Well, I didn't like For All Mankind 5.4 much at all. I'll you why after I alert you to spoilers:
[There will be spoilers ahead ... ]
The big reveal in episode 5.4 of For All Mankind is that Dev is on a path of replacing we humans with robots in our presence on Mars and movement further out in space.
In our reality, critics of our space programs have been saying since the Apollo successes in the late 1960s that a more economic and safer way of extending our species and civilization out in space is via robot surrogates. I've been thinking and saying for years that robots don't have the emotional subtlety to appreciate what humans see and feel off this planet. The recent Artemis II return to the Moon brought home that essential point. As Janet Sayyed back here on Earth noted, "Missions like Artemis II, which require long-duration habitation and hands-on scientific work, depend on that kind of flexibility, the kind no machine can fully replicate." That's certainly the case for our current AI and technology.
Of course, For All Mankind is alternate history, so what's wrong that it hypothesizing that in the alternate timeline, we have indeed developed the kind of robots that have our human subtlety, in 2012 and ensuing years? Well, nothing's wrong with that, from a dramatic point of view, if a foundation has been established that in this alternate history, AI and robots have become so advanced in 2012+. But Dev's plan is a complete surprise.
Even worse, however, is why the creators of For All Mankind have chosen this path? If it's all just a set-up to see Dev and his plan defeated, then I guess it's ok. There's no doubt that, in our reality, our journey off this planet has been slowed and interrupted by all kinds of ideational obstacles. So I'll reserve ultimate judgement until we see how Dev's plan plays out. In the meantime, I'll confine myself to complaining that I didn't particular enjoy this episode after the revelation of what Dev's up to, after I was already disappointed that Ed Baldwin didn't live a little longer.
See also For All Mankind 5.1: On the Intersection of Alternate and Real Histories ... 5.2: Actor Reunions ... 5.3: The Newton, the First Amendment, and ... Last Breath
And 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 ... 4.10: Earth vs. Mars
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
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