‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘The Grey’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two finale of ‘For All Mankind’.
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The point of no return is a phrase that is often considered to be a negative notion and understandably so. Because it often ties into poor decisions and escalation, the kind that usually results in someone getting hurt emotionally or physically and it is a phrase that is relevant to our discussion today, simply because the point of no return is precisely where things have been heading on the AppleTV+ series, For All Mankind. Because for weeks now, the United States of America and the Soviet Union have been playing a dangerous game of escalation, one that has seemingly put both countries on a path toward nuclear war, leaving one to wonder if by chance… both nations would cross that proverbial red line in the season two finale of this incredible series and early on, it seemed as though that was going to be the case and the worst case scenario was about to play out before our eyes.

For ‘The Grey’ saw Tracy and Gordo Stevens, figure out how to radio home and alert NASA to the fact that the Russians assaulted the base and demanded the return of their cosmonaut. And to make matters worse, tensions were building in the Gulf of Mexico and that put the two superpowers on a path to war. In fact, they were so close to a nuclear exchange, that air raid sirens began to blare all over the United States, prompting so many to seek shelter and President Reagan was evacuated to Air Force One, only lending to the horror of this moment, one from which it seemed there would be no escape. But as history has taught us, time and time again… the actions of the brave and the bold tend to bring an end to the potential of war when those souls rise up and give their all toward peace and thankfully, that happened in this particular tale in a tense and costly and downright emotional manner. 

Because at Jamestown, a brief weapons exchange damaged the nuclear reactor, putting the entire station at risk and that motivated Gordo and Tracy to build custom spacesuits and do their best to rush across the void of space to kick on a redundancy system to save everyone aboard, friend or foe and well… believe it or not they actually pulled that miracle off, at the cost of their lives unfortunately. Because without proper suits and a steady flow of oxygen, their bodies were damaged by the void. But before the story could properly mourn their heroic end, it had more uplifting moments of bravery to provide us with. The kind that allowed for Admiral Edward Baldwin to finally see the light in regard to following orders, since Sally Ride was able to convince him that destroying Buran would end in disaster, motivating him to instead destroy the Sea Dragon payload to make it clear to the Russians that America didn’t want war. 

But while sacrifice and bravery likely could have ended this conflict on its own, sometimes a stronger symbol is needed to really help pull people back from the brink and that happened by way Commander Danielle Poole’s decision to disobey orders when her mission was called off by NASA in lieu of the situation. Because she understood the importance of this mission and what it could do for the world and after a little bit of sweet talking, she helped her cosmonaut counterparts to understand the importance of it as well and convinced them to dock with Apollo at last so that the world could witness a moment of unity and well, that was so powerful and so overwhelming that the President of the United States and the Soviet Premier finally sat down to find a better way and that made for one satisfying and sorrowful ending to this season for certain. One that finally brought a grand hope forward. In that, there is a chance after all that a unified planet, one that uses space travel to better mankind as a whole… could exist as evidenced by the closing moments of this particular tale where a human being set foot on Mars in the year 1994.

But before we read too deeply into the meaning of that, it is best we celebrate one incredible season finale. Because this one had it all, tension, high stakes, and of course… inspirational moments through and through. The kind that reminded us of the fact that our better angels can accomplish wonders when we choose them over violence and anger and fear. But while it was nice to be lifted up by beautiful moments, we would be remiss to not point out that the death of Gordo and Tracy is devastating to say the least, since they were beloved characters on the road to personal redemption and it is a shame, we will never get to see them mend their love for another and see what heights they could have risen to thanks to their heroic acts. But their legacy will undoubtedly live on in season three of this incredible series and now that the peace has been made and we know that man has arrived on Mars, it will be quite interesting to see if this giant leap for mankind will finally unify our world in a new decade of alternate reality-based space travel… or if we still have a long way to go to conquering the stars as one. Until next year.

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

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