‘For All Mankind’ 4×10 Review: “Perestroika”

For All Mankind 4×10 “Perestroika” closes out the series’ latest season (and decade) in emotional, expected, surprising, horrifying, and — ultimately — satisfying ways. If there seems to be any overarching meaning to it all, it’s that heartbreak need not be a given. Or, as Margo says in the phenomenal voiceover at the end, “anything is possible. Even in the darkest of times.” It’s a happy ending, overall, for sure — not to mention, a far cry from the utter devastation as the third season ended.

But that doesn’t mean the joy didn’t come at a price. A price of anxiety, rippling through as we watched a showdown on the outside of Ranger-2. And a price of absolute devastation as we watched, in silence, as the one thing we always feared would come to pass quite nearly did. Then, of course, there’s the not-insignificant matter of Margo’s own price, but regardless of the consequences, doing the right thing might just be a step toward freedom for her. 

At any rate, the episode is exactly the rollercoaster ride we expected. Because, to borrow from a fairly well-known meme, one does not simply walk into a For All Mankind season finale. No. We take a deep breath and prepare ourselves, like Aleida. And we cautiously sneak in, knowing we’re about to spend just over an hour fearing for everyone’s lives. (Not to mention, our own mental wellbeing.) But wow, we never saw that coming. Even the things we thought we could predict didn’t turn out how we were sure they would. And yes, we’re very, very grateful for that. 

“There is always a choice. Just like you said.”

It’s difficult to decide where to begin breaking down For All Mankind 4×10, but since we mentioned Margo in the intro, maybe that’s as good a place to start as any. But even then…what can we even say? Maybe we should start with the ending and how it finally starts to stitch together the gaping wound we suffered at the conclusion of last season. This time around, Aleida and Margo take care of each other. And, in causing its defeat in the great race to capture Goldilocks, they maybe even save NASA’s future. 

Here, we see two partners and equals, making a choice — and making it together. Or, well. A series of choices. Aleida refuses to let Margo input the restart code because too many eyes will be on her. Yet, ultimately, it’s Margo who protects Aleida by confessing when Irina has her cold, laser-like focus on the one person Margo Madison has left in the whole world. And for this latest parting of ways, Aleida gets to say goodbye to her mentor, rather than discover her gone — believed dead — amidst so much destruction and such a deep, unresolved sense of betrayal. She gets to push through the crowd and hold on tight. And Margo gets to tell her, in that soft reassuring voice, “it’ll be okay, you know.” It’s one last chance for support and comfort, even as everyone else only sees a traitor finally facing justice.

Side note: Do we know it’ll be ok? Because nothing feels ok here…except…

Viewers might miss seeing this through their tears on the first go-around, but we can confirm after a second watch that Wrenn Schmidt gives us the tiniest of smiles in those last moments. And it’s one that contains within something very close to relief. No more hiding, no more exile. And this time, Margo gets to make a choice. Yes, we keep coming back to that, but there’s a reason For All Mankind 4×10 reminds us of Aleida’s words from earlier this season.

Margo’s options are, admittedly, not great: Go back to exile in Russia, a “bird in a cage,” constantly in danger — all while she’s lied to about how valuable she is and used for Director Morozova’s bidding. Or. She can do what she maybe wishes she’d done years ago and face the music. An American prison isn’t going to be a walk in the park — not by any means — but at least she won’t be living multiple layers of lies. At least she can know she did what she thought was right, that she did what she could. Margo goes with what’s behind Door Number 2, and it’s absolutely the lesser of two evils. Admirable, even.

So that’s where we end the decade with these two. In a bittersweet sort of place, with something like closure and an unsteady path ahead. But, at least, there is a path instead of a complete dead end. And the journey to get to that point is full of so many just beautifully-done moments. There’s Margo’s quiet “Aleida, please” that sends Aleida off to get a message to Sergei about Irina…only for Aleida to find out about Sergei’s death. And it’s not an overstatement to say everything about that reveal, every shot of Coral Peña from the second the clerk mentions the (staged) suicide, to the gorgeous shot of her looking up at the crime scene tape, to the slow, silent part where we know Aleida is just screaming “f**ck” over and over in that car, is just pure perfection.

Then, there’s Schmidt’s portrayal of Margo’s reaction to the news. She progresses — again in a gorgeously-done moment where we, as viewers, have a true outsider’s perspective and can’t hear what’s being said in that room but have no need for words to go on the characters’ emotional journey — through the levels and layers of Margo’s pain and denial, leaning into the chair for support, swallowing down the tears. Somehow, the emotions are equal parts contained, yet screaming at us. This isn’t the breakdown we might expect, but it’s not…not one either.

