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.
"He Built the Saturn V" (S1E2)
The A-Plot: This episode starts with using actual archival footage of the real Wernher von Braun from 1955, showing his model of a proposed manned spaceship. It's bookended with Von Braun's career being finished at NASA, after Congress Representative Charles Sandman exposes that he worked for the SS in Nazi Germany during World War II. Up until this episode, it was classified by Operation Paperclip that Von Braun was in charge of the development of rockets, which were used by the Germans for warfare, and Sandman asks if Wernher knew how many people died because of his work, to which he falters. Everything in-between is used to set up a string of dominoes that takes "He Built the Saturn V" from the starting point to its endpoint. The fall of Wernher von Braun affects the overall trajectory of NASA during this series, his friendship mentorship with Margo Madison, and whether or not Ed Baldwin will ever become an astronaut; the last of which is the main focus of the B-Plot. The show is about Ed Baldwin, but this episode is dependent on the fall of Wernher von Braun and is titled after one of his accomplishments, which is why I consider Wernher's story to be the A-Plot.
After the archival footage, we get a look the Eagle retrieving Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin off the moon. Everyone in control of celebrating. This is Werhner's last real victory in the series, except he doesn't know it yet.
Then the episode cuts to two months later. Wernher and Deke return from a meeting, as they enter NASA, they see Ed. Wernher looks at Ed with contempt as he walks by. On the wall, you can see pictures of President Nixon, NASA Director Verner von Braun, and NASA Administrator Thomas Paine, reinforcing how big of a deal Wernher is and how big of barrier he is to Ed being forgiven. Other than it's history that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon and Ed Baldwin is a fictional character, I think one of the reasons Ed Baldwin probably wasn't selected for the honor of landing on the Moon first was because he probably mouthed off to the wrong person. Wernher would likely insist that since they needed to test the waters first, Ed Baldwin was the perfect person to take the risk of visiting the moon and that he was exactly the wrong person to get the reward of landing on it.
As early as within the first five minutes is when it's framed that Wernher has to go. The United States may have lost the race to the Moon but Paine, who was appointed by Nixon, says that they can win the "race for the base". Wernher pushes back. He doesn't want a military presence on the moon. He wants NASA to be used to explore space, not fight wars. Nixon, on the other hand, is determined for a win against Russia and wants a base on the Moon and wants Wernher gone for telling him "no." Henry Kissinger tells Nixon that Wernher is untouchable, to which Nixon says, "We'll have to get creative." It was a masterstroke that immediately before this scene, they establish that Wernher's work was "defiled by men with guns" in Germany. And that's when they start digging into Operation Paperclip to see what they can declassify. Operation Paperclip being when the United States employed former German scientists and engineers to work for the United States government before other countries, including the Soviet Union, could get their hands on them. As long as Wernher could help the government, they didn't care about what he did. The Cold War forced the United States to become more pragmatic. But once Wernher started pushing back, that's when they started to care, and exposed what he did to the world.
On a professional level, Wehrner's standing and career at NASA are finished. On a personal level, his friendship with Margo is ruined. She looked up to him for most of her life, he knew her father, he was a mentor and like a second-father to her. And now to found out how many deaths he was responsible for, even though he was an engineer and not a soldier. It was too painful for her to watch the testimony on the TV and it was especially painful for her to face him in person know, and especially after he tries to deflect the question about if he knew how many people died and suffered because the development of his rockets for the SS. This is in sharp contrast to the beginning of the episode when Wehrner thinks about retiring and Margo is wondering who she'll have lunch with, he gives her is special ruler, and then he congratulates her on becoming the first woman in Mission Control.
During Margo's interview with Gene for a position in Mission Control, Gene says Wehrner thinks the world of her. It's a very good thing this interview took place before Wehrner's exposure, or that would've been a huge black mark against her. Gene also wants to make sure she won't leave to become a mother. Several times before, Wehrner had also asked Margo about whether or not she'd find anyone and she's said doesn't have time for that. She's interested in her career and, to be honest, it doesn't look like she's that interested in relationships. Despite what society thinks, especially back then, you don't have to be. People shouldn't think less of you for it, then or now. Then Gene makes a comment that crosses a line for Margo about how not everyone is cut out to be a mother, except it's something she can't say anything about. It seems like something a 1969 man would say without even thinking about it, but it's also likely something he said to see how Margo would react, since he made a point about how people can wilt under pressure in Mission Control. At the end, she actually does get the job, and Wehrner is the one to tell her congratulations.
Unfortunately, Wernher's celebration is short-lived because of what happens next. He leaves NASA as Apollo 12 launches. Everyone in Mission Control is celebrating Apollo 12's launch, while he walks down hallways on the way to the exit, making eye-contact with no one and being greeted by no one. His picture that used to be alongside Nixon's and Paine's has been taken down.
