For All Mankind 4.9: Progress

"Without competition, there is no progress," Sergei says to Margot and Aleina, near the beginning of Episode 4.9 of For All Mankind, up on Apple TV+ tonight.  Later, he suggests that he and Margot leave the US and go to Brazil, which already has started an impressive space program (a nice alternate history touch).  And ...

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

At the end of this emotionally wrenching episode, some soulless KGB guy kills him. It's undoubtedly a good move in the plot, because it likely keeps Margot here in the United States (she won't go back to the Soviet Union when she finds out what the KBG did to Sergei), but I would have liked to see the two in Brazil, building yet a fifth space program, in addition to NASA, Roscosmos, Dev's, and whatever the North Koreans call theirs.  That would have made for a great alternate history, maybe even a spinoff series from For All Mankind, plus I like happy endings.  But it was not to be, and Sergei (good job acting these past few seasons Piotr Adamczyk) learned in the hardest way that sometimes competition -- in this case, between the US and the USSR -- can result in just the opposite of progress.

Though up on Mars, there may be some progress in the relationship of Ed and his daughter. Kelly.  I say "may be," because even though we saw a great scene of Ed explaining why he stayed up on Mars and lied to her, what's Kelly going to think and do when she finds out what Ed and Dev are trying to do with the asteroid?  It's already pretty rough up there -- or out there -- with one North Korean killing another, and the CIA and KGB agents cooperating to beat the truth out of Miles.  So it's tough to say what will happen in the season finale next week, other that it can't be all good, and likely won't, and very likely will be worse in some way or ways than we might have expected.

All of which is to say it should be one outstanding season finale next week, and I'll be back here with my review.

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

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