For All Mankind (SciFi Apple TV+)

28-06-2022 10:09pm

Really is a fantastic show.

For those who like the music in all three seasons, playlist is up on Spotify, great listen.

pixelburp · 30-06-2022 8:54pm

Episode 3 and damn Margo; the moment Sergei made that clumsy play for the nuclear designs, I knew things wouldn't end well for her. I felt sorry for her but also disappointed she would be that naive.

Mind you, we don't know for sure she has completely committed treason either. If she has, it's going to be impossible for the character to walk back from that and would have to be gone by season 4 ... unless she made a deal with the FBI and we find out there's an intentional flaw in the reactor design. The Soviets have rarely been that front centre in the show and this year seems more interested in Helios v. NASA.

Danny's an agent of chaos waiting to happen; Ed's decision making a little hard to swallow. Danny's possibly the weakest element of the cast but the show hasn't always resisted clumsy human drama for the sake of some twists and turns.

Still, good episode, and is keeping things nicely bubbling over. From here on I guess things are about to go wrong ... in space.

Skerries · 01-07-2022 1:50pm

this show is just getting better and better and you can see they are pumping more money into the budget which we are seeing on screen

I am actually liking that it is not a bingeable show and I have something to look forward to every week

pixelburp · 01-07-2022 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119275914#Comment_119275914

I can't see how binging is realistic these days, with shows like this, Stranger Things, and others exceeding the 1 hour runtime. Not complaining when it's a show this enjoyable but crazy how rare the traditional 42 minute structure is these days.

pjcb · 01-07-2022 5:04pm

this whole moon mining thing has suddenly become an issue

_Kaiser_ · 02-07-2022 12:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119277028#Comment_119277028

Well, remember the various time jumps would account for that in part.

The effects that the tech involved in a space race that never ended filtering down into the commercial and civilian arena has already shown electric cars in the 80s, and now improved energy sources gradually displacing fossil fuels and the effects that would have on those working in those industries.

It stands to reason that the ordinary world outside NASA is starting to diverge more and more from our own as these changes bed in. It's no doubt a deliberate commentary on our own world (albeit 30 years earlier) with the shifts to electric and renewable energy.

Great episode this week though. I wonder will the footage and analysis of the Soviet nuclear boosters ultimately expose Margo when it becomes clear that it's an American design.

iguana · 02-07-2022 10:00am

Aleida gave Margo a surprised look when Margo blurted out that the Russians were about to over temp their engine. Margo should not immediately have known the exactly how a 20% increase in their thrust would affect their engine. While they are using the same general technology, they shouldn't be completely identical so should have somewhat different capabilities. Margo shouldn't have so assuredly known exactly what would happen. Aleida might forget about that moment if not for the fact that they are going to receive the footage Dani had ordered to be taken of the Mars-94 engines. When the NASA engineers see that and realise how identical they are, Aleida will probably remember that Margo seemed to know a bit more than she should have.

Slydice · 02-07-2022 4:44pm

3.4: That was a well written episode. I had to keep changing my guesses about what was going to happen over and over. Even to the last moment, there were surprises.

The one giveaway I missed was in terms of computer effects.. I'd been thinking the Helios ship just looked better done. I'd been chalking it up to it being in multiple episode.

Not sure what's gonna happen next. Some kind of turnaround for Helios maybe.. maybe some merging of two or three of the ships to get all to Mars or Earth... and/or maybe just Helios does the dirty and leaves them all behind.

Slydice · 09-07-2022 4:44pm

3.5: I have to give credit to the music composer here. They really brought a feel good bump to the Mars race.

The ups and downs of who would get there and the abort/no-abort didn't really land for me becuase the pause for the Helios landing taking three days.

BUT! that music and the achievement of landing and the feel-good. That registered rock solid. So well done the music composer there.

