‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘All In’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 303 of ‘For All Mankind’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One of the most difficult problems a writer’s room has to solve when assembling a season for a hit series, is how to properly pace the season ahead. Because if they push hard to resolve plot threads quickly, the fans might be turned off over a lack of plot proper resolution and if it is too slow… well, then the audience gets bored. Which leads to a delicate balancing act that is sometimes successful and sometimes misses the mark. But of all the shows out there that have this challenge facing them, there is one that has outright mastered the nature of pacing, For All Mankind on Apple TV+. For this show knows exactly how to push the plot forward and/or linger without ever alienating the audience or making it awkward and for proof… look no further than this week’s episode.

For ‘All In’ is a story that managed to catapult the story forward while laying down some critical foundations for things to come and it accomplished this feat, by dedicating just enough time to resolving certain plot-lines in a satisfying manner before moving forward. Take for instance Margo’s journey in this tale. Since she was finally confronted by the KGB for information and watched Sergei come within an inch of losing his life as a hint of what would come without cooperation. A move that motivated Margo to comply sadly, but this was handled in such a smooth and dynamic manner that it never once felt tired or rushed… it was simply perfect and downright heartbreaking.

Not to mention… the whole assembling of the crews plot line for the NASA and Helios missions, was also handled in that same dynamic fashion. Since the story allowed for Karen’s attempts to poach and for NASA’s end run on Helios to never slog about or waste precious time. Every scene simply handled its business and ended when needed and managed to shake up the landscape of the series at the same time. Since Danny and Bill made their way to Helios for the chance to fly and for the paycheck, respectively, whilst Aledia stayed put and Kelly opted to join the Mars Mission with NASA instead of flying there with her father and well, the payoff for resolving these plot threads in a sensible and satisfying manner, was quite epic and enticing in nature.

For the end of this episode, jumped us two years into the future to 1994. Wherein Aledia was now the Flight Director of this mission, and everyone was ready to launch. In fact, we were able to enjoy the historic moment when Helios, NASA and Roscosmos made their launches toward the Red Planet and what made this so epic and so satisfying and so in line with what we’ve discussed today, is that the writer’s room understood that what the audience really wants, is to see if America can win the second phase of the space race and reclaim its power and dominance in doing so, and by handling the other plots with the right respect and speed… we get just that since clearly, the next episode has to focus on the mission to Mars and either it, or another episode down the line will reveal which country we saw standing on the Martian surface at the end of season two.

Not to mention, this episode had other incredible tidbits floating about for us to chew upon. Such as the fact that Ellen won the election and became the 42nd President of the United States and the first woman to ever hold the office and of course… Margo’s decision to help the Soviets, is a huge deal as well, one that will undoubtedly come back to haunt her. But what matters more, is that this was a perfect story. One that put on a clinic regarding pacing and still found a way to keep us hooked and eager for more after resolving a bevy of plot-lines and well, it is definitely safe to say that we will all be counting down the minutes until next week’s tale, so we can finally indulge in the race to Mars and possibly see… who touches down on the Red Planet, first.

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