For All Mankind (TV Series 2019– ) Poster

(2019– )

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9/10
"Children of the sky" should be the name of this series
adamgajdosik-1775418 June 2024
This series shows an alternate history where the soviet space program is more aggressive and wins the race to the moon. The space race continues. As the creators said it does change almost everything about the world as we know it.

I really enjoyed the first season of this show, but at the time I didn't realise how detailed and well-written the show was. Seasons 2 and 3 were the peak for me - they had great production values, a great plot with many callbacks and fun characters. Season 4 felt like an unwanted DLC that is good but could heave been skipped.

At first, I didn't know what to expect from this show. But this series shows that the characters are complex and almost everybody has done good and bad things.

Overall the main series characters are Margo and Ed Bldwin who both get much screentime and great character development throughout. Ed Baldwin lost so much while being away from earth that he feel at home in space. It is very poethic and unique. Margo has many callback to his mentor and has a simmelar fate to him.

The first season is said to be very historically accurate and well-written, but the pilot didn't convince me what does this series want to be. After the first 4 episodes I realised that the show manages to capture the feeling of doing things for the greater good and being a part of something bigger. This season had the most drama and the least action compared to the other seasons.

Season 2 had some beautiful cinematography and had a lot more action and tension than the first season. It has a great soundtrack- with a reference to Apocalypse now. I think there was only one annoying plotline, but it didn't bother me that much. Gordo and Tracy were standouts this season. They get a lot of screentime and are a lot more likeable than in the first season.

Some people say season 3 wasn't so good but in my opinion it started off great and ended great. Maybe 7, 8 episodes were not so good but there was quite a bit of tension. The soundtrack is killer and for me the race to another planet is the peak of this series. Karen is the standout this season. And the finale has some major twists that I didn't expect. Be aware of the years in this season.

Season 4 is a great continuation of the series. The first episode and the finale live up to everything that came before. The Russian and earth plotline is great, but the plot on Mars is lame. Standout this season is Aleida who has the most charter development since season 2. It has a lot of set-up and interesting ideas that I wouldn't even think of, but shows no interest in developing them. The season has the least tension compared to the other seasons.

I really enjoyed how they handled the Soviets/Russians in this series. They aren't mindless killing machines but smart people who want peace.

I don't know what the future seasons will bring. I hope season 5 can bring back the great writing of the earlier seasons and I am really excited for the Star City spin-off .
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9/10
Requires your undivided attention
tonyt-656254 June 2024
I've completed season 1 and have been hugely impressed with this production. The storyline is fictional space exploration from a US viewpoint in competition with Russia, coupled with the impact on multiple characters relationships, impacted by the political and social climate of the times in which the story is set. The quality of production and acting throughout is very high, the individuals, couples and teams' stories are as entertaining as the dramatic action scenes. I've started and paused episodes multiple times due to interruptions and poor planning on my part, leading me to the conclusion that this truly deserves to be given your full attention, to treat it like a visit to the cinema/movies. It's that good.
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8/10
[8.4] Stones turned to jewel
cjonesas14 May 2024
When you start watching a series from a choice of 2-3 ones, not being sure which one is the one to swallow and 5 episodes in you totally forget about the other "candidates", that speaks lengths in favor of 'For All Mankind'.

Started with the first season and was already fully immersed into the drama, the superb sci-fi achievements and ground-breaking spatial plots.

I was never a special fan of space sci-fi from 'Star Trek' main and spinoffs to 'The Mandalorian', but in 'For All Mankind' I found a whole new interest in scientific science-fiction, Moon and Mars colonization deepened with believable drama around the ones involved in the show, some may call it soapish, but for me it complemented the space and scientific features of the series oh so well, passing important messages in-between.

Just finished the fourth season and while my eyes are wet with tiny tears droplets, I just wish that I already had the fifth season's episodes in my fist.

Again, a stellar show by Apple Original and a red gem that is not hidden anymore. Ultra highly recommended. It's the space sci-fi version of 'The Killing' and 'The Americans' combined.

