Kate Walsh’s Character In The Umbrella Academy Explained
KATE WALSH #KATEWALSH
Of all the villains on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, Kate Walsh’s character stands out the most, and she plays an integral role in seasons 1 and 2. The adaptation of the comic book series follows seven siblings who share the same birthday and have magical powers, which enable them to try to halt the apocalypse. Every episode has high stakes and there are several antagonists who the main characters battle, including Leonard Peabody/Harold Jenknis (John Magaro) and Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), who adopts the main characters and forms The Umbrella Academy.
Kate Walsh is known for several TV characters, most notably portraying confident neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery on Grey’s Anatomy and the spin-off Private Practice, which sees the character moving to California — also, Kate Walsh returned for Grey’s Anatomy season 18. The actor’s other roles include Emily Cooper’s boss, Madeline Wheeler, on Emily in Paris, and while she has focused on TV work, she has appeared in a few memorable movies, such as Under the Tuscan Sun. Like her other long-term TV roles, Kate Walsh’s The Umbrella Academy character has a gripping arc.
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Kate Walsh Plays The Handler In The Umbrella Academy
Kate Walsh played the Handler in The Umbrella Academy, a villain who works at the Temps Commission, which ensures that time is never altered. The Handler has a strict and rigid view of time and in season 1, episode five, “Number Five,” she employs Five (Aiden Gallagher) so his siblings can stay alive. The Handler and Five are a compelling contrast to one another, as while she thinks that the apocalypse is absolutely going to occur, he and the other main characters do everything that they can to stop it.
It can be argued that the Handler is The Umbrella Academy’s best villain because she forces Five and his siblings to stay alert and remember that there is always a threat lurking nearby. She is also a reminder of how cruel adults can be in this world, as she killed Lila Pitts’s (Ritu Arya) parents in order to raise Lila. Walsh brings her usual natural confidence to the role and plays the Handler and Grey’s Anatomy’s Addison similarly: as ambitious women who know what they want to achieve.
The Handler Dies In 1963
The Handler is killed by an assassin known as one of the Swedes in 1963 during a battle at Sissy Cooper’s barn in The Umbrella Academy season 2, episode 10, “The End of Something.” She previously came back to life after the season 1 finale. In an exciting and memorable scene, Five shows his intelligence and quick thinking. The Handler murders the main characters, including Lila. However, following The Umbrella Academy’s time travel rules, Five goes back in time by just a few minutes and rescues his siblings. But while the Handler’s death is a relief, Five’s time travel causes changes in 2019.
Kate Walsh’s The Umbrella Academy character’s death emphasizes that there will always be antagonists who want the apocalypse and who undermine the good work that the family is doing. The happiness over her demise is short-lived, however: in season 3, Reginald has started a new group of powerful, challenging children called The Sparrow Academy. The siblings realize they don’t exist in this timeline and a new threat, a black hole called the Kugelblitz, looms, proving that the Handler isn’t the only problem.
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