For all Mankind 5.03
Apr. 12th, 2026 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which there is added poignancy due to the sole good RL news these past ten days, i.e. the Artemis II moon mission, which I admit to following avidly.
As I guessed, Ed had ended last episode only mostly dead and not dead dead, and got the main plot of this episode to say farewell to his loved ones and the audience. Which may sound flippant on my part, but much as Ed especially in later seasons made me growl at my tv screen a lot, he was an important part of the show from the beginning, and the show did wave goodbye honestly, pointing out his good and bad sides . I must admit I was at first a bit confused why we got the flashbacks to Korean War era Ed - other than allowing Joel K. to act without all the old age makeup one more time - as opposed to flashbacks to early show era, but then a) I realised the significance of the name Shane, and b) we did get the final sequence, unabashedly pulling out all the stops as the speaker whom Ed had kept hearing through the episode, saying "Are you ready, Skipper?" turned out to be Gordo, and the final flashback was to Ed and Gordo walking towards their Gemini mission (in this AU, I take it they were the first USians in space), Karen and Shane being there, and the final image being of Gemini making it into space - it's the kind of thing which could have felt kitschy but didn't, at least not to me.
Ed's wasn't the only plot n this episode dealing with goodbyes and encouraging the next generation(s), which he does with Kelly and Alex. The other one was Margo talking Aleida into using Soujourner, the spacecraft Aleida had been a key engineer off all the way back in s3, to beat Kuragin which has spies among Aleida's people to Titan. Knowing, as both Margo and Aleida do, it's possible they'll never see each other again. (Not necessarily, snce Margo is eight or so years younger than Ed and in better condition, but come on. The show ensuring that Aleida will be in space and not on Earth when this season's plot developments come to a head will ensure she won't come back any time soon. The idea of these two never seeing each other again made me almost cry, and yet: Margo giving Aleida this last gift, freeing her to return to space, feels right. And as mentioned elsewhere, Margo's narrative arc had come full circle in last season's finale already, which doesn't mean I wasn't glad about the scenes with her and Aleida this season - not least because their relationship really is my favourite in the show. And now that Aleida won't be there anymore to talk shop with Margo, she will not be able to use her brilliant mind for space engineering ever again.
(Unless when the Mars rebellion inevitably breaks out and/or the competion with Kuragin gets to boiling point, TPTB on Earth realise they are now seriously lacking brilliant engineers and get Margo out of prison, but I doubt it.)
Meanwhile, my new fave Celia Boyd has a rough time in more ways than one, as she still seems to be the only person interested in finding out the truth about the murder. (Especially since it's more than likely both the Governor and her immediate boss know all about the illegal Kuragin shipments.) We learn a bit more about her background and why she ended up on Mars, and also that she's a lesbian, which is good because since Ellen retired and Will isn't around amymore, all the regulars were exclusively het. Stay on the case, Celia Boyd, I believe in you!' The rest of the Helios settlement on Mars gets ever stricter and unfair "security", which in this day and age makes it impossible not to associate ICE, especially when young Lilly says she has rights and the security guy says no she doesn't.
(I'm still more keen on the Kelly and Aleida go to Titan storyline than on the Mars Rebellion storyline, but that's because I really want space scenes again!
As I guessed, Ed had ended last episode only mostly dead and not dead dead, and got the main plot of this episode to say farewell to his loved ones and the audience. Which may sound flippant on my part, but much as Ed especially in later seasons made me growl at my tv screen a lot, he was an important part of the show from the beginning, and the show did wave goodbye honestly, pointing out his good and bad sides . I must admit I was at first a bit confused why we got the flashbacks to Korean War era Ed - other than allowing Joel K. to act without all the old age makeup one more time - as opposed to flashbacks to early show era, but then a) I realised the significance of the name Shane, and b) we did get the final sequence, unabashedly pulling out all the stops as the speaker whom Ed had kept hearing through the episode, saying "Are you ready, Skipper?" turned out to be Gordo, and the final flashback was to Ed and Gordo walking towards their Gemini mission (in this AU, I take it they were the first USians in space), Karen and Shane being there, and the final image being of Gemini making it into space - it's the kind of thing which could have felt kitschy but didn't, at least not to me.
Ed's wasn't the only plot n this episode dealing with goodbyes and encouraging the next generation(s), which he does with Kelly and Alex. The other one was Margo talking Aleida into using Soujourner, the spacecraft Aleida had been a key engineer off all the way back in s3, to beat Kuragin which has spies among Aleida's people to Titan. Knowing, as both Margo and Aleida do, it's possible they'll never see each other again. (Not necessarily, snce Margo is eight or so years younger than Ed and in better condition, but come on. The show ensuring that Aleida will be in space and not on Earth when this season's plot developments come to a head will ensure she won't come back any time soon. The idea of these two never seeing each other again made me almost cry, and yet: Margo giving Aleida this last gift, freeing her to return to space, feels right. And as mentioned elsewhere, Margo's narrative arc had come full circle in last season's finale already, which doesn't mean I wasn't glad about the scenes with her and Aleida this season - not least because their relationship really is my favourite in the show. And now that Aleida won't be there anymore to talk shop with Margo, she will not be able to use her brilliant mind for space engineering ever again.
(Unless when the Mars rebellion inevitably breaks out and/or the competion with Kuragin gets to boiling point, TPTB on Earth realise they are now seriously lacking brilliant engineers and get Margo out of prison, but I doubt it.)
Meanwhile, my new fave Celia Boyd has a rough time in more ways than one, as she still seems to be the only person interested in finding out the truth about the murder. (Especially since it's more than likely both the Governor and her immediate boss know all about the illegal Kuragin shipments.) We learn a bit more about her background and why she ended up on Mars, and also that she's a lesbian, which is good because since Ellen retired and Will isn't around amymore, all the regulars were exclusively het. Stay on the case, Celia Boyd, I believe in you!' The rest of the Helios settlement on Mars gets ever stricter and unfair "security", which in this day and age makes it impossible not to associate ICE, especially when young Lilly says she has rights and the security guy says no she doesn't.
(I'm still more keen on the Kelly and Aleida go to Titan storyline than on the Mars Rebellion storyline, but that's because I really want space scenes again!