The B-Plot: Ed Baldwin has spent two months behind a desk since he told that interviewer that NASA doesn't have guts. No doubt part of their plan to get rid of Wehrner, Paine and Sandman want Ed to speak before a Committee about the Apollo 10 mission and NASA. They tempt him with this possibly being his way back up into space. Ed had earlier looked at getting back into the Navy and into the battlefront in Vietnam, which made his wife worried for his safety, but as his former CO told him: people go from pilots to astronauts, not the other way around. Unable to go back, unable to move forward, and trapped in limbo, the only way out of this situation is if he testifies before the Committee. His eye is on the prize of getting back onto Apollo 15.
What I like about Ed Baldwin is that ultimately, he's a man of integrity. He won't throw Wernher under the bus, and takes ownership of what happened on Apollo 10 and why they didn't land on the Moon. The flashbacks to the Apollo 10 mission added to Ed's testimony. The sense of wonder in Ed and Gordo's eyes is conveyed in the flashback that can't be done justice in a testimony. When the Representative counters by asking about what Ed said in the newspaper article, that NASA didn't have guts, Ed sounds like he's in a state of contrition, and that if there's anyone to blame for the United States not landing on the Moon first, it should be him. He takes full responsibility, he was the commander of Apollo 10. Except Sandman doesn't want to blame Ed Baldwin. He was to blame Wernher von Braun, as directly or indirectly instructed by Nixon.
Regardless of whatever would've happened next, Ed's back to deciding he wants to go back to the Navy. He's owning up to what he did and genuinely sorry for what he told the reporter. And that's when Deke comes to the rescue. It's no coincidence that the very first scene after Wernher leaves NASA is a scene where Deke recruits Ed and puts him back on Apollo 15, admiring the guts Ed had when he spoke to the Committee.
The major conflicts during the first two episodes have been resolved. NASA bounced back after the Russians beat them to the Moon, and fences have been mended with Ed. Then the Russians up the ante by putting the first woman on the Moon! Great page turner. Now not only does NASA have to win "the race for the base", but they also have to put a woman on the Moon too. What I love about For All Mankind in general is how landing on the Moon only became the starting point for the Space Race and not the end, like in our time.
Feels like Mad Men: Gordo is a man of vices. When he's in a hotel and calling Tracy, a woman he's sleeping with flushes the toilet and Tracy overhears. Then Tracy becomes furious and wants to get rid of everything. Karen finally talks her down. I don't blame Tracy, I'm on her side. Gordo should be faithful. But I can also see Karen's point about how Karen will be a struggling single mom without Gordo. They're in a deeply, deeply flawed marriage.
What else feels like Mad Men is when Karen is holding a party at her and Ed's house. The wives are together talking amongst each other, the husbands are talking amongst each other, the kids are playing, and Neil Armstrong wants to get away from it all by finding a corner that no one's at. When Ed joins him, I could see Don Draper doing the same thing and then asking Neil about his insights into actually landing on the Moon.
Feels like Battlestar Galactica: Ed is like Adama. Straight-laced, taking responsibility, making the tough calls. Gordo is like Tigh. The drunk who over-indulges but is also fiercely loyal to our lead.
Feels like Star Trek: The Next Generation: When Wernher was saying that NASA should be used for exploration and not for military conflict, it reminded me of something Captain Picard would say.
Humble Beginnings: In the previous episode, when Aleida Rosales was watching the first Moon landing, I pegged her as someone who would eventually become part of NASA. Especially since I already knew the series would jump decades from season-to-season even before I started watching. But I was wondering how it would eventually all connect. Then I see it with her and her family moving from Mexico to the United States; and then with her father, Octavio becoming a janitor at NASA. Evidence of the series playing the long game and that as fast as some developments are, others are slow burns.
Another humble beginning was Ted Kennedy during the Committee Hearing when he was questioning the relevance of Wernher von Braun's role during World War II. The voice briefly questioning Sandman, the Representative working for Nixon, will eventually become the man running against Nixon.
The A-Plot: This episode starts with using actual archival footage of the real Wernher von Braun from 1955, showing his model of a proposed manned spaceship. It's bookended with Von Braun's career being finished at NASA, after Congress Representative Charles Sandman exposes that he worked for the SS in Nazi Germany during World War II. Up until this episode, it was classified by Operation Paperclip that Von Braun was in charge of the development of rockets, which were used by the Germans for warfare, and Sandman asks if Wernher knew how many people died because of his work, to which he falters. Everything in-between is used to set up a string of dominoes that takes "He Built the Saturn V" from the starting point to its endpoint. The fall of Wernher von Braun affects the overall trajectory of NASA during this series, his friendship mentorship with Margo Madison, and whether or not Ed Baldwin will ever become an astronaut; the last of which is the main focus of the B-Plot. The show is about Ed Baldwin, but this episode is dependent on the fall of Wernher von Braun and is titled after one of his accomplishments, which is why I consider Wernher's story to be the A-Plot.
