While the For All Mankind Season 5 premiere was slow and controlled, Episode 2 is total chaos.
This show has always been chaotic, but it thrives best when the chaos comes from different places.
These characters have something going on in their lives as they confront regular challenges of existence, but when multiple forces and notions converge, then everything becomes unpredictable.
For All Mankind Season 5 Episode 1, “First Light,” was not exactly boring. Without it, we wouldn’t have “The Hard Six,” but it wasn’t that exciting either.
Enter Mystery and Thrill
This hour introduces the excitement in the aftermath of the murder accusation lodged against Lee.
This accusation exposes just how fragile this colony is because everyone is pulled in different directions.
Happy Valley is in that stage of figuring things out, and that always comes with some growing pains.
The laws here are different, but, as we’ve come to expect on Earth, sometimes people slip through the cracks when there’s no precedent for the life they lead. Other times, the law simply ignores them.
There has never been a precedent for the kind of life Lee lives as a fugitive without citizenship.
Everyone immediately comes to his support, as those who know him attest to the fact that he could not have murdered someone.
It is odd how everyone, apart from Alex’s Russian friend, is not even the least bit skeptical that Lee indeed could have murdered a romantic rival.
Anyone is capable of anything; no matter how well you know them, there’s always a first.
Ed champions Lee’s freedom — or at least a trial that doesn’t sentence him to death — and goes to great lengths to help his friend.
Ed is a rebel, a rule-breaker, and a troublemaker, so this is very on-brand for him. But to his credit, he does try all the legal methods without success.
It’s so funny to see just how little people change even as they age. To the outside world, he’s an old man, but inside, he’s still the thirty-something-year-old we met in Season 1.
I’ve never been a huge Ed fan. It might not come as a shock to anyone who follows my coverage of network shows like Fire Country or Marshals that I take any character written as a chaos agent with some skepticism.
Sometimes I feel like I would enjoy the show more without him, but I also don’t want him gone.
The fact that he might die after doing something heroic, such as breaking Lee free, makes me want to curse at this show’s writers.
Why would you do this to me? His potential death would hit cleaner emotionally if it happened under straightforward circumstances — but For All Mankind is anything but straightforward.
Trouble Came Long Ago
The Lee storyline is the Trojan horse for what appears to be the season’s arc: illegal activity on Mars.
Dev doesn’t want to give the M6 any reason to invade Mars, but what if there already is one?
The introduction of this storyline raises the stakes for the season as we get acquainted with peacekeeper Celia.
I wanted to hate her, but the way she approaches this case earns her some of my respect.
In stories about colonialization, law enforcement is full of yesmen who prefer not to think but use their muscles to break bones and smash heads.
Seeing a peacekeeper who actually cares about the facts hints at an unpredictable direction for the story, especially because she’s not afraid to question powerful institutions.
With the rebellion brewing, she could prove a great resource for the resistance.
Meanwhile, Helios may have found extraterrestrial life. Why am I not excited?
Because it doesn’t feel huge enough. The scientists may have found some proteins somewhere, and that’s it.
This should have been a larger reveal than how it was executed. It came too early and should have been held off until the team had something concrete.
While Kelly, Aleida, and the rest of the gang might be losing their marbles over the proteins, that doesn’t seem like much to the average person.
Wake me up when they find something sentient and intelligent.
Gut Check
For All Mankind Season 5 Episode 2 does what should have probably happened on Episode 1: it introduces the tension that had been missing from the conflicts in the premiere episode.
The space chase was the highlight of the episode, almost like a regular street police chase — the tension, music, lights — 10/10, no notes.
Perhaps the first episode would have benefited from a longer runtime, allowing all these arcs to be compressed into a single episode.
With a 46-minute runtime, “The Hard Six” feels too short to truly make an impact on the storyline. Hopefully, the next one kicks things up a notch.
Intrusive Thoughts
- Speaking of kicking things up a notch, is this it for Ed Baldwin? I can’t tell if he died or if he has passed out. I’ll be sad to see him go, but I might not miss him as much as I miss other characters like Danielle.
- I want to commend Joel Kinnaman for nailing old Ed with the mannerisms, but then he opens his mouth, and one can hear the vocals of a younger man. It’s just as jarring to me as watching dubbed audio.
- The aging of characters is definitely an issue because, no matter how well makeup matches the actors to the characters’ ages, the illusion is broken by the actors’ physicality. Is it truly possible for someone younger to convincingly play a younger character?
Over to you, For All Mankind Fanatics. What did you think of the story this hour? Do you think this is it for Ed Baldwin? Will you be sad to see him go?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you’re moved to, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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