Welcome back to Multiversity’s coverage of Apple TV’s For All Mankind in episode 5, “Into The Abyss.” Now that Edward Baldwin and Molly Cobb have finally made it into space, where can we go from there? This episode gets right into as they begin their descent to the moon’s surface so let’s see what happens next.
1. Quick Change To The Mission
I’m starting to sense a pattern developing with this show where at the beginning of every episode, someone decides to make a “last-minute” decision, and that’s going to be the main point. Instead of President Nixon in this episode, it will be Edward Baldwin. He wants to change the mission, which was never initially said, to go to another site in the possibility of ice on the moon for the site of a future lunar base. This decision is fueled by the rumor that Russia has placed military assets on the moon, combined with Ed’s need to be the first after not being the first on the moon. Molly Cobb is the deciding vote on the crew, and after some convincing, she finally agrees because she has a reason of her own by proving that women astronauts aren’t just a novelty. It’s a considerable risk due to the amount of fuel and unknown terrain, but after careful maneuvering, they make a base and begin their new mission.
2. Day One Back
Danielle Poole, one of the women astronauts from the previous episode, gets some solid screentime when her husband, Clayton Poole, comes back from Vietnam, and she introduces him to Gordo Stevens. Since Gordo was replaced on the 15 and her recent graduation, they are both assigned to Apollo 18 and try to make a bond similar to what Molly and Ed tried. However, not only does it go as similar with the awkward tension, but it explodes once Clayton and Gordo talk about their military backgrounds. Clayton has just returned from the frontlines of Vietnam, and Gordo is staying in-country and not seeing combat due to his involvement in NASA. Although the two don’t get physical, Danielle seems to get the brunt of it as she knows that if anything had happened, her involvement in the NASA program would have been at stake, not Gordo’s. This is another unfortunate reminder of the times as she is not only a female astronaut but the only one that is African American.
3. Dreams
Back on Earth, Karen Baldwin tries to bond with Wayne Cobb after he opens up about the nightmares he’s been having about Molly and something going wrong on the moon. Karen goes to his house and is shocked by the amount of marijuana and “weird” paintings in his home but stays because she has a secret. We finally get a look inside the real Karen by her admission of having nightmares about Ed’s demise every time he goes into space. She has a nightmare about him being eaten alive by a panther in the forest and him reaching out to her for help. This moment of vulnerability is excellent for the audience because so far in this series, she’s shown nothing else but to help Ed and looks at everyone else as things in his way. Although it’s still attached to him, we see her grow a genuine bond with Wayne even with his smoking habits. She may be straight-laced to a fault, but now we’re starting to get some depth out of her.
4. Selfish Pricks
The bond between Ed and Molly grows as well. Neither of them can sleep because they are both guilt-ridden thinking about their families back home. Molly admits to knowing about Wayne’s fear of her going up into space but gently ignores it because they both know it’s always been her dream. Ed admits to the same but also about a recent encounter about failing to teach his son to ride a bike. In Molly’s words, they are “selfish pricks” because although they mean well, they’re ready and willing to do whatever it takes for their own goals, even if it somehow hurts their loved ones. It feels like two addicts who share a vice knowing the consequences of their addictions and still cheering as they continue because it won’t be the end of it.
5. Crater
On the final day of being on the moon with no sign of ice, the crew gets told by mission control to search in the crater in hopes of finding something to bring back to Earth. Ed and Molly decide to create a makeshift winch on the moon, and she rappels down with Ed in the cruiser handling the rope. It’s an intense scene because as she struggles to keep her footing, it also causes her to deplete her oxygen quickly, so it builds up to whether she’ll even be able to climb back. Molly goes for the hail mary to chip away in the crater and comes back with a piece of ice. It’s the much-needed victory that she has been dreaming about since she got the go-ahead for the mission.
