The Umbrella Academy star Ritu Arya reveals that she was shocked by the relationship between her character, Lila, and Five (Aidan Gallagher) in season 4. Lila had been in a romantic relationship with Five’s brother, Diego (David Castañeda), since season 2, making the development all the more surprising in the show’s final season. The unlikely pairing between Lila and Five in The Umbrella Academy season 4 was born out of atypical circumstances, as they found themselves trapped in alternate timelines for seven years and as they struggled to return to the timeline where their families still resided.

While speaking with People, Arya shares how surprised she was by Lila and Five’s relationship when first reading the season 4 scripts. She provides insight into filming the Lila and Five scenes that took place in the subway and in the various timelines where their relationship develops over seven years in the story. Arya also discusses the complex impact that the relationship had on Lila and Diego, and what it means when they reunite. Check out her comments below:

I really was quite shocked when I read it. It was really fun getting to have this little bubble of a story separate from everything, from the real world. It was like delirious. We were on night shoots, and we’re in the subway. I had a lot of fun with Aidan. It was then weird coming out of it. You sort of get immersed into the world. While she’s away, she misses her kids. It’s really all about her children. It sort of throws a spanner in the works when she sees Diego. I don’t think she’s expecting to have feelings for him again. She’s really confused because she spent all this time with one person for years, so you’re naturally going to feel a certain way. Yeah, very torn, very torn.

Lila & Five’s Relationship Was A Strange Decision

Season 4 Did Not Do Enough To Justify It

Lila and Five’s relationship was a questionable narrative decision as it undermined relationships from previous seasons and did not significantly change the outcome of the series. Since season 2, Lila and Diego have had one of The Umbrella Academy‘s best relationships. The previous dynamic between Lila and Five was more akin to a bond between like-minded siblings and did not contain hints of romantic sparks.

While Lila and Five were together for seven years in the story, much of the relationship was shown via montage and did not receive sufficient time to feel fully developed in The Umbrella Academy‘s final season, which only consisted of six episodes instead of the usual ten. It was difficult to buy into Lila and Five’s relationship and added unnecessary drama between Diego, Five, and Lila. The outcome of Lila and the Hargreeves sacrificing themselves in The Umbrella Academy‘s ending could still have happened without the love triangle between Lila, Five, and Diego.

Five still could have met the alternate versions of himself in the subway and come to the realization that the only way to end the broken timelines and apocalypses was for him and his family to make the ultimate sacrifice, and Diego and Lila likely still would have agreed to follow through without the relationship drama that unfolded. The subway helped ensure that Diego and Lila’s children were saved and lived in the restored timeline, as seen in The Umbrella Academy‘s final scene, but that could have been included without Lila and Five’s romantic relationship in season 4.