Interestingly enough, Schmidt doesn’t truly let loose until it’s time for Margo to confront Irina — even knowing what the consequences for that could be. Perhaps nothing hurts more than the “how could you.” Then again, one might find it difficult to choose what the biggest emotional beat for this character is in For All Mankind 4×10, given how much strong material there is. Pick your poison; whichever it is, it’ll go straight to the heart.

We haven’t even mentioned the quiet moment Margo and Aleida have together, where Margo looks back on that time she learned about her own mentor’s dirty secret. Or even just the…the ease in unspoken communication between the two that lasts from beginning to end. The words are their own sort of art, and both actors deliver them with so much power. But the silence, both in scenes where we simply don’t hear what’s being said and in those where they are truly speaking without any words at all, is its own flavor of remarkable.

In the end, all we can do is be grateful for the chance to see these two characters reconcile and “end” on better terms — but we very much have hope that it might not be the true end. (And we’d really prefer if there never was one at all.) As part of that, we can’t help but point out our strange sense of For All Mankind 4×10 having…untangled this thread that really started last season, only to piece it back together in a different light. Aleida, preparing herself to walk back into NASA, to give bad news to Margo, feels eerily similar to her journey down a different hallway. Then, she went in search of her person, only to find nothing but loss. Now, Margo’s where she expects her to be, but the cost is having to tell her about a different life snuffed out too soon.

And what about Margo, opening up to Aleida about Wernher von Braun, eliciting that small smile from her after “usually just listen to me complain”? Well. That feels very much like the conversation they might have had after Aleida realized Margo was sharing plans — if only tragedy hadn’t struck. Sometimes, time brings us back around to ourselves and each other. And now, we seem to have come back to our original point: In the end, this finale is all about choices and closure. Or, put another way, it’s honoring the hard work, carving out a future, and — above all, a reckoning with the past.

Which, again, to circle back to yet another point: It feels oddly like this ending is more about getting back on the right path. Or, at least, getting back to the series’ start — a failure that leads to so much more success than anyone ever dreamed of.

As always “hi, Bob” and also “not Dani”

For All Mankind 4×10 delivers one heck of a showdown on Mars — and even an extremely tense battle above the planet. But let’s be real: The big story here is Danielle Poole and the absolutely cruel way this finale and its predecessor set us up to believe we were going to lose her forever. In the worst possible way, no less. Between Dani’s vidmail in the penultimate episode and the long introduction with Tuttle finding and stashing that gun here, this reviewer was prepared to sit shiva. (A Jewish mourning custom.)

Even so, as the chaos unfolded, maybe the neighbors heard a lot of “not Dani” being shouted out to the universe. Consider it praying to the TV gods that we were wrong. At one point, there’s even the possibility of her being trampled to death. But Ed manages to stop that. And the look he and Dani share when he does is…wow.

Which, let’s take a pause here.

At some points this season, it’s seemed impossible for Dani and Ed to reconcile. Even the “hi, Bob” Ed greets Commander Poole with is…not exactly the fond, warm one we’ve come to know and love. But when the violence breaks out, Ed goes out there to try to break it up. In fact, there is a defiance, a “heck no. Not this” in the way Joel Kinnaman simply removes Ed’s headset and jumps into action. But then, his determination falters a bit. Because when Ed exits the safety of the North Korean headquarters, what he witnesses is is so chaotic, he doesn’t even seem to know where to begin with trying to change things.

Suddenly, though, he sees the Commander in trouble. And even though he and Danielle are on opposing sides of the Goldilocks mission, and even with her quite literally on the opposite end of a long corridor, his panicked response to the chaos around him suddenly morphs into focus. He sees that this person who’s been through so much with him in danger, which makes him just act. That look they share says so much, speaks to a lot of Ed’s concern and regret, even despite being so incredibly brief because both characters have to get back to fixing the mess at hand. Or at least trying to fix it.

In fact, that’s what these two get the most about each other. No matter how at odds Dani and Ed have been for most of the season, the one thing that probably surprises us the least about “Perestroika” is how they have very similar reactions to watching the tensions boil over. Recognition, slow horror, then a desire to get out there and help. They both put themselves in the line of fire — uh, quite literally. We’re just about there on that — because that’s who they are. That’s what leaders do. (Even those like Ed who have maybe been big, dumb, messy leaders this season…)

That brings us to the inevitable place — the shooting. Of course it’s accidental, the gun going off while people struggle for possession of it. And of course the stray bullet goes for Dani. Dani, who didn’t want to be up here to begin with. And Dani, who’s gotten more and more exhausted and defeated as the mission has dragged on — who has barely been able to send home messages to family about her plans to be with them when this is all over because she just wants to be there now. And the way everything just…slows down, stops, puts the spotlight on the moment is so good, it’s cruel. Seriously, it’s too much.

