Apple TV+ Summary:
Imagine a world where the global space race never ended. This thrilling “what if” take on history from Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica) spotlights the high-stakes lives of NASA astronauts and their families.
FYA Summary:
In an alternate version of 1969, the Soviet Union beats the United States to the Moon. This devastates NASA personnel but also serves as a catalyst for the effort to catch up, ensuring the space race continues on for decades with ever-expanding challenges. The Soviet Union embraces diversity by including a woman in their next lunar landing, forcing the U.S. to compete by training women and people of color who were largely excluded from the initial U.S. space program. This divergence in history sets off a domino effect that ripples throughout the series, causing political, societal, and technological changes that differ from the history we know. Each season takes place 10 years later, with season two taking place in the 1980s, season three set in the 1990s, and season four set in the 2000s.
The show follows the lives and family dramas of the people who work on the space program from the designing of the shuttles to the eventual permanent space stations and technology breakthroughs that result from the space race that never ends.
Familiar Faces:
Joel Kinnaman as Edward Baldwin, Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson, Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb, Sarah Jones as Tracy Stevens, Cass Buggé as Patty Doyle, and Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole
Hey, it’s that hot guy from The Killing and the Suicide Squad! Kinnaman, like many of the other actors on the show, gets to stretch his chops by playing the same character over the span of 40 years. But my absolute favorite part of this series is how much the women get to do, from the interior lives of the NASA wives to the early introduction of female pilots to the space program and the training and missions they get to be part of, and how that trajectory affects their relationships and careers. OMG, it’s just so good.
Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison and Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales
Case in point. Margo and Aleida represent the Mission Control side of the story and their relationship is so complicated and enduring and it serves as a fascinating window into the challenges women have faced over the decades whether it’s via their roles in society or their careers in STEM.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Generational
I wouldn’t necessarily suggest that your very young children watch this unless you want them to learn what it is to be bored out of their skulls by government bureaucracy or you want to explain what adultery is. (This show still manages to be soapy fun!) But if you have teenagers at all interested in space or historical events, this would totally make for a good family show. With so many space missions, episodes are frequently tense and dramatic, so I don’t think this show is great for bingeing. At least be sure that whoever you’re watching with is open to alternating with something fluffy.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Judicious
Despite how much time these astronauts spend drinking and hanging out in a bar, I cannot advise that you do the same while consuming For All Mankind. They may be the ones operating incredibly expensive heavy machinery, but you’re the one who has to understand and keep track of bureaucratic maneuverings and complex geopolitical issues that in all likelihood have not even happened in our own timeline. And that’s before we even try to follow the physics. Save the drinks for Bridgerton. (That is no shade. Bridgerton is super fun, but with less math.)
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Infinite
Apple TV+ has stellar production values and tons of really impressive content on their platform, but it’s all such a well-kept secret that it’s almost like they’re actively discouraging people from finding out about it. They’re also one of the most affordable streaming options! Someone please explain it to me.
For All Mankind is a worthy addition to Apple’s roster and I love getting to follow these characters over generations of storytelling, especially the dynamic women of the space program. I am deeply invested in these people and their important work and can’t wait to see where the show takes us in season five.
With For All Mankind’s epic storylines and phenomenal acting, you’d expect to see this show routinely nominated for all of the TV awards, but it rarely is. Again, hardly anyone knows it even exists. I don’t know why Apple keeps their stuff so quiet, but now that I’m letting you in on the secret, there’s simply no excuse to miss out any longer.
My husband loves anything space-related and jumped on this show without me, so I’ll sometimes catch bits here and there with no context (there does seem to be a lot of soapy cheating going on, haha). It does sound interesting enough that I’ll need to start it for myself at some point!
I hope you do! I forgot to mention in my review that it took me a few episodes to get into it because like the real NASA of the 1960’s, it skews pretty dude-heavy. It’s not immediately obvious that women will be playing a larger role in this story.
I watched the first episode when the series premiered and it didn’t grab me, but I’ve heard from other folks that it gets stronger as you go along – is there a good place to jump in, and then maybe I could go back and watch the dude-heavy episodes for context? Or should I try to slog through them in order?
I feel like by the third episode, the women’s storylines started getting prominent. You might be fine skipping to there, but I’d hate for you to miss something in between that makes that story even richer. I promise, continuing on will totally be worth it.