Ah I was wondering if it was, but I couldn’t remember
For All Mankind Trailer - Apple TV- SPOILER
- Thread starter Mysterion
- Start date
Like I mentioned previously in the thread, I binge-watched all of For All Mankind, became hooked, and it became my favorite new sci-fi series. Now I'm doing a re-watch, which I've just started. Taking it at a slower pace and giving my insights into each episode. I'm hoping to be finished with covering the fourth season by the time the fifth season starts. I'll speed up the re-watch as necessary, if I don't think I'll make it on time. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
I'm watching For All Mankind on a projector I have, and I'm watching it up against an entire wall, for the full Home Theater Experience.
"Red Moon" (S1E1)
In our reality, the thing about the Space Race was that once the United States landed men on the moon, that was the end of it. We had our victory, then interest died down. But in For All Mankind's reality, that victory was denied us and United States was still determined to beat the Soviet Union in some way. First, though, they had to show that we could land a man on the moon at all, before they could plan to send people to Mars, the asteroid belt, Saturn, and beyond. Knowing how the series progresses, they laid out the entire trajectory of the series right in the first episode.
When they had the archival footage, I love that they used it. When they didn't, they did a good job of faking it. The voice actor they had for Nixon did a great job of sounding like him when he had to deliver original lines. Nixon in FAMK acts exactly how he would've acted if NASA hadn't landed a man on the moon first. "They'll say Kennedy kicked the ball, Johnson ran it, and Nixon fumbled it at the finish line!" No matter what he was able to accomplish, he had a real inferiority complex from what I can tell.
When everyone working for NASA, all of their families, and everyone else watching, are all watching the Moon Landing in all in their separate corners, it reminded me of Mad Men where they had an episode during the seventh season with everyone watching the Moon Landing and how we also go to see everyone watching in all their own corners as well, and their reactions. This was 10 years before I was even born, so getting to watch these characters react and seeing them, makes me almost feel like I'm there myself, watching. I've watched archival footage of the Moon Landing and as impressed as I am at what they were able to accomplish, I know it's just not the same thing as watching it in Real Time.
And as Ed Baldwin is watching, he's furious. He barely tries his best to hide it, but as his friend and co-pilot Gordo Stevens reminds him, they could've been the first to land on the Moon when they were on the Apollo 10 landing. Watching the Russians land, they have a feeling of "We were so damn close!" The next day, Deke Slayton tells his men to use the weekend to be pissed off, do whatever they have to do, but then it's back to work on Monday. After they leave, when they all get in their cars, not only is it cool to have racecar scene with everyone racing each other, but for them it's like they're in a race that they think they can win. And it's a friendly competition unlike the rivalry with the Russians.
Ed Baldwin is still pissed, though, and blabs his true feelings to a reporter who then says that Ed said NASA lost its balls. I'm going to assume that how furious Ed was, how close he thought they were when he was on Apollo 10, and having a few drinks was enough to set him off. Like his wife said, "I didn't know it only took a few drinks!" So now it doesn't look he'll have a chance to go into space ever again. He was nearly fired from NASA and would've been if Deke didn't stand up for him.
What I like about Deke Slayton is that he'll stand up for his people and he'll do what he thinks his right. He can be a hard-ass, but he's a fair hard-ass, and dead-set determined. Unlike Ed, he doesn't let his emotions get the best of him.
Deke Slayton has to deal with damage control, with the whole Ed Baldwin fiasco, answering questions about how they couldn't have known how close the Russians really were to landing someone on the moon, and Werner von Braun has to explain why Apollo 10 couldn't have landed while it was in lunar orbit. They have to answer all the tough questions, while all Ed had to do was be quiet and not put his foot in his mouth. Putting his foot in his mouth is something Ed does a lot.
Margo Madison, on the other hand, tries to avoid putting her foot in her mouth at all costs. She's a woman in a man's world, she respects the chain of command, maybe even a little too much, and doesn't speak up more when she has the information in front of her when Apollo 11 is approaching the Moon. Werner is her mentor, he knows her father, and he tells her that she shouldn't have felt intimidated or like she was speaking out of place. The facts were on her side. It's not about feeling, it's about facts. Margo takes this advice to heart, and it puts her on a very different trajectory than the trajectory we'll see Ed go on.
While all the wives are gathered together, this time for Apollo 11, Mrs. Slayton tells Karen Baldwin, Ed's wife, that Ed would have a chance to be an astronaut again if he completely denied the newspaper article that was written about what he said about NASA and completely distanced himself from it. Karen tells Mrs. Slayton that Ed is all about duty, honor, and country, and Mrs. Slayton says that sometimes you can only choose two. It's one of the first ethical dilemmas of the series, and the episode asks if Ed can make that leap.
The final act of this episode really had me going. For a good long while, I thought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin wouldn't make it to the Moon. It looked like Apollo 11 might've crashed, they might've died, the news was saying the odds of their surviving was low. I had thoughts of, "Okay, this definitely feels like a Ron Moore show! Maybe they won't make it!" I really thought there was a chance they wouldn't make it, which made me wonder, "Where will they go from here?" And then it turned out they did make it! So, they really had me on edge.
I want to take a step back and say I love the set design, I love design aesthetic, seeing everyone's daily routine, and a taste of their normal lives when the characters aren't on their missions, and who they know outside of work. Even in the first episode, it feels like a real, lived-in world.
