The Umbrella Academy · Season 2 · Episode 1 · 31 July 2020
S2E1 Right Back Where We Started
THE MOMENT The opening montage of each sibling landing in 1963 and immediately causing havoc - the show finding its comic timing.
The siblings scatter across 1963 Dallas after Five's botched time jump. The 1960s setting immediately gives the show a structural clarity and visual identity that Season 1 lacked. Each character's solo situation is funny and purposeful - the episode is breezy, confident, and better than anything in the first season.
Full episode analysis below. Spoiler-light verdict above.
Updated
The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 1 'Right Back Where We Started' dropped July 31, 2020 on Netflix. Season 2 earned 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 89 critics - a decisive upgrade from Season 1's 77 percent. The RT consensus called it 'a substantial improvement - more focused, more emotional, and funnier.' The premiere delivers on that assessment in its first ten minutes: the 1963 Dallas landing sequence, with each sibling materialising in the decade at different points and immediately creating chaos, is the show finding its comic timing as a series rather than as a pilot. The structural clarity the 1960s setting provides is evident immediately. Season 1's biggest flaw was ensemble scatter with no organising principle; the opening episode of Season 2 establishes geography, period, and stakes with a confidence the debut season never managed.