The bit about who set foot first was funny too 🙂

Wierd that I started feeling more distracted now by the seeming non-existence of USA intelligence forces/operatives. Being a bit struck by that then, I was like..

oh look a storm on Mars.. right yeah ok

They might want to shore up this storyline a bit. Maybe Margo going to the DOJ will kick something off instead of Aleida being the only counter-intelligence force in the USA. 😁

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 09-07-2022 8:27pm

Just got caught up on the new season today. Really loving it so far. Thought it was very well done how they switched back and forth on the rescue mission for the Russians. Ed made the good decision but the control was taken from him, Danielle still managing to make it to Mars, and lots of potential drama between all three crews once they've all landed. I'm only mildly interested in how the Margo thing plays out, mainly because this show has a habit of skipping large chunks of time, so we could tune in next episode and she's been in jail for 3 years already 😄

Mixed feelings on them carrying the Danny/Karen thing over to this season, really only because its been so long since it happened. He seems really creepy and unhinged to be hanging onto it for this long. That said, the message he was recording to his brother made me quite sad, not sure I felt sad for him, but the whole situation feels quite sad. They could pull it out of the bag and make something good of it yet, but I've a feeling it will just now be used for big drama after Ed aborted the landing. Interesting though that they established in that last episode that both Danny's brother and Karen's friend know about it too.

Slydice · 09-07-2022 8:30pm

@TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

mainly because this show has a habit of skipping large chunks of time, so we could tune in next episode and she's been in jail for 3 years already 😄

Brilliant! 😁😂

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 09-07-2022 8:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119314782#Comment_119314782

They fired Molly and then next ep she's a painter, apparently 😄

pixelburp · 09-07-2022 8:48pm

Episode 4, and this show doing what it does best: crisis management in space, while tapping into the inherent sense of awe and terror the void instills. All those advances and technology still can't move past the time lag. Ending the episode where it did was just a fine bit of dramatic cockteasing, a good example why weekly releases still have value.

And for a relatively bloodless show, that moment at the end as the Russian ship rolled across Sojourner? Shudder. Absolutely nasty stuff.

Glad the veil has lifted from the Helios CEO cos the longer his pretence of ideology lasted, the less believable it became. As Poole observed, he's am àsshole.

Still scratching my head about how the show continues to ignore Waverley and Wilson's facade of a home life. Not so much as a mention, though maybe the show trusts its audience enough to know we don't need it hammered home.

_Kaiser_ · 09-07-2022 8:57pm

The only reason I can think for the whole Danny/Karen bit is for Ed to find out and have a meltdown, jeopardising the mission. It's pointless soap opera level drama otherwise and the weakest part of the overall season.

It also strikes me as a bit ridiculous that in an era where the US/USSR space race and Cold War never ended, and the KGB is still the adversary it is, that the CIA or FBI haven't caught wind of Margo slipping classified designs to the Russians, or that they weren't shadowing her as the head of NASA on her trips to the UK. The only one who has started to figure it out is Aleida, and even she's not all the way there yet.

The actual bits in space though are the highlight and these other elements (especially the first one above) really need to get resolved at this point.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 09-07-2022 9:42pm

I thought when it happened the Karen/Danny thing would be to cause some conflict between Karen and Tracy, and then the obvious marriage breakup for her and Ed. But then when S2 ended as it did, I thought maybe they were going to have Kelly and Danny become a couple and it would be this underlying secret threatening to come out at any time through S3, just personal drama. I know it's going to come out now at the worst possible time and cause the most drama possible on Mars, of all places, but that being the outcome feels like the least interesting option? If any of the possible outcomes from it were ever interesting.

Acosta · 09-07-2022 11:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119314888#Comment_119314888

It is a shame they carried the soap opera stuff over from the last season, but besides that it's been really good.

pjcb · 09-07-2022 11:57pm

how did the American ship not take more damage?

Acosta · 10-07-2022 9:04am

I thought they would pick up directly at the point the previous episode finished. I should probably watch the end of it again, but my first reaction to the start of the latest episode was that it felt that I'd skipped an episode.

I thought maybe this episode would be the NASA ship having big problems while Ed and co. tired to regain control of their ship to go and assist them.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 15-07-2022 6:12pm

Another great episode this week, although really not where I was expecting the focus to be. I was wondering when they would bring Ellen's storyline back to the fore again. I think it's really interesting the way the writing has all these advances in the alternative timeline but every now and then it reminds us that people are just **** sometimes.

