For All Mankind

For All Mankind is one of my favorite sci-fi shows that I've ever seen and that's not hyperbole. I really can't get over how much I loved this show. It's a sci-fi show where Russia beat us to the moon and the great space races never ended. It may start off a little slow for some but after a few episodes you'll be hooked. It gets more exciting the further into the show you get. It's a character driven show that takes you into the lives of NASA astronauts and their families. The visuals in this are amazing and how they take real footage and real life videos and intertwine them with fiction into the show is awesome. This is an intense sci-fi series that must be watched by any true sci-fi fan. I hope they continue to more seasons.

I have to say that I enjoyed For All Mankind a lot more than I thought I would. It's actually become one of my favorite new shows of the last few years. It's a sci-fi mystery thriller that takes you down the road of "what if" during the space races. While the show does has its flaw overall it is a very good show. The writing and acting are all terrific, especially Joel Kinnamon. The use of actual footage and real events just make the story that much better. Each episode gets better and better. I put off watching it for some reason and I'm now binging all 3 seasons and can't stop. If you're a sci-fi fan and have been putting it off like me...stop! Go watch this as soon as possible because I promise you won't be disappointed.

So far, I am enjoying it. Most of us who are space program enthusiasts know about Werner Von Braun's history with the Nazis. That he was brought to the US with his colleagues to work on ballistic missiles (initially with the US Army Ballistic Missile Agency) but during his confrontation with the Congressional Panel, this was not brought up. The US knew about his background, but did not disclose this initially.

Also, there's a woman character - Margo Madison - who at one point says, "I know the code!" This has made me wonder if her character is a shout out to Margaret Hamilton, the woman engineer who led the Apollo guidance computer software development team at the MIT Instrumentation Lab (now the Draper Lab). You can find photos online of her standing next the pile of computer printout of the Apollo computer code.

This show has a cool premise, that being what if the space race never ended. It's a sort-of alternate reality and it does a good job of weaving in actual historical events with where the timeline diverged. The main problem is that I feel like the show is being pulled in two directions. In one direction, there is the tension of the space race, engineers scrambling to be the first on the moon/mars and dealing with all manner of technical issues in a realistic-ish way. That part of the show I enjoy. Then, for some reason, the show also throws in a bunch of trite interpersonal drama and stupidity. Like inter-marital affairs, people leaking NASA secrets to the soviets, and a CLEARLY unstable drug-addicted astronaut being given solo control of a super important mission. It's like the showrunners thought the show couldn't stand on it's own without dumb drama, as if there couldn't organically be issues and drama in the context of Frigging SPACE. The first season does this better, but by the 2nd/3rd seasons most of the issues come not from unforeseen difficulties of life on the moon/mars but idiots. It really makes me wonder if they just aren't sure who their audience are. The people who like the technical stuff are not going to like the artificial drama, and vise-versa. Pick a lane, show, and stick with it.

I've completed season 1 and have been hugely impressed with this production. The storyline is fictional space exploration from a US viewpoint in competition with Russia, coupled with the impact on multiple characters relationships, impacted by the political and social climate of the times in which the story is set. The quality of production and acting throughout is very high, the individuals, couples and teams' stories are as entertaining as the dramatic action scenes. I've started and paused episodes multiple times due to interruptions and poor planning on my part, leading me to the conclusion that this truly deserves to be given your full attention, to treat it like a visit to the cinema/movies. It's that good.