Can Robert Sheehan's Klaus Hargreeves be fixed in The Umbrella Academy season 3? When Netflix's The Umbrella Academy begins, every single one of the Hargreeves siblings is damaged, but none have fallen from grace quite so dramatically as Klaus. Known as The Seance, Klaus possesses the ability to commune with the dead, but as one of Reginald's less diligent young superheroes, his powers go largely underutilized. Striving for better, Sir Reginald locks his adopted son in a tomb, but only manages to traumatize Klaus further (obviously), and thus begins a long period of substance abuse, blocking out the ghosts with drink and drugs.
Klaus undergoes a huge character transformation in The Umbrella Academy season 1. Locked in a hotel room by Hazel and Cha Cha, Klaus is forced into going cold turkey, confronting his addiction, as well as his freaky superpowers. Klaus hardly gets time to reacquaint himself with freedom before being thrown into the middle of the Vietnam war, and it's here that the character undergoes his most significant growth yet. Grieving his lost love, Dave, Klaus returns a different man, and with the drug habit kicked, finally begins to embrace his powers. By accepting the ghost of Ben, Klaus learns to manifest his late brother in the final battle and helps his family (almost) save the world.
After such amazing progress, Klaus regresses in The Umbrella Academy season 2. Lost in the 1960s, Klaus excels as a hippy cult leader for a time, but he can only fob off his worshipers with futuristic lyrics for so long, and Klaus is distraught when he's unable to save Dave from dying in Vietnam. The setbacks drive Klaus back to the bottle, and his old traits reemerge. On one hand, The Umbrella Academy season 2's Klaus arc offers a realistic depiction of substance abuse, where recovery and relapse is an ongoing process. In narrative terms, Klaus' sophomore season is a disappointment. As uplifting as Klaus' redemption in The Umbrella Academy's season 1 finale felt, his season 2 descent was every bit as deflating. Fortunately, The Umbrella Academy season 3 is perfectly poised to give Klaus lasting evolution.
Klaus' recovery in The Umbrella Academy season 1 was borne purely out of circumstance. Being kidnapped by The Commission and fighting in Vietnam were both impressed upon Klaus, and while he worked hard to stay clean afterwards, that initial spark of motivation to recover wasn't there. But in the final moments of The Umbrella Academy season 2, Klaus finds himself alone for the first time in years when Ben's ghost transcends into the afterlife. Before he departs, Ben tells Vanya to pass on Klaus a message - that he wasn't the one holding Ben back, Ben was just too afraid to walk into the light. Knowing that he helped Ben come to terms with death could be exactly the inspiration Klaus needs to get back on the sobriety wagon - and stay there.
Klaus might also find the resolve to strengthen his powers if it means seeing his dead brother one more time. According to Sir Reginald, Klaus has only scratched the surface of his abilities. If he masters the power of The Seance, Klaus might be able to communicate with dead people regardless of whether they're moved on, and that goal of reuniting with Ben could be enough for Klaus to beat his addiction and fulfill his potential as a superhero. The Hargreeves siblings will need Klaus at full strength with the Sparrow Academy's arrival in The Umbrella Academy season 3.