Will be interesting to see what happens then the scandal breaks about her husband, its Lewinski 2.0

pjcb · 15-07-2022 9:13pm

Karen a COO? how did she end up going from running a restaurant to being in charge of a hotel in space again?

did she ever go to college, was she in charge of the chain of outpost restaurants?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 15-07-2022 11:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119343264#Comment_119343264

She went into business with Sam when she sold him the Outpost to become a franchise, and then spent 10ish years working with him at his company which eventually led to the space hotel.

pixelburp · 16-07-2022 7:58am

Episode 5, and for a show that hasn't really indulged many comedic moments, that last moment produced a genuine LOL from me. Two astronauts wrestling to be first, funny stuff.

The rest of the episode was solid as ever, with a nice thematic callback to the Apollo 10 mission way back in season 1. though minus points for the script lampshading the entire Karen & Danny subplot, by far the weakest strand of the whole show, and it won't go away. Namedropping The Graduate was a wee bit unnecessary, and Danny's slide into Space Madness isn't helping things either.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 16-07-2022 11:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119344277#Comment_119344277

The episode in S2 where Karen and Danny slept together wad called "Here's To You Mrs Robinson" so they've been doing that Graduate thing since day one.

I was listening to the official show podcast for S3 and on the first episode they had the show runner on and asked him specifically about the Karen/Danny thing and they acknowledged the audience reaction to it was extremely negative. He said though that he stood by it and was determined to not just leave it in S2, he wanted to have it have ripples into S3.

Generally speaking I'm a believer in showrunners sticking to their guns, but listening to him talk about this it didn't sound like they made it happen in S2 because they knew exactly where they were going with it. It sounded more like something they just did and now have to try and make work in S3.

pjcb · 16-07-2022 2:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119343790#Comment_119343790

I thought she was going to leave the restaurant business and go back to college?

Sudden Valley · 16-07-2022 2:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119345687#Comment_119345687

She really got the COO position because the business would have been finished without her. They are quite good at juggling a tremedous amounts of storylines with the gay president, danny's psychosis, the soviet and the daughter, the nasa chief being compromised. I predict alot of characters will have unhappy endings

Slydice · 16-07-2022 2:20pm

3.6: Well. This big development.. I'm not sure about.. they haven't really gone into it yet.

I can't tell if they've actually found liquid water.. that might not actually pan out.. things could go sideways on that.

Anyway..

Well.. there's the hab mission I mentioned missing out on from the earlier episodes. Sure seemed to land itself ok.

I wonder what the deal was with the formula Sergei wrote. Kinda cool spycraft there.

Looks like the Danny story is gonna go south. Feels like they are leaning into something like once-a-Stevens-always-a-Stevens

One of the top moments in the episode I thought was the interplay between Karen and the head of the USSR space agency with the 50% negotiation 😁

So at this point, my impression of the intelligence services of the USA in this universe is something at the level of:

😁😂🤣

pixelburp · 16-07-2022 2:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119345044#Comment_119345044

Ah ok, was thinking in a diegetic sense, it was the first time The Graduate got name dropped within the show.

Learning though the whole arc is just something invented for cheap drama is disappointing; means Danny's actions make even less sense than already, the whole Space Madness thing even less credible. This wasn't Ronald Moore speaking was it? Cos he has form for making **** up from his time with the Battlestar reboot 😂

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 16-07-2022 5:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119345824#Comment_119345824

It was Moore yeah. To be fair it was at the very start of the season and they weren't giving much away about what was to come, but the impression that I got from what he said was that they didn't necessarily have a plan for how it would carry over to S3, just that it definitely would. He actually said that his automatic response to criticism like that is to double down and give the audience even more of it, which I actually found quite funny, but he said that's not what he did with S3 but that he was determined not to just drop it.

