The Umbrella Academy season 4 introduced Jennifer (Victoria Sawal), who had a direct connection to the Umbrellas in their original timeline and was a key element in a destructive event. After three seasons full of twists and shocking reveals, The Umbrella Academy has ended with its fourth season, which took the Hargreeves on a final mission as a new apocalypse approached. The Umbrella Academy season 4 caught up with the Hargreeves six years after Reginald’s (Colm Feore) timeline reset, with the Hagreeves doing their best to live normal lives for the first time as they no longer had their powers.

The Hargreeves teamed up once more to find Jennifer, who, according to her father, had joined a group known as “The Keepers”, who were convinced the timeline was broken. The team’s rescue mission took a turn when they discovered Reginald’s involvement in Jennifer’s protection and hiding, which led to other shocking discoveries about their past, Ben’s (Justin H. Min) death, and the nature of the apocalypse they were about to face. Jennifer is a key character in The Umbrella Academy in general, and she is linked to the Hargreeves, Reginald, and Abigail (Liisa Repo-Martell).

Jennifer Hosts The Durango Particles In The Umbrella Academy

Jennifer Was The Opposite Of The Hargreeves

Jennifer was first mentioned in The Umbrella Academy season 3, where the death of Umbrella Ben was referred to as “the Jennifer incident”, but no details were given about the incident and Jennifer. Jennifer’s presence was also teased in the Sparrow Academy timeline, as Sparrow Ben had sketches of her in his room, but she didn’t make an official, physical appearance until season 4. As mentioned above, it all started with Jennifer’s father, Sy Grossman (David Cross), who asked the Umbrellas (including Lila and Ben) to find her as she had joined the Keepers.

Abigail explained that she created the marigolds, but in the process, she also created an opposite particle named “durango”.

Grossman had a box with stuff from the Keepers that proved the existence of other timelines, and, conveniently enough, there was a jar of marigolds in it. Thanks to it, the Umbrellas regained their powers (though against the will of most) and set out to find Jennifer, who lived in a small town that turned out to be under Reginald’s control. The Hargreeves paid a visit to their father and met his wife, Abigail, who was the opposite of Reginald as she was kind and understanding. Reginald agreed to help them regain their memories of how Ben died, and this led to a shocking confession from Abigail.

Abigail explained that she created the marigolds, but in the process, she also created an opposite particle named “durango”. What made Jennifer so special was that she was the host of the durango particles, but Abigail also explained the catastrophic events that would be triggered if the durango particle and a marigold came into contact.

Durango & Marigold Bring About An Event Called The Cleanse

Durango Was Key To The Cleanse

Abigail explained to the Hargreeves that when durango interacted with a marigold, it created an unstoppable physical reaction that led to the extinction of everything. This event was what the Keepers called “The Cleanse”, and it’s the event they were trying to trigger as it would get rid of the broken timelines and pretty much fix the multiverse by restoring the main timeline. Of course, Reginald was aware of this, which is why he went to extreme lengths to keep Jennifer away, but ultimately, Ben and Jennifer got too close, both physically and emotionally.

The only way for the Cleanse to be successful was if it consumed all the marigolds.

As crazy as the concept of the Cleanse sounded along with the Keepers’ beliefs, they turned out to be right, and the Cleanse was the only way to fix the multiverse and restore the main timeline… but there was a catch. Five (Aidan Gallagher) learned with the help of his variants that the only way for the Cleanse to be successful was if it consumed all the marigolds. As the Umbrellas had escaped from different apocalypses and never confronted the Cleanse, the whole process was reset, and they were doomed to end the world over and over again.

Ben merged with Jennifer into a deformed monster that kept growing and growing and consumed everything, slowly destroying the world.

By the time Five realized that they all had to sacrifice themselves to save the universe, Ben had already merged with Jennifer into a deformed monster that kept growing and growing and consumed everything, slowly destroying the world. The Hargreeves ended up letting themselves be consumed by Jennifer/Ben, ending their existence across the multiverse and erasing themselves from history, but saving and restoring the main timeline.

Jennifer’s Backstory & Why Everyone Wanted To Find Her

Jennifer Was A Lot More Important Than Initially Thought

Image via Netflix

Reginald admitted to setting up that small town in Maine to keep Jennifer away from the marigold children and keep an eye on her at all times.

Although Jennifer finally made a proper appearance in The Umbrella Academy season 4, it didn’t go into her backstory. Sy Grossman claimed to be her father, but when the Hargreeves found her in a small town in Maine, Jennifer had no idea who Sy Grossman was. Jennifer said she was raised there and told Ben the sheriff was her uncle, and it was later revealed Sy Grossman was a member of the Keepers named Denny Muntz – but in another twist to his identity, Sy/Denny was Abigail in disguise.

Abigail later explained to Reginald that dying was her punishment for creating the marigolds and durango.

Reginald admitted to setting up that small town in Maine to keep Jennifer away from the marigold children and keep an eye on her at all times. Every town resident had the mission of keeping Jennifer safe, which is why they attacked the Umbrellas when they arrived. However, Abigail fooled Reginald’s attempts to keep Jennifer away by posing as her concerned father and facilitating the Hargreeves’ access to the marigolds so they could regain their powers. Abigail later explained to Reginald that dying was her punishment for creating the marigolds and durango, and she shouldn’t have been brought back to life.

The Keepers wanted to find Jennifer as they knew she was key to the Cleanse.

Abigail explained that the Cleanse was her way of setting things right again, making Reginald see that they had done too much harm to the world with the marigolds and durango. Meanwhile, the Keepers wanted to find Jennifer as they knew she was key to the Cleanse, though it’s unclear if they knew that a marigold was needed for it. The Keepers wanted the Cleanse to happen so the broken timelines would be destroyed and the main one would be restored, and in the end, that’s exactly what happened.

The Umbrella Academy Doesn’t Fully Explain Who Jennifer Is

There Are A Lot Of Mysteries Around Jennifer

The Umbrella Academy never explained why she was inside a giant squid and how she knew about the Cleanse as a child.

Despite being key to the plot of The Umbrella Academy season 4 and the final apocalypse, the show left many loose ends in Jennifer’s story. Episode 3 started with two fishermen back in 1995 who caught a giant squid. Inside of it was young Jennifer, who when rescued the only thing she could say was “the cleanse”. The Umbrella Academy never explained why she was inside a giant squid and how she knew about the Cleanse as a child, as well as who her parents were and why they didn’t come for her after her rescue from the squid.

While Jennifer could have triggered the Cleanse if she touched any marigold host, for some unexplained reason, she had a deeper connection to Ben. In the original timeline, Ben and Jennifer were killed by Reginald after the former took her out of a container, unaware that she was the weapon they had to destroy. In the season 4 timeline, they quickly bonded after their brief first meeting, so there was something extra in Ben and Jennifer’s connection.

Jennifer’s incomplete story and connection to Ben also left a strange plot hole. As mentioned above, Sparrow Ben had sketches of Jennifer in his room at the Hargreeves mansion in season 3, yet he didn’t recognize her when they met at the diner she worked at. The Umbrella Academy could answer all the Jennifer questions in a comic book if it wanted, but it’s unlikely there will be answers now that the show is over.