Welcome back to our episode two coverage of For All Mankind. Last week’s episode had us wondering how NASA would get Apollo 11 off the moon; now we’re going to see how the United States wants to up the space race.
1. President’s New Mission
Now that NASA had proven that it could make it to the moon, President Nixon wanted a new mission in mind, work on creating a base located on the moon. In the previous episode, he was so ticked off that Russia beat them to the moon first, and now he wants to move the goal post and make sure they can create something entirely new. However, he butts heads with the NASA director, Wernher Von Braun, who believes the goal should be about discovery and taken slowly. Von Braun’s previous work was turned into a weapon by the Nazis, and that is something that he wishes not to happen again. His resilience also brings up not wanting to turn space into a warzone like in the past; he understands the beauty of science and taking the time to get it right instead of rushing for the sake of getting there first. Nixon decides to get crafty to make his goal a reality.
2. Ed’s Chance Back
Edward Baldwin has been riding a desk since his statement about NASA being too afraid, and that’s why they lost the race to the moon, and Senator Charles Sandman plans on using that sentiment to try and get Von Braun out of NASA. He promises Ed an opportunity not only to go back to space but possibly run the entire program he peppers in compliments about his time in the service and how it should be run by people who have been there and done that. After a night of thinking on it, he decides to go through with testifying in front of congress to discuss the direction of NASA for Senator Sandman, but when it comes time to point the finger, he points it back at himself. Ed’s testimony brought up how close to the moon, and he knew he could have landed it easily but decided not to because it wasn’t the mission at hand. It’s an early moment for this series to realize Ed’s authentic character in that he wouldn’t be willing to throw someone under the bus for his own personal goals.
3. Progress Is Never Free. There’s Always A Cost
President Nixon and Sandman’s attempt to use Ed didn’t work out as they wanted. Instead of blaming him for his lack of push forward, they went another route by bringing up his past. It was known that he did help create the Saturn V, a spaceship developed for humans to explore space, but it may not have been public information that his time in Germany was when he was fighting for the Nazis. While he claimed during his testimony that he did not know of the massive casualties in the factories that created the bombs he’d been in charge of, it’s clear he did have some knowledge. When it ends, and he has to face Margo Madison, the woman he’d inspired to join the search for space exploration, he had to admit that he did know what was happening. It’s a heartbreaking moment for both sides as she realizes her hero is flawed to an extreme level and for him to admit the truth to someone he cares about. The cold truth is that if he had tried to stand up for those people, Hitler or other leaders, he would have also killed him and stopped all the progress they currently have. It becomes a matter of what the actual cost of progress is truly worth.
4. Firestarter
We were shown a few more scenes of Aleida, the girl who traveled with her father across the border from Mexico and found her footing in the United States. She seems set in her ways to not give the U.S. a shot by refusing to speak English. Her aunt tells Aleida’s Dad that she continues to start fires for unknown reasons, and if she persists, they will be kicked out of the home they are currently staying at. It’s later revealed that Aleida has guilt for leaving her mother’s body in Mexico and wishes that she would be engulfed in flames to be reunited with her. Her father consoles her and takes her to his job, NASA, to see the replica spacecraft on the grounds to help inspire her to dream big. Finally, the storylines are beginning to interweave and find a reason for the audience to care about this storyline by waiting to see if she will pursue a goal in space.
5. Game Changer
In the episode’s final minutes, Ed gets his opportunity to head back into space on Apollo 15, and it seems to be going towards a positive note to get him ready. However, the television broadcast is on with live footage of the Russians going back to the moon, but this time the astronaut looks directly at the camera and reveals a woman’s face. The game has been changed, and instead of a lunar base, it becomes about sending an American woman up to the moon. It’s an interesting twist because the entire episode has been circling this idea of going bigger when in reality, they could do something just as impactful on a different scale.
