‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘And Here’s to You’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 208 of ‘For All Mankind’.
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There are a great many reasons, as to why we find ourselves attracted to a particular television series. For some, it’s all about the cast, since the show in question features their favorite actor or actors and they won’t miss out on seeing another quality performance from the actor(s) they enjoy the most. For others, it’s about the plot or the setting, that kind that ignites something special within them, which motivates them to make time to watch, so their imagination can feast. But while our reasons for tuning in, vary from person to person, there is one particular constant in our favorite television shows that genuinely hooks us and motivates us to watch more… the characters.

Because without dynamic and fascinating characters, the kind that grow as the seasons roll along, there’s no depth and zero challenges for the characters to overcome and that means there is little for us to stick around for. Which is why the AppleTV+ series, For All Mankind, is so worth the audience’s while. Because this particular series makes the characters its focus at all times and we see them grow and struggle right before our eyes and their experiences are something that was once again front and center in this magnificent series. Because ‘And Here’s to You’, featured all kinds of poignant and important moments of growth for some of the people that populate a world where space travel is the norm. 

For example, this is a story that allowed for Aleida to finally grow and confront her sorted past. Something that was made possible by the fact that she basically pissed off Bill Strausser to the point, where he was ready to leave this incredible job. Prompting Margo to inform Aleida that she had to convince him to come back, or she was leaving NASA. And the fear of not living her dream, motivated her to seek Bill out and explain her actions and her anger and apologize accordingly. An act that quite frankly showed incredible growth on her part. Because up until this point, she’s refused to be open with anyone or show that she cares about her career, making this quite the wonderful moment for certain, and it wasn’t the only sliver of positive growth to be found in this tale. Since Gordo overcame his fears and arrived on the moon with swagger in hand. So much in fact, that he made his intentions known to Tracy, and really it was wonderful to see Gordo stand tall in this tale and regain his mojo.

But what would an episode of this series be, without a little strife for its characters to deal with, and that was definitely present here too. Because Karen finally decided that since she is on a carefree kick, why not take it to the limit? And that motivated her to cross a line with Danny. An act that immediately brought about a little worry, since Danny truly believes he is in love with her and that kind of undying passion, can only bring about trouble in the weeks to come. Plus, Kelly made the bold decision to see her father, a move that hurt her for certain and will haunt her for a bit and of course… we got some poor news about Molly. For her eyesight is beginning to fade thanks to the radiation she received on the moon and now she will have to deal with an incredible change in her life, and likely the end of her career at NASA. 

Yet while those moments of hardship were fascinating for certain, they paled in comparison to the incredible challenge that everyone is about to face in this story. For a misunderstanding on the moon, led to the death of a Russian Cosmonaut, and the wounding of another, at the hands of United States Marines no less. Which means that tensions are only going to grow in the next couple of weeks, and it will be interesting and terrifying to see what kind of fallout comes out of this little incident. But while we wait for that reveal, we can revel in one quality tale. One that really did let us just… experience a slice of life with a bevy of fascinating human beings that are trying to carve out their own niche of happiness in this universe, and well, it is good that we got to enjoy this little bit of levity now. For it truly seems that darkness is coming to this universe and that is going make the wait for next week’s episode a difficult one, since we are eager to know, if peace will prevail in this fragile universe. Until next time.  

‘For All Mankind’ is streaming now on AppleTV+.

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