For All Mankind

[ElaineB]

Anyone watching this? For the curious who’ve never heard of it, it reimagines history if the Soviets got to the moon first. Mixes archival footage with fictional stories. Each season leaps ahead about 10 years, which is kind of mindboggling.

I discovered it when I realized my phone plan gave me Apple TV+. I’ve finished the existing four seasons, and looking forward to season 5. At first I didn’t care for it, didn’t find any character I liked (except maybe Molly Cobb), but many grew on me (except for Ed Baldwin who is insufferable).

It’s very creative and the special effects are pretty amazing. And I just learned the actor who plays Molly Cobb is British (well, Brit and American citizenship and lived in Argentina) and I’m gobsmacked (likewise for Ellen’s actor—South African). Don’t know why it always stuns me when a foreigner does an American accent (except for a Boston accent. No one not native can do that.).

 

[lizmonster]

We've been watching. It's gone very soap-opera, but it does it so well.

I remember when it came out. The reviews were lackluster, and I was disappointed, as a lover of all things Space Program. But I read one review that said it picked up in Episode 4, so we gave it a shot.

And yeah. The number of times Ed has exhausted my patience has easily reached double digits. He's infuriating, and so well played.

 

[ElaineB]

Yeah, I was surprised it took three episodes for the women to show up. What drew me to it was that they were going to have a big role. (They do.) And without spoiling anything, as good as the special effects are, including aging the characters, they did a miserable job with the hair pieces.

 

[Maryn]

We finished it some time ago and mostly liked it, although the soap-opera aspect is a valid criticism. I like alternate history, and while I don't know/remember a lot about the space program at that time, to me it seems well researched. Some of the characters are suitably complex, while others are not as well fleshed out.

I particularly like Margo, who's so smart yet so rigid she can't even admit to herself she's unhappy or lonely. Her story arc is my favorite.

 

[ElaineB]

Yes, I love Margo. She so quietly slips into this massive plot for, I think, all very good reasons. And Danielle. And Aleida. I even grew to like Tracy, though her storyline took some weird leaps. I hated Karen at first--creepy Stepford wife. Ellen's arc drove me crazy, much as I had to accept the reality of her situation. I don't think this is a spoiler to note that Sally Ride has a very interesting, daring storyline that is simply dropped. She vanishes.

 

[phantom000]

It should have ended with season 2. Season 3 felt like they didn't know where to go with their main characters.