Anna Daniels
Sweaty, shirtless Luther trying to cut loose and get down on the dance floor is one of the more agonizing moments in The Umbrella Academy‘s largely intriguing first season. The moment itself is made all the more inelegant as Tom Hopper is clearly not comfortable dancing — further evinced by his clumsy twisting to Tiffany in the series’ first episode, and his excruciatingly stiff performance in that graceless episode 6 musical number. We’d like to think that stiffness is purely a reflection of adult Luther’s pensive nature, or the emotional scarring born in the wake of his ape-like transformation, but it’s clear Hopper just isn’t comfortable cutting a rug on camera.
Obvious awkwardness aside, what makes Luther’s night out so dumb is that, strictly from a narrative standpoint, it’s meant as an emotional outpouring from the big, hairy brute. After all, Luther only sets out on his bender after discovering that his adoptive father had been lying to him for years, and that his decade-long sojourn on the moon was a thinly veiled exile rather than a vital mission. Luther going nuts after this discovery should matter, and it should resonate as a bold attempt to break free from a lifetime of lies, brazen manipulation, and forced restraint.
Instead, Luther’s dancing dalliance is played for goofs. As such, the moment fails to resonate, and actually becomes more and more embarrassing with each passing second. The senseless narrative diversion ultimately contributes nothing to Luther’s story, with the character reverting to his old modest self almost immediately. Simply put, what should’ve been played as a jarring emotional breakthrough becomes a big, dumb distraction that might’ve been better relegated to the cutting room floor; here’s hoping that The Umbrella Academy season 2 sidesteps such ridiculousness.
Written by: Looper
