What To Watch On Netflix Thats New This Week (Feb. 10-16)

The Netflix  Highlight: “The Umbrella Academy,” Season 1. The new show debuted on Feb. 15.

Premise: Forty-three women in 1989 give birth simultaneously. None of these women had been pregnant and the births happen for seemingly no reason. An eccentric billionaire then adopts seven of these children while they’re still babies. Six of the children end up having superhero abilities and the billionaire gives his kids combat training. The seventh (played by Ellen Page) grows up as an outsider. Years later, as the siblings are in their 30s, the group reunite for their father’s funeral. Although they mostly hate each other by this point, they will have to work together to stop the coming apocalypse.

Sum Up: A steampunk version of “X-Men” with a large enough budget to make the sets and action sequences impressive. A CGI chimpanzee that talks and wears suits is a main character. Although the hourlong episodes drag with some questionable scene choices, a strong narrative saves the show. The story has a clear sense of conflict and real stakes in between all the fist-fighting and bullets.