Elaine gifts us all with a beautifully intimate and powerful retelling of her ever-unfolding journey. In sharing her joys, pitfalls, adventures, self-doubt, and successes, she reminds us that through uncovering and discovering the many facets of ourselves, we are more than enough.”

Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds

This YA fictional love story (with a little sci-fi) is full of so many twists and turns that you will not be able to put it down. The novel tells the story of a boy who swiftly falls in love and is faced with the death of his new love just as speedily. Travelling back in time in an attempt to prevent her death results in him changing other pieces of his reality that he didn’t know could be messed with. Within the depths of the pages you’ll find yourself questioning how you’d act if presented with similar circumstances.

Reynolds has done a spectacular job with this newly-released summer read. Angie Thomas, No. 1 NYT best-selling author of The Hate You Give, said that Opposite of Always is one of the best stories she has ever read!

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

This heart-wrenching novel pulls on all of the emotions as Patsy leaves her Jamaican hometown and daughter Tru behind in hopes of a better life and rekindling an old flame with a female friend in New York City. Throughout this page-turner, many troubles arise as a result of Patsy’s overzealous evangelical mother, her being an undocumented immigrant in the U.S., and her daughter dealing with the complex struggles of abandonment.

In Patsy, Dennis-Benn gives a voice to those who look to the USA for opportunity, parents who choose themselves over their loved one’s security and highlights the LGBTQ+ community in a fresh way. The book effortlessly alternates between Patsy’s new tough life in the city and her daughter Tru’s journey back home in Jamaica.

 Side Chick Nation by Aya de León

Author Aya de León is an award-winning author, activist, educator and spoken word poet. Side Chick Nation is book four of her urban crime fictional series Justice Hustlers, however, it works well as a stand-alone novel. In this remarkable summer must-read, the main character Dulce is tired of her married drug-dealing boyfriend’s antics, steals his cash and flees from Miami to her family in the Caribbean, ditching the side-chick life. The author takes the story on an interesting journey, exploring colonization, climate change and the US government’s response to Hurricane Maria.

Side Chick Nation is an entertaining, insightful, satisfyingly feminist read.

The Greatest You by Trent Shelton

The author, a former NFL player turned inspirational speaker and nonprofit founder, shares his arsenal for success, which he learned through the depths of despair. Prepare to be uplifted and transformed by this self-help read in which Shelton provides personal stories and useful steps to shape readers into their greatest version yet.

The Truth About Men: What Men and Women Need to Know by Devon Franklin

DeVon Franklin, an award­-winning film & TV producer, bestselling-author, prominent preacher, coach, and husband to actress Meagan Good, dishes it to readers in a way that only he can. He advises that not all men are not, however, all men do share the same struggle. While comparing men to dogs who need a master, Franklin attempts to assist both women and men to get to the root cause of infidelity.

At the end of each chapter in this controversial read, the author shares practical tools and resources for women to empower their men, and for men to assist themselves with their daily hurdles. Amazon describes it as, “a raw, informative, and compelling look at an issue that threatens to tear our society apart yet it offers a positive way forward for men and women alike.”

We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Ruffin did an impeccable job with his debut novel about a father willing to do anything to protect his son from violence that plagues the black community—including turning him white.  For readers who enjoyed Get Out, this brilliant satire piece highlights an all too real reality for many living today. A New York Times book review by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah sums it up wonderfully:

“Love is at the core of this funny, beautiful novel [that] asks some of the most important questions fiction can ask, and it does so with energetic and acrobatic prose, hilarious wordplay and great heart…We Cast a Shadow churns fresh beauty from old ugliness… Read this book, and ask yourself: Is this the world you want?”

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young

The author, cofounder of VerySmartBrothers.com, debuts with an essay-style memoir full of thought-provoking humor surrounding what it’s like growing up as a black male in America—which for him is an extreme sport.

From publisher Harper Collins: “The act of possessing black skin while searching for space to breathe in America is enough to induce a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as “How should I react here, as a professional black person?” and “Will this white person’s potato salad kill me?” are forever relevant.”

 With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Author Elizabeth Acevedo is an afro-Dominican New York Times best-selling author, award winning slam poet, and all around one to follow in the YA scene. The main character in With the Fire on High novel, Emoni, is a teenage mom living with her grandmother who has had to make many tough decisions in her life. With a desire to do right by her child and grandmother, and an equally burning passion to become a chef, we follow her journey to pursue what she believes to be impossible.

