[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy.]

The Big Picture

In the final season of the Netflix series ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ the Hargreeves family face the need to restore their powers to set the world right.
The series finale may be devastating, but the sacrifice made by the siblings was inevitable.
Emotional weight and powerful character journeys were central to the final season.

In the final season of the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, a reset of the timeline stripped them of their powers and left them to find a new purpose. On that journey, they learned their father, Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), was actually alive and well, and a mysterious group known as The Keepers were talking ominously about a Cleanse. Viktor (Elliot Page), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Luther (Tom Hopper), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Diego (David Castañeda), Ben (Justin H. Min) and Five (Aidan Gallagher), along with Lila (Ritu Arya), quickly realized that they had to restore their powers, even if some of them felt life was truly better without them, because they needed them if they were to set the world right again. When they learn just what it will take to stop the end of everything, they all must agree that the sacrifice is worth it, or they’ll just start the cycle all over again.

During this interview with Collider, Page and Raver-Lampman discussed how, even though the series finale is devastating, they just didn’t see any other possible ending. The co-stars also talked about the emotional weight of shooting their last ensemble scene together, Viktor’s powerful journey to self-acceptance, Alison’s questionable parenting choice, and their favorite moments in the final season.

The Umbrella Academy A dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings reunites to solve the mystery of their father’s death and prevent an impending apocalypse. As they confront their past and battle external threats, their fractured relationships and unique powers drive a mix of action, drama, and dark humor.Release Date February 15, 2019 Cast Colm Feore , Cazzie David , Genesis Rodriguez , Robert Sheehan , Aidan Gallagher , elliot page , Emmy Raver-Lampman , Jordan Claire Robbins , Jake Epstein , Mary J. Blige , David Castaneda , Justin Cornwell , Justin H. Min , Britne Oldford , Adam Godley , Tom Hopper , Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton , Ritu Arya , Cameron Britton , Sheila McCarthy Seasons 4 Streaming Service(s) Netflix Expand

Collider: Do you feel like it was inevitable that these characters had to be consumed for it all to end?

EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN: It’s weird, I’ve not really thought of an alternative ending. This is the one that makes the most sense, which is also the most devastating. I think they were also trying to get the tears going for everybody. It’s the ultimate sacrifice. It’s also very Umbrella Academy that they’re like, “Fine, we’ll sacrifice ourselves.” I think it’s a good way to end the journey of these siblings, even though it’s devastating.

3:20 Related Our Biggest Unanswered Questions After ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 4 Finale After the end of the Hargreeves’ story, there’s still a lot we don’t know the answer to.

As actors, when you find out how it will end, do you immediately think of ways to try to convince them to do something else, or do you just become ready to tackle the challenge it presents?

RAVER-LAMPMAN: I think it depends on the moment. Steve [Blackman], our showrunner, kept the ending from us for quite some time. We actually didn’t know for the majority of the season how it was all gonna come to an end, and we all had mixed emotions about it. But I always was like, “Yeah, that makes sense for them to end the show this way.”

ELLIOT PAGE: I felt the same. I think the show plays with complicated notions a lot. This ending could feel almost like a letting go or a sacrifice and acceptance of sorts. At least they’re together. It’s sad and emotional, but the show is emotional. That’s what I think makes it really connect and stick with people. Yes, it’s big, and it’s fun, and it’s funny, and it’s full of action, but it also really pulls at the heartstrings.

This season, especially with them starting out powerless, it really felt like they individually got to levels of self-acceptance that they hadn’t had before, which is also why it’s sad that then it all has to be taken from them.

PAGE: In more obvious ways, Viktor has found himself and stepped into himself. He is able to stand up for himself for the first time and has a sense of self-worth. He gets opportunities to express certain things to certain people in this season that he really needs to. I think those moments are powerful moments that are a part of his self-acceptance.

‘The Umbrella Academy’s Emmy Raver-Lampman Says the “Emotional Labor” of Shooting the Finale Was Exhausting
Image via Netflix

What was it like to shoot that final scene with the cast together? It seems rare to get to end an ensemble series as an ensemble. What was that like to do while you were doing it?

RAVER-LAMPMAN: That whole last sequence with all of them arriving back at the Academy through the end was three days of shooting. It was a grueling 72 hours of this never-ending goodbye, so it was really emotional. It was very heightened emotions for several days. The emotional labor of that was really exhausting. We weren’t just saying goodbye to these characters, we were saying goodbye to our friends that now feel like family and our incredible crew, a lot of whom have been with us for all six plus years that we’ve been working on this show in Toronto. The layers of goodbye were thick. It was on top of these characters saying goodbye and the way that they were. It was just really sad and heartbreaking. As someone who’s a big fan of an Irish goodbye, I wasn’t loving sitting in that for three days and being sad. It was hard, but it also helped the performances along. The last scene that we shot together as a group is the very last scene. Steve, our showrunner, made sure that that’s how it was on the schedule. We had a couple of reshoots and some separate stuff for the next day or two, but the last time we were all on set together was to shoot that final sequence. Going around the circle and saying goodbye was really, really tearful and exhausting and sad.

