"It turns out the wine cellar was untouched."
"You're saying I could actually leave here? Go back?"
— Five
"Number Five" is the fifth episode of The Umbrella Academy's first season.
Five explains his situation to Luther. He used to work for a woman called The Handler, who recruited him from the future to become a member of the Commission, an organization devoted to preserving the current timeline. Cha-Cha and Hazel are chasing him after he broke his contract to try and stop the apocalypse. However, they now have to retrieve their briefcase from Klaus, who wound up in a war for ten months and destroys the briefcase in despair upon returning to the present.
Allison looks Leonard up and finds no record of him, but Vanya brushes off her suspicions and auditions for first chair. Luther accompanies Five as he arranges a meetup with the Handler, but it goes sideways when Klaus and Diego — who had previously failed to take them out — attack them. However, the Handler arrives and offers him a position back at the Commission, which Five accepts on the condition that his entire family survives. Off her medication, Vanya gets first chair and a Relationship Upgrade with Leonard, but she somehow appears to cause strange distortions. Pogo revives Grace and ensures that she'll keep something secret.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Backhanded Apology: Klaus to the war veteran at the bar:Klaus: I'd like to apologize... that you... are depriving some village of their idiot!
- Bar Brawl: Klaus offends a veteran at a veteran's bar, causing an all-out brawl.
- Been There, Shaped History: A montage shows Five as an adult in his role as a Professional Killer for the Commission, being responsible for The Hindenburg disaster among other things.
- Big Brother Instinct: Luther and Diego respectively display this to Five and Klaus throughout the episode, with each of the former eventually getting through to the latter. Alternatively, however, Allison's attempts at being a Cool Big Sis to Vanya fail miserably.
- Cathartic Scream: Klaus lets one out at the bus stop after returning from his 10 months out at the Vietnam War.
- Color Coded Timestop: When the Handler stops time to talk to Five, it's visually indicated with a saturated vintage filter.
- Commonality Connection: Diego and Klaus bond a little over losing someone important to them, while Five and Luther bond over spending years by themselves.
- Disaster Scavengers: Five became this in the apocalyptic future, running on scraps to survive.
- Emergency Temporal Shift: Klaus returns from his accidental jaunt into the past - but now wearing combat gear, a traumatized look on his face and a good deal of blood on his hands. Turns out he ended up stranded in the Vietnam War for nearly a year, and indications are that he only figured out how to correctly operate the briefcase controls in the middle of a battle that would have probably killed him otherwise.
- Flames of Love: Leonard and Vanya start to make out in front of a fireplace.
- For Want Of A Nail: Why Five has the idea to start killing seemingly unrelated people — their deaths will cause downstream effects that will somehow avert the apocalypse. He charts this all out on probability maps. It's implied this is how the Commission operates to ensure that events pass as they should as well.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: Five has adopted this mentality.Five: We aren't kids anymore. There aren't good guys or bad guys. There are just people, goin' about their lives.
- Irony: Klaus tells Diego he cannot drive, but later he's the one driving the ice cream truck.
- It's Personal: Diego now carries a vendetta against Cha-Cha and Hazel after Eudora's death.
- The Needs of the Many: Five wants to kill people whose deaths he believes can stop the apocalypse.
- Ordered Apology: At the veteran bar, one of the patrons demands Klaus to apologize after the latter offended him. The scene gets out of control after Klaus delivers a Backhanded Apology.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: Ride of the Valkyries plays as Klaus and Diego arrive with the ice cream truck.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Five to Luther when the latter threatens to drop the mannequin out of the window:Five: Put... her... down.
- The Reveal: Helen's body is in Leonard's attic. Earlier when Allison sneaks into his house, she wanted to check there but was stopped by his arrival. Also, the book that was in Reginald's box that Klaus stole and threw in the dumpster is also there.
- Room Full of Crazy: The equations Five draws all over the walls of his room.
- Seasonal Montage: Twice.
- Five first tries out time traveling in summer. He jumps forward to autumn, then to winter, then... too far.
- A "seasons passing" montage is later used to show the progression of time in the post-apocalyptic future.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Klaus is notably shaken following his impromptu time travel trip. He carries his squadmate's dog tags and goes to a veteran bar.
- Time-Passes Montage: In the future, a montage is used to show the passing of time as Five ages from Aidan Gallagher to Sean Sullivan.
- Time Police: The Commission is comprised of individuals out of time, performing missions to preserve the timeline.
- Too Good to Be True: With regards to Leonard, Allison tells Vanya that if something seems too perfect, it's usually anything but.
- Tracking Device: Diego plants one under Hazel and Cha-Cha's car which helps him to track them down later.
- Unreadably Fast Text: Five kept a copy of Vanya's book and flips through it before jumping back in time. The text is covered in his scribbles, but some details can be made out, including:
- Five was the sibling Vanya was closest to in their childhood.
- Vanya once tried to run away.
- Allison used to paint Klaus' nails.
- Use Your Head: Klaus headbutts the angry Marine after delivering his Backhanded Apology.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: Klaus reminds Diego that killing Hazel and Cha-Cha won't make him feel better. Diego replies that it will make him sleep better.
- Wait Here: When Diego goes to kill Hazel and Cha-Cha at the hotel, he tells Klaus to wait in the car. Of course, the latter doesn't listens and saves Diego's life with a Diving Save.
- Who Shot JFK?: Subverted. Five is lined up to take the shot at JFK, but has a "Eureka!" Moment of how to get home, and someone else shoots him while Five tries to time travel.
