‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘Rules of Engagement’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘For All Mankind’.
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It has often been said that time heals all wounds, and it is understandable as to why we believe that saying. Because the pain that comes about from a particularly trying moment in life, really does begin to fade as the time continues to remove us from it and that does give us comfort that eventually, what broke us will forever disappear. But sadly, that particular phrase is wrought with problems. Because in reality, all those words do is give us an easy way out in dealing with trauma, since time is helping us to bury it and not resolve it and that is why we outright struggle when a singular moment suddenly brings waves of emotions and memories to the forefront of our minds and our souls. 
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The kind that once again overwhelm us and begrudgingly teach us that we have to deal with the pain in question if we ever want to be free of it and really, this particular problem is relevant to our discussion today, simply because it served as the focal theme of this week’s episode of For All Mankind. For ‘Rules of Engagement’ saw the past come back to haunt just about every single one of the wonderful characters that populate this universe. Something that was made possible from a rough revelation on the moon. In that, the time had come to put weapons on Luna because the Russians were getting aggressive in regard to mining sites, an act that came about from the fact that they managed to bug Jamestown and learn what NASA was up to on a regular basis.

Something that actually happened ten years ago. For if you recall, while Ed was off to the save the day, the cosmonaut he left behind, was left unattended outside of Jamestown and clearly made it a point to place a microphone inside the main living pod. But while the bug was removed, allowing for United States operations to continue unfettered, the memory of that dark part of the past washed over Ed and eventually his family as well. Because Kelly decided the Navy life was for her and told her parents that, and the fear over losing her like they lost Shane, and all the unresolved grief that they let time ‘heal’ over his passing… brought about all kinds of emotional and powerful moments. The kind that did indeed allow for Ed and Karen Baldwin to finally begin to deal with the death of their boy. 

But while that made for some compelling television for certain, they weren’t the only ones to deal with issues from yesterday. Because Tracy continued to rely upon Gordo as a stand in for when times are tough, prompting Gordo to finally point out the fact that their relationship was over and that she needed to treat him in a more respectful manner than a mere fixer/emotional rock when she opted to do something stupid. Plus, Margo also visited a blast from her past as well. Since she came to learn that young Aleida Rosales had grown up and fallen upon hard times, to the point where she was about to be deported and that motivated Margo to visit her and apologize to her for not taking her in all those years ago and in an effort to help her… she offered Aleidia a job at NASA. Something that Ms. Rosales reluctantly accepted, simply because she swore to herself that she would never deal with Margo ever again for what she did… but her alternate option was far less desirable.

If anything, this episode deserves serious credit, for outright surprising the audience. Because early on it truly seems as though this particular tale is going to focus heavily on the problem brewing on the moon and that we are going to bear witness to the militarization of NASA. But instead, this turned out to be a moving and powerful character study. One that genuinely helped some characters grow, whilst setting the stage for juicier plot points. Such as the fact that Margo and Aleida might clash at NASA and that Gordo has other trauma to resolve and really, this kind of quality character-centric storytelling, really does compel one to continue the journey. So that we can see these good people find the peace they are so desperately searching for, before things begin to escalate on Luna. Until next time.

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

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