The Reason So Many Fans Hate Pogo On The Umbrella Academy

Participation is, after all, the very definition of "complicit." But does Pogo deserve the level of hate he's garnered? We're fully aware of Pogo's involvement in all manner of Sir Reginald's many scientific misdeeds, but he himself is one of those misdeeds. (Sir Reginald injected Pogo with a serum to make him human-like.) While there's not much evidence to suggest Pogo wasn't acting of his own free will, he never appeared to be in a position to stop or even sway Sir Reginald's plans.

Savvy viewers of The Umbrella Academy likely even noticed that in scenes where Sir Reginald takes matters too far, Pogo looks to be in regular (if passive) opposition to those decisions. As such, it appears Pogo's only real course of action was to try to help care for the Hargreeves kids as best he could after the fact — which he did. Whether Pogo could stop Sir Reginald or not, it's hard to argue he didn't care deeply for the super-powered kids. He even died sacrificing himself to save two of their lives after Vanya fully came into her destructive powers. So whether you love him or not, Pogo essentially became the only true father figure the kids had.

Even so, Pogo's participation in certain parts of Vanya's tragic youth are indefensible, as is his mind-boggling decision to wait so long to tell the other Hargreeves kids (and even Vanya) about her powers. Sure, Pogo didn't exactly lie to the team, but he could've been more forthcoming with such vital information.

In all, Pogo's questionable actions on season 1 of The Umbrella Academy are hardly that of a hero, but they don't quite make him a villain either — which pretty much puts him on par with the rest of the duplicitous characters in The Umbrella Academy, right?