What the critics are saying about Netflix's The Umbrella Academy season 2

Another week, another new season of a Netflix series reaches the streaming service. This week, The Umbrella Academy season 2 finally arrives, showing us what happened after the original apocalypse was averted.

The reviews are now in, and they highlight the fun atmosphere of the sophomore effort. The series has gone back in time to '60s Texas, with the team dealing with all the trials and tribulations that come with the time-period. Klaus forms a cult; Hargreeves deals with being black in America. 

Below, we round up the major  The Umbrella Academy season 2 reviews, offering you a taste of what's coming to Netflix.

The A.V. Club

The Umbrella Academy was annoyingly watchable in season one. The characters were fun, the performances were good, and the world was just wacky enough to suggest the potential for exciting developments; but the frustrating way it obfuscated virtually everything about the plot just so it could make a shocking reveal later on made getting to those exciting developments a pain. The best thing that can be said about season two, then, is that it is that same show but good. Not perfect, certainly, but if Sir Reginald Hargreeves has made any of his terrible lessons abundantly clear, it’s that people will continue to improve if you repeatedly tell them that they’re bad and you don’t love them. Read the full review here.

The Observer

All told, the quirky sensibility, riveting soundtrack, excellent action and familial heart beat ensure that Season 2 lives up to the hype. The Umbrella Academy is what you get when you mix Wes Anderson with Matthew Vaughn, stuff them full of Red Bull and Adderall, and give them a Spotify Premium subscription. Yes, that’s a compliment. Read the full review here.

io9

There are a handful of moments scattered throughout the season that might throw you for the slightest bit of a loop, but in the end, The Umbrella Academy’s second chapter ends up being perfectly good and just shy of great, which is saying something, because the show overall does feel like it has a stronger sense of what it’s trying to be. It’s just that right now, the tone the series is striking just isn’t out there enough to really stand out. Read the full review here.

Radio Times

the slick, fun fantasy storytelling is just as engaging as ever, the laughs are as frequent and with another huge cliffhanger in the final moments, it looks like the straits of our “heroes” are only just beginning.

Overall, despite some familiarity The Umbrella Academy’s brand of charming fun can’t be beaten. Fingers crossed that when it comes to season three, they don’t stray too far from the winning formula. Read the full review here.

Vanity Fair

Half-baked historical consideration aside, in season two The Umbrella Academy benefits from a more honed idea of itself, both structurally and stylistically. The intrigue begins to compellingly coalesce around episode four, and many of its visual tableaux are lushly articulated bits of pop art. How, exactly, elaborately costumed, Adjustment Bureau-esque cosmic mediators can work in semi-concert with other plot elements like cultism, queer awakenings (one involving the Vietnam War and the squicky attempted wooing of a teenager), lunch counter sit-ins, and the Space Race is, I guess, the mystery of the show’s nervy construction. Read the full review here.

Want more on Umbrella Academy?

The Umbrella Academy season reaches Netflix this Friday, 31 July. You can read more about the series in our expansive feature, including interviews with Robert Sheehan and Tom Hopper.