Ed’s quiet “Dani” and the way he nearly freezes, staring across all that space at his old friend whom he just saved, is incredibly well done. And Krys Marshall’s performance, as Dani realizes she’s been hit and then crumples…no words. (Well, ok. Lots of words in this thing…but shhh.) Basically, Ed rushing over, all “no, no, no” is all of us. And the way all the shots are set up, to show every single member of the crew realizing this whole thing has gone too far, cost too much…it’s just agony to watch. Ed is all horror, and regret, and so much loss on top of all his other losses. And Marshall’s performance makes it clear Dani is a person who knows she won’t make it and can’t face this end when she was so close to getting to go home. 

But. To twist Margo’s words from the end of For All Mankind 4×10 and also just…borrow from another series we love, even on the worst days, there’s a possibility for joy. So, it’s a soul-crushing sort of day, but it’s not only that. As perhaps the most shocking twist of all shocking twists, it is, in fact, not Dani’s time. She does get to go back home, to see her grandbaby for the first time. It’s yet another stunning moment from Marshall and one we’re way happier to cry through than the alternative.

Better yet, everyone gets to end the decade on a good note. We’re all still here, pushing forward toward 2012. And no, we’re not at all ok about “Kuznetsov Station.” Guess if you don’t kill off a pair of faves in the finale, you’ve got to remind us that you did, at least, start off the season with a staggering loss and throw in another one in Episode 9. Well played, For All Mankind. Well. Played.

