For All Mankind 4×05 is an emotionally devastating hour that simultaneously sneaks up on you and, in a lot of ways, is about 30 (fictional) years in the making. The episode starts out so hopeful, with the chance discovery of the “Goldilocks” asteroid. Everyone’s in this great, determined mode in that beginning sequence. But then, there’s the tense situation on Mars, with Dani and Ed arguing over…everything, really. Initially, their difficulties with one another are fine enough. Or, well. Not fine exactly, we just wind up in familiar territory, where we know everything will work out in the end. However, things take a turn. And “the end,” at least in this episode’s case, goes somewhere new. Somewhere that feels unexpected at the time…but, again, almost 30 years of this. So, maybe we should’ve prepared ourselves. (Being prepared was never an option.)
That doesn’t even begin to take into account the powerful moments for Dev, Kelly, and Aleida back on Earth. Or even how much fun yet another night out for Aleida and Kelly is. But the fun parts are, of course, both more precious and much more difficult to think about in the context of all the soul-crushing ones. So, if anyone’s still with us and not too wrecked, let’s discuss.
“Loose ends”
Something about the way things fall into place at Helios in For All Mankind 4×05 just…works. It’s kind of like, of course Kelly and Aleida would find out about Dev’s plans to go to Mars because of Kelly overhearing something about it on the radio. And of course Dev would be the picture of calm and almost amused as they both confront him about it. It is, after all, what he deserves for not thinking to tell his business partners his plans before announcing it to the world. Not to mention, he’s been through this before with Karen. He just has two of them, with two different attack modes, now.
Besides, he has solutions for all their concerns about him leaving. Aleida can deal with the M-7 leaders, even though the type of bullshittery required to play politics has never exactly been her strong suit. (We love her for that, among many other reasons). And Kelly can just…come along to Mars to make sure her crew gets trained by the time they get there. It’d be frustrating as hell — if their reactions, their night out for drinks, and Aleida’s complete lack of an ability to lie weren’t all things that make us go, “this show is a comedy” in the middle of all the angst.
As Kelly shares her worries about going to Mars with Aleida at the bar, and Aleida manages to both reassure her and casually drop in some more cause for concern, we cant help but — yet again — wonder how we never knew we needed this pairing in our lives until we got it. It’s laid back, casual, with Aleida being almost amused to be telling her friend that Alex is going to hate her “no matter what.” (Helpful, Aleida. So helpful!) And somehow, as the two support each other in the face of the bizarre new possibilities Dev has opened up for them, Kelly’s advice to Aleida winds up being the key to what she needs to hear for herself. Not to mention, it’s a reminder of who she wishes she could hear it from.
“There are always a million reasons not to do something. You have to find the reason to do it.”
Of all Kelly’s “million reasons” to stay home instead of going to Mars with Dev, Alex is the main one — as he should be. So, she tries to explain to him why she has to leave for a while, but that goes about as you’d predict with a little kid. Alex, especially knowing that his Poppy is on Mars “forever,” thinks Kelly is abandoning him. So, she has to watch in absolute heartbreak as he runs to his grandmother for comfort. Then, she watches over him as he sleeps, whispering to him about how she always loves him. And there’s just this ache and longing about it. But the real emotional kick to the teeth — and the place where all the connections keep happening — is what follows.
Karen, the very person who was always left behind on Earth while her loved ones chased the stars, whose words Kelly remembered all these years and just gave to Aleida, is exactly who Kelly needs to hear from. Although she can’t actually talk to her, she’s still got that last message. So, she listens to it — probably for at least the thousandth time — and smiles through her tears. As one does when we’re fondly remembering someone we’ve loved and lost. Cynthy Wu absolutely nails this particular layering of emotions, that mixture of Kelly being comforted by Karen’s words and still just desperately missing, and wanting, and needing her mom. And to be clear: Wu utterly, completely destroyed us when Kelly finally let it all out.
But it’s not only about the Baldwin family in For All Mankind 4×05 — it’s about what everyone has in common, in some way. Because Kelly remembers what it was like to be away from Karen and not get to come home until her mom was gone forever, and because of Karen’s old line about finding a reason, she decides she’s taking Alex with her. Then, since Kelly comes up with all the answers to make sure she doesn’t have to abandon her son to do her job and tells Dev that’s the only way she’s going with him to Mars, she’s able to convince him. Then again, probably all she had to do was ask, given what we know about how he’s just gone through this painful goodbye with his own mother.
“Space did not destroy him. You did. Everything that he did, he did for his family. For our future. He never recovered after you left us.”
Kelly and Dev both lost Karen, but they also have these shared broken parts that are…kind of in opposition. Not to be left out, all of this goes back to Aleida, too. She knows a thing or two about being separated from your parents and losing them completely, after all. While she’s come a long way, she still struggles from time to time. And, in their own way, events are splitting up her family yet again. One can’t help but wonder, though, if part of the way she seems to freeze when Brandt tells her she’s going to Russia is because of how it ties in to losing a certain member of her found family.
