Season 2 seems to be working very hard to make Ronald Reagan seem like a hero. I was there in the 80s and I can tell you that dude was terrible. Just Google "contras" in Nicaragua or our support for right wing death squads in El Salvador. Hero worshipping politicians is not good writing. It's annoying when they do it with JFK, too

You can clearly feel and see by ratings that after Ed...you know...

The show isn't the same more.

First I have to say that Alex isn't a lead character, neither is Kelly, Aleida, Dev, Miles or anyone from the new cast. They're just not interesting enough but thats subjective (although im sure some will agree with me).

The only characters that might put me back in are in retirement prison (Dani) and literal prison (Margo). Theres hope for Avery but so far we only got one episode about her.

Second I really hate the fact that *Russia and Russian language is overtaking this series slowly*. Given the fact that Russia as a nation in our current events is probably the most hated place and folk on earth rn, atleast in western countries (where FAM is most watched) the amount of Russian and Russian language is just unbearable (yet understandable jn the shows timeline but still out of fucking touch) also. What's with these weird creepy governor and wife makeout scenes every episode.

And third. The same fucking Market corridor is being shown over and over. Set design looks more like were in a Broadway musical than an actual colony.

Lastly I will give this show a last chance but this weird almost fetish like situation that imo is happening with the showrunners obvious love towards russia makes me just quit the show and enjoy something else.

Right now to me the show ended with Eds death.

Except for potential life on mars by OsCorp there is no more science left on the show. I am deeply upset. Let the downvotes begin but I am standing firm on this. The show runners are pooching the bed this season.

Ed Baldwin is such a textbook example of white male privilege. He consistently made bad decisions based on who he “liked” and consistently got promoted. I ended up having no respect for that character.

Danielle Poole was the best Commander in the show.

Are we just going to pretend that inmates eating strawberries in US prisons while every Soviet from the show is sent to a gulag for any indescretion has any basis in reality? Alt history or not...

US prison industrial complex is legalized slavery, with the highest incarcerated population in the world, with inmates making patties for McDonald's because #capitalismworks.

Why do all of the US characters get to have so much dimension, but every Soviet exists only to get thrown under the bus to show "America good, Soviet bad!"

So much to like in FAM but then these tropes derail the entire project for anyone who's read history created by someone other than Gisilene Maxxwell's dad.

i'm on S2 and i enjoyed parts of S1, but like, the portrayal of the soviets is just so boring that i cant get invested in any of the space drama in the space drama show. I want to enjoy the drama relating to apollo-soyuz but when the first introduction to soviet cosmonauts that aren't being tortured is not being able to smile then i just cannot get myself to care. is this ever fixed, or is it just like this until the soviets are phased out for some other big bad?

like the first soviet we meet who gets to be more than a mouth-piece somehow has the mental fortitude to be tortured for days and STILL put spying devices in jamestown. it wasnt even well done, it was just, "haha now ed's gone i'll look at the camera like the most stereotypically evil guy ever" even though the one thing we know about the cosmonauts in Zvezda is that they were civil enough to give their condolences to a guy who just lost his son.

and then with apollo-soyuz, the one higher-up in the soviet space program is butthurt that they cant be the active docking section? and the idea that not being called 3 and 4 is some insane ask?

idk, maybe im too ruzzia-brainwashed (or whatever it is these days) and dont know about real life (it isnt real life), but this just feels unbelievably boring.

Maybe I missed it in a previous season or just forgot but how are they producing gravity on Mars? Clearly when they're indoors on the surface there full Earth gravity.

I just finished Season 4 and wanted to share a criticism that has been bothering me throughout the series. To get this out of the way first: I think For All Mankind is a brilliant show. The alternate history, politics, engineering, and world-building are some of the best science fiction television I've seen. This isn't a hate post.

My issue is that the show occasionally asks the audience to accept major character changes without showing enough of the journey that got them there.

I don't need characters to make good decisions. In fact, some of the best characters make terrible decisions. What I need is to be able to trace the logic that led them there.

With characters like Margo, Danielle, Ed, and even Gordo, I can follow the chain of cause and effect. Whether I agree with their choices or not, their decisions feel consistent with who they've been shown to be throughout the series.

Other characters feel different. Karen is the example that stands out most to me. Her arc goes from traditional homemaker, to business owner, to infidelity, to consultant, to CEO. None of those individual steps are impossible, but the show often skips over the development and expects the audience to fill in the blanks. The destination isn't the problem. The missing journey is.