Highlighting the reality of poverty, teenage pregnancy, and even the post-pregnancy body, Acevedo hits yet another book out of the park.

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Black Enterprise Contributors Network

https://blacknerdproblems.com/longlegs-is-not-a-modern-silence-of-the-lambs/

Don’t trust the hype.

I had three different people text me on July 7^th saying WE GOTTA SEE LONGLEGS THIS WEEK! I had read the early reviews, watched the trailers, and as a lifelong Nicolas Cage fan, especially the more recent “I’m a truffle farmer, I invade your dreams, I spoof myself” Nicolas Cage. I was freaking hype!

Even beyond that, I am a fan of director Oz Perkins’ work (please watch The Blackcoat’s Daughter) and his ability to intertwine his historical influences with his own sensory palette of dread, as well as Neon’s consistent investment in indie horror films for the past decade. Add Maika Monroe (please watch It Follows) and Blair Underwood (who has consistently played strong voiced authoritarian figures for the better part of my moviegoing life, put respect on his name), and honestly this felt like a recipe for a box office hit. And it was, doing fantastic numbers and receiving rave reviews, but it was the damn Silence of the Lambs comparisons that made me do a double take.

I wouldn’t be writing this article if so many critics and moviegoers didn’t make LOUD, UNENDING, INCESSENT statements like, “Longlegs is a menacing masterpiece” (Wicked Horror), “stunning, a modern Silence of the Lambs” (Dread Central), or “the best serial killer horror film since the Silence of the Lambs” (Awards Radar). This is the kind of hype that gets in your head, that makes viral marketing campaigns, THAT GETS PEOPLE LIKE ME MAD TIGHT WHEN A MOVIE DOESN’T DELIVER!

Yet, to be fair to the public, Perkins himself stated many times that Longlegs was a homage to Silence of the Lambs. In an interview with Deadline, he said “I was like, ‘I’ll lay [Silence of the Lambs] in.’ And if I lay that in, then I know certain other things, or I can start to make guesses, ‘Oh, it’s a female protagonist. She’s in the FBI. Oh, she’s got a boss. Oh, there’s kind of a wall of evidence. Oh, they’re hunting somebody.’” 

To Perkins’ credit, all these structural pieces exist in Longlegs. Yet, when put side by side with Silence of the Lambs, Longlegs not only doesn’t hold up, but the ways it fails its female protagonist are exposed. You see, I was strapped in for a dangerous and intellectual cat and mouse game between the FBI and two serial killers, but what I got was a one-sided story of a villain with ungodly brilliance and an FBI agent robbed of her smarts, agency, and ability.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, first we gotta recap Silence of the Lambs. First and foremost, the 1991 film established one of the most iconic horror villains of all time with the cannibal Hannibal Lecter, not only because of his sinister and intellectual charm but because of his intriguing narrative set up. Lecter is already imprisoned when Clarice Starling, a strong-willed and smart, albeit wet behind the ears, FBI trainee is told by her boss Jack Crawford to ask him for help in catching the serial killer, Buffalo Bill. (While I won’t get into this here, it’s important to name the horrible transphobia Buffalo Bill’s character contributed to). Throughout the film, Lecter is pulling the strings even from behind bars, leading our various characters on different paths as they collide, all in an effort for him to escape prison by any means necessary. 

Now, it would be easy to only remember Lecter’s role but even though he is a formidable opponent in almost every way, Starling still has some tricks up her sleeve as she proves why she was selected by Crawford to be on this case. Starling clocks that Crawford is using her to bait Lecter from the get go, she profiles Buffalo Bill accurately before ever encountering him, and she solves Lecter’s anagram when he gives false information on Buffalo Bill. Most importantly, in the third act, she reviews her case files, uncovers Buffalo Bill’s true identity, goes door knocking in his hometown, identifies and then kills him using context clues and her FBI training. SHE WAS A DAMN PRODIGY AND STOOD ON BUSINESS! 

Let us never forget that Silence of the Lambs is a magnificent movie not only because of Anthony Hopkin’s delicate balance of Lecter’s ruthless evil and intelligent charm but also because of Jodie Foster’s ability to portray an FBI trainee who is both doggedly eager to impress those around her and trusting of her instincts. The movie is told through her perspective and in this way, the audience is meant to feel both her “fish out of water” energy and eventual graduation from the academy because she earned that ish.

