When Fangirlish interviewed Mireille Enos about Celia Boyd’s arc in For All Mankind Season 5, the explosive end of Episode 8 was fresh on our minds. After a season of repeatedly showing she has good instincts and cares about doing the right thing, Celia finds herself in a situation with some major unintended consequences when unexpected visitors are on a docking platform that’s set to blow. So, to start off our interview, we asked if Enos could tease how that may affect the character’s ability to trust her instincts, or how she reacts to what happened, as we head into the final two episodes of the season.
Enos told us that Celia “definitely, in the moment on that platform, she definitely feels the weight of her decisions and the weight of any time you’re in kind of a war and conflict situation, the kind of casualties that can happen—even unintentionally.” Stressing that “it would never be her instinct to cause harm,” Enos reminded us, “we see [Celia’s] moral compass show up when she chooses to hit the intercom and to warn…her enemy that they are in danger.” But don’t expect there to be much of a “ripple effect moving forward” for Boyd’s ability to rely on her gut.
So, what should we expect? Here’s a tease from Enos: “The rest of those last episodes, the fray continues, and [the Marsies] are under siege. And everyone just has to do the things they need to do on both sides to try to reach their goals. They’re very, very tense episodes, and they really explore these ideas of nationalism versus humanism and how you choose where your allegiance lies.”
Speaking of choosing sides, Boyd began For All Mankind Season 5 as one of the MPKs, so-called “peacekeepers” for the M-6. But she never quite seemed to fit. Meanwhile, after learning of her partner’s betrayal and seeing how the MPKs contribute to turning a peaceful protest into a riot, Celia joins up with Miles Dale in trying to diffuse a tense hostage situation. And, although the overall situation isn’t comfortable, six months later, we see her very comfortably a part of the Sons and Daughters of Mars’ leadership.
To us, it seemed like Celia was finally somewhere she fit. And Enos agreed. “Totally accurate,” she said, adding that Boyd “felt completely fish out of water…I think she’s never really felt like she fully belonged anywhere. She always kind of had adopted whatever was the easiest thing in front of her. And then, she finds herself as part of the rebels, and even there…it’s clear that she is the reasonable voice in the room. But I don’t know that she thinks she’s joining the rebels. She just knows she cannot belong to the peacekeepers anymore.”
Referencing Episode 7’s “leap forward, where she’s actually sitting on the council and you see that she has an ownership over that,” Mireille Enos said, “I think she’s never felt that kind of ownership or belonging before in her life.” A lot of credit for Boyd not only fitting in on the council but also finding her voice—as opposed to, say, apologizing when she went to Palmer with her suspicions about Yoon Tae-Min’s “suicide” actually being a murder—goes to none other than Miles Dale.
“I think Miles gives her permission to step into a position of leadership,” Enos told Fangirlish. Before he invites her to come with him in Episode 6, “I think she just believes about herself that she’s a misfit. And he gives her permission to, to…claim her superpowers. And those are…a powerful moral compass, willing to say the wrong thing in a room full of people who are not interested, willing to be the voice of reason.” Referencing Celia’s decision not to let the rebels have the weapons after she prevents Palmer’s people from getting them, Enos noted that, “in spite of all of her mistakes in the past, she actually has a really clear sight to, in any given situation,” know “what the next best step is forward.”
“I think she’s just never given herself permission to believe that. And the people around her in her life haven’t encouraged that in her.” But “Miles does—he’s the first person who does.” As we look toward the end of For All Mankind Season 5, there may not be a point where Celia “thinks of herself truly as a leader. She just is capable at sizing up a situation and seeing what the next thing that needs to be done is. And she’s willing to do it. Which, I think is the definition of being a good leader.”
Watch our full Mireille Enos For All Mankind Season 5 interview here
Just one more tease for the remainder of For All Mankind Season 5: In “the last two episodes, the fight continues for the Mars colony to have ownership over what is theirs, and [Celia] becomes more and more committed to that fight. And in that journey, she finds her identity more and more clearly as a member of this colony…that happens to be on Mars.”
Watch Mireille Enos as Celia Boyd in For All Mankind Season 5.
Episodes 1-8 are available to stream on Apple TV now, with new episodes releasing weekly.
