For All Mankind (AH Tv series at Apple TV)
- Thread starter Michel Van
- Start date
That's what I thought too but since Margot seems to have kept the whole thing to herself, I doubt it. Maybe they cut some corners (they are kinda known for that) or Margot spiked the design herself.
Exigencies of production, hombres. There’s a reason our characters spent so much time in the first three episodes in conference rooms and at Space Applebees, and that’s cost. We don’t see inside what the Russians have because they’d have to pay for it to be designed, rendered, and (to some degree) built.
I do think the show has done an excellent job of using this “fog” for dramatic purposes. Just like during the Cold War, we don’t have insight into the Soviets. They get flattened into a menacing unknown. Even when they fall on their faces, it still creates menace, as seen in the last episode.
I do think the show has done an excellent job of using this “fog” for dramatic purposes. Just like during the Cold War, we don’t have insight into the Soviets. They get flattened into a menacing unknown. Even when they fall on their faces, it still creates menace, as seen in the last episode.
^Pretty much that.
The logical explanation is that it saves money for the show to not show us the Soviets, it's just they've been very good about using that situation to create a sense of dramatic tension and dread. To me it shows Moore doing the best of what was in BSG (the dread and constant terror but seen through Human experiences) and I'm still very happy with the show for it.
I think she gave them an earlier version which we saw had overheating issues when being tested. So the Soviet’s have the current engine in general but an older version. That or the writers remembered that while the Soviet Union has fantastic engineering they were almost always behind the USA in material science.
Just thinking about the FAM universe and the many butterflies and differences in it. I have been wondering about the political fates of Bill Proxmire and Fritz Mondale, both of whom were notoriously against the Apollo program and anything space in OTL. In this ATL, would they be forced out of office by 1972 or 1976? Any ideas? Also, Elvis would certainly live past 1977 and with new and better management....
I notice one of the Soviet crew is named Castillo. I didn't register the other names as anything other than broadly Slavic, so unclear if any of them are from the Eastern Bloc outside of Russia, but at least one person appears to be from Latin America. Probably Mexico, given the attention it had in the news roundup. But then Cuba's carried a lot more water for the cause.
I was thinking the Russians would pull a dirty trick, and they did.
I love the show.
Sojourner, being big, heavy and with strong engins had IMO much bigger chances of landing in duststorm than much lighter Helios pod. So I am not surprised NASA landed first. BTW, I wonder what Soviet landing would look like. I don't think they had a landing pod, OTOH Mars-94 did not look as it could land whole on Mars. Perhaps that sphere would have landed with interplanetary engins waiting in orbit.
Margo is in trouble and if she thinks she can pressure KGB... Good luck.
The ending was histerical. Of course both USA and USSR will claim that it was totally planned from the beginning and there was no conflict who goes first. It would sound silly that the first human step on Mars was an astronaut and cosmonaut pushing each other. And the fact that they fell would be easily explained that after a long time in zero gravity they had problems with Mars gravity.
Margo is in trouble and if she thinks she can pressure KGB... Good luck.
The ending was histerical. Of course both USA and USSR will claim that it was totally planned from the beginning and there was no conflict who goes first. It would sound silly that the first human step on Mars was an astronaut and cosmonaut pushing each other. And the fact that they fell would be easily explained that after a long time in zero gravity they had problems with Mars gravity.
That was a fantastic episode. Could not have ended any other way than it did, and that they did end it that way was hysterical. Looking forward to the next episode giving us our "Come as you Are" walk on Mars that was hinted at in the end of season 2 (as the Sea-Dragon was in Season 1) and will be real interested to see how the rest of the season goes.
Even when they are basically carried on American shoulders, the Soviets still have to be bastards
I can't see it, but it is possible. But more than one lander? Isn't that too many? The mass counts in space race. I think the midsection might be engins for landing on Mars and getting back to orbit, when the main engins would be waiting. But I am not an engineer.
Episode 5 did not disappoint.
I really liked that NASA and Roscosmos embraced the "joint mission" aspect, sending officials to Houston to work together and all of that - also, the budding romance between Kelly and the cosmonaut was a fun little aside, it'll be interesting to see what they do there. I also liked how they continued to make it a race with the Phoenix getting delayed due to the dust storm, allowing Sojourner to catch up and it really being a race again. Making the connection with Ed back to Apollo 10 with the flashbacks, and the inner struggle he has to actually land first this time competing with being safe was great. A little sad that, once again, he's not first, but I didn't want Helios to get there first, especially after what Dev pulled last episode. That reminds me - I was pleased to see that the Phoenix crew took back control of their ship, I expected they would last episode. Was a little surprised we didn't see more anger from Dev on that.
Thought it was great that Karen quit Helios after the rescue debacle. In particular, her reaction when Dev refused to let her quit was wonderful - and so on-brand for her too.
And we finally got to see Wayne this season! The "cooking with pot" bit was a great natural progression. I also found it interesting - but not too surprising - that Wayne seems to know about what happened with Danny.
Thought it was great that Karen quit Helios after the rescue debacle. In particular, her reaction when Dev refused to let her quit was wonderful - and so on-brand for her too.
And we finally got to see Wayne this season! The "cooking with pot" bit was a great natural progression. I also found it interesting - but not too surprising - that Wayne seems to know about what happened with Danny.
He's not getting any better. The creepy spying on Ed was not great. I suspect in either the next episode or the one after, that pot is going to boil over. The whole card game sequence was very uncomfortable too. There was also a scene where Danny was sending a video message to someone who seemed to know what had happened between him and Karen. My guess was his brother but wasn't sure.
As we all knew would happen, her choices to "share" have started to come back to bite her. Wasn't shocked to see that they sent Sergei to a KGB prison. It'll be interesting to see if she can actually come through on getting him and his family out to safety. I don't know how she could without outing herself to the American authorities, though. Having Aleida be the one that makes the connection about the leaked designs was great too. After that confrontation - realizing that the Soviets have the exact numbers from the 1992 original design and Margo promising to take it to the DOJ, we see her go into the little phone booth. I wonder if she may actually confess, or if she will try to save her own skin.
Last edited:
Yes, the on-screen text says the message is being sent to Jimmy Stevens.