One of the central mysteries of Netflix‘s The Umbrella Academy is finally resolved in the final season of the series: what is the Jennifer Incident? And who is Jennifer?
If you’re curious to know — or if you’ve already watched The Umbrella Academy season 4, and are looking for an explainer on what went down… Well, we’ve got you covered. However, know there are MASSIVE spoilers for the season past this point. So be warned! We’re going to break down everything about Jennifer, the Jennifer Incident, and even reveal how Ben died… Another big mystery that’s been part of the show since Season 1.
Who Is Jennifer In The Umbrella Academy?
In the first episode of Season 4, titled “The Unbearable Tragedy Of Getting What You Want,” we meet a man named Sy Grossman (David Cross). He wants the Umbrella Academy to find his daughter, who went missing. They set off in search of her, finding a small town controlled by their father, Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore).
While there, Ben (Justin H. Min) befriends a waitress named Rosie (Victoria Sawal) and is immediately drawn to her. It turns out Rosie isn’t Rosie at all… She’s Jennifer. Things get a little complicated from here and aren’t entirely explained. But Jennifer ended up in this universe via a giant squid, babbling about something called “The Cleanse.” Hargreeves moved her to the town where the Umbrella Academy found her… And for most of the season, she’s on the run with Ben.
After Ben and Jennifer bone down in a motel, it’s revealed that while the Umbrella Academy kids get their powers from a particle called Marigold, Jennifer is infested with an opposite particle called Durango. Both were created by Abigail Hargreeves (Liisa Repo-Martell), Reginald’s wife, on another planet. If Marigold and Durango ever meet, they activate an event called The Cleanse which wipes out an entire timeline.
Jennifer and Ben do indeed activate The Cleanse, bonding into an enormous, pulsating monster that consumes Abigail and Reginald… And then the entire Umbrella Academy. You can read more about that in our Umbrella Academy ending explained article. But suffice it to say that’s a wrap on Jennifer, forever.
What Is The Jennifer Incident?
So, going back to the comic books by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá for a second, The Jennifer Incident is a random headline in one panel of the book, and that’s it:
However, in the Netflix version, The Jennifer Incident is what caused the death of Ben, the event that split up the Umbrella Academy for years until Reginald Hargreeves’s death brought them back together in the pilot episode.
As revealed in the final season, part of the reason we’ve never found out about what the Jennifer Incident is, is that Reginald wiped their brains of the whole affair. After an alternate universe version of Reginald gives them their memories back, we find out exactly what went down.
As kids and famous superheroes, Reginald sent the team on a mission to blow up a shipping container, urging them to not look inside. Naturally, when young Ben hears knocking inside the container, he discovers young Jennifer inside. They touch hands, which activates the Durango in Jennifer, and the Marigold in Ben. Reginald subsequently shoots them both in the head, killing them instantly.
That’s it, that’s the whole Jennifer Incident: Reginald Hargreeves murdered two children, so they wouldn’t activate The Cleanse and wipe the timeline clean. How Jennifer ended up inside a giant squid (aka, a Kraken, aka Ben’s superhero name) and in the new timeline created at the end of Season 3 is never really explained.
My best guess is that there’s only one Jennifer in the Umbrella Academy multiverse. Killing her in that timeline sent her to the new timeline, via squid/kraken, and her Durango continued to exist as an opposite to the Marigold in the ‘brellies. But that’s just a guess.
Who Is Victoria Sawal, Who Plays Jennifer On The Umbrella Academy?
Born in 1993, Victoria Marie Sawal has been working steadily on screen in speaking roles since 2013, when she appeared in Pacific Rim… Prior to that, she did extensive extra work, commercials, and was working to become a musician — not an actor. Since Pacific Rim, she played the role of Jodi in five episodes of Y The Last Man, Tyler in four episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, Lt. Naya in seven episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, and now Jennifer on The Umbrella Academy!
Coming up she’ll appear as Jenni in a drama titled Morningside, and has two short films in the works as well. You can join her 1,800 followers (though most likely soon to be more) on Instagram.