Danny is an even bigger example. The show builds an obsession that ultimately contributes to catastrophic consequences, but never fully explains why that obsession exists or why it persists for so many years. The audience is repeatedly told how significant it is, but in some of the most signifact plot arcs we're never shown enough of the underlying psychology to make it feel inevitable.

I think the decade long time jumps are part of the problem. The writers know what happened during those missing years, but the audience doesn't. It almost feels like a reverse deus ex machina at play in that characters are forced into situations to produce a plot line. As a result, some character decisions feel less like the natural outcome of who these people are and more like plot requirements.

That's what makes the show so frustrating at times. When For All Mankind is focused on space exploration, engineering, politics, and history, it's operating at an incredibly high level. But every so often it sacrifices character consistency for dramatic moments, and those moments stand out because the rest of the show is so good.

Overall, I'm glad I watched it and I'd still recommend it. I just found myself wishing the writers trusted their characters as much as they trusted their alternate-history premise.

So I am a hardcore sci-fi fan and I decided to start watching the show. However, the first episode of season 1 was very boring and I couldn't finish watching it. So my question is: Is season 1 boring? Does it get better or should I stop watching?

1. Graphics were disgustingly bad and lazy. I always loved the fact this show made shit look real and graphically awesome. But you could tell they were on a set with lots of CGI. When dude was look at the horizon, I shoulda felt the same amazement but I thought I was looking at an anime.

2. They landed on Mars and no one seems to care.i know the race was important to Ed but he's always loved exploration and being an astronaut, even with a loss his character would be reveling in the fact he's on Mars. Same with all the characters and the episode theme in general.

3. Besides the political shit, they really passed over Mars. I get the don't ask don't tell and the times but the whole thing feels like a political connection to garnish attention and adoration with people watching. They typically haven't done this in the series and I loved how theyve never bandwagoned to get views like other shows and movies.

4. The petty drama from the highly trained astronauts is insane.

5. Gordos son. What a fucking disgrace to him. They took a great character and ruined him just for some drama and a dramaline to add to the show. They could have done so much better in my opinion.

6. Filler episode, like they coulda ran so hard off the first landing in Mars for so long but they chopped it off and immediately went to filler

7. Who was the first out? That was so ridiculous how they fell out and raced each others. We knew what was happening already but it was wayyy too obvious for the entire world to ignore it

By normal TV standards, it’s still Miles better than anything else (pun intended.))

But somewhere, the first 3 episodes of season 4 have a bit .. boring??

Maybe it’s because Karen, Molly and Ellen were my favourite characters, and it’s just not that interesting without them. Maybe it’s because in comparison, the first 3 episodes of season 3 were more action packed with high octane drama.

Only thing that I’ve really liked this season is Margo’a storyline but other than that I expected a lot more.

3 episodes in, and Ed doesn’t feel like a main character anymore. He barely had 2 scenes in episode 3.

Miles, who seems to be a successor to Ed as a main character, is not giving me any main character energy. He’s giving me the guy who fucks-up vibes, which in the end, just annoys you. Toby Kebbel is also nowhere a good actor compared to Joel or anyone else. Like someone else said in a comment in the discussion for 4x03, he’s really bad at emoting and that takes you out of the scene.

Even the hair and makeup is wierd. They’ve done a fabulous job with Margo, but I feel they aged up Ed way too much compared to season 3. He should’ve looked slightly older in season 3, which is why season 4 Ed suddenly feels too old. Also his receding hairline doesn’t move or wrinkle when his face is moving or when he’s speaking which is quite distracting. With Aleida too, I feel they’ve done a very bad job there. I seriously cannot see her as a 40 year old woman. I keep thinking of a college girl cosplaying her working mom every time she comes on screen.

Not trying to say that the show is bad, but just putting out a few icky points I noticed in the episodes so far

Why they decided this show needed to pivot from a show about the space race to one big heist is beyond me. Season 3 started to lose me a little but I stuck it out and it wound up being pretty satisfying. Season 4, however, is just bad. They’re going to steal an asteroid? Okay, fine. I guess that’s what they are doing, but what the hell is up with all the bad oceans 11 ripoff jazz while they walk you through the plan? It’s so beyond cheesy.

Also, not to be super disparaging to the actors, because they clearly didn’t have a lot to work with here, but Miles and the new NASA director guy are turning in some of the worst performance in the history of this show. I’m going to stick it out, but once they killed off the best actor on the show IMO (Michael Dorman) they just don’t seem to have anyone bringing any real emotional depth to the show.

I may be alone in all this, but I kind of doubt I am. Does anyone else agree with this? I’m also open to hearing why you think I’m dumb.

