For All Mankind S02E01 is the first episode of the 2nd season of this historical fantasy TV drama series streaming on Apple TV+. Created by Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Outlander), For All Mankind reimagines the space race of the 60s/70s as an alternate reality where the Soviet Union put a man on the moon before the USA. Season 1 begins with that crucial departure from our history and brings events to a different conclusion by season’s end.
For All Mankind S02E01 introduces an almost decade time jump into the narrative. It is now 1983 and Ronald Reagan is in the White House. The opening sequence details for our benefit the historical events of this alternate reality, some surprising deviations to emphasise that this is NOT our world.
Thus, the 1980s of this reality reveals to us a world where the USA and USSR had taken the space-race to its logical conclusion, establishing lunar colonies, space stations, travelling in space shuttles and planning to land on Mars. Which is in stark contrast to our reality where the space race had lost its importance by the time we hit the 1980s.
The characters from the first season have all changed in the last decade of course. Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) is now in charge of astronaut training, his wife Karen (Shantel VanSanten) now runs the Outpost, Gordo Stevens (Michael Dorman) is now divorced from Tracy (Sarah Jones) and is an alcoholic shell of his former self, while Tracy is thriving as a celebrity astronaut.
The key event of For All Mankind S02E01 is a solar storm that has significant impact on the Jamestown lunar colony, on Molly Cobb (Sonya Waiger) and highlights the cold war tensions of the 1980s.
The high quality of the characterisations and the plots continue to be maintained. It is a welcome return to the world of For All Mankind, and we look forward to more retro space race re-imaginations in the weeks to come!
Now streaming on AppleTV+.
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