"The Frankel Footage" is the second episode of The Umbrella Academy's second season.
The Handler is revealed to have survived her gunshot wound to the head from the first season finale, and returns to the Commission. AJ, a fish with a body who now occupies her office, tells her that she has been demoted.
After Luther rebuffs him, Five finds a film titled "The Frankel Footage" that Hazel had given him before his death, and collects Diego and Lila before having Elliot develop the film. The film is dated six days from the present, and Diego and Five are shocked to find their deceased father Reginald in the footage. The brothers break into Reginald's company, but are beaten by Reginald and Pogo.
After rejecting Five, Luther notices Vanya helping Carl into their car. Carl drops his wallet, and Luther takes the address to his house, where he finds Vanya. Although Vanya does not recognize him, Luther apologizes for his part in "what happened".
Meanwhile, Raymond is arrested for assault and battery, and meets Klaus in prison. Klaus returns to an abandoned mansion with a painting of him in it to sleep.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Amnesia Missed a Spot: Luther's arrival, coupled with Sissy noting that she has callouses on her fingers, make Vanya begin to remember what happened in the auditorium.
- As You Know: Lampshaded; when telling Diego to look for their dad's company in the yellow pages, Five informs him of the name, "D.S. Umbrella", prompting Diego to look at him annoyed for acting as if he had never heard of it before. Of course, the viewer hadn't, but as his brother/Reginald's son, of course Diego knows of it.
- Bad Humor Truck: The baddies drive around in an ice cream truck.
- Bathos: When Elliot threatens Diego, Lila and Five with a shotgun and asks if they are "the enemy of the people", the suspenseful music stops as the heroes puzzle about how to answer such an open-ended question.
- Bullet Time: Diego's fight with Reginald is punctuated with instances of Bullet Time, slowing down in notable moments to emphasize acrobatic flips or dodges.
- Call-Back: Twice, referencing the same scene in Season One:
- Diego telling Lila that the other car window was open after she broke the driver's side references Diego jumping through the glass on Leonard's front door, with Five informing him that the door was unlocked.
- At DM Umbrella Manufacturing, as Diego and Five start to split up, Diego tells Five to "Yell if you get in trouble." Diego grunted the same to Five and Allison inside Leonard's home, prompting the latter two to comment on his "inspiring leadership."
- Close-Call Haircut: The handler finds Five's name tag in her desk drawer, throws it at Herb in a rage, and slightly cuts his ear in the process.
- Clothesline Stealing: Diego and Lila pilfer street clothes from a clothesline in order to get out of their asylum whites.
- Distinguishing Mark: Allison sees an inmate with Klaus's "Hello" "Goodbye" tattoos on his palms, and makes the connection.
- Hassle-Free Hotwire: Lila hotwires a getaway car with ease.
- I Warned You: According to Five, he heard Reginald in his head every day telling him "I told you so" while stuck in the apocalypse.
- Missed Him by That Much: Allison and Klaus are in the prison at the same time, but because the officers make her wait to see her husband and Klaus is released through influential friends, they don't see each other.
- Precrime Arrest: Lila suggests just killing Lee Harvey Oswald before he can kill JFK, but Diego says there's no point in killing someone before they've committed a crime.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: The Handler is horrified to be demoted to what amounts to the Commission typing pool with a nerdy supervisor and bland co-workers.
- Real Men Cook: The leader of the Swedes is seen cooking with an apron.
- Shout-Out: Five describes Diego as a lesser version of Batman.
- There Was a Door:
- Klaus breaks a glass pane to open a lock from the inside; Ben points out that there was a Key Under the Doormat.
- Similarly, Lila smashes a car window to steal a getaway car for herself and Diego; Diego points out the front passenger window was already rolled down.
- Five lets Diego attempt to pick the lock at Reginald's office before teleporting to the other side and easily unlocking it.
- Visual Title Drop: "The Frankel Footage" is seen on the film Hazel hands Five.
- Waxing Lyrical: Exploited. Klaus's advice to Keechie in prison? "Don't go chasing waterfalls. Stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to.". Because he is thirty years before the song came out, Keechie takes it as profound wisdom.