Longlegs initially treads similar ground by introducing us to a strong, smart, freshly trained FBI agent in Monroe’s Lee Harker as she is recruited by her boss, Underwood’s Agent Carter, to hunt Cage’s Longlegs, a serial killer who has been murdering families from afar for almost 30 years. The reason she’s recruited? SHE’S FREAKING PSYCHIC! What is she given to start? Longlegs‘ Zodiac Killer style symbology that no one has been able to decipher for decades. I’m sorry, a psychic FBI agent?!?! Cyphers that need to be decoded in libraries?!?! Good ‘ole detective work?!?! I am READY to go!

And yet, nada. We get a quick montage of Harker “working” the case until she falls asleep, to then be woken up by Agent Carter to tell him she couldn’t crack the cypher, to then go home……where Longlegs stops by for a creepy visit to GIVE HER THE KEY TO DECODING HIS ENTIRE SYMBOLOGY! Hmm, ok strange to give that away for free, but sure moving right along. 

But, no! From there we just get coincidental plot device after goddamn coincidental plot device. Not only does Harker speed decode all 30 years of this symbology, she just gives Agent Carter the damn SparkNotes: “Longlegs references satanism and this farmhouse a lot.” Where is the detective work? Where is reason for me to invest in Harker’s character?? And most blatantly, WHERE ARE THE PSYCHIC POWERS?! 

Harker is the protagonist of this story and yet at every turn, she is robbed of any agency. We come to find out not only did Longlegs meet Harker as a child, he indoctrinated her mother into his devil worshipping schemes and that is why she has psychic powers. The devil and Longlegs have been controlling her life from the very beginning, with the only choice that surprised them being that she joined the FBI. Even in the third act when Harker is supposed to save the day, she enters a room with all the main characters, with the ONLY loaded gun, and decides to……not kill the Satan worshippers until after they’ve done their evil work.  

Don’t get me wrong. The Satanism angle is a strong twist, as Perkins subs the devil in for Lecter as a puppeteering force behind the scenes, and Cage as Longlegs is absolutely terrifying and has the makings of an instant classic horror villain. Yet, these pieces alone don’t make for an engaging enough story. It feels as if Perkins took the most surface level aspects of Silence of the Lambs but didn’t integrate the intellectual cat and mouse game at its heart. While many of us remember the movie for Hannibal Lecter, it’s the engaging yarn that Starling untangles that keeps us coming back. 

Longlegs had an opportunity to showcase a woman FBI agent who, while still new to the job, could do the leg (couldn’t resist) work, a nuanced character who had been unknowingly indoctrinated by the devil but at least showed some kind of common sense and initiative. Yet, everything that happens to and around Harker happens because Longlegs and the devil made it so. At no point does Harker even accomplish anything on her own merits. Her psychic powers are not hers, her decoding of the symbology is not hers, and she consistently fails to save multiple other characters when it matters most. Even the person she does save in the end comes at the cost of Harker having to kill her own mother, an egregious decision that feels unnecessary for a character that has already had so much stolen from her. 

In researching for this article, I learned that the FBI advised during the making of Silence of the Lambs and actually did so because they thought the movie would encourage more women to apply to the FBI. Now, I don’t support the police industrial complex and I don’t want anybody applying to the FBI, but nuanced and engaging representation does matter and Starling’s character had such a huge effect on women in the media that we still feel her reverberations to this day. Underneath the allusions to Silence of the Lambs, Harker is simply a plot device to show just how insidiously powerful the devil is. And when one character has all the power and the other doesn’t, that makes for a pretty lazy script, especially when it consistently comes at the expense of women in horror.  

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The post ‘Longlegs’ is NOT a Modern ‘Silence of the Lambs’: Why Lee Harker is No Clarice Starling appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/umbrella-academy-final-season-review/

So even before I begin this review, I want to say something. I was highly disappointed in what they did with Allison’s character during the previous season of Umbrella Academy, and even more so with the writers and actors who agreed to do that scene. It was unnecessary and only showed just how dangerous someone with Allison’s power can be. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I was just ready for the season to be over, and I was not and have not been excited for this final season. I’ve watched every season with my best friend, and that, at this point, was the biggest motivator to finish it; just to have that time to meet up and watch it together.

Now, with that said….

