Out of this world TV: Season 4 of ‘For All Mankind’ enters new millennium
Whether it takes “one small step” or “one giant leap” to get to your couch, do it “For All Mankind.” The hit Apple TV+ television series “For All Mankind” is back for a fourth season Friday, Nov. 10, after taking a yearand-a-half-long hiatus. With one Primetime Emmy win under its belt already, the sci-fi drama’s newest season is comprised of another 10 episodes, thus bringing the total episode count for the series to a whopping 40.
The series first made (gravitational?) waves when it premiered on its home streamer in 2019. Marketed as an alternate version of 1969, in which “the Soviet Union beats the United States to the moon” (per IMDB), the series reimagines history and speculates how this one change in events could have sparked a whole new world order. Largely focused on the political and scientific ramifications of the then-u.s.s.r. making history on the moon, “For All Mankind” Season 1 leaned into the idea of a space race that “continues on for decades with still grander challenges and goals.”
With the premiere of Season 2 in February 2021, the astronauts faced an all-new set of challenges that took place more than a decade after the moon landing. Having confronted everything from lunar ice and trespassers to gender debates in Season 1, the next two seasons promised higher stakes and bigger problems. And on this promise, it surely delivered.
From natural disasters such as solar storms and generally harsh living conditions to personal qualms ranging from reckless and selfish behavior to ego-based contests and grand political motivations, there has never been a dull moment on the screen — or in the lives of “For All Mankind’s” fictionalized astronauts and their families.
One of these astronauts is Edward Baldwin, played by “The Killing’s” Joel Kinnaman. The head of the Baldwin family, which has seen some serious struggles throughout the show’s three seasons to date, Ed is one of NASA’S best astronauts and is rumored to have been based upon real-life Apollo 10 commander Thomas P. Stafford. While Ed has been supported by several family members over the years, including Karen (Shantel Vansanten, “Shooter”), Kelly (Cynthy Wu, “Holidate,” 2020) and Shane (played by brothers Teddy and Tait Blum, “Big Little Lies” and “Shooter,” respectively), the only confirmed Baldwin returning (other than Ed) is Kelly. That said, the others may still make an appearance or two as the season’s 10 episodes progress.
Joining Ed in space and on Earth are returning characters Ellen Wilson (Jodi Balfour, “Quarry”), an astronaut who, to put it in a way that avoids spoilers for those not yet caught up, is a high achiever in every corner of her life; Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt, “Nope,” 2022), a NASA engineer based on Apollo program veteran Frances “Poppy” Northcutt; fellow astronaut Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall, “Supergirl”), who, like Ellen, is a member of “Nixon’s Women”; Helios Aerospace founder Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi, “The Blacklist”), who is in constant competition with both NASA and the Soviet Union in the race for Mars; and Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña, “The Post,” 2017), an undocumented American with a passion for all things space-related.