For All Mankind (SciFi Apple TV+)

Right up until we saw Margo in 2003 I had been feeling they might do a late 90s season 4, rather than jump on a decade. The story this season just feels very incomplete. Season 1 and 2 both felt like they had a narrative structure that, while leaving lots of potential for further series, still told complete stories so I didn't feel like we were jumping to the next decade with huge amounts left untold. But here there feels like there are all these plot points just left hanging. One of the two climactic scenes was a massive bombing where nothing is resolved in the literal minutes of screen time that follows it.

We are left with all of these plots that I want to see resolving. I want to see how things are for NASA after both the bombing and the reveal that Poole/Kuznetsov were not the first people on Mars but an expendable North Korean. Because what the hell was the point of Lee Jung-Gil being on Mars if it wasn't to keep driving America's competitive desire when they can be beaten in the space race. I want to see how Ellen, as president, handles the four huge events that she is now left with, being beaten to Mars, the astronauts staying behind, the NASA bombing and her coming out. I want to see the decisions that are made at NASA RosCosmos and Helios due to their people choosing to stay on Mars. And while I don't love watching him, so can't say I want to see Danny Stevens, we have been left with him in isolation in the place that Dani and Kuznetsov buried a gun. There is a plot hanging there as to whether he goes mad and attacks someone else or just kills himself.

I don't want to jump to say 2001 and have all of those plots tied up in the news montage at the beginning of the episode. Those news montages are a fun way of setting the scene for the new decade and showing us the changes from our timeline, most that will play a part in the politics/technology of the show and some just for fun. They shouldn't be a way for storylines to be tied up. I don't want to be told rather than shown how all of these characters I care about (and Danny) resolve all their current tension. The time jump to 2003, already felt like that. The jump to the Sea Dragon launch in S1 and the Mars landing in S2 weren't tying up loose ends from the season, they were sneak peeks of the continuing strides made into space. This ending in 2003, was used to make a 'big reveal' that Margo was exfiltrated rather than killed. But showed us no hints about where humanity is headed next. As a result, I'm a hell of a lot less excited for S4 than I was for S3.

Kelly being pregnant was honestly so stupid. She's one of the most pre-eminent biologists ever and she lets herself get and remain pregnant while living in 38% of earth's gravity on a planet with no magnetosphere to shield against radiation. The risks to the foetal development are way too enormous to risk in a situation where that baby doesn't have the option to live permanently on Mars. (And where extensive testing on foetal development of animals hasn't already occurred.)

As it is, in reality female astronauts take contraceptives not to avoid pregnancy but to stop menstruation completely in space. Women on such a long mission as this would absolutely be on long term contraception. And while contraceptives can fail, it's not actually that common when taken correctly as you'd expect a biologist on an incredibly important and dangerous mission to do. And even if it did fail and Alexei's death made her reluctant to abort, she should know just how dangerous and stupid continuing the pregnancy would be and I find it hard to believe that she'd continue it.

And all of that is just Kelly. The idea that there was only 1 MSam on the Phoenix is too unbelievable. I mean if Ed and Danny had crashed on entry, that would have been it, mission failed, while the rest of the Phoenix crew just uselessly orbit Mars until they run out of fuel to maintain orbit or hope to get rescued in 96 because they were reliant producing fuel for the journey home on Mars. They would have had a minimum of two MSam's probably three. Way too much of the tension in this series was created by unbelievable scenarios brought about by lazy writing. I do love this show but the second half of S3 was really poor compared to what came before it and it wouldn't have been if there had been more thought put into the writing.