I just find it a very weak link in an otherwise immaculately plotted show. To have Danny obsessing over Karen for this long when it apparently was only that one night, its pretty lazy, i think. No spoilers but there's stuff in this week's episode regarding Danny and it feels very lazy too. Like there were ways to get Danny to Mars in a not great mental shape that didn't have to be this. And they even could have brought up the Karen thing for more drama with Ed without having him be a creepy weirdo. The way they've done it just makes the character very unlikeable. Given who his parents were we should at least be sympathetic toward him, but I'm really struggling to care.

Sudden Valley · 22-07-2022 3:48pm

It is does point to the weakness in Ed's character that he didnt dismiss Danny. He is acting strange for way too long to be allowed perform critical tasks.

I hope Pam doesnt reconcile with Ellen. She has consistently treated her badly.

_Kaiser_ · 22-07-2022 11:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119373325#Comment_119373325

Well at least it's resulted in more than just Danny sulking around the base and hacking Ed's messages while popping pills.

Ed putting up with as much as he has is because of who Danny's parents where that's all. He feels responsible for him after their death. It's understandable, but he let it go too far.

JP Liz V1 · 23-07-2022 1:15am

Renewed for Season 4

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-07-2022 12:42pm

I still feel like having him sleep with Karen and then still be obsessing over her 10 years later was completely unnecessary, but at least it actually caused some big stuff to happen this week.

No idea where the Jimmy stuff is going but the fact he's messed up about his parents too kind of makes the Danny/Karen thing worse for me. They absolutely could have got Danny to the same place he's in now without that happening at all. And the animosity towards Ed could have come from that place too. Gordo and Tracey weren't great parents, they were absent a lot, and then they died in an avoidable situation. Ed was even partly responsible for Gordo back into space in the first place, if I recall correctly? He kind of caused the animosity with the Russians too when he held the cosmonaut hostage, I think?

But as I said, at least something big actually came from it at last.

Slydice · 23-07-2022 2:06pm

3.7: Feels like the creatives and cast are putting the work in but like the writers have taken their foot off the pedals.

The USA still have no intelligence services that I can make out 😁

I couldn't believe they mentioned tinker tailor soldier spy and not realise they've left out USA intelligences services from this universe.

The Danny story had moments but damn.. this Nick dude who Ed left in charge.. what a tool.

"oh there's just like 60 critical seconds where maybe I should sit here and pay attention... but nah.. I know I was left in charge but I'm gonna walk away.. do some math and then saunter back in with a cup o coffee.. that dude over there who I know is off his head on drugs and kicked my toy dog to bits... no problemo.. he's got everything in order"

Still though.. the effects of the avalanche were cool and I wonder how this water is going to show up.. boiling.. or frozen.. could be either I guess.. they did mention the level of pressure and I know that has an affect on the boiling point of water

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-07-2022 2:38pm

I wonder what the whole thing with Kelly and the water is about. Maybe it was just a way to have her and Ed fall out before the disaster happened, add a bit more drama to the mix.

23-07-2022 2:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376875#Comment_119376875

I suspect that opens up another story thread about the effects of Martian microbes, when she asked about killing a planet by not checking the microbes first, was it Mars, or earth?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-07-2022 3:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376910#Comment_119376910

When she was talking to Ed she said he'd be the first man to kill life on another planet. But I'm not sure if she meant they'd accidentally kill something that lived in the water, or that they shouldn't be drinking it because they'd all die?

23-07-2022 3:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119376984#Comment_119376984

I think one of the issues they might explore in this or the next season, is what they bring back with them.

I reckon there is another shoe to drop on Sergei, like Margot finding out there is no family and that the fight in the hotel was staged, and that she has been duped. Like a previous poster, I find the lack of CIA and that the two hippies could walk into NASA so easily, even if one is the son of hero astronauts, a bit too difficult to believe.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-07-2022 3:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119377007#Comment_119377007

I don't know if maybe the altered time line means the CIA aren't as on the ball with the Russians as they were in our timeline? Or it's possible they are there but are playing a long game and we'll see that revealed at some later date? But yeah, it seems pretty convenient that the head of NASA isn't being watched at all times.

As for the life on Mars thing, I was thinking the same regarding what they might bring back. I thought it might be a case of everyone getting violently ill this season from drinking it but after what happened this week I'm not sure they need any more drama on Mars, or even how many people will be left up there.

