Umbrella Academy Season 3: How Viktor Hargreeves Is Introduced

Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season three follow! Following star Elliot Page’s public transition, Netflix confirmed that their character on The Umbrella Academy would also undergo the same process, becoming Viktor Hargreeves for the new season.”Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot,” they wrote in December of 2020. “I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey.” For fans of the series, the change happens quickly, and for those that haven’t seen it and are eager to learn more about it, let’s break it down below.

Page’s character begins the season still as Vanya Hargreeves, picking up where the second season’s cliffhanger left off. As a result, episode 2 of season three is when the change happens. Viktor spends the first part of the episode looking through a history book about what happened between the 1960s when they left and the present day, finding out that the Umbrella Academy is known as “The Kennedy Six” for their suspected involvement in the President’s death. The same book also reveals details to her about Sissy, her love-interest from season two, prompting them to remember their shared connection and love.

They then recall a quote Sissy told them in season two, “You don’t even notice the box that you’re in until someone comes in and lets you out.” This runs through their mind while staring at a poster on a barbershop window of Men’s haircuts, realizing internally what they’ve known all along about their own identity. The next scene they appear in front of the family with their new look, simply correcting Diego that their name is “Viktor” now. “Who’s Viktor?” Diego  asks. 

“I am,” they reply. “It’s who I’ve always been. Is that an issue for anyone?” Luckily, it’s not. Everyone in the family accepts it quite readily. Viktor later has a longer conversation about it with Allison as well, spelling it all out for the audience, and seemingly giving Elliot a very cathartic moment personally.

“You couldn’t have known cause I didn’t fully. Being with Sissy, I don’t know….She…opened something in me. Showed me I’d never be free hiding from who I really am. And after losing her, I realized, I just can’t live in that box anymore. I won’t.”

The scene ends with Viktor starring at their reflection in a big window, pondering how they always hated mirrors and calling their reflection “Me. Just me.”

All three seasons of The Umbrella Academy are now streaming on Netflix.