For four seasons, For All Mankind has been astounding viewers with its conquest of space. This highly emotional series with its many clever time jumps is an absolute must for all sci-fi fans.
One of the best science fiction series of our time begins in the past. Initially, For All Mankind actually has nothing to do with the future. Instead, we see familiar images from 1969, with the world watching the space race in awe. The historic event flickers across countless screens. Astronauts, spacesuits and rockets – and then a moment of irritation and uncertainty.
A Russian cosmonaut becomes the first person to set foot on the moon. This is not how we remember the story. Is For All Mankind playing a trick on us? No, one detail changes the entire course of the story and creates an exciting mind game. The result is so good that it has landed in third place in our ranking of the best science fiction series since 2000
The sci-fi series For All Mankind changes history step by step until we land on Mars
After the failure of the first moon landing, all eyes are on NASA. The US government’s space program is under massive pressure. Under no circumstances should the Soviet Union be allowed to take over space while US rockets are unable to get off the ground. The Cold War spreads to the moon and later to Mars. With each season, For All Mankind moves further into the future
Here you can watch the trailer for For All Mankind:
Although we have only passed the turn of the millennium after four seasons and are therefore theoretically still in the past, the series has moved into sci-fi territory thanks to technical achievements. It addresses the genre’s most disturbing questions. This particularly concerns the role of humans, who, despite their considerable creative power, are often powerless in the face of the final frontier.
The premise, which is strongly influenced by the political and social image of the 1960s, ultimately resulted in a nerve-wracking space western that sees the moon and Mars as another piece of land that can be conquered and eroded. The journey is no longer heading west. Nevertheless, man enters an environment that he wants to own, even though he does not know it and cannot control it.
For All Mankind reaches for the stars without forgetting the people who are left behind on Earth
In the future of For All Mankind, the decisive stages of human history are repeated, this time in the face of eternal darkness and compressed into the narrow corridors of a space station. Man against man, man against nature. The battle for raw materials and the exploitation of foreigners, while home, the small blue planet, is repeatedly pushed into the background – at least almost
(Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison in For All Mankind)
One of the most amazing feats For All Mankind has pulled off each season so far is its passionate remembrance of the people left behind. The great drama takes place not only against the backdrop of the starry sky, but often in stuffy office spaces, without which coordination in the undiscovered vastness would be impossible – a fascinating relationship of dependence.
Space expert Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt) is one of the characters who has yet to set foot in space, even though she knows all the secrets of space travel inside out. Instead, she is caught between the forces of the Cold War and cannot escape. What is certain, however, is that without her knowledge, astronaut Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) would probably never have reached Mars.
In For All Mankind, two words are enough to resolve the biggest dispute millions of kilometers away
Man cannot let go when setting off into the new world. That would be far too easy. Especially when someone like Ronald D. Moore is behind the series. Even in Battlestar Galactica, he didn’t shy away from uncomfortable conflicts when it came to negotiating interpersonal relationships in front of timeless sci-fi motifs, while the narrative elegantly oscillates between soap and social novel..
(Joel Kinnaman as Ed Baldwin in For All Mankind)
For All Mankind also has many of those larger-than-life moments where you can’t wait for the cliffhanger to be resolved in the next episode. Goosebumps are inevitable when the series slowly reveals one of its time jumps. Even more powerful, however, are the moments in which the precious preparatory work of countless minutes of the series is unleashed in just one sentence between two people.
“Hi, Bob.”
In its four seasons, the series has already ventured into the darkest corners and abysses between Earth, Moon and Mars, where the hope, idealism and spirit of discovery that usually characterizes the sci-fi character of For All Mankind is lost. In darkness and loneliness, people lose and alienate themselves, especially as the Cold War never fades and continues to divide, even in space.
It is precisely then that these two inconspicuous words are needed to unite even after the worst division. A shared experience that reminds, that grounds.
“Hi, Bob.”
For four seasons, For All Mankind has carried this cautious approach around with it, initially as a running gag borrowed from another series. Later as an existentialist key to understanding, even when man has made a mistake.
To read on: For All Mankind and the sci-fi paradise Apple TV+
In a series that sets off into the vastness of space and can’t leave Earth even after decades, these two words mark the core of For All Mankind. The simple is the escape to an undiscovered place, but even this will fall apart if the characters do not approach each other. “Hi, Bob” is a mutual recognition. The greatest vision of the future in For All Mankind is that it is possible together.
