THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Season Finale Recap: (S03E10) Oblivion

Melody McCune

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Five and Reginald stand in the lobby of the Hotel Obsidian on The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode 10 "Oblivion."

DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Umbrella Academy season finale episode “Oblivion” has spoilers. Prepare for the apocalypse, and proceed at your peril. 

Welcome back, Hargreeves enthusiasts! It’s season finale time, Brellies! The Umbrella Academy‘s 10th episode, “Oblivion,” brings more of Hotel Oblivion into the fold as our protagonists race to find a sigil to reset the universe. This outing brims with the show’s signature dark humor, thrilling action, intrigue and a smattering of heart. Make sure you have a box of tissues on hand. 

Ready to delve into “Oblivion”? Let’s get to it. 

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We open with Klaus (Robert Sheehan) and Luther (Tom Hopper) eating pizza while watching TV in the Void. Luther doesn’t know he’s dead until Klaus informs him. That’s when Luther remembers that Reginald is an alien. 

Meanwhile, Reginald (Colm Feore), Viktor (Elliot Page), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Diego (David Castañeda), Lila (Ritu Arya), Ben (Justin H. Min), Five (Aidan Gallagher) and Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez) enter the Hotel Oblivion, marveling at its subtleties while terrified by what lies ahead. 

They learn from Reggie that Klaus didn’t survive the trip to the other side. He’s the final victim of the Kugelblitz (according to him, a.k.a. the murderer). After this knowledge drop, Diego vehemently warns the others not to ring the bell on the receptionist’s desk. That summons the guardian. 

Five expresses his concerns regarding Allison to Viktor. Allison struck a deal with Daddy Hargreeves, but to what end? Was she also behind Luther and Klaus’s murders? Viktor knows something’s up, even noting that her apology to him seemed forced. 

Next, we see Luther throwing Klaus through different facets of the Void despite Klaus’s claim that he doesn’t feel pain. Luther wishes to warn the others about Reginald, but Klaus doesn’t want to leave the Void. It’s his domain, wherein he’s the Prince of Darkness! Well, to me, he’s always a king. 

Five and Viktor stand in the hallway of the Hotel Obsidian on The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode 10 "Oblivion."
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode 10, “Oblivion.” (L to R) Aidan Gallagher as Number Five, Elliot Page as Viktor Hargreeves. Cr. Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix © 2022

Klaus finally relents, agreeing to take them topside so they can reveal the insidiousness of DH to the siblings. Meanwhile, Reggie pulls everyone together to search for something they need — a sigil. Said sigil will unlock a reset for the universe. He divides everyone into teams. Viktor and Five insist on teaming up with Allison so they can question her about the deal she made. 

While everyone hunts for this sigil, Five and Viktor confront Allison, who claims ignorance regarding this so-called deal. She storms out, and Viktor gives chase. Five follows them both but notices something’s amiss. The corridors appear to shift, entrapping Five and separating him from Viktor and Allison. 

Viktor finally catches up with Allison, and he begs her to tell him how to remedy their fractured relationship. Allison admits she doesn’t think they can; it’ll always be strained. Allison points out Viktor’s lies, but need I remind her that she’s currently lying about the deal she struck with Reggie. Pot, meet kettle—nobody’s blame-free in this scenario.

Then, Klaus emerges in the Land of the Living, a.k.a. the Hotel Oblivion lobby. Reginald believes his resurrection is extraordinary, but Klaus accuses his dad of using him as a means to an end. DH knocks Klaus unconscious and rings the damn bell. Uh oh.

Suddenly, the guardian appears in front of Sloane and Ben while Five unites with them. Sloane, fueled by grief and unmitigated anger, charges at the guardian, her powers on full blast. She’s a badass!

Diego and Lila also square off against the guardian, but this one boasts a different weapon. Perhaps there’s more than one. Viktor and Allison race into the bathroom after facing a guardian, and Viktor tends to Allison’s nasty arm gash. Allison finally confesses she’s in cahoots with DH. She asserts she’s doing this for the family and that Viktor will thank her later. 

After Diego and Lila flee from their guardian, Diego locks Lila in a closet. He wants to protect his family and hopes Lila will tell their child about him someday. Someone grab me the tissue box ASAP.

Meanwhile, Five, Sloane and Ben battle a guardian in the laundry room, and Ben busts out the tentacles. But it’s Five who saves the day, slamming an ax blade between the guardian’s shoulders, hitting its dead spot. 

Lila breaks free from the closet after mimicking Viktor’s powers when he walks by her. Then, they take on a guardian together. It’s a nice parallel from the Season 2 finale when they battled each other—two guardians out of commission, one to go.

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Later, everyone finds Klaus in the lobby, who wakes after Reginald knocked him out. Lila slaps Diego for locking her in a closet, then smooches him. It’s steamy and romantic, y’all. 

