Entertainment
Understanding Jennifer’s Role In Season 4 Of The Umbrella Academy
What is Durango, and how did Jennifer acquire it? How was it formed, and what instigated The Cleanse? Here are all the clarifications to your queries about Umbrella Academy season 4.
The concluding six episodes of The Umbrella Academy season 4 concluded the tales of the Hargreeves siblings in a notably poignant manner, yet the ending of the Netflix series may have left viewers with more inquiries than resolutions. Jennifer and Durango, perhaps?
The Umbrella Academy season 4 presents a brand new character named Jennifer (Victoria Sawal) who plays a significant role in the overarching narrative of the final season. The character, mentioned since the first season, also arrives alongside a phenomenon known as Durango – another crucial element that has just entered the series.
Although the series does clarify what Durango is and its origins, many questions persist regarding Jennifer’s connection to it.
When Abigail developed Marigold (the particles responsible for granting the siblings their abilities), she simultaneously created a counter substance known as Durango.
Durango serves as the absolute antithesis of Marigold. Their interaction can trigger a disastrous reaction capable of annihilating the entire world, referred to as The Cleanse.
While the exact mechanism remains unspecified, showrunner Steve Blackman verified that the home planet of Reginald and Abigail was obliterated due to the contact between Durango and Marigold.
In contrast to the golden Marigold particles, we do not witness what Durango resembles.
Well, that’s not explicitly detailed within the series. (Neither is the explanation for why she was discovered within the body of a squid…)
Presumably, Durango became integrated into Jennifer in a manner similar to how Marigold was absorbed by the Hargreeves siblings and other children with abilities born on the same day. The release of Marigold particles on Earth coincided with Durango’s emergence.
It remains uncertain if there was merely one Durango particle. The show never clarifies nor suggests that there might be additional individuals possessing Durango particles. Jennifer appears to be the sole individual recognized across different timelines as harboring Durango.
In The Umbrella Academy‘s original timeline, the siblings undertook a mission to eliminate “the weapon,” which we now realize was Jennifer confined within a tank. During that timeline, Jennifer was shot and killed by Hargreeves upon encountering Ben. During the final timeline of season 4, Jennifer was held prisoner in a fabricated town surrounded by mercenaries to prevent her from coming into contact with any Marigold particles.
Upon contact between Durango and Marigold, they initiate ‘The Cleanse’, which is fundamentally a massive reaction that devours and obliterates everything in its vicinity, leading to the annihilation of the world.
It seems that this reaction can solely happen through direct skin contact. Even though Jennifer and Viktor experience physical contact during the automobile accident, no reaction transpires between them. The reaction solely arises when Ben and Jen’s hands intersect. A similar event occurs in the original timeline when Ben extracts Jennifer from the tank.
Once the two engage in intimacy at the motel, The Cleanse commences. The blend of Jennifer’s Durango and Ben’s Marigold operates akin to a pathogen, amplifying their corporeal longing for connection. Eventually, it starts to deteriorate their bodies, and when Viktor finds them, they are both entirely overtaken by the pathogen.
Ultimately, they merge to create ‘The Cleanse Monster’, which enlarges continually, disseminating, infecting, and devouring everything in its way until it has completely obliterated the world.
To eliminate the Cleanse Monster and prevent the cataclysms that repeatedly occur across every timeline they encounter, it is necessary to eradicate all traces of Marigold from existence.
To achieve this, they must offer themselves to the monster and allow the Durango to nullify the Marigold.
By the conclusion of the series, the remaining six siblings along with Lila become completely engulfed by the monster and are entirely obliterated from all timelines. The particles of Marigold and Durango are both annihilated, the universe rectifies itself, and the singular true timeline prevails.
