Gene and Jean Thibedeau are a married couple and leaders of a cult called The Keepers, on The Umbrella Academy Season 4. They believe that the Hargreeves siblings are living in a false timeline. They want to clean up and have an event named The Cleanse take place so they can get into what they believe is the right timeline.
Gene and Jean are played by real-life married couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally. The Keepers gather things from other timelines proving their existence, such as Klaus's cult and photos of The Umbrella Academy as kids.
They abduct Jennifer for having the Durango element, which they believe is going to trigger The Cleanse and search for Ben, whom they also think is very important. It finally turns out that Sy Grossman had been in league with Abigail Hargreeves, Reginald's late wife—not Gene and Jean.
Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for the plot and characters of The Umbrella Academy Season 4.
Everything to know about Gene and Jean Thibedeau and their significance in The Umbrella Academy Season 4
Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally play the roles of Gene and Jean Thibedeau in The Umbrella Academy Season 4. The Keepers hold their timeline to be a falsity inducement by people with abilities for the Hargreeves siblings.
This mission entails restoring what they think is the "one true timeline" that has gone through this event they always refer to as "The Cleanse," as mentioned earlier. This event purposed to rid the false realities and return everything to what it once was.
Gene and Jean collect many artifacts, all of which supposedly point to other timelines. What can point to being proof are pictures of The Umbrella Academy as children and the evidence of Klaus's cult. This fixation on these artifacts speaks to a much larger discourse of how narratives can be built and manipulated, quite like the Hargreeves' struggles to negotiate their past.
On their quest to activate The Cleanse, they kidnap Jennifer and believe that by doing so, they have all the pieces they need to put the plan in motion. They also zero in on Ben because of his importance in the Hargreeves family and that he, by all means, is the key to their plan of unique abilities and connection to The Umbrella Academy.
As the season goes on, it becomes crystal clear that Gene and Jean are not misguided, and that there are other manipulative forces at play. It is through the climax of Gene and Jean that the Hargreeves siblings are put right in the middle of a confrontation with the aftermath of their acts and reality. The Thibedeaus on The Umbrella Academy reflects both antagonists and mirrors the Hargreeves family as they try to seek an identity and reason for living.
Who plays Gene and Jean in The Umbrella Academy season 4?
Gene and Jean Thibedeau are played by real-life husband and wife Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally in The Umbrella Academy Season 4. Offerman is probably best known for playing Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation, while Mullally was made famous by playing Karen Walker on Will & Grace.
Why did David Cross help Gene and Jean?
David Cross as Sy Grossman in The Umbrella Academy Season 4 is a desperate man hell-bent on making amends with his long-lost daughter, Jennifer. His drive to help Gene and Jean Thibedeau is the simple fact that they are the only ones he believes can reunite him with her.
Gene and Jean make a pretty strong assumption that Jennifer's participation is needed to kick off "The Cleanse." Sy cooperates with them under the impression that if he helps them, he may get what he wants: his daughter Jen back into his life, after being held captive by the couple.
The very fact that he would work with Gene and Jean shows his desperation and illustrates how far anybody will go when blood comes into play. That might even mean striking deals with the worst of the worst in a story full of ripped morals.
The fate of The Keepers in the concluding storyline of The Umbrella Academy
The Keepers are an extremist organization led by Dr. Gene Thibedeau and Dr. Jean Thibedeau. The duo makes quite a critical appearance towards the end of the storyline in the last season of The Umbrella Academy. According to these extremists, this is a wrong reality and will do anything to see to it that the Cleanse happens, thus reverting the timeline to what is right.
In the season finale, the Keepers dive deep into Tattford department store to stand vigil over both Ben and Jennifer. They plan to detonate the Cleanse. When that happens, it will cleanse the marigolds that gave powers to the siblings, thus fixing the shattered timelines.
The plans are foiled as Sy Grossman is revealed to be Abigail Hargreeves, killing Dr. Gene thereafter. Abigail kills Dr. Jean, trying to stop protection over them to enlist Jennifer and Ben's help in stopping the Keepers. But in the end, after all their efforts stop this, the Keepers could not do anything. They watched the Hargreeves siblings sacrifice themselves to restore the original timeline and not let the Cleanse destroy the world.
By the end, it turns out that the belief of the Keepers in the Cleanse as a fix for the broken timelines is a fallacy; it is through the sacrifice of the Hargreeves that the multiverse collapses into one single, ideal reality.
Watch The Umbrella Academy Season 4 on Netflix.