  • Screenplay/storyline/plots: 8
  • Production value/impact: 9
  • Development: 9.5
  • Realism: 8.5
  • Entertainment: 9
  • Acting: 9
  • Filming/photography/cinematography: 8.5
  • VFX: 9
  • Music/score/sound: 7.5
  • Depth: 8.5
  • Logic: 6.5
  • Flow: 8.5
  • Sci-fi/drama: 8
  • Ending: 7.5.
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10/10
Amazing
Rob133116 June 2024
I have to say that I enjoyed For All Mankind a lot more than I thought I would. It's actually become one of my favorite new shows of the last few years. It's a sci-fi mystery thriller that takes you down the road of "what if" during the space races. While the show does has its flaw overall it is a very good show. The writing and acting are all terrific, especially Joel Kinnamon. The use of actual footage and real events just make the story that much better. Each episode gets better and better. I put off watching it for some reason and I'm now binging all 3 seasons and can't stop. If you're a sci-fi fan and have been putting it off like me...stop! Go watch this as soon as possible because I promise you won't be disappointed.
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10/10
One of the best sci-fi series I've ever seen
Supermanfan-1321 March 2024
For All Mankind is one of my favorite sci-fi shows that I've ever seen and that's not hyperbole. I really can't get over how much I loved this show. It's a sci-fi show where Russia beat us to the moon and the great space races never ended. It may start off a little slow for some but after a few episodes you'll be hooked. It gets more exciting the further into the show you get. It's a character driven show that takes you into the lives of NASA astronauts and their families. The visuals in this are amazing and how they take real footage and real life videos and intertwine them with fiction into the show is awesome. This is an intense sci-fi series that must be watched by any true sci-fi fan. I hope they continue to more seasons.
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7/10
Know your audience
CyricTheCynic7 September 2022
This show has a cool premise, that being what if the space race never ended. It's a sort-of alternate reality and it does a good job of weaving in actual historical events with where the timeline diverged. The main problem is that I feel like the show is being pulled in two directions. In one direction, there is the tension of the space race, engineers scrambling to be the first on the moon/mars and dealing with all manner of technical issues in a realistic-ish way. That part of the show I enjoy. Then, for some reason, the show also throws in a bunch of trite interpersonal drama and stupidity. Like inter-marital affairs, people leaking NASA secrets to the soviets, and a CLEARLY unstable drug-addicted astronaut being given solo control of a super important mission. It's like the showrunners thought the show couldn't stand on it's own without dumb drama, as if there couldn't organically be issues and drama in the context of Frigging SPACE. The first season does this better, but by the 2nd/3rd seasons most of the issues come not from unforeseen difficulties of life on the moon/mars but idiots. It really makes me wonder if they just aren't sure who their audience are. The people who like the technical stuff are not going to like the artificial drama, and vise-versa. Pick a lane, show, and stick with it.
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10/10
One of the best Sci-Fi shows I've seen
thevirus-525 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
One if the best sci-fi series i have seen lately.

I really like the idea what could have been if there were taken more effort in discovering the moon, Mars and our solar system since "we" stepped foot on moon in 1969.

The race to the stars between USA and the Russian would be way more interesting then fighting the cold war.

It feels like this show could be the prequel of "The Expanse", which I also like very well and would recommend.

Also I like the timeline and the way they show how all the following missions could have been and in that time 70s, 80s, 90s.. let it feel so easy to travel to moon and mars...and maybe even further.

I'm very excited for season 5.
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7/10
Great when it focuses on core Space Themes. Awful when it loses its key audience in mushy soap themes
elnexusben7 March 2023
As a big space and scifi fan this show initially excited me. Great alternate history of the US space program envisage by (former Nazi) von Braun continuing to receive massive funding from Congress, staying on the moon, going to Mars etc.

And when the script focuses upon these key engineering and human achievements, it excels, pulling the user into the problem solving they must undertake to get through the various deadly environments outside of Earth.

The drama between the Soviet Union and US is very well done, with some great espionage subplots.

Where this show badly misses the mark is in misunderstanding its key audience, namely space fans like me, by spending endless amounts of time in millenial touchy-feely dialog about relationships (and yes, I'll say it, a HUGE amount of time on completely irrelevant-to-the-core-theme-of-space-flight LGBT issues).

As more seasons have gone on, I have found myself hitting the FFWD button on my remote more and more.

It's a shame that so much time is lost in ticking diversity boxes rather than focusing on the key engineering and human decision-making that is the core of space flight. But in this day and age of box-ticking, I guess one should never get ones hopes much about anything in TV these days.