Cina · 24-07-2022 1:45pm

The Danny storyline has always been a scourge on the show and continues to be now. So awful and unnecessary.

also seriously who the leaves OxyContin, one of the most addictive pills on earth, in an open medicine cabinet? C’mon!

AlmightyCushion · 24-07-2022 2:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119380128#Comment_119380128

This is the 94. Back then it was considered to not be addictive or prone to abuse. Doctors in the US were prescribing that shít for headaches back then. So, it's not that hard to believe that he had easy access to it. Also went it originally in a locked cabinet and the took them.

pixelburp · 24-07-2022 2:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119380128#Comment_119380128

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119380291#Comment_119380291

Oxy is still be prescribed left right and centre to this day, and many of its addicts are "normal" people who just went in for wrist sprains and backpain. Doctors prescribe it as a reflex. Only now there's light shed on just how bad and normalised addiction is, so back in 94? No question, it'd be as common as paracetamol.

siblers · 28-07-2022 8:56pm

Why did they have Danny on comms when he's off his head on drugs. Bit silly even for this show

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 28-07-2022 10:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401018#Comment_119401018

There's only so many of them on the surface so he had to be given something to do, they couldn't just lock him away. Was kind of stupid of the other guy to just walk away and leave him unsupervised at such a pivotal moment though. Ed called him out for popping pills in front of everyone, and then he killed the dog, so it's not like him being a mess is a secret. I still love this show but there's been several Danny related moments that feel a bit contrived.

Slydice · 28-07-2022 11:38pm

contrived seems generous for the other dude just sauntering back in with the coffee as if nothing was going on

siblers · 28-07-2022 11:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401501#Comment_119401501

It was poorly written. Leaving the drug addict unsupervised during a potentially life or death scenario is just nonsensical

Sudden Valley · 29-07-2022 12:58pm

Really annoying that Ed and Danny still have not had that all important conversation. Also Eds daughter is an idiot. Actually whole family is made up of idiots. Not sure what ruskies are up to.

pixelburp · 30-07-2022 8:50pm

Episode 7 and Jesus if the show hasn't decided to make the Stevens' children the absolute worst. Danny the standout with the increasingly tedious drugged-up angle, but the brother and his weird old-young face was also a little tiresome - and feeling a little bit of a cul-de-sac. No real interest in these hick conspiracy idiots, and the blatant way Jimmy Stevens was being played only caused eyerolls.

The White House material was undercooked; would be happy to see a bit more of this, just a little smidge to flesh out the personal stakes. Of course we know what's at stake, having watched this unconventional partnership grow ... but felt the subplot just needed a few more scenes here and there; while the casualness with which the affair happened at all was a bit too flippant.

While the continued absence of Molly Cobb sucks. She got short shrift IMO and is a shame she got written out so comprehensively.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 30-07-2022 11:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119409326#Comment_119409326

I honestly can't believe the children of Gordo and Tracy Stevens are such melts.

Acosta · 31-07-2022 10:56am

Did they really kill off two of the best characters in the show so they could delve deeper into the characters of their weird children? Overall I'm still really enjoying this season, but could have done without this.

Also, the secret service aren't very good in this. They don't bother doing a security sweep of a house before the president goes in and decide not walk in and interrupt the president to let her know that a major crisis is unfolding.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 31-07-2022 11:56am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119410821#Comment_119410821

I think killing off Gordo and Tracy was fine, it was a shocking moment and given how we jump time between seasons it makes sense some older characters will make way for new ones. I just don't think they're doing a great job with either Stevens child. The sad part is that the guy playing Danny is a decent actor and if you look at most of his scenes without context they're good. This week's scenes with him and Ed trapped, and he started having a go at Ed about Shane, I thought they were great. The thing that's annoying though is the Karen thing hangs over it all, when there was just no need for it. Danny could be in exactly the same place mentally without ever having slept with Karen. Karen would be in the same place too.

As for Jimmy, I assume his new "friends" will eventually do something big, but I could live without having to see the buildup to it.

For All Mankind (SciFi Apple TV+)

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