Klaus tells them the truth about Reginald — that he killed Luther and him. A lightbulb flicks on in Five’s head as he figures out where the sigil is. Unfortunately, the last living guardian swoops down and seamlessly chops Five’s arm off. That’s gonna leave a mark. 

The guardian takes out everyone except Sloane, who attempts to hold him off with her immense powers. Suddenly, Luther grabs the guardian and launches him into the air, seemingly killing him. Boom!

Luther and Sloane embrace, and we see Klaus working his resurrection magic while bleeding out on the floor. Luther starts fading away, but not before he vows to love Sloane forever. Ugh. Someone’s cutting onions, and it isn’t me. Klaus claims he can’t keep Luther in this plane and perishes, reviving himself seconds later. 

After staunching the bleeding on his stump, Five exclaims that the stars on the lobby floor form the sigil. They need seven people to stand on each one to unlock the universal reset. Reggie urges Allison to stand to the side while everyone clambers to their spots, with Five lumbering toward the last one. 

Five and Reginald stand in the lobby of the Hotel Obsidian on The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode 10 "Oblivion."
The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode 10, “Oblivion.” (L to R) Aidan Gallagher as Number Five, Colm Feore as Reginald Hargreeves. Cr. Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix © 2022

Suddenly, a blue light shoots out of each person, connecting to form a seven-pointed star. The blast is sufficient to kill the remaining guardian. The Hotel Oblivion façade vanishes, giving way to what looks like something plucked from The Matrix. It’s reminiscent of a spaceship, but we learn everyone’s stuck in a machine inside another dimension, crafted by whoever constructed the universe. 

We see Reginald enter what looks like a command center as he moves alien glyphs around on a holographic screen. He tells Allison the particles inside our heroes, the “marigold,” as Harlan called it, fuel the machine. Allison shouts at Reggie to stop, noting that zapping an exorbitant amount of energy out of the siblings is killing them. 

Allison tells him to stop, but her abilities don’t work on him. Then, she grabs a weapon and slices Daddy Hargreeves’ head open, effectively putting the kibosh on the energy-zapping. She saved the day!

The Umbrellas stand, but they’re incredibly weakened with a blueish tint to their skin. Viktor notices Allison hovering around a button on the command center and powers up to prevent her from pushing it, but he stands down after Allison questions whether he trusts her. 

Allison presses the button. 

Suddenly, we see her pulling into a house in Los Angeles, rushing up the stairs to greet her daughter, Claire. And guess what? Claire’s there, as is Ray (Yusuf Gatewood)! Life is perfect. 

Meanwhile, the remaining Umbrellas emerge in Obsidian Memorial Park with a bust of Reginald Hargreeves. Luther follows hot on their heels, very much alive. However, he’s missing quite a bit of body mass. He searches for Sloane but can’t find her. 

Everyone discovers they no longer have powers. That means Klaus is mortal again. Lila and Diego relish this, hoping they can live a normal life with their child. We see the gang split up to survey the area.

The camera pans out onto a vastly different world ruled by Daddy Hargreeves himself. Every building in the city bears his surname. We see DH, in his Lex Luthor phase, standing in a high-rise tower next to Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell), his wife. Now we know what he stood to gain from resetting the universe. 

Mid-credit scene time! Ben is on a train in Seoul bound for Yeouido Station while reading a book. He looks up and smiles. 

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“Oblivion” sets the stage for a potential fourth season — a much different environment from previous installments. Our Umbrellas are powerless, scattered and residing in a universe where Reginald Hargreeves rules with an iron fist. Plus, Sloane is missing, and Abigail is inexplicably alive. They’re at their most vulnerable place yet. 

Let’s dive into that mid-credit scene. 

Do you think that’s the original Ben, on a train in Seoul to look for his birth mother? Or is that Sparrow Ben, and we’ve fast-forwarded to a future moment in the show? I’d like to believe that we now have two Bens in the same timeline. Regardless, this moment piqued my curiosity. 

Overall, Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy catapulted the stakes and narrative action to astronomical heights while digging into character origins and experimenting with character dynamics.

Performance-wise, everyone delivers across the board, with Raver-Lampman tackling Allison’s challenging, dark storyline with the gusto and technique of a pro. I don’t agree with many of Allison’s actions this season (what she did to Luther in episode five is appalling), though, especially how she treated Luther and Viktor. Grieving is not an excuse for inflicting pain on those around you.

I love how Page brought Viktor into the fray, imbuing him with such kindness and love, and the series wholeheartedly embracing a trans character. Arya and Sheehan deliver top-tier performances filled with nuance and tenderness, while Castañeda is always great comedic relief. 

Everyone undergoes intriguing character journies — some good, some not-so-good. I hope Allison embarks on the path of redemption next season, should we get one.

I hope we do because I’m not ready to say goodbye to this family. No other show embraces every facet of “family,” the dark parts with the light, like The Umbrella Academy, with such pathos, profundity and humor. 

The Umbrella Academy Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Netflix

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Melody McCune
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