Spoilers incoming like a bad weather warning

The Last Rainfall   

At the end of the previous season, the Umbrella Academy had been yeeted into a new timeline without their marigold (the alien substance sent out by Sir Reginald that entered their mothers and “created” them). Now, they were just regular degular while their alien father was still out there; this time with his wife Abagail alive.

In this timeline without their powers, the Umbrella Academy have each gone about their new, normal lives. Diego and Lila are married with 3 kids, Luther is a stripper, Five works for the CIA, Allison is a struggling actress and Klaus lives with her and her daughter Claire, Viktor owns a bar and lives in Canada, and Ben is in (getting out) of prison for a crypto scheme. We see that each has settled into this new life of theirs, but with a shorten season of only 6 episodes you know the shits gotta kick off quick, and it starts with our introduction to Jean and Gene.

Drs. Gene and Jean Thibedeau are a husband-and-wife duo who lead a cult called The Keepers. Their cult believes that they are seeing images of their “original” lives on a different timeline and have been collecting artifacts from this other timeline. They have named this the “Umbrella Affect.” Five and Lila, both in disguise (Five undercover for the CIA and Lila because she is bored of her domestic life) are the first ones to discover this truth about them and something the call “the Cleanse.”

Throughout the short season, things must quickly unravel and be revealed. One is that the Cleanse is connected to a girl named Jennifer, who is being hidden away by this version of Sir Reginald in a town that is completely run by his security. We find out that he (their OG Sir Reginald) is keeping her away from them because if she comes in contact with any of Umbrella Academy (and likely anyone with) the marigold that created them will react with the durango inside Jennifer and end existence itself. (Side note: Durango was an accidental creation of Abigail, the wife of Sir Reginald, when she created marigold.)

So, the race is on to stop the end of the world…again…or maybe we just let it ride….

The End of the Rain

As you may be able to tell from my opening, I went into this season with not the highest of expectations. I can say that I enjoyed the ride, but I’m glad it’s over for several reasons. I don’t know what they would have been able to do with a 10-episode season like they had with the previous 3 seasons but maybe it would have been better than what this was. So let me talk about my feelings, and I start with the ending.

The ending was…interesting. I remember my best friend remarked that Klaus saying, “I love you guys, but you are all assholes,” followed by all of them laughing was the most “them” way for them to go out on. I fully agree with that, even if I am disappointed with the end basically being that as along as you all exist everything will just start over. So, the Umbrella Academy must allow themselves (the marigold inside them) and Jennifer (the durango inside her) to come together and be destroyed. This is to completely wipe them from existence. Literally, they will never have existed at all on any timeline, in any way. It is actually a somewhat easy decision for most of them. Allison, Lila, and Diego are the only ones with kids they have to make the hard choice to say goodbye to before they are sent on a magical train to a different timeline. (More on that later)

Because the show was ending, I could tell this moment was more like, let’s just get this over with. Lila was the only hold out, and she, of course, comes back. I wish that they went out fighting. This was a series ending that just felt flat to me after waiting 2 years. However, I guess that is the contrast to the ending of the last 3 seasons. Instead of fighting the end to save the world, they must save the world by, together, accepting their ultimate end.

Soaking Wet

My feelings on the ending of Umbrella Academy are probably the most positive I have about this season, because I had some REAL problems with this final season.

Starting with Ben, his portrayal, and his ending, I was disappointed to have not finally gotten the Ben we saw in seasons 1 & 2 truly be able to interact with his family. For so long, I wanted Ben to be able to be that 1^st and 2^nd season Ben in the flesh, but instead the 3^rd season gave us moody Ben and the final season gave us crypto bro Ben. I am glad we finally got to see what happened to Ben and how he died in our OG timeline, but who was the Ben we saw on the train at the end of season three, and why was he smiling? That was a big plot moment that was never revisited, and I feel whatever was planned for that could have been so much better or at least given us something more for this final season. Was it just a moment to show that other timelines exist? Because we already knew that. In the end, it felt like a hype moment we never got a resolution to nor did we get the Ben of seasons 1 & 2.

All that Water, No Where to Go

I’m sure we can all agree that we were happy to finally get the moment where Viktor spewed his guts out onto Sir Reginald for everything that was done to him by the man…alien…alien man…and the moment we got was needed but far too late. The catharsis of Viktor finally wanting to be in control and free of all the hurt and pain was beautiful. It was an exceptional use of his powers to literally make (this) Sir Reginald listen and submit. And I know I have to acknowledge that because this was the last season, they knew they had to get this moment in somehow; however, that doesn’t mean I have to like it or its placement. This was a conversation that definitely should have taken place last season. Was the moment necessary? Yes. Was it too late? Even more yes.

