‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘Game Changer’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 302 of ‘For All Mankind’. To revisit the season three premiere, click here.
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Something that is genuinely fascinating about the concept of change, is how humanity continues to respond to it in such a polarizing manner. Because on the one hand, we preach its power and how embracing change will help us grow as a species, through the lessons change teaches us. But on the other, we also deride change every chance we get for upsetting the daily order and habits of our lives… to the point where we resist it or… ironically make a change to attempt to obtain what can never be obtained again. And what makes this so fascinating is that… it just doesn’t make sense why we hold to one side of this notion while being quick to embrace the other and well… perhaps that is the point.
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For we are quirky beings that are still young as a species and perhaps just being self-aware of our duality is the first all-important step to shedding it, and one fine way to put it on display, is through storytelling. Where we can quietly observe and reflect upon our wild nature and it just so happens, that the next episode of For All Mankind on Apple TV+, focuses hard on the polarizing way in which we handle change. A feat that ‘Game Changer’ accomplished… by injecting a little change into life at NASA. For Molly learned of a forthcoming advisory committee that was going to help her determine which astronauts were going to head into space as commanders of critical missions and well… that didn’t sit well with her in the slightest.

Because she utterly believed that the old way of doing things was the right way to handle business at NASA and that a board composed of outsiders would create a softer fleet, one devoid of edge or ambition. Which in turn, motivated her to name Admiral Ed Baldwin as the commander of the Mars Mission. To keep old traditions alive and to show everyone that making changes at NASA was a poor idea. But alas, Molly overstepped her bounds here and lost her job because of that. For Margo wasn’t good with the council being overridden for the sake of glory and ego. Not when it stood to adapt NASA to modern times, and the decision to fire Molly… also brought down collateral damage for Ed. Since he was removed as commander in favor of Danielle and that left Ed beside himself and angry with NASA because he simply could not understand how the agency had transformed into a place where he believed instinct was no longer rewarded.

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Which made, for a fascinating examination of how much we deride change. Because Ed and Molly truly fought it with every fiber of their being. Out of the belief that this would genuinely ruin NASA at a critical time and make America a laughingstock once again in the space race. But alas, they’re in the wrong in this tale. Because in this alternate 1990s… it is obvious now that having an edge in space travel isn’t as important as it used to be. Yes, getting to Mars, first, is indeed important. But decades of missions and data give rise to different thought, as to how to approach a planetary landing… and the right person for the overall mission should indeed be at the conn of a deep space shuttle. But the veterans have important roles too, as mentors, since new generations need to draw from the experiences of all to become well-rounded explorers.
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But alas, the damage was done and that in turn led to an examination regarding the flip side of our thoughts on change. Specifically, how we make big changes to get hold of a status quo. Which was handled by Ed. Because not only did he want NASA to stick to the old ways of trusting seasoned and bold veterans to lead the charge, but he wanted to be revered again, and he wanted retribution for not being the first man to be on Mars… and that motivated him to make a change to get what he wanted, which in this instance, involved joining the newly resurgent Helios. Which purchased what was left of Polaris to get a jump on everyone to get to Mars first... and well… that’s a move that definitely is going to shake up the race to the red planet.

For now, there are three parties interested in being the first to Mars and that is going to make for one competitive space race, one that doesn’t have to be. Because this is about something bigger now, it’s about the future and sadly, ego and agency and old haunts are keeping everyone from realizing that. But what matters more here, is that this episode did an amazing job of analyzing its theme and how far we have to go toward embracing change and who knows, maybe a voyage to Mars would do just that. Either way, leave it to this show to find a way to shake things up in such a creative manner and well… this is another episode that definitely has our minds and souls demanding more. So, we can see what kind of impact, Ed’s bold move will have, on the push to put humanity on the surface of Mars. Until next time.

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