The Umbrella Academy: What Is Jennifer Incident and Who is Jennifer?
The death of Ben Hargreeves was one of the great mysteries of the first season of The Umbrella Academy, and the final season of the series, season 4, finally explains what happened to him, what the Jennifer Incident is, and who Jennifer is. At the beginning of the Netflix series, we simply know that Ben died in a tragic accident and that he was the best of The Umbrella Academy, or at least that’s what his siblings remember. Over time, we started to hear about the Jennifer Incident and the connection of this event to Ben’s mind, but nothing was completely clear. In Season 4, the Hargreeves discover that what they remember is not what really happened and that the Jennifer Incident could happen again if they don’t do something to stop it.
What Is Jennifer Incident and How Did Ben Die in The Umbrella Academy?
At the beginning of season 4, Viktor (Elliot Page) is kidnapped. Someone sends Luther a letter with a series of instructions that they must follow so that he is not harmed, and this leads them to a place called Sy’s Drycleaning, where a man named Sy Grossman says that he needs their help to find his daughter, who has been missing for months. Sy tells them that his daughter’s name is Jennifer, that she met Jean and Gene a few months earlier and, after joining their group, she slowly stopped talking to him and eventually disappeared. He believes something terrible happened to her. Grossman also tells them that Jennifer found many clues about the existence of the Umbrella Academy, including a vial of Marigold. This substance gives them their powers (which Ben 2 later uses to trick them into giving them back their abilities, which become enhanced).
The Jennifer Sy is talking about is the one who gives her name to The Jennifer Incident, the incident in which the original Ben died when he was 17. How is Jennifer connected to Ben’s death? During their mission to find Jennifer, the brothers arrive in a small town in Maine, where they soon discover that Rosie, the owner of a local diner, is really Jennifer and that everyone in town is actually guards for Reginald Hargreaves’s company who are holding her captive and trapped in a time loop, supposedly for her protection. The brothers manage to get Jennifer out of there but are intercepted by Jean and Gene, who crash their truck. At that moment, Ben and Jennifer accidentally touch each other and a kind of connection is created between them. Jennifer is kidnapped, but he can connect with her mind and see what she sees, and that gives him the clues to be able to find her.
As this happens, it is revealed that as a child, Jennifer was found inside a giant squid, and at that point, she mentioned the words The Cleanse, which is why Jean and Gene are looking for her. They believe that Jennifer is the key to restoring the original timeline. Meanwhile, the brothers arrive at Reginald’s house to question him and discover that they really have no idea how Ben died, because Reginald from their timeline erased their minds so they couldn’t stop him. The new Reginald uses a machine to give them back their memories and that’s how they finally know what happened on October 14th, the day Ben died. That day, their dad prepares them for a mission in Moldovia in which they must retrieve a weapon and keep it in a container. Ben doesn’t want to go, but they convince him and soon they arrive at a factory of sorts where Ben discovers that the weapon is a little girl named Jennifer and decides to take her out of the container.
When their hands touch, their powers intersect with something inside Jennifer, and Reginald shoots them both in the head, killing them both instantly. Reginald says that he had to do this because the two of them would have caused a cataclysmic event that would end humanity. Back in the present, Reginald’s wife, Abigail, tells them that she is to blame for this, since, years ago, she synthesized the element that created Marigold and accidentally created a substance known as Durango, which is the opposite of Marigold and when interacting with this substance, they have the potential to destroy the world and all living beings, and that is why Ben and Jennifer had to die. Now that Ben and Jennifer have reconnected, the siblings must work together to stop Reginald from killing them again, while also trying to stop the world from falling apart.
Who is Jennifer in The Umbrella Academy?
We don’t know much about Jennifer‘s origins, she is not really Sy Grossman‘s daughter, which suggests that she could have been born in a similar way to the Hargreeves, but she was “infected” by the Durango and not by the Marigold, which is what makes it so that, if one of them touches her, the two substances react, combine and become extremely dangerous.
Although she initially calls herself Rosie, we later discover that she is actually the famous Jennifer and that she ended up in that universe via a giant squid. In addition, Hargreeves was the one who brought her to the town where the Hargreeves brothers met her. Ben is immediately attracted to her, and for much of the season, they spend time on the run together. They then discover why they are so dangerous together: it turns out that the Umbrella Academy kids get their powers from a particle called Marigold, while Jennifer gets hers from an opposite particle called Durango.
Both particles were created by Abigail Hargreeves, Reginald’s wife. But if they were to ever meet, they would create an apocalyptic event called The Cleanse that would wipe out an entire timeline. Ultimately, Jennifer and Ben do activate The Cleanse in Season 4 of ‘The Umbrella Academy’, causing catastrophic consequences for all members of the Umbrella Academy. Jennifer is played by Victoria Sawal, a Canadian actress known for other productions such as ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.
She says that her whole life was a lie and that no one claimed her after she was found inside the Squid, so she was probably an orphan. One theory could be that Jennifer from the squid also came from another reality where The Cleanse had already happened, which is why she mentions it when they find her, and why Reginald from the alternate reality knows he needs to hide her from his own children.
Why Did Ben Hargreeves Die? Here’s What Happened?
As the Hargreeves dig deeper into their investigation, they discover that her memory has been altered. On October 14, the day of Ben’s death, the siblings were sent on a mission to Moldovia to recover a weapon, which turned out to be Jennifer’s. When Ben touches Jennifer, his powers dangerously interact with something inside her, leading Reginald to make a drastic decision: he shoots them both in the head, killing them instantly. Reginald justifies his action by saying that if he hadn’t, Ben and Jennifer would have triggered a cataclysmic event that could have destroyed humanity. Reginald’s wife Abigail confesses that she was responsible for creating Marigold, but also an opposite substance called Durango. The latter is extremely dangerous when it comes into contact with Marigold, which explains why Ben and Jennifer had to be stopped. With Ben and Jennifer’s new contact in the present, the Hargreeves siblings are faced with a dilemma: stop Reginald from eliminating them again, while fighting to prevent the destruction of the world.