Now, you wanna know what was WHOLLY UNNECESSARY?

KLAUS!!

This season really failed Klaus. He had nothing that stood out about him other than being a conduit for ghost-human sex. What really blew me was him immediately going back to drugs once he had the marigold inside him again. I get that it was trouble, but the last time we saw him in season 3 he showed that he had control over his powers. His immediate 180 didn’t make sense to me, because we don’t see anything “haunting” him. In fact, the only ghosts we saw were the aforementioned ghost-human sex and a ghost dog who saves Klaus’ life. Honestly, if Klaus did nothing this season, nothing would be missed or gained. He really was unnecessary. It was a far and away difference from the Klaus we saw in earlier seasons, especially the beautiful moments (and tragic lost) we saw him experience in season 2. The only shining Klaus moment was his final love you, fuck you at the end.

90’s/Early 00s Male R&B Singing in the Rain Music Video Vibes

There were two relationships in this season and neither really made sense. Ben and Jennifer’s connection was something. I wasn’t really sure why the squid was a connecting symbol for them, and it starts with us never getting an explanation as to why Jennifer was inside the squid in the first place. Abagail said that when she created marigold that durango was created, and it is inside Jennifer. But how? Sir Reginald released the marigold into the world, and that is how the Umbrellas were created/born. We don’t get how this happened with Jennifer. Did the squid swallow her mother at the moment the durango entered her, or did the durango just go into the squid? Is she the only creation/outcome/birth due to durango? How would/could we know? My focus was on that more than what was actually happening between Ben and Jennifer, which once again took away from Ben and made their “love affair” null and void for me. (Jennifer’s character also feels like just a random sacrifice or means to an (literal) end here. And I guess we had that same thing with Harlen last season as well.)

I believe that the writers should have stuck with a point that Gene and Jean were kind of onto when they talked about being from a different timeline. I think a concept that could have been fleshed out and used for this final season is that they have created so many branching timelines that they are now beginning to bleed over and smash into each other. We could have gotten to see other versions of them fighting to save to world, we could have seen other “Academies” (which we did get a quick glimpse at with the Phoenix Academy that we saw Lila and Five meet while exploring where the ‘time’ train went). Also, Lila and Five could have seen timelines smashing and destroying each other to create even more of a sense of urgency for the viewer. (This could have answered a question I had about what happened to the Sparrows and other marigold kids in other timelines or the one that they are currently in.)  This still would have set it up for the ending that the only way to fix everything is for it to return to the one original timeline, one before (?) they were born, because as long as their marigold and Jennifer’s durango exist, they will continue to destroy and splinter the timeline.

Now speaking of Lila and Five, I agree with pretty much everyone else that that relationship didn’t need to happen. It wasn’t something that anyone expected or asked for and watching their love affair side story just felt messy and unappealing. Five was a fan favorite for many and watching him not only moving in on his brother’s wife but also having to be the one to go and get her because Diego couldn’t was not the way many would have seen the end of his story. They could have spent that side story trying to explore the dying timelines for clues to save their own. Of course, a level of comradery would grow between them, but it really shouldn’t have gone beyond that. Five and Lila’s relationship was probably the thing I cared about the least this whole season, and honestly for a final season of a show that started with great promise, it was a sad ending to say the least.

Final random thought: I feel so bad for Luther that the only job he could get without his super strength was a lunch time stripper.

The Rain Clouds have Parted

I remember being asked if I wanted to do an early review of Umbrella Academy before its Netflix premiere in 2019. The premise was right up my alley, and I immediately said yes. I wasn’t completely thrilled by the first few episodes, but returned for the last few and enjoyed it overall. I would go on to write about the 2^nd season but the 3^rd season hurt me so much I didn’t review it. However, with 3 out of 4 season reviews, I’ve semi-done my first review of a full show from beginning to ending. I wish Umbrella Academy had an ending that gave a bit more, but they gave us an ending that made sense in the very least; though, it was a very messy, muddy path to get there. I don’t really give ratings to shows, but I’ll return to watch some episodes (probably in the first two seasons). And I’m not mad that I stood in the rain with my umbrella these last four seasons.

Cover image via Netflix

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The post One Last Rainfall: ‘Umbrella Academy’ Final Season Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.