For All Mankind S02E04 is the fourth instalment of the 2nd season of a 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 resulting in continued focus on space well into the 1980s.
Entitled “Pathfinder”, For All Mankind S02E04 finds Ed Baldwin in a new phase of life, after the emotional events of the last episode, which closed the chapter of Baldwin’s life keeping him earthbound. With his daughter Kelly off to the Naval Academy, Baldwin’s wife Karen persuades him to get back into space.
Read our analysis of For All Mankind Season 1.
Having quit the Head of the Astronaut Office post – which Baldwin has held for almost a decade since returning from the ill-fated Jamestown mission – Baldwin selects himself to command the Pathfinder space shuttle mission and takes it upon himself to help both Gordo Stevens and Dani Poole, the two astronauts that together with Baldwin established the original lunar base, Jamestown.
While superficially, “Pathfinder” seems at best a transitionary episode, in essence the stories help to seed the plot lines that will probably occupy the rest of the season, with the three key characters out on their own professional, and personal, missions.
Read our reviews of For All Mankind Season 2 so far.
“Pathfinder” of course, is the nuclear-powered space shuttle that will – in this alternate reality – carry human beings to Mars – a venture that has never materialised in the ‘real’ world. This is only logical. Back in 1969, when the Americans landed the first men on the Moon, it would probably be hard to fathom that more than half a century later, landing on Mars is still a feat unachieved.
Which should make the rest of Season 2 interesting for sure, to see if at least in this alternate reality, man finally makes it to Mars.
Now streaming on AppleTV+.
… still there’s more …