‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘Best-Laid Plans’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 206 of ‘For All Mankind’.
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For a better part of its first season, the AppleTV+ series, For All Mankind, kept hinting at the possibility that the show’s overall premise; in which mankind lost the space race to the moon to the Soviet Union… would help to lay down the foundation for an incredibly uplifting exploration. One that would help this alternate United States become a bolder and braver nation, the kind that would embrace its technological achievements and use its collective knowledge for the betterment of all mankind. But above all, this push to be more and go deeper into the stars, would help all of humanity realize that our future is out there, and that in turn, would eventually unify our world and usher in a better tomorrow.

But clearly, that hasn’t been the case just yet on this series. Instead, the posturing and pettiness of the Cold War has found its way into interstellar travel. To the point where the next episode in this series, ‘Best-Laid Plans’, features lunar training for the marines that are now on the moon's surface, in order to help them to take back that all-important mining site. Lending credence to the possibility that this timeline might not differ from our own all that much. But something unique happened in this particular tale, something that finally allowed for this series to ponder upon the notion of a better tomorrow through unity. For this story saw Soviet Cosmonauts arrive at the Johnson Space Center, to begin discussions on how to handle the upcoming joint mission. Discussions that of course, took a sour direction.

Because the Soviet Union was unwilling to offer up any secrets in regard to its docking ring and radio frequencies, and of course, NASA was unwilling to offer any of the same in kind, and that led to quite the stalemate. One that appeared to end this all-important mission before it even remotely started. That is until… some magical moments took place. For Danielle and her Soviet compatriots took the time to break bread and drink whiskey, allowing for them to discover that the flags that both sides posture behind are just that, flags. And that the people that are traveling out into space are the ones that matter and are the ones that genuinely inspire change and seeing one another as human beings, instead of enemies... allowed for cooperation and understanding to take place and that was quite the important breakthrough for certain, the kind that laid the foundation for unity. 

Which is something that Margo brought home in this particular tale. Because she simply couldn’t figure out how this was going to work, and that motivated her to try and get her Soviet counterpart to budge in regard to knowledge. An act he was unwilling to do… in the office. A revelation that allowed for he and Margo to meet at her club and talk freely and figure out, that a new docking system would need to be used for this mission. One that could be retrofitted to work on both Apollo and Soyuz craft and after working deep into the night, Margo, Aleida and her new friend were able to bring it to life and publicly share information in a group setting. In order to make it clear that cooperation and trust was the key to making this mission work, and perhaps to defrosting the icy relations between these two superpowers and well, this really was quite the refreshing and uplifting storyline when all said and done.

For this one really did embody the notion that space travel could benefit all of humanity and  moments such as these, are what could forge long-term unity and make this show as inspirational and as hopeful as the one that showrunner Ronald D. Moore once worked upon and hopefully that is indeed where all of this is headed.. But that will take time to bring together and while we wait to see where this important moment leads us, we can bask in the wonder of this potential beginning and enjoy more quality moments with the dynamic and rich characters that populate this alternate universe. Since they are still living their lives and pushing ahead toward happiness, in a world that appears to be on the cusp of some historic and important moments. Until next time.

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

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