So, yeah. To get back to our original point. There’s something…fitting about the Helios trio and how they come together. Not just in “Goldilocks” but in general, really. Even the heavier parts of their stories, and how they relate to each other, have a certain sense of rightness to them. Like each person is part of some much larger puzzle, their individual experiences with family trauma fitting them all together perfectly.
“There it is.”
When For All Mankind 4×05 begins, it’s July 2003, months after the Svetlana Zakharova incident, and just short of 30 years since Jamestown. Dani Poole and Ed Baldwin are not on good terms, to say the least. Even before he says so, it’s plainly obvious — through his blatant disregard for Dani’s authority and undermining her plans in front of everyone before she even makes those plans — that Ed still thinks Commander Poole made the wrong choice in sending Sveta home. And then, they have it out in private, with Krys Marshall and Joel Kinnaman adding an extra layer of intensity to how their characters behaved in front of their crew. But Dani lays down the law, and they — after a loaded hesitation — shake on it. They’re going to “get this thing done,” as Dani puts it.
And that’s that…except that it isn’t. Not by a long shot.
Later, Ed changes the Ranger-2 crew list without running it by his Commander. And Dani calls Ed out on it, only to get a lot of back talk and just condescension off of him. They just go back and forth, back and forth, with Dani constantly trying to walk that narrow line between keeping her cool and standing in her authority. And the thing is, that cool that she’s usually so good at maintaining is starting to fail her. The fact that it’s lasted this long with Ed Baldwin, specifically, is superhuman. But these two know each other too well, have been their own dysfunctional space family for so long, they both know where to aim to hit each other where it hurts. And they also know when the other person is doing exactly that.
So, when Ed reaches his limit and starts raging about micro-managing, Dani does what Dani always does: She takes a step back and shuts it down, letting cooler heads prevail. And, even if it’s somewhat uncomfortable to see them doing this to each other, we still recognize the pattern. It’s all Kinnaman lacing everything he says with the right amount of bitterness, followed by Marshall reacting. Fed up, exhausted…almost bored to have to go through this again at one point. And it’s all Marshall keeping Dani’s reactions boiling just beneath the surface but her determination front and center while Kinnaman tosses Ed’s grudging respect back. We could go on forever because there’s so much more, with both always rising to the occasion.
As a result, it’s mostly just pure entertainment to witness Marshall and Kinnaman doing what they’ve always done so well with each other. At least, that’s the case for those first couple of spats. Which, to be fair, what comes next is still entertaining…but it’s a whole new level of hurt. By the end of For All Mankind 4×05, once Commander Poole knows about her XO’s medical problem, she has to do something about it. And that something is to remove him from flight status, which she has got to know could destroy him, given everything else that he’s lost. And, in fact, it’s clear in the performance that she does know and is just as torn up about it as we are.
She does what’s necessary, though — because it’s the right thing. As a surprise to no one, Ed doesn’t take it well. Also as a surprise to no one, Dani…tries not to let things go too far.
“Watch yourself, Ed.”
…but what actually is surprising is how much all the history between these two characters completely breaks down. Because, as we pointed out above, Ed and Dani know how to get to each other. They know each other’s old wounds, which ones to leave alone and which scabs to pick at. And they even know how much blood they can draw before it becomes too much…but now, Ed doesn’t hold himself back from going in for the kill. He stalks her in that tiny space like she’s prey, until her back is quite literally up against the wall Her choices? Fight back or get destroyed. Well. 2003 is the year Danielle Poole finally goes on the attack, apparently. And when she starts to unleash on Ed, he actually seems to take some kind of perverse pleasure in it — at least at first.
“Fuck you! I have been putting up with your shit for the last 30 years! Watching you make wrong decision, after wrong decision, only thinking about yourself like you’re God’s gift to the cosmos. Well, I have news for you, Ed Baldwin! You are just a pathetic old man who doesn’t know when to call it a day.”
Ed has this moment, though, after Dani finishes letting that anger out — decades of it — and after she tells him he’s done. Something softens, and we actually see that pain. We actually get to witness where he looks like he’s about to beg. And, maybe, he even does a little when he asks Dani not to do something she’s going to regret. But it’s too late. Too late for him and, possibly, too late for this partnership that has been vital to this series.
On top of everything about the performances — which, we must say again, are exquisite — what makes the end of For All Mankind 4×05 even more powerful than the other times Ed and Dani have fought is how all the film elements come together. In the first place, we have nothing to focus on, in the moment, other than them. Because there’s really nothing else there — barely any space in the room and no background noise. Then, there’s the build-up, how each present-day scene leading up to it sees them struggling more than the last. We really, truly get to see this moment coming for us as Dani and Ed both unravel. Or, at least, we should have seen it.
There’s also the particular choice to show what happened to Danny Stevens, and the way it broke something in them both to find him like that, layered in between all the 2003 scenes. Their dynamic is so different from back then, when Ed offered to go with Danielle to tell Danny no more rations were coming. And, perhaps more to the point, that horrible moment they shared back then was exactly what they chose to use to attack each other now. Reconciling this idea of them being there for each other after going through something so awful then with what they’re doing to each other now…impossible.