Can't wait to put on the next episode! Typing this makes me want to put on the next one right now, but I'm going to pace myself.
I'm watching For All Mankind on a projector I have, and I'm watching it up against an entire wall, for the full Home Theater Experience.
"Red Moon" (S1E1)
In our reality, the thing about the Space Race was that once the United States landed men on the moon, that was the end of it. We had our victory, then interest died down. But in For All Mankind's reality, that victory was denied us and United States was still determined to beat the Soviet Union in some way. First, though, they had to show that we could land a man on the moon at all, before they could plan to send people to Mars, the asteroid belt, Saturn, and beyond. Knowing how the series progresses, they laid out the entire trajectory of the series right in the first episode.
When they had the archival footage, I love that they used it. When they didn't, they did a good job of faking it. The voice actor they had for Nixon did a great job of sounding like him when he had to deliver original lines. Nixon in FAMK acts exactly how he would've acted if NASA hadn't landed a man on the moon first. "They'll say Kennedy kicked the ball, Johnson ran it, and Nixon fumbled it at the finish line!" No matter what he was able to accomplish, he had a real inferiority complex from what I can tell.
When everyone working for NASA, all of their families, and everyone else watching, are all watching the Moon Landing in all in their separate corners, it reminded me of Mad Men where they had an episode during the seventh season with everyone watching the Moon Landing and how we also go to see everyone watching in all their own corners as well, and their reactions. This was 10 years before I was even born, so getting to watch these characters react and seeing them, makes me almost feel like I'm there myself, watching. I've watched archival footage of the Moon Landing and as impressed as I am at what they were able to accomplish, I know it's just not the same thing as watching it in Real Time.
And as Ed Baldwin is watching, he's furious. He barely tries his best to hide it, but as his friend and co-pilot Gordo Stevens reminds him, they could've been the first to land on the Moon when they were on the Apollo 10 landing. Watching the Russians land, they have a feeling of "We were so damn close!" The next day, Deke Slayton tells his men to use the weekend to be pissed off, do whatever they have to do, but then it's back to work on Monday. After they leave, when they all get in their cars, not only is it cool to have racecar scene with everyone racing each other, but for them it's like they're in a race that they think they can win. And it's a friendly competition unlike the rivalry with the Russians.
Ed Baldwin is still pissed, though, and blabs his true feelings to a reporter who then says that Ed said NASA lost its balls. I'm going to assume that how furious Ed was, how close he thought they were when he was on Apollo 10, and having a few drinks was enough to set him off. Like his wife said, "I didn't know it only took a few drinks!" So now it doesn't look he'll have a chance to go into space ever again. He was nearly fired from NASA and would've been if Deke didn't stand up for him.
What I like about Deke Slayton is that he'll stand up for his people and he'll do what he thinks his right. He can be a hard-ass, but he's a fair hard-ass, and dead-set determined. Unlike Ed, he doesn't let his emotions get the best of him.
Deke Slayton has to deal with damage control, with the whole Ed Baldwin fiasco, answering questions about how they couldn't have known how close the Russians really were to landing someone on the moon, and Werner von Braun has to explain why Apollo 10 couldn't have landed while it was in lunar orbit. They have to answer all the tough questions, while all Ed had to do was be quiet and not put his foot in his mouth. Putting his foot in his mouth is something Ed does a lot.
Margo Madison, on the other hand, tries to avoid putting her foot in her mouth at all costs. She's a woman in a man's world, she respects the chain of command, maybe even a little too much, and doesn't speak up more when she has the information in front of her when Apollo 11 is approaching the Moon. Werner is her mentor, he knows her father, and he tells her that she shouldn't have felt intimidated or like she was speaking out of place. The facts were on her side. It's not about feeling, it's about facts. Margo takes this advice to heart, and it puts her on a very different trajectory than the trajectory we'll see Ed go on.
While all the wives are gathered together, this time for Apollo 11, Mrs. Slayton tells Karen Baldwin, Ed's wife, that Ed would have a chance to be an astronaut again if he completely denied the newspaper article that was written about what he said about NASA and completely distanced himself from it. Karen tells Mrs. Slayton that Ed is all about duty, honor, and country, and Mrs. Slayton says that sometimes you can only choose two. It's one of the first ethical dilemmas of the series, and the episode asks if Ed can make that leap.
The final act of this episode really had me going. For a good long while, I thought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin wouldn't make it to the Moon. It looked like Apollo 11 might've crashed, they might've died, the news was saying the odds of their surviving was low. I had thoughts of, "Okay, this definitely feels like a Ron Moore show! Maybe they won't make it!" I really thought there was a chance they wouldn't make it, which made me wonder, "Where will they go from here?" And then it turned out they did make it! So, they really had me on edge.
I want to take a step back and say I love the set design, I love design aesthetic, seeing everyone's daily routine, and a taste of their normal lives when the characters aren't on their missions, and who they know outside of work. Even in the first episode, it feels like a real, lived-in world.
Can't wait to put on the next episode! Typing this makes me want to put on the next one right now, but I'm going to pace myself.
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FYI: yesterday at WWDC during the tvOS part, Apple showed some Apple TV+ show/movie teasers - For all Mankind (and Star City Spinoff) were both absent and not listed either.
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