For All Mankind Prime Crew Television 

Five Thoughts On For All Mankind‘s “Prime Crew”

By | July 2nd, 2022
Posted in Television | % Comments

Hello and welcome back to Apple TV’s space race television show, For All Mankind. In this episode we get to follow the aftermath of the women’s astronaut program and what that means for the members of the Apollo 15 so let’s just jump right into it.

1. Graduation Day
President Nixon decides to ax the female astronaut program after one of the candidates dies during a training exercise, and NASA gets information that Russia is starting to look for a place to create a lunar base. Deke Slayton, the guy in charge of the training program, decides to ignore the president’s orders and graduate the girls to complete astronauts. It’s a risky move on his part to go against a direct order blatantly, but he knows how hard they all worked and has seen women get the short end of the stick before. Despite his feelings, Deke knew it was the right move before it all started, although it came with risks.

2. Replacement Time
After Deke graduates the women to complete astronauts, he decides to switch out Gordo Stevens from the Apollo 15 mission with one of the new astronauts, Molly Cobb. She is not only part of this new class of astronauts but also part of the space program that was around before NASA. Although Edward Baldwin is upset that his friend Gordo will no longer be making it to the moon with him, he still has his eyes on the prize of going back into space, so he has to try to find some common ground with his new crewmate. It’s awkward and tense to watch the interaction between the two of them because despite having the same goal, they are on two different islands, and there is no sign of good communication. Ed is the captain of the mission, so he feels like he has the final word where Patty is both happy to be going towards her goal but doesn’t believe it’s happening, so she’s being stubborn.

3. Time To Work
Patty’s stubborn attitude nearly gets her kicked off the mission during a training module when she forgets a critical sequence and then continues messing with one of the people in mission control, Margo Madison. After the failed training exercise, Margo tells Patty that she needs to stop being selfish and think about how this mission is more significant than she can imagine, that she is no longer just a pilot but an astronaut. This realization finally hits Patty, so she can recognize that she is getting an opportunity of a lifetime. Still, if she doesn’t continue to fight for it, she won’t lose it for herself but for any other woman to come after her. She stops relying on her past accolades and buckles down to start studying the mission specifics; her hard work doesn’t go unnoticed as Ed sees her be the first one in and last out of the training rooms and nose deep in the books. Although no words or conversations are shared during the training sequence, it’s clear that a bridge of respect is growing between the two.

4. Secrets
While this episode did focus a lot on Molly and the Apollo 15 mission, there was some insight into a developing side storyline for another female astronaut, Ellen Waverly. During the previous episode, she didn’t share much of her background, and it seemed like she may be developing a crush on one of the mission control guys. However, everything flipped in this episode when he, Larry Wilson, gets a call in the middle of the night, assuming they’d slept together and she was at his house. The truth is that they are both gay and forced to hide it from their coworkers. Larry explains that if she came out at this point, NASA would see it as her hiding secrets and wonder what else she wouldn’t tell them. It’s a close-minded thought that nowadays doesn’t make sense, but with this show taking place during the early 70s, it does speak about the beliefs of what was happening in the world. They go into the office together holding hands, pretending to be in a relationship, and the audience must watch as they return to hiding.

5. Launch Day
It’s go time for Apollo 15, which means Ed and Molly’s big day is here. It feels like it would have been more geared towards the mid-season or end of it, but it’s a strong ending for the episode. Not only do we see their reactions, but we get the spouses as well, Karen Baldwin is in the stands watching the launch, and she sees Molly’s husband, Wayne. She’s taken aback by the fact that it’s not just wives but does her best to treat him politely. This day is not a bright one for everyone as Gordo is at home upset that not only does he not get to go into space, but his wife Tracy is helping out with the launch. Their relationship has had some significant ups and downs in the last few episodes, so we’ll see if it survives until one of them can make it to space.


//TAGS | 2022 Summer TV Binge | For All Mankind

Alexander Manzo

Alexander is born and raised in the Bay Area. When not reviewing comics for Multiversity he's usually writing his own review for his Instagram @comicsandbeerreport. He's also a sports fan so feel free to hit him up on twitter with any and all sports takes @a_manzo510.

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