For All Mankind 4.10: Earth vs. Mars

An outstanding Season 4 finale for an outstanding season of For All Mankind, firing on all kinds of deep cylinders.

First, it was great to hear The Rolling Stones' "Out of Time," with Mick Jagger sounding, I don't know, a little like Dev, or is that just me?

[And there may be spoilers ahead ... ]

And here are the high points for me:

1. Aleida hugging Margot as the FBI are taking her away, after Aleida has put in the code that Margot suggested, steering the Goldilocks asteroid into Mars orbit.  I agreed completely with Margot's reasoning, and I'm only sad that it took Sergei's murder to move Margot towards that position.

2.  Still on Margot: will she be more vulnerable to Soviet assassins in US prison than was Sergei not in prison in the US?  I don't know -- maybe, maybe not. I certainly think her chances of lasting long on her own wouldn't be too good.

3. Speaking of lasting long, is Irina on her way to getting the same treatment as Sergei, as she walks into that Putin-like leader Korzhenko's office in Moscow?  Also I don't know.  But it doesn't look good for her, and that's fine with me (though the actress Svetlana Efremova has been doing a fine job).

4. I'm really glad Poole survived.  I mean, she's not going back to Mars or anywhere off Earth any time soon, but she's a great character, and I'll be happy to see her in cameos or whatever in future seasons.

5. Kim is reunited with his wife, who comes to Mars!  This is about as close as you get to a happy ending in For All Mankind, in any season.  (I wasn't quite clear who those other people were, though, who Kim doesn't look too happy about.  Military from North Korea?)

6. And, last but certainly not least, Mars with the resources of Goldilocks can become a real player in the solar system.

See you back here with reviews of Season 5, whenever it's up!

Chuck Todd and Paul Levinson talk Alternate History, including For All Mankind

See also For All Mankind 4.1: Back in Business and Alternate Reality ... 4.2: The Fate of Gorbachev ... 4.3-4.4: The Soviet Union in the 21st Century, On Earth and Mars ... 4.5: Al Gore as President and AI ... 4.6: Aleida and Margot ... 4.7: Dev on Mars ... 4.8: Sergei and Margot ... 4.9: Progress

And see also For All Mankind 3.1: The Alternate Reality Progresses ... 3.2: D-Mail ... 3.3-3.4: The Race

And see also For All Mankind, Season 1 and Episode 2.1: Alternate Space Race Reality ... For All Mankind 2.2: The Peanut Butter Sandwich ... For All Mankind 2.3: "Guns to the Moon" ... For All Mankind 2.4: Close to Reality ... For All Mankind 2.5: Johnny and the Wrath of Kahn ... For All Mankind 2.6: Couplings ... For All Mankind 2.7: Alternate History Surges ... For All Mankind 2.8: Really Lost in Translation ... For All Mankind 2.9: Relationships ... For All Mankind 2.10: Definitely Not the End