Just…ouch. Beautifully done…but ouch.
More on For All Mankind 4×05
- Even the very first flashback hurts. Dani, just separating those meals in near-silence — alone — while everyone else is having a good time, all loud and shiny-happy or whatever together. And that look of concern when she looks at Danny out of the corner of her eye as he eats. Punch to the gut.
- Those eyes are practically dead when Palmer wakes her up in the present day, too. I want off this ride of pain before it even fully starts!
- “Because the only way we’re gonna get this thing is if we all work together.” Seems relevant to finding a way to end real-world horrors at the moment, actually.
- On that note: Fuck off, Ron.
- “Well, rushing around with our hands flapping wasn’t what I was proposing ED.” If saying someone’s name could kill them…
- I love this fight, and I hate that I love it.
- This handshake, somehow, has me more on edge than the one with Kuz in the ’80s when everything was going to hell.
- “Next time he calls me comrade, I’m going to punch him in the face.”
- Miles’ code of ethics: Lie to guy who gave you a leg up and put his business in jeopardy; don’t lie to Lee about his wife. Got it.
- “Peanut butter jelly not proper lunch.” I feel so attacked. Love the attitude from Wu on that “Alex loves it, so…” though.
- Get you someone who is as amused by your power walk and irritation as you come into the office as Aleida is by Kelly’s. (Is there fic out there? There’s probably fic…)
- “I know out there you can do whatever you want and people kiss your ass regardless. But in here? In these offices, we’re actually trying to get shit done…” I would die for her.
- “This isn’t NASA in the 70s, Ed.” Yes, Ma’am. !!!
- “Hey. Kids are more resilient than you know.” They way Coral Peña whispers that “hey” and makes sure we know Aleida both still carries that pain and is doing better than before.
- Compare this moment to her overall…chill AF attitude and her near glee when she’s gently teasing Kelly in her time of need. Wild.
- Also: “Resilient” is clearly a throwback to the Bill conversation. I am not ok.
- Letterman still does the Top 10 in this AU. Noted.
- Other things Krys Marshall did to hurt me this week: the way Dani drops eye contact and looks away when Palmer confirms what she thinks he’s saying about Ed. And then, as soon as Palmer’s gone…the pained way she closes her eyes and sighs…damn.
- Ed and Dani in the past, those looks through the windows…help. I miss them, yet they’re right here?
- Oh, ok. These closed eyes of pain are even worse than the present-day ones. Fabs.
- Of course that dude’s name is Brandt.
- Aleida, sweetie, you are a terrible liar all of a sudden. “Mulling it over. Ins and outs.” Girl….Is this…a comedy?
- Just kidding. It’s trying to kill me. I only got Aleida failing at “evasive” as a treat.
- So, home ownership is out of the question for Millennials in any era, huh. Or is he a baby Xer. Either way.
- Dev owns a Batmobile, huh. Have I commented on that before?
- The entire scene with Dev and his mom…I actually hate how good Edi Gathegi is at this. Not only because, like, For All Mankind 4×05 is painful enough without it. But also: I shouldn’t feel bad for a billionaire, much less one that’s saying all these things to his mommy who’s just happy to see him!
- “Harambee, right? Everybody joining hands? Working together for the good of the whole? You know, of all the lies that you told me, that one was the cruelest one. But it’s okay. Because I see how people are now.” Kill me now.
- The shot of his mom after he leaves? Who hurt everyone involved in making this.
- “What is the point of previous agreements if we keep tearing them up?” Indeed.
- “You know, you wouldn’t even be alive if we didn’t do stuff like that.” I can’t with Aleida being this…mother.
- I’d say it’s nice seeing Shantel VanSanten again, but I’m too busy trying to get my eyes to stop leaking.
- The forced smile? And the way it falls when she starts trying to talk about partnership? Also on my list of things that Danielle Poole did to hurt me, specifically. Decades of sadness there.
- Gathegi at that window…
- The fact that Miles is so full of himself, he didn’t even hear the venom in “don’t you want to count it,” though.
- It’s like every muscle in Kinnaman’s body becomes stone the second Dani mentions Ed’s hand to him. Good acting is a dance, actually.
- That first “fuck you” is a thing of beauty…and a thing of decades of bottled anger. I don’t even think she’s scratched the surface yet, and that terrifies me.
- “Well, unlike you, I’m not a fucking quitter.” I don’t know why he’s attacking me, personally, with my bad choices???
- “I got a lot of regrets in my life, Ed. This ain’t gonna be one of them.” If this comes back to bite us, I’m asking someone to airlock me.
- And then, he’s just…sad while she’s just…the Commander.
- In conclusion: Pain. We are emotionally compromised. Wrecked.
Thoughts on For All Mankind 4×05 “Goldilocks”? Leave us a comment!
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