Overall a 7/10, because, despite these irritations, when it sticks to the main plot, it excels.
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5/10
First season was good...
sammy-gibson14 July 2023
The first season got me all excited. I liked the idea of the show, and the story was great. Acting was great, special effects were great.

Pretty cool alternate reality premise too. It would have been nice to see the show go beyond Mars. Possibly even better technology being invented out of necessity.

However, after the first season it really started being more and more about politically correct ideologies. By the end of the third season it was pretty tough to muttle through.

I can accept some of that in moderation. Although, in this case I felt it went a little overboard.

I would have been happier with more space race, and less political correctness.
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10/10
Simply unbelivable, production on this is just amazing.
naghini-3116825 May 2024
First i want to start of with the fact that this truely is a hidden gem, way way underrated. It is not easy to produce a series with this many episodes portraying scenes in space - and doing it very very realisticaly aswell. So that alone is amazing, it is an altered reality but it really feels like that, if this would've happened, it would have been, as presented here.

It is not only good for space enthusiasts ( that might be interested in the technical stuff aswell, astrology topics ), but also goes really well into the dynamic between the characters and their relationships - love, hate, hardships in family.

It was never boring, every season came with something new, and they all delivered. As much in action, suspanse and plot-twists.

I like the title of this series: For All Mankind. Perhaps it will ignite the fire in some upcoming engineers or pilots, to do amazing things - For All Mankind.
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9/10
Hidden gem.
Adoshow14 February 2024
For All Mankind is a series that, in general aspects is very good. The first seasons despite having a uchronic point of view, are very well documented, which makes it a series that fits you perfectly if you are interested in the subject. The series develops a narrative focused on NASA, which makes it not balanced and does not show us both sides of the story, something I missed.

I would like to highlight the impeccable production of this series, and the great amount of resources that have been invested in it. During the course of the episodes you will be able to see how the era they are in is represented to perfection, getting even more that you can immerse yourself in their environment.

On the other hand, they also deal in a secondary way with the social inclusion of homosexuals in the 70's or the opportunities of African Americans in the space race, including these arguments perfectly in the overall narrative of the story.

In conclusion, it seems to me a very high level series, with good performances and a level of progression that makes you gradually fall in love with its plot.
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9/10
Started amazing! Fell apart in the 3rd season
Mike8544 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Will always love the first two seasons in the first two seasons we are introduced to very possible alternate timeline where the USA is humbled by the Russians landing on the moon before Apollo 11. And while there is a lot of character drama that other reviews have criticized negatively I don't believe that it detracts from the story it actually enhances it. Without that development we wouldn't be affected by the loss of Gordo and Tracy. But in the third season we end up with a lot of current real world propaganda rammed down our throats. I dislike having political issues forced upon me when I'm trying to be entertained. If you need indoctrination during your entertainment time then enjoy the last two seasons. I was disappointed to see how badly the showrunners treated Ed Baldwin.
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8/10
More of an observation than anything else
vbxmctnn11 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Really good show but how many bad things can happen to NASA?! Whoever builds their spaceships need hauled up to court for murder because mission after mission something major always goes wrong! Dont get me wrong, it's really enjoyable to watch but for God's sake, give us a bit of good news to cheer about! Every time a mission takes places I'm trying to guess who will die next or if there will be a crash of some sort. If this was real NASA would have been shutdown ages ago. I hope this changes soon because I want to cheer at some stage! I'm on episode 9 of series 1...

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!
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6/10
More Soap Opera than Space Opera
robmcp-124567 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Tried really hard to enjoy this but the plot holes, poor writing, illogical situations and non-aging characters really let this down.

As a series it tries really hard to be massive in scope as an alternate history of space exploration, but most of what is supposed to be interesting post the initial space landing is pretty silly.

The period jumps and time changes don't help. Some of the most interesting and character driven story lines are the ones that are missed during the period jumps.

A lot of the characters are kind of unlikeable too. And Ed and Karen who have been together since before he flew in the Korean War don't look much older in the mid 90s (except for spray on grey hair).