After the archival footage, we get a look the Eagle retrieving Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin off the moon. Everyone in control of celebrating. This is Werhner's last real victory in the series, except he doesn't know it yet.
Then the episode cuts to two months later. Wernher and Deke return from a meeting, as they enter NASA, they see Ed. Wernher looks at Ed with contempt as he walks by. On the wall, you can see pictures of President Nixon, NASA Director Verner von Braun, and NASA Administrator Thomas Paine, reinforcing how big of a deal Wernher is and how big of barrier he is to Ed being forgiven. Other than it's history that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon and Ed Baldwin is a fictional character, I think one of the reasons Ed Baldwin probably wasn't selected for the honor of landing on the Moon first was because he probably mouthed off to the wrong person. Wernher would likely insist that since they needed to test the waters first, Ed Baldwin was the perfect person to take the risk of visiting the moon and that he was exactly the wrong person to get the reward of landing on it.
As early as within the first five minutes is when it's framed that Wernher has to go. The United States may have lost the race to the Moon but Paine, who was appointed by Nixon, says that they can win the "race for the base". Wernher pushes back. He doesn't want a military presence on the moon. He wants NASA to be used to explore space, not fight wars. Nixon, on the other hand, is determined for a win against Russia and wants a base on the Moon and wants Wernher gone for telling him "no." Henry Kissinger tells Nixon that Wernher is untouchable, to which Nixon says, "We'll have to get creative." It was a masterstroke that immediately before this scene, they establish that Wernher's work was "defiled by men with guns" in Germany. And that's when they start digging into Operation Paperclip to see what they can declassify. Operation Paperclip being when the United States employed former German scientists and engineers to work for the United States government before other countries, including the Soviet Union, could get their hands on them. As long as Wernher could help the government, they didn't care about what he did. The Cold War forced the United States to become more pragmatic. But once Wernher started pushing back, that's when they started to care, and exposed what he did to the world.
On a professional level, Wehrner's standing and career at NASA are finished. On a personal level, his friendship with Margo is ruined. She looked up to him for most of her life, he knew her father, he was a mentor and like a second-father to her. And now to found out how many deaths he was responsible for, even though he was an engineer and not a soldier. It was too painful for her to watch the testimony on the TV and it was especially painful for her to face him in person know, and especially after he tries to deflect the question about if he knew how many people died and suffered because the development of his rockets for the SS. This is in sharp contrast to the beginning of the episode when Wehrner thinks about retiring and Margo is wondering who she'll have lunch with, he gives her is special ruler, and then he congratulates her on becoming the first woman in Mission Control.
During Margo's interview with Gene for a position in Mission Control, Gene says Wehrner thinks the world of her. It's a very good thing this interview took place before Wehrner's exposure, or that would've been a huge black mark against her. Gene also wants to make sure she won't leave to become a mother. Several times before, Wehrner had also asked Margo about whether or not she'd find anyone and she's said doesn't have time for that. She's interested in her career and, to be honest, it doesn't look like she's that interested in relationships. Despite what society thinks, especially back then, you don't have to be. People shouldn't think less of you for it, then or now. Then Gene makes a comment that crosses a line for Margo about how not everyone is cut out to be a mother, except it's something she can't say anything about. It seems like something a 1969 man would say without even thinking about it, but it's also likely something he said to see how Margo would react, since he made a point about how people can wilt under pressure in Mission Control. At the end, she actually does get the job, and Wehrner is the one to tell her congratulations.
Unfortunately, Wernher's celebration is short-lived because of what happens next. He leaves NASA as Apollo 12 launches. Everyone in Mission Control is celebrating Apollo 12's launch, while he walks down hallways on the way to the exit, making eye-contact with no one and being greeted by no one. His picture that used to be alongside Nixon's and Paine's has been taken down.
The B-Plot: Ed Baldwin has spent two months behind a desk since he told that interviewer that NASA doesn't have guts. No doubt part of their plan to get rid of Wehrner, Paine and Sandman want Ed to speak before a Committee about the Apollo 10 mission and NASA. They tempt him with this possibly being his way back up into space. Ed had earlier looked at getting back into the Navy and into the battlefront in Vietnam, which made his wife worried for his safety, but as his former CO told him: people go from pilots to astronauts, not the other way around. Unable to go back, unable to move forward, and trapped in limbo, the only way out of this situation is if he testifies before the Committee. His eye is on the prize of getting back onto Apollo 15.
