The Umbrella Academy (the television series)

When the surviving children of Reginald Hargreeves reunite for his funeral they discover that the apocalypse is nigh. While attempting to save the world they discover secrets that threaten much more than family unity.

Beyond binge-worthy, this dark comedy series begs to be binged. Keeping track of the multitude of characters, each with their own dysfunction, superpower, and history is enough reason to watch this without breaking. Throw in some time travel and flashbacks and it becomes an absolute necessity.

While it is made clear that scenes that take place in the present day do indeed transpire in 2019, it is a parallel world of 2019 than the one viewers know. It is a world with no cell phones; one in which our superheroes must use their wired house phone, or find a pay telephone when not at home, in order to communicate with one another when they are not together. It is likewise a world without Google. A world in which if one wants to find out about their sister's new suitor, for instance, one would have to go to the public library and use the newspaper on microfiche to find out more about him. An excellent use of library resources. There is one other scene over the 10 episodes that takes place in the public library, one in which a couple of judgmental librarians wonder where the parents of the drunk teenager are.

A wonderful cast and a good story with some truly unexpected twists and surprises.

After Words - The movie

When a loner librarian Jane (Marcia Gay Harden) loses her job she travels to Costa Rica with the object of killing herself, but her plans are thwarted by her gigolo tour guide Juan (Oscar Jaenada). Once again we learn that these stuck up librarian ladies just need to let their hair down (and learn Spanish).

To be fair, despite my glibness in the description above, the movie was actually more nuanced and thoughtful than that. I'm sure the choice of the librarian's name was no accident. She is indeed a "Plain Jane". Juan, while initially only interested in Jane for the money he knows can earn from her, recognizes that she is also pretty smart and asks her advice on reading material. She recommends A Tale of Two Cities and he wastes no time in checking it out of his local library so that he can discuss it with her, although he admits that he is really not a "reader". Ultimately what we end up with is that each changes for the other. Reminds me of the last scene in Grease.