Vanya and Number Five Drive Past Each Other

What's visible in the picture

The image shows one half of the template: a woman with dark hair pulled back peers out the window of an old car with a white-and-turquoise body. A glossy side mirror and the edge of the door are visible. Her eyes are wide open, lips slightly parted: it's bewilderment shading into fright.

In the full version, the template consists of two shots. The second shows Number Five in another car, and together they form a "driving past each other and noticing each other" scene.

The scene from season two

Reportedly, the scene is taken from episode seven of season two of the Netflix series "The Umbrella Academy," which premiered on July 31, 2020. Vanya is played by Elliot Page, and Number Five by Aidan Gallagher. Both characters belong to the Hargreeves family, whose story revolves around adopted children with unusual abilities.

The first meme versions appeared on Facebook on August 6, 2020, a week after the premiere, and by August 8–9 the template had reached a major Reddit community and racked up tens of thousands of upvotes. The speed of the spread is easy to explain: the shots are short and make sense without any knowledge of the plot.

Why it works

The basis of the joke is symmetry. Two characters are driving in opposite directions, and each sees something they weren't prepared for. The caption spells out what exactly. That's why the template suits all sorts of topics: running into someone you know, a sudden coincidence, or two sides of the same situation that happen to end up next to each other.

Vanya's expression is especially valuable because it reads without any text at all. There's no anger and no joy, just pure astonishment. The viewer can easily substitute their own surprise in her place.

The editing technique itself also serves the joke: two people drive toward each other in opposite lanes, so their shots naturally read as a dialogue without a single word. On the left is the heroine, on the right her counterpart, invisible to the viewer, and the eye bounces back and forth like watching a tennis match. This kind of paired structure is easiest to caption when you already have a ready-made pair like "expectation and reality" or "before and after."

Example captions

A caption over the left frame reading "Me, arriving at my class reunion," and over the right "The classmate I haven't seen in fifteen years." The joke works through the contrast between expectation and reality.

"My intention to go to bed early" and "The show I started watching at ten p.m." Two forces colliding on the road.

"Me with weekend plans" and "A message in the work chat." Here the second shot is an obstacle that comes out of nowhere.

"Me" and "Also me, five years ago." The template turns into a conversation with yourself, which fits the show's plot nicely.

How to use the template

There's no need for long captions: one line per shot is enough. Caption both sides so the reader immediately understands exactly what each person is seeing. It works best for a situation where the encounter is unexpected and a little awkward.

If you only have one half of the template, the caption still works as a reaction to something unexpected: "when I saw that prices went up another 20 percent."