Number Five falling in love with his brother’s wife might be one of the cringiest things that you might have witnessed in The Umbrella Academy’s finale. I mean, their love story arc literally overshadowed the disgusting vomit scene in the second episode. But yes, the creators gave us some logic to make us feel better about it. They were trapped in the multiverse of madness for more than seven years, and developing such feelings for one another was nothing but natural. But before coming to their complicated relationship, we first need to understand why they were attracted to each other in the first place.
For Lila, it was pretty simple. She was going through a midlife crisis and had lost her identity while trying to raise kids and listening to the blabbering of her grumpy husband, Diego, all day long. She had always been a fun-loving lass who loved going on dangerous missions, as it gave her a kind of rush that cannot be described in words. But in the fourth season, she was stuck in a family behind four walls, and she eagerly wanted to escape. She was looking for a way out of her mundane life, and it was the reason why she joined The Keepers cult. Diego, on the other hand, instead of understanding Lila’s plight, started suspecting her of cheating on him, which further created a rift in their relationship. She wanted a break from their marriage and from Diego, but the man still couldn’t understand her reasons. It was quite simple. She lacked the fun that she used to have while working as an agent for the Temps Commission and, therefore, wanted that life back, at least momentarily.
Five, on the other hand, had been alone all his life. He was more than 70 years old, and the only thing he fell in love with was a mannequin. So, yes, the man craved emotional and physical intimacy more than anyone else. Since the beginning of the series, Five had a love-hate relationship with Lila, though eventually they made peace with each other and decided to work as a family to save the world. It was Five who had killed Lila’s parents. However, he wasn’t aware of that fact. He was just doing his mission. In the fourth season, both Lila and Five found themselves bored to death and wanted to break the pattern in any way possible. It was the moment when Five found out about the Timeline Subway Station and discussed the same with Lila when she asked Five to use his powers during a fight. As soon as Lila saw the subway station and the timeline map on the platform, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer and requested Five to go on an adventure with her to save the world. Five was quite skeptical about the whole thing, but eventually agreed, only to find themselves lost in the multiverse.
Lila and Five were stuck in the subway station for nearly 7 years. They tried different trains to different timelines but couldn’t find the one they were looking for. Their plan was to stop Ben from opening the container, but they couldn’t locate their Ben. And not only that. When they tried to find their timeline, they got lost in the oblivion. After some 6 years, Lila got exhausted and therefore asked Five to take a break from their mission. It was during this phase when both the timeline travelers sought comfort in each other and eventually developed feelings for one another. And it could be argued that Lila, like always, just saw their relationship as an escape from the reality around them; Number Five actually fell in love and got possessive about Lila. My guess is that their relationship flourished for some 6 months when finally, Five found a diary near the railway lines. It was a guidebook written by his alternate selves to guide the new timeline travelers to find their timeline in case they get lost in the multiverse forest. And even though Five had found a way out, he kept it a secret from Lila for six more months because he didn’t want his newfound relationship to end so soon. Five knew that Lila would most likely want to return to her kids and husband. And he wasn’t ready for such a separation. But Five wasn’t the bad guy you see. He was much more ethical than anyone else in his family and, therefore, decided to tell Lila the truth about the diary, even though it meant hurting his own feelings. He wanted Lila to be happy, and maybe it was the only way to do that.
Now coming to the much more technical question here: Why didn’t Lila and Five age in the subway station? As revealed in the show, The Subway Station seemed like a pocket universe through which one could travel to alternate timelines. But there’s a catch. The subway station was a time-neutral zone, which means the clock stopped ticking once someone walked inside the station. In short, it wasn’t a time-traveling machine. Instead, it was a timeline-jumping station. Now, if we consider the possibility that time stopped once someone walked into the station, then it would be safe to assume that nothing would grow or decay inside a subway station. However, there is a bit of a logical flaw here. There was a montage sequence which established Lila and Five’s closeness towards each other and there was a moment in that scene where she was shaving his beard inside the subway station, which couldn’t be possible until and unless the couple spent a lot of time outside the station in a different timeline to hunt for food and other necessities.
Now, Lila and Five, trapped in the multiverse, had spent some seven years together, but for their family, they had disappeared for some hours or maybe days. Diego was enjoying his time with the elite forces and kept himself busy in the new CIA internship while his wife Lila indulged in an affair with his younger brother, about which he wasn’t aware. Eventually, he did find out that something was cooking between Five and Lila, and she didn’t deny that she had an extramarital affair with Five. But you might ask, did Lila really love Five? I mean, Diego wanted to know the same, but I guess she didn’t. She liked Five and his adventurous spirit, but that’s it. And maybe the reason why she didn’t answer Diego’s question was that she didn’t want to hurt Five’s feelings or make him feel inferior in front of his brother. But whatever happened, happened.
In the end, all eight superheroes had to sacrifice themselves and the love they once shared. Everything was erased from history and the universe, and maybe it was for the better.