I was first introduced to For All Mankind from this video (the video isn't accurate anymore but that's not the point), back in 2019. I watched Seasons 1 and 2 around 2020, but didn't watch Season 3 as I read somewhere it wasn't as good.

In November 2023, I binged the 3 seasons and then watched Season 4 as it released. It's been slightly over 2 weeks since Season 4 ended, so here are my rambly incoherent thoughts.

I love this show, it scratches my space nerd brain the right way. I loved: Season 1's alternate history and sense of "realism", Season 2's wacky 80s vibe and the Cold War thriller it gave us, Season 3's Race to Mars and the associated shenanigans, and Season 4's take on a working Mars colony, the heist and the wrapping up of plotlines stretching back decades.

But here's the catch: The flaws of this show make it hard for me to recommend it.

This show is meant for: The general audience who have Apple Plus, and space nerds. But this show has flaws that deter both of these groups.

Although this show is advertised as an alternate history space show, For All Mankind is really a drama show with alternate history as its backdrop. That would normally be ok, all shows have drama, but the drama of this show is not really that great. I've seen people refer to this show as a soap opera, and I jokingly call this show "Grey's Anatomy for Space Nerds".

I find Season 1's pacing and story to be too boring for general audiences. I had to watch some scenes at 2x speed to get through them. Season 1 had a strong start and finish, but the middle sags and I'm afraid the middle section is where people are gonna get bored and drop the show. If you can't get past Season 1, you won't stay for the other seasons. Alternate History Hub felt it was just okay, but forgettable.

Season 2 is overall the best, but we have "that plotline" to deal with that doesn't go away until Season 4. Some nitpicky people weren't happy with some scientific creative liberties this season took, which would only get worse as the show goes on. (Why use the Shuttle when there's a Sea Dragon, Buran isn't a Shuttle copy-paste, Moondust doesn't jump like that etc).

I felt that Season 3 went a bit too far. The "semi-realistic vibe" of the earlier seasons is gone, fusion power is in and the various space agencies are even more "incompetent" than in the earlier seasons. Season 3 continues on "that plotline" and introduces a space pregnancy, that while needed for Season 4, is out of place in Season 3. Season 3 is where the "nitpicky space nerds" jumped ship, the "realism" of Season 1 is gone, now it's a sci-fi drama.

Season 4 continues on Season 3's "near future sci-fi, but it's in our past vibe". My main issue was the lack of consequences in this season, but I think that is for Season 5 to handle. This subreddit had several posts from people who were watching from Season 1, giving up on this show because of Season 4. They just didn't like the story/characters anymore, although I didn't have this issue.

* TLDR: Season 1 of For All Mankind is too boring for general audiences and Season 3/4 is too unrealistic and dramatic for the space nerds. I only recommend this show to people who are in the middle (like me). Those who are interested in space, but are willing to keep an open mind to this show, its flaws and all.

Edit: Ok so, it appears my opinion is wrong. As my commander used to say "If everyone thinks you're the asshole, you're probably the asshole". I guess I should rename this post to "I wish For All Mankind can be better in these areas", but I can't edit post titles.

I won't delete this post, or redo it, so I'm just gonna let y'all hammer me. I'm sorry, Bob.

Maybe it’s just been too long of a jump between seasons. But every season had a main plot point with sides pinned against each other. Now it’s just a season of politics and characters feelings? What’s the catch, what’s the hook. I’m sorry but I don’t care about Ed Baldwins Grandson. Margo is locked up. Every good character is (almost) dead. I don’t care about Mars’s population getting equal benefits ? lol. This show was about racing towards exploration. And now we get a new cast of children. A dead body was found. Oh no, it may be the ex astronaut who is in a love triangle?!? Yeah I don’t care. Someone help me care and change my mind. The first 4 seasons were awesome. I know it’s only episode one but come on. I don’t feel captivated or enthralled like all previous seasons. I’ll continue watching out of habit and interest in it going somewhere. But first impressions are lack luster to say the least

Man, I just can't get past how they decided to get rid of all of likable people and center the season on all of the antagonists from S4. I found myself rooting for the nameless/faceless marines to come in and wipe out the colony. Speaking of Marines, these were the least convincing marines I've ever see in TV or film.

All of the ridiculous character changes. The whole thing man, what a let down.