Could have been an epic series, next time get a better NASA consultant and actually listen to them.
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6/10
Sublime to ridiculous
dlxmarshall23 August 2022
Season 1 was excellent. Season 2 less so but watchable. Season 3 veered between fleeting moments of brilliance and a preponderance of absurdity and dreadful plot lines, pandering to every demographic they could think of and a general disregard for anything that came before. Still enjoyed it for the most part, just a wasted opportunity.
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Mostly entertaining
sstroudgustatore11 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Started watching this late in the game, I think it had been on for 3 seasons. It's been a mostly enjoyable watch and being alternative history it's hard to poke holes in the storyline.

That said... Ed Baldwin? Aside from his character becoming insufferable, he's a Korean War vet, season 4 takes place in 2003 and he's still working on Mars? He's got to be pushing 80 now, I'm pretty sure he would have been recalled and retired by now. Additionally he went to Mars as a Helios employee, yet he keeps getting promoted. He's an admiral at this point. I just don't see it.

Similarly, Margo was playing piano moments before the JSC bomb went off. How did she miraculously get spirited out of the building and off to Moscow?

In a mult-season story maybe these are minor quibbles, but they bother me know end.
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5/10
Great Season 1, fair 2 and full soap in 3
God-of-Chocolates6 August 2022
Season 1 was really refreshing, interesting story, great cast, I loved how they manage to intergrate women into NASA and and hey most of the science was plausible.

Just stop watching after 2!

Season 3 is utter rubbish: SF lost the "S" and is now only the background for a soap. And my god even for a soap this is bad: Most character act like teenagers, unprofessional ones!

One leader are giving secrets to the Russian, why is not really important to the character, may be for peace, but then BlackOps in the UDSSR ... no prob. Of course no one notices the Russians has confidential info - again.

The old man is taken to lead the "bad" guys and of course he will not win against the black woman. Who crash lands, but hey who cares, if someone (surprise, surprise) has his coming out after the landing.

The worst is of course the kid-pilot.

Overall I lost interest in all characters and in the story. At the end of season 2 I was sad and happy at the consequent ending. But here, let them all die and start over.

I made it till the landing on Mars in the middle of season 3. By then I guess most SF fans dropped out anyhow. So journey on without me.
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10/10
Incredible
borisdcoleman13 March 2024
Wow, just wow everything from the science to the actors is just spot on I mean they hired an astronaut for god's sake only once scene that is off and it's in the trailer when the space shuttle doesn't have its radiator panels open, and the show has got to be the best thing I've laid eyes on if you like space I cannot recommend this show enough only downside is it being on another streaming service but honestly is worth it to pay for the streaming service just for the show alone it's THAT good so if you are a fan of accurate space shows or just space in general and accurate shows WATCH THIS SHOW.
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10/10
Wow, just wow....
walterhoward25 January 2024
You might view this series as a precursor to the Expanse. Separated of course by a few hundred years. There is so much about this show that puts it apart from everything else in the media. Some reviewers say this is an alternate history show but it's used only as a gimmick to have the U. S. and Russia put a lot more resources into the Space Program so it expands instead of being left to wither like it has in the current history. If you are unhappy with alternative history just view it as what might be possible starting in the year 2040 after we get our act together here on Earth (hopefully).

1) It's full of surprises and never gets boring. I hate predictable stories. You won't be able to predict this one.

2) The technical accuracy is there except for the availability of fission and fusion engines (who knows, if we stopped wasting money on weapons and warfare maybe we could have this technology by now and, well, maybe we do. Wink wink, nudge nudge)

3) The characters are all deep and well fleshed out.

Congratulations to the writers, producers, actors, set designers, costume designers and CGI artists and programmers. I frankly don't know how you pulled this off. It must have been a lot of work but the end result was the best TV series ever.

This is now my favorite television series of all time.

The last scene of the last season left me with tears in my eyes it was just so cool.
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8/10
Started season 1; so far so good
sonodocsch4 February 2024
So far, I am enjoying it. Most of us who are space program enthusiasts know about Werner Von Braun's history with the Nazis. That he was brought to the US with his colleagues to work on ballistic missiles (initially with the US Army Ballistic Missile Agency) but during his confrontation with the Congressional Panel, this was not brought up. The US knew about his background, but did not disclose this initially.

Also, there's a woman character - Margo Madison - who at one point says, "I know the code!" This has made me wonder if her character is a shout out to Margaret Hamilton, the woman engineer who led the Apollo guidance computer software development team at the MIT Instrumentation Lab (now the Draