David Castaneda reflects on surprising romance in “Umbrella Academy”

The Umbrella Academy star David Castaneda had mixed feelings when he learned about the surprise romance that rocked the show’s final season.

Warning: Below you will find spoilers for the fourth season of The Umbrella Academy.

“No, I didn’t understand. I was angry,” Castañeda, 34, joked exclusively to We weekly the shocking plot twist that plunged his character Diego into an unexpected love triangle with his wife Lila (Ritu Aryu) and his younger brother Five (Aidan Gallagher). “I was angry. I talked to (our showrunner) Steve (Black Man) a few times. I just thought, ‘Hey, does this really have to happen?'”

While season 4 of the Netflix series mostly revolves around the Hargreeves siblings losing – and subsequently regaining – their powers, Diego has marital problems with Lila as the duo tries to live a mundane life. When Lila gets stuck between timelines with Five, the two are forced to survive alone together for seven years, causing romantic feelings to develop between them.

Diego, meanwhile, has no idea that Lila and Five are even missing, as days are only seconds in the time loop on Earth. When Lila finally returns and confesses her feelings for Five, the brothers disagree about where her heart truly lies.

“It wasn’t fun,” Castañeda said of filming the storyline. “And I kept trying to convince Steven, ‘Who’s going to win? Come on, Diego’s going to win, right?’ (And he said), ‘Well, we don’t know, maybe Five, maybe Diego, maybe both.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no, no. She has to be with Diego.'”

Castañeda argued that Diego and Lila, who met in Season 2 during a stay in a mental institution, had a real relationship worth preserving. After dating for years, they married in the Season 3 finale and had two children together. Five, he said Ushad different motives.

“Five was just like he’s lonely, he’s sad, it’s convenient, they’re there,” he said. “You have needs. I understand that. But let’s be honest. Come on, Diego? Who can say no to this hot cake?”

Not all actors agree with Castañeda’s point of view. Justin H. Minwho plays both Ben Hargreeves and Ben Sparrow in the series, argued that Lila played an important role in Five’s life.

“To Five, Lila is everything, right? He hasn’t opened up to anyone but Lila,” Min said, noting that Diego would be more likely to get over the grief than his younger sibling. “Diego has the potential to move on.”

Gallagher, on the other hand, represents a similar perspective to Min. The actor told Us that purple eventually becomes the “color” in Five’s life that “gives him real meaning.”

“(Five is) very lost at the beginning of season four,” Gallagher, 20, explained to Us“And when (Lila’s love) ends, he goes into a kind of downward spiral of depression and nothing matters anymore.”

Aryu, for her part, understands why her character wants to fall in love with Five – but also understands why her connection with Diego remains of utmost importance.

“It’s interesting because she’s been separated from her family for seven years,” she said Us“It didn’t work out with Diego, but he is the father of her children and for her everything revolves around the children.”

There’s also the small problem that Number 5 isn’t being completely honest with Lila. As the two try to build a life for themselves in the time loop, Number 5 discovers a paper that’s supposed to help them find a way back home, but hides it for six months to preserve their romance – and keep Lila away from her children.

“Lila has spent so many years with this person; they’ve cared for each other and they definitely have a great love and admiration for each other, but it’s hard because he’s lying to her that he found a way out,” Aryu continued. “And that’s six months that she could have spent with her kids. That’s being taken away from her. So I think it’s complicated. Really complicated.”

Unfortunately, Lila never has a choice; the group sacrifices themselves for the greater good when they realize they must combine their marigold (the substance in their bodies that gives them superhuman powers) to create a utopia.

As for Lila’s hypothetical choice – if they hadn’t all destroyed themselves to save the world – Castañeda believes she would have eventually settled it with Diego. However, Aryu has a different theory: one that is very much in line with The Umbrella Academy overarching theme.

“I think we will find another answer for ourselves,” she said Us. “One of each and each in a different timeline.”

Season 4 of The Umbrella Academy is now available on Netflix.

With report by Yana Grebenyuk