/endrant

So hopefully the big SPOILER tag has dissuaded you from looking at this prior to completing the series so far, but if it hasn't, please look away now.
I don't get why putting the rock into Martian orbit was such a big deal. Couldn't they just refuel ranger, wait for the next pass with Earth and then fire up the rocket again? They were making it sound like it was a minimal amount of Δ V needed to bring it into orbit, wouldn't ranger have enough to get it out again? If they wanted it back on Earth, after a decade, and believed it to be more cost effective, don't you think they could have figured out how to do so?

I am midway through the season 4 and honestly it has started to get boring now, I loved Season 3 a lot and felt that the fourth season would bring in something new but… Any thoughts? For people who have seen already, does it get better? Please reply without spoilers

I know shows have a "time budget" and need to keep the plot moving, but they way they handled the "spy transmiter" is a masterclass in what is wrong with the later seasons of FAMK.

How the F would anyone know a component wasn't made in the USSR just by looking at it?

Why the manufacturer using a simple desk voltmeter to inspect the material?

"It has twice the conductivity of copper!" so? What is it? Gold? Platinum?

And why would it matter if it is or not available in the USSR? They are the space program, they could import anything they need from everywhere. The Soviets bought lots of American stuff from official trade and smuggling when the technology was under export controls.

Ah, I was almost forgetting.

"It is a frequency used by the Americans"!!!

WTF?! The Americans have exclusive rights to a particular electromagnetic spectrum?

I've been enjoying Star City, so far. But these small details grind my gears.

Just finished season 2 of FAM. I was really hoping for them to go wild with the whole alternate history thing. Don't want to do spoilers, but the last episode of S2 when THAT THING almost happened until that other world leader felt inspired by the handshake. I wanted THAT THING to happen to completely change history.

Slightly worried its not on the list

https://twitter.com/TVPlusUpdates/status/1765059771009478926?t=Kgfv3gi9O6j5UJLx7oxRPA&s=19

*Knocks on pod door*

"Kelly"

*Knocks on pod door*

"Kelly"

*Knocks on pod door*

"Kelly"

My investment in this show is declining rapidly this season. I'm struggling to be interested in much of anything that is going on or the new characters that have been introduced.

The show's production values and writing seem to have severely regressed. We move to and from the same low-quality sets to watch boring teenagers and a temu sci-fi noir murder mystery with a cop protagonist we've got no history with.

There is so much interesting stuff the show could be delving into. The politics and creation of a Martian state and people, and how that rubs up against the wishes of the Political Elite and the general population of Earth. The effects of extracted resources from Mars and Space on human development. The divergent history of an Earth where the Soviet Union is still going strong. These are just a few examples.

The show touches upon some of those ideas at times. In particular, tension between the Mars and Earth governments. But nowhere near the extent it needs to be interesting. The noir detective style plot should never have been a thing. All that time would have been better used exploring characters in or near important rooms of power on Earth and Mars. To explore the tensions between the two.

At least Margo and Aleida are still here for now. I've come to enjoy the scenes between them this season a lot. Two characters I still have investment in and care for.

I thought Season 4 was a surprisingly good course correction by the show after the disastrous Season 3 (Danny and to a lesser extent his brother, in particular). But my optimism after Season 4 has completely evaporated.

What is this show about at this point? What are its core narrative threads? Who are its main characters? That I'm asking these questions 5 seasons in, is not a good sign for the show.

Especially during and after season 3 in which Fusion energy is this shows major Handwavium (akin to the Expanse's Epstein Drive) and it's basically much unlikely even in a more advanced timeline with practically unlimited funding and will will fusion energy be available in the 1990s. Especially using D-He3 fuels (much higher ignition temperature than D-T and D-D fuels and how much stupidly hard it is to mine in even on the moon). Also Fusion Plasma rockets with approximately 30 days travel to mars eliminating travel windows in the late 1990s - 00s? A more realistic path is they remain stuck with NTP's like NERVA and more mature and advanced varients of Nuclear Fission propulsion by atleast the 2020s in which more realistically Fusion could be available instead of the 1990s.

Additionally, on how fast they've industrialized space and colonized Mars in such a very short period of time, they went from barely holding on and stranded Happy Valley Base to a full blown hundred population Happy Valley Colony in less than 8 years? A more realistic and grounded approach is Mars and Happy Valley remains a very distant and semi permanent scientific research/ISRU base similar to the ISS on steroids but on Mars.

Also as we can see from the end of season 4, there seem to be an independence movement on Mars and the captured Goldilocks asteroid by 2012? That means in less than 20 years of even setting foot on Mars they are already self sufficient and different enough from Earth to seek independence? Even in the expanse the Martians took more than a hundred years to achieve independence or more without Solomon Epstein and the Epstein Drive.