The Umbrella Academy Boss Answers Our Burning Finale Questions — and Addresses Those Toxicity Allegations
The following post contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy‘s complete fourth and final season.
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About a week before The Umbrella Academy‘s fourth and final season hits Netflix, showrunner Steve Blackman and I are on Zoom together for an interview about the sci-fi drama’s final episodes. It’s theoretically just the two of us, chatting away. But there’s an elephant in the room, too — though it doesn’t show up in a square on my computer screen.
On the day of our virtual chat, it’s been exactly one month since Rolling Stone published a damning report about Blackman, in which 12 former writers and support staffers on The Umbrella Academy detailed Blackman’s alleged “toxic, bullying, manipulative and retaliatory behavior” during the Netflix drama’s run. The wide-ranging report included claims that Blackman diminished the roles of (or fired) staffers who disagreed with his ideas, took writers’ ideas without giving them credit, and made comments that were perceived to be homophobic, transphobic, lewd and/or sexist, among other allegations.
At the time, Blackman responded only through his representative, who called the claims “completely false and outrageous.” But when Blackman and I are speaking, I give him the opportunity to comment further, and he takes it.
“I don’t believe it was accurate,” Blackman says of the report. “I’ve been in the business for 21 years, and I very much stand by my record and my reputation in this business. Especially the eight years I had on this show, which were wonderful. I’m proud of that.”
Blackman adds that the report hasn’t diminished his excitement for The Umbrella Academy‘s new season — but that’s his final comment on the matter. He’s noticeably more eager to discuss the specifics of Season 4, which brings the Hargreeves siblings back together for one last crack at saving the universe. Unfortunately for them, Number Five discovers in the series finale that in order for the universe to follow just one cohesive timeline — instead of the thousands that have branched off over the years — the Hargreeves must cease to exist altogether, as it was their birth that first made the time-space continuum go wonky.
Thus, in the finale’s closing moments, the Hargreeves (and Lila!) allow themselves to be consumed by The Cleanse: a mysterious “reset” event that had been teased all season, which ultimately turns Ben and his soulmate Jennifer into a monstrous concoction of marigold and durango that obliterates everything in its path. The Hargreeves succumb to The Cleanse; the universe resets to its one true timeline in which the siblings never existed; and everyone in this timeline seems at peace — including some familiar faces from past seasons, who’ve been resurrected now that the Hargreeves have been wiped from history. (Hi, Kate Walsh!)
Below, Blackman unpacks the series’ eventful ending; read on for his insights, then grade the series finale in our poll. (And if you’re craving more Umbrella Academy final-season coverage, be sure to get Ritu Arya and Aidan Gallagher’s thoughts on that Lila/Five development, and hear Blackman explain why [Spoiler] never showed up in Season 4.)
TVLINE | After Season 3 was released, you said you’d pitched Netflix on a potential fourth season, and you felt that it could be a suitable ending for the whole show. Tell me how much of this final season, and series finale, is what you’d envisioned from the start.
It’s very close to what I envisioned, even from early on, when I thought of the show from the first season. I wanted to end in a way that asks the philosophical questions: Can you be a superhero if no one knows you ever existed? If no one knows the great deed that you did? I thought that was an interesting idea. I want to leave it to the fans to interpret what this ending means. I like the ending, I think the fans will have different feelings about it, but that’s OK. Everyone can take, subjectively, what they want [from it].
TVLINE | Did the Hargreeves ceasing to exist feel like the only possible ending for them? Were any other options on the table?
There were. I discussed it with the writers, early on, but by the time the script was written and the writers were done, I was by myself. I ended up talking to the cast a lot, and everyone had different opinions. I just decided myself that this was the ending I thought was the best for the fans. It felt most true to the show at the very end. It was very touching when we did it, and even now, when I watch it, I get tears in my eyes.
TVLINE | There’s also a very short post-credits scene where we see some marigolds blooming. Is that a harbinger of things to come in this universe, or more of a fun nod to what we’ve been through?
I’m not telling. I think if you know how our show works, you’ll say that maybe we’re leaving things open for the future.
TVLINE | There is, of course, source material for this show, in the form of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comics. Were you in conversation with them about how you wanted to end the show, versus what they have in mind for their story?
Yeah, I’ve been collaborative with them from the very beginning, and they’ve been so generous, creatively. We knew this year that we were veering off of where the graphic novels were. Gerard told me where they’re going in the future graphic novels, but it was a different direction. They were very supportive of this, and the TV show and the graphic novel are separate things, and this is a great ending for the TV show. Where they go in the graphic novels will be, obviously, something different, and maybe much further down the road.
TVLINE | There are a few specific finale moments I want to ask you about. First, The Keepers. After following Gene and Jean all this time, what’s really going through their minds when they finally see what The Cleanse is?
I think they think they messed up. It’s not what they expected. It’s terrifying. It’s not the ending they were promised. [Laughs] They’re screaming for their lives, they’re running for their lives, so I don’t think it’s what they wanted. They imagined more glowing lights and warmth, and they did not get that.
TVLINE | I got a kick out of Muse’s “Map of the Problematique” serving as The Keepers’ call-to-action song. How’d you land on that one?
I just love that song. I have a playlist, a monster playlist of all the songs I’ve ever loved — music is a big part of my life. So I was trying to use that song for so long, and it just worked in that place. I think it was the first song I tried, because I thought, “This is perfect.” So I wrote the scene to the song. The song came first, before the scene, and it just fit together really nicely.
TVLINE | And there is a dance number in this final season, though it’s with Gene and Jean, and not the siblings. Talk to me about sparing the Hargreeves from choreography this time around.
Honestly, I was going to do a dance with all of them. We talked about it, but it felt like it was forced into the show. What’s lovely is every time we’ve done a dance, it’s felt that it fit. It was natural, and it had a good place. This one felt like, “I just want to do a dance with the siblings again,” and at the end of the day, I didn’t want to shoehorn it in, so I left it out. But the Gene and Jean one was so absurd and beautiful to try, and it makes sense, and it doesn’t make sense, and they were so game for it. Turns out Megan Mullally is a choreographer in real life, so the two of them — husband [Nick Offerman] and wife [Mullally], practicing the dance, then doing the dance — was just perfect… They took it on really quickly, got the footing really quickly. They were great in it, and they knew what they were doing.
Now it’s your turn to weigh in! Umbrella Academy fans, how did you feel about the series finale, and final season as a whole? Cast your votes in our polls below, then hit the comments to elaborate!
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