PAGE: Mostly there was just this weight to it. You’re used to going, “Okay, I’ll see you next year.” We’ve been working with the same people for so long, so it was sad to say goodbye.

Emmy, in the fifth episode, we get a bit of an interesting mother-daughter bonding moment when Alison and Claire are trying to find Klaus, and she ends up exploding a guy’s balls. What was that moment like to read in the script and to shoot? What did you enjoy about getting to explore that mother-daughter relationship?

RAVER-LAMPMAN: It could be a questionable parenting choice to have your daughter witness that. But in the same breath, he was threatening my daughter. I feel like any mother would do anything. That may not be anybody’s first instinct. But this season, we see Alison start to not have this fear or hesitation or lack of understanding with her power. We get a little bit of that in Season 3, but she’s ruthless with it in Season 4. There is a lot of anger that she’s holding onto from Season 2, that bled into Season 3. And then, with how that season ended and how everyone was treating her when we arrived at the beginning of Season 4, she’s been holding onto a lot of guilt and tension, so it was a release. It’s an odd parenting choice, but I don’t think there’s anything normal about these characters. That’s what makes it exciting. But it’s truly shocking.

Viktor Finally Accepts Himself in the Final Season of ‘The Umbrella Academy’
Image via Netflix

Elliot, I love that Viktor and Reginald Hargreeves really get to have that moment that he’s never gotten before. What did you enjoy about getting to find that dynamic and really getting some validation for a character that’s always been missing that?

PAGE: Scenes like that, as an actor, are fun because they’re just juicy. This ultimate confrontation he gets to have with his father, where he’s expressing a lot of things that he’s been carrying for a long time, is a big deal for Viktor and represents a shift in him. I think it’s important for him and his journey in learning to move on and let go of a lot of anger that he’s holding. It was just a great opportunity to get to work with Colm [Feore] more because we haven’t had that opportunity much. It was wonderful to have those scenes together. Viktor finally found the ability to accept himself, which is the most valuable thing to him, I’d say, versus how his father feels.

Related ‘The Umbrella Academy’s Aidan Gallagher & Ritu Arya Break Down Five and Lila’s Surprise Relationship Gallagher also talks about how they shot that scene at Max’s Delicatessen, and what it was like to wear Five’s mustache.

Emmy, I also really love the moment with Klaus, Luther, and Alison sitting on the couch witnessing all the drama with Diego, Lila, and Five unfolding in front of them, mainly because it’s not their drama. Was that a fun moment to get to play with?

RAVER-LAMPMAN: Yeah. We were sitting there sipping the tea because it was hot. That was fun because Ritu [Arya], David [Castañeda], and Aidan [Gallagher] are such incredible actors. Me, Tom [Hopper], and Robert [Sheehan] really didn’t have much in that scene, so we spent the whole day just sitting there and watching this scene evolve for all of them. It was really fun to just sit and watch because you’re just not gonna get many more of those moments. It felt genuine that we were watching this happen in real time. I was just watching my colleagues and friends be incredible actors and getting to say silly little one-liners to add to the comedy of it. That was a really fun day on set to just watch them do their thing, and get to sit on the couch and chill. It was nice to not be in the middle of the drama for a minute.

What Are Emmy Raver-Lampman & Elliot Page’s Favorite Moments in Season 4 of ‘The Umbrella Academy’?
Image via Netflix

What was your favorite moment in this final season?

RAVER-LAMPMAN: I really loved the goodbye that Claire and Alison shared. I think Millie Davis, who played Claire this season, is truly incredible and my little bestie. I had so much fun working with her. She’s just so professional and grown up, and she’s such an incredible actress. She’s funny, so it was wonderful to work with her and have a new energy and person to get to play off this season. For such a young woman, she’s just so incredible. I profoundly had those emotions in that scene, saying goodbye to her. And also, so much of Alison’s journey over the four seasons of the show has been about Claire, and getting back to Claire, and being a good mom to Claire, and finding Claire. And so, to have a season where you actually get to see Alison be the mom that she’s been trying to be for so long was really beautiful. And then, almost within an instant, it was over. It’s so heartbreaking, but also very poetic.

PAGE: For me, in terms of Victor, I guess it would be the moment when we’re going to find Reginald Hargreeves. For Viktor, I felt those moments coming together.

RAVER-LAMPMAN: The day that I got to launch an ashtray at Colm’s head was really fun. I missed almost every time. He was out of frame, so I wouldn’t really just get to launch it. One time, he didn’t duck out of frame fast enough, but it was fun. It was like a Nerf ball, and I just got him square in the back of the head. I know you’re not supposed to laugh, but it was pretty funny. I didn’t think I’d have such good aim.

Related This ‘Umbrella Academy’ Character Deserves Their Own Spin-off This Hargreeves is practically made for side-questing.

The Umbrella Academy is available to stream on Netflix.

Watch on Netflix