While awaiting the return of the Star Trek and Star Wars televisions series (by the way, do not forget that the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery is slated to start tomorrow), I started to watch For All Mankind on Apple TV+. I am only halfway through season two, but I have enjoyed every minute so far. I am just surprised there has not been more press about this impressive series.
I was somewhat skeptical to start the series because I knew it was an alternate reality to our actual space program. Yet what I saw as a weakness was actually the show’s strength. The series re-imagines the space race with the Russians, having the U.S. set up a Moon base after the Russians are the first to step foot on the Moon. It just shows us what could have been if we did not stop the Apollo program 50 years ago and dither around until the Artemis program.
And while the series has plenty of action – almost as though your are watching multiple Apollo 13 movies – what makes it different is that it has heart. It is almost the Mad Men of NASA, showing the good and bad of that period in terms of human lives.
For All Mankind is honest about the period from the 1960s through the 1980s, showing that the real drama was right here on Earth as we dealt with Vietnam, racism, immigration, marital and family issues, and even a lesbian astronaut.
I did not expect all of this in one show, nor the superb acting that makes it all come to life. I am now hooked on the series, finding it strange that I already have nostalgia for an American lunar space program that never existed even though it could have.
The series continues with a Mars program in seasons 3 and 4, but I do not want to get ahead of myself. Let’s just say this other America gets to the Red Planet long before we do.
We are creating plenty of drama today with the real lunar program currently under way, as well as an eventual Mars program. It may in fact lead to some great television series down the line. I just hope we stick to the script and keep the current drama going for years to come.
Our Awesome Universe 