The Umbrella Academy
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* Cathleen A. Cerny-Suelzer

Netflix series, first aired February 15, 2019 (Season 1, 10 episodes)

The Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, based on the Eisner-winning comic book series written by Gerard Way (also co-founder and lead vocalist for the band My Chemical Romance) and illustrated by Gabriel Ba, begins with a mystery. In 1989, a svelte young Russian woman unexpectedly gives birth in a swimming pool after giving her crush a chaste peck on the cheek. Forty-three babies were born on that day, and none of their mothers had shown any signs of pregnancy leading up to their births. Enter Sir Reginald Hargreeves (aka The Monocle), scientist and rich eccentric, who “adopts” seven of the 43 infants to raise as his own. The audience soon learns that six of the seven Hargreeves children are superpowered. Sir Reginald's intention is to train his “Umbrella Academy” of special children to save the world; as a byproduct, however, they become emotionally stunted adults struggling to form healthy identities and relationships. On the first episode of the show, the siblings reunite as adults following the death of Sir Reginald.

There are many fascinating characters in The Umbrella Academy. Sir Reginald is emotionally detached and devoid of any actual parenting skills. His closest confidant, a talking chimpanzee called Pogo, demonstrates more capacity to nurture than he does. To meet the practical and emotional needs of his adopted family, Sir Reginald creates an android “Mom” (Grace Hargreeves). The Hargreeves children include:

*   Number 1/Luther: leader of the siblings, loyal to dad, possesses exceptional strength;

*   Number 2/Diego: knife thrower, vigilante, does not like authority;

*   Number 3/Allison: movie star, mom, has the power of persuasion;

*   Number 4/Klaus: chemically dependent, traumatized, can hear the dead;

*   Number 5: nameless, traveler through time and space, assassin;

*   Number 6/Ben: reluctant tentacle monster, deceased; and

*   Number 7/Vanya: “no discernable talents,” medicated, mediocre violinist and music teacher, author of Extra-Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven.

The Umbrella Academy is full of potential discussion or teaching topics for psychiatrists, forensic or otherwise. Hours could be spent reflecting on the psychological impact of growing up with a cold, distant, and demanding father. Klaus and Leonard could be used to demonstrate how childhood trauma can produce different kinds of pathology. Entire seminars on addiction could be taught using clips of Klaus. Professionals could debate the ethics of Allison using her persuasive power (or not) in different contexts. From a forensic psychiatry standpoint, however, it is Vanya's journey that is most interesting. Be warned, there are some spoilers ahead.

In the later episodes of The Umbrella Academy, the viewers learn that Vanya does, in fact, have powers. Her abilities worried Sir Reginald enough that he started giving her medication that kept her powers in check. As a result, Vanya was excluded from her family's missions and more. In the wake of Sir Reginald's death, Vanya forgets to take her medications and feels better. Unnoticed by Vanya, at least at first, her powers begin to emerge. Over time, Vanya's powers and her knowledge of them evolve, and she becomes both more purposeful and skillful at using her abilities. Vanya's burgeoning awareness of her powers has several parallels to the insight that individuals with severe mental illness have regarding their psychiatric symptoms.

Vanya's superpower awakening begins benignly enough and without her realization. The viewing audience gets visual glimpses of her powers, but Vanya is blind to them. She is also unaware that her powers help her advance in her music career. When a romantic relationship becomes intimate for the first time, the viewers see the white light visual representation of Vanya's powers that is used with increasing frequency throughout the series. Vanya eventually becomes fully aware of what she is capable of, but that awareness waxes and wanes with the plot twists of the series.

For example, in episode seven, Vanya unintentionally unleashes her powers in a destructive way to protect someone she loves, leading to injuries and even death. If Vanya's powers are like a mental illness, did that illness in this instance render Vanya unable to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law? Did she know at the time of the act she was doing something wrong?

With only three episodes left, Vanya's awareness and control of her powers increase, but she would still rather be practicing her violin than honing her ability. When one of the siblings confronts Vanya with troubling information, Vanya gets insight into a difficult period from her childhood and lashes out at the sibling with her power, resulting in a grave injury that she immediately apologizes for. At this point in the story, Vanya knows very well the deadly potential of her powers (i.e., her “mental illness”) and has willfully declined to perfect them (akin to purposeful medication nonadherence), but she has not yet progressed from negligently and recklessly to knowingly and purposefully.

The final episodes of the first season show the culmination of Vanya's transformation from fragile loner to … something else. She uses her powers knowingly, purposefully, and without regret to punish perceived wrongs inflicted upon her, both past and present. She is seemingly in control of her powers. Vanya's final show of power leaves some ambiguity regarding her specific intent regarding the ultimate outcome of her unleashed ability.

Not infrequently in forensic psychiatry, evaluators are asked to assess defendants with mental illness who commit crimes while noncompliant with their medications. Often, evaluators consider what role the noncompliance played in their level of symptomol- ogy. Some evaluees are aware that, even prior to offending, failure to take their medications could result in illness exacerbation, which could contribute to negative consequences, such as unlawful behavior. Other evaluees lack knowledge, awareness, or insight into relationships between treatment, illness, and behavior. Some individuals with severe mental illness do not even know or believe they have an illness.

If Vanya's ability can be thought of as akin to a serious mental illness, can Vanya be held criminally responsible for something she had no knowledge of and no ability to control? Does she have a valid affirmative insanity defense for some of her actions? The affirmative defense of insanity differs from state to state. All jurisdictions that permit insanity defenses have a cognitive test as part of their statutes, with fewer jurisdictions also having a volitional component. Cognitive tests for insanity also differ but generally focus on the impact of mental illness on a person's ability to know, appreciate or understand the wrongfulness or criminality of their act(s).

Viewers are also left to consider what Vanya's mens rea was as she progressed from “extra-ordinary” Number 7 to super-powered human. Mens rea is Latin for “guilty mind,” and it refers to the state of mind that is statutorily required to convict an individual of a specific crime, excluding strict liability crimes. There are four levels of mens rea: acting purposefully, knowingly, recklessly, and negligently. Purposefully and knowingly are necessary for specific-intent crimes like assault. In some jurisdictions, forensic psychiatry evaluators are asked to assess a defendant's ability to form the intent necessary to be legally responsible for a specific intent crime. Mental illness symptoms, whether they are new-onset, an exacerbation, or secondary to treatment nonadherence, can affect an individual's mens rea.

The Umbrella Academy streaming on Netflix is a highly entertaining and thought-provoking comic book adaption with hints of The Royal Tenenbaums (2001 - prodigy siblings, insensitive father), The Watchmen (2009 - another comic book adaption, super-powered vigilantes), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events in its esthetics (2004, orphaned siblings and a scheming guardian), and even a trace of

Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994 - philosophical hitmen, dancing!). The show utilizes flashbacks, alternate timelines, dance sequences, and even a brief visit to the afterlife to develop both plot and characters. There are many psychiatric themes to unpack and discuss in the series, including an exploration of Vanya Hargreeves' mental state and mens rea as she comes into her power. This will make the series particularly appealing to forensic mental health professionals.

## Footnotes

*   Disclosures of financial or other potential conflicts of interest: None.

*   © 2019 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law