More on For All Mankind 4×10

• Not that I want to be done with this series by any stretch of the imagination? But this at least wrapped up enough long-running arcs, in satisfying enough ways, that I could live with it — with knowing they’re still out there, that life moves on and Danielle Poole is now immortal to me — if I had to.
• To be clear, though: No one’s lying and saying this hour (ish) wasn’t utterly brutal. Just…things turned out ok enough in the end.
• “Easy for you to say, Ed. You’re not the one who’s gonna go to jail when he picks you out of a lineup.” And later: “easy for you to say” when he coaches Massey through the whole override thing and tells her to keep her breathing steady. Finally, folks are calling Ed out on his privilege — but, like, gently.
• The Kinnaman/Marshall duo may be god-tier, but Kinnaman and C.S. Lee also do some great work together in this episode. There’s Ed reassuring Lee that everything will be ok if/when he takes Cho for medical help, with Lee’s fear just all over him while Ed’s…steady. (Are we corny enough to go for a Steady Eddie here? Probably.) Later, there’s the exchange in Korean and shared understanding that Mars is home. Beautiful.
• I just think that f**ck Avilov and Bishop. F**ck torture. Absolutely soulless description of what’s going to happen to Miles as they put on their protective masks. (Well-done story and haunting scenes, deplorable situation in both fiction and reality.)
• But also: “your head will feel like it’s going to explode. And soon, you’ll wish it had.” The writers warned us!
• Super performance from Toby Kebbell as Miles gets sicker and sicker, then slurs his way through those desperate pleas for his family. Put a man on the brink, and he’ll reveal what matters to him…
• …and that brings us back to “f**ck this noise” with the torture tactics.
• Margo passed out on the couch after working too much? Relatable AF. Y’all, we are tired.
• “Eli tells me you have settled right back in.” “Kinda hard to settle in when you’re followed everywhere you go.” This is so, so, so important! Schmidt plays up how uncomfortable, scared, worried — anything negative, you name it! — the character is when she sees Irina. Just her back sets Margo spiraling and trying, but failing, to cover that. Still, even then, she stands up for herself and has a comeback that voices her frustration. She does not give up or back down.
• “He’s not gonna listen.” “Make him.” And Aleida’s look of “bitch, please. How? …ok. Fine” is priceless.
• Probably brand new information: I can not get enough of Schmidt and Peña together. At all. They are everything.
• The mandatory curfew, complete with police brutality when people don’t jump and go back to their quarters immediately? That’s what a lockdown and infringing on rights actually looks like. Not asking folks to skip brunch and/or wear a mask to stop the spread of disease. Kthanks.
• LMAO at Aleida stumbling over Sergei’s last name. Sounds like literally everyone when they try to say either my first or last name, neither of which is hard!
• No but seriously it’s art when all we hear is the slow wipers and just see Peña letting go. Don’t care that we already said so. Just. In awe of this crew and these actors. Not afraid to fangirl hard and say that either.
• “Please, man, not my family. Please don’t do that. Don’t do that. No, please, please. Please not my family, please.” Wow, Miles does a great impression of me watching Dani getting shot and nearly dying!
• No but the tension during all the torture scenes…but especially when they show Miles what they have on his wife. We know he’s going to give in to protect his family, but my God. And of course he tries to fight back, even knowing it’s pointless, when they bring up sending the kids to CPS. Even in this timeline, the state is probably not nice to kids!
• “F**ck, f**ck, f**ck [sobbing].” My captions? Or me watching this episode? Hm.
• When Dani glares at that screen after realizing they built their own Ops-Comms…Reaction queen strikes again.
• “We’re trying to change the world! And they’re trying to line their pockets.” Seems like that whole lining pockets thing goes both ways…
• When Dani actually sees them roughing up Gerardo and can’t bury her head in the sand anymore, it’s like…that’s my Commander! No more ACAB! (For her. It stands in general.)
• “Can we please just go to your office?” See also: “F**ck, f**ck, f**ck [sobbing].”
• “What did you do?!” And “don’t f**cking handle me! Not now.” While everyone’s just…gawking at this woman’s suffering for their own entertainment. And even when she realizes she’s powerless here and leaves, the whole thing’s shot so we’re watching her as opposed to with her.
• The pride and hope from Dani when she thinks they’ve got the slingshot burn…my girl!
•  “It’s — it’s dangerous, but it’s not impossible.” My dude’s come a long way since Apollo 10.
• That millisecond when Dani realizes who and where she needs to call because Ed is definitely the mastermind.
• “Let me talk to Ed. I know he’s in there with you.” “He…j….not here.” “Don’t start with me. Not after all we’ve been through.” Go off, Dani!!! (And, to his credit, Lee knows he will not win this. Same for Ed.)
• “This ain’t about Mars. This about changing things for better on Earth.” “That’s where you’re wrong, Dani. My family’s here. My future’s here. See, that’s the difference between you and me. You’re still tied to that blue little planet.” “Of course, I am! We all are! “That is what matters; that is our home.” “Not anymore.” Compare Danielle’s conviction and passion to Ed just being…quiet and sober, resigned even. Having the actors bring such vastly different dynamics to the scene really elevates the impact from both performances.
• That facepalm!
• “You’re not him.” “No, but maybe a part of me is.” Achingly beautiful. 
• “This is not a place for feelings. Just the facts.” The single tear.
• Also: Can’t relate to the above line.
• Ok but when Palmer just rises up in the background. Nope again!
• “Aleida. No. Absolutely not.” She’s so quiet about it? Almost like Margo knows that Aleida’s not really going to take no for an answer.
• Never thought I’d be emotional about Ed and Dev hugging but ok. Why not?
• “I heard you. I just need a minute.” Just like the spark is completely gone. I’d say it’s like she’s dead inside here, but uh…too soon.
• Compare Aleida’s terrified eyes when Irina calls her out to the total lethality in Irina’s when she tells Margo there will be consequences. 
• Ilya going to Miles and asking if he’s ok, even after everything. A king.
• The worker uprising is such great wish fulfillment…until it’s not.
• Miles recognizing the actual, literal blood on his hands because of the decisions he’s made. Oof.
• On the plus side, For All Mankind 4×10 finally made me pick a “side” in the asteroid race. Margo and Aleida, joining the cause? Ed being more like the old (former, not aged) Ed in his leadership role instead of being an ass? Yeah, ok. Glad they all won, actually. (Still very upset that it almost cost us Dani…but it all turned out ok so.)
• The season also took longer than it should have in terms of getting me to really want to see what’s next for the newer characters, but I am seated now.
• Cynthy Wu must have woken up and said, “I’m not a huge part of this episode, but when I get there and have to play a totally stricken Kelly who’s still trying to be strong for her dad, I’m going to kill it.” Because, uh. That.
• And when Kelly reaches for Ed’s hand…we’re unwell over here.
• “NASA allowed abuse of detainees on Mars”
• Check out the pure, unadulterated joy when Lee and his wife reunited. I’d like to bottle that feeling.
• Seriously, though. The writing for this entire monologue. It’s impossible to pick a highlight because the whole thing is so beautiful.
• I do want to quote this last bit, though: “Your Honor, I was always told that we shouldn’t let personal feelings cloud our search for the truth. But looking back now, I don’t think that’s right. Our feelings may not be convenient. They may even slow our progress — they are also the only way to truly begin to understand the world around us. And the new worlds that await us.” Two reasons: First, I mean…f**cking feelings, man. They are not convenient, but we do need them. But more importantly, “new worlds that await us”???? What is next? I need to know. And is…is Margo still somehow, by some miracle, part of “us”???
• Look! At! That! Joy! On! Danielle! Poole! Happy tears!!! (Ugly tears over here.)
• Dev got his home on Mars.
• Can’t wait to be a big ol’ dork and cry about all these happy endings whenever I hear M83’s “Midnight City.” 
• Season finales are never fair, even when they end well, huh?

Thoughts on For All Mankind 4×10? Leave us a comment!

All 10 episodes of For All Mankind Season 4 are streaming on Apple TV+.