'The Umbrella Academy' Season 2: Who is AJ Carmichael, the talking goldfish currently leading the Commission?
Spoilers for 'The Umbrella Academy' Season 2
Netflix's 'The Umbrella Academy' is finally back with Season 2 and there are tons of new things to unpack. One of the most fun things added to the show is the talking goldfish AJ Carmichael who is now the leader of the Commission. Carmichael is actually a character from the comics, which is a pretty interesting change since the show has mostly deviated from the source material, especially in the second season. So here's everything we know about the character from comics.
Introduced in 'The Umbrella Academy: Dallas', Carmichael in the graphic novel is the head of the Temps Aeternalis, the organization that's called the Commission in the show. He's an intelligent Shubunkin goldfish who inhabits a human bodysuit and uses his genius-level intellect to influence the timestream. In the comics, Carmichael is actually the one who inducted Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) into the business of historical meddling, not the Handler (Kate Walsh). In fact, the Handler was a new character created for the show and Season 2 reveals that she has something of a rivalry with the talking goldfish.
From what we see of Carmichael on the show, he's a high-ranking member of the Commission who deals with problems a lot more logically than the Handler. This makes him a very interesting villain, even if the whole goldfish thing is pretty hilarious. Since the enmity between Carmichael and Five from the comics seems to have been replaced with the one between Five and the Handler on the show, there's not much in the way of personal vendetta here. However, whether that changes or not is something you'll have to watch and find out.
Here's the synopsis for Season 2: "Five warned his family (so, so many times) that using his powers to escape from Vanya’s 2019 apocalypse was risky. Well, he was right - the time jump scatters the siblings in time in and around Dallas, Texas. Over a three year period. Starting in 1960. Some, having been stuck in the past for years, have built lives and moved on, certain they’re the only ones who survived. Five is the last to land, smack dab in the middle of a nuclear doomsday, which - spoiler alert! - turns out is a result of the group’s disruption of the timeline (déjà vu, anyone?). Now the Umbrella Academy must find a way to reunite, figure out what caused doomsday, put a stop to it, and return to the present timeline to stop that other apocalypse. All while being hunted by a trio of ruthless Swedish assassins. But seriously, no pressure or anything."
'The Umbrella Academy' Season 2 is currently available for streaming on Netflix.