What I like about Ed Baldwin is that ultimately, he's a man of integrity. He won't throw Wernher under the bus, and takes ownership of what happened on Apollo 10 and why they didn't land on the Moon. The flashbacks to the Apollo 10 mission added to Ed's testimony. The sense of wonder in Ed and Gordo's eyes is conveyed in the flashback that can't be done justice in a testimony. When the Representative counters by asking about what Ed said in the newspaper article, that NASA didn't have guts, Ed sounds like he's in a state of contrition, and that if there's anyone to blame for the United States not landing on the Moon first, it should be him. He takes full responsibility, he was the commander of Apollo 10. Except Sandman doesn't want to blame Ed Baldwin. He was to blame Wernher von Braun, as directly or indirectly instructed by Nixon.
Regardless of whatever would've happened next, Ed's back to deciding he wants to go back to the Navy. He's owning up to what he did and genuinely sorry for what he told the reporter. And that's when Deke comes to the rescue. It's no coincidence that the very first scene after Wernher leaves NASA is a scene where Deke recruits Ed and puts him back on Apollo 15, admiring the guts Ed had when he spoke to the Committee.
The major conflicts during the first two episodes have been resolved. NASA bounced back after the Russians beat them to the Moon, and fences have been mended with Ed. Then the Russians up the ante by putting the first woman on the Moon! Great page turner. Now not only does NASA have to win "the race for the base", but they also have to put a woman on the Moon too. What I love about For All Mankind in general is how landing on the Moon only became the starting point for the Space Race and not the end, like in our time.
Feels like Mad Men: Gordo is a man of vices. When he's in a hotel and calling Tracy, a woman he's sleeping with flushes the toilet and Tracy overhears. Then Tracy becomes furious and wants to get rid of everything. Karen finally talks her down. I don't blame Tracy, I'm on her side. Gordo should be faithful. But I can also see Karen's point about how Karen will be a struggling single mom without Gordo. They're in a deeply, deeply flawed marriage.
What else feels like Mad Men is when Karen is holding a party at her and Ed's house. The wives are together talking amongst each other, the husbands are talking amongst each other, the kids are playing, and Neil Armstrong wants to get away from it all by finding a corner that no one's at. When Ed joins him, I could see Don Draper doing the same thing and then asking Neil about his insights into actually landing on the Moon.
Feels like Battlestar Galactica: Ed is like Adama. Straight-laced, taking responsibility, making the tough calls. Gordo is like Tigh. The drunk who over-indulges but is also fiercely loyal to our lead.
Feels like Star Trek: The Next Generation: When Wernher was saying that NASA should be used for exploration and not for military conflict, it reminded me of something Captain Picard would say.
Humble Beginnings: In the previous episode, when Aleida Rosales was watching the first Moon landing, I pegged her as someone who would eventually become part of NASA. Especially since I already knew the series would jump decades from season-to-season even before I started watching. But I was wondering how it would eventually all connect. Then I see it with her and her family moving from Mexico to the United States; and then with her father, Octavio becoming a janitor at NASA. Evidence of the series playing the long game and that as fast as some developments are, others are slow burns.
Another humble beginning was Ted Kennedy during the Committee Hearing when he was questioning the relevance of Wernher von Braun's role during World War II. The voice briefly questioning Sandman, the Representative working for Nixon, will eventually become the man running against Nixon.
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Karen's arc was absolutely my favorite part of season 1, as it became clear she'd sublimated all of her ambition into being the perfect housewife, then astro-wife, and she had to find a way to define herself once shit got real and she understood she was a control freak who'd gotten herself into a situation where her entire life was out of her control.
It's tragic (in the literary sense of being undone by an inescapable personal flaw) that she slips back into crisis in season 2 when she infers she's the reason Ed took a desk job and that he would've rather stayed on flight duty (as I recall, the scene almost played as her pushing him to get back into the cockpit, and he would've been fine enjoying the fruits of his labors; maybe she felt like she'd unintentionally put him into the awful position she'd been in before, and assumed it was eating at him the same way it tore her apart, though he's a different person and didn't have her issues).
It's tragic (in the literary sense of being undone by an inescapable personal flaw) that she slips back into crisis in season 2 when she infers she's the reason Ed took a desk job and that he would've rather stayed on flight duty (as I recall, the scene almost played as her pushing him to get back into the cockpit, and he would've been fine enjoying the fruits of his labors; maybe she felt like she'd unintentionally put him into the awful position she'd been in before, and assumed it was eating at him the same way it tore her apart, though he's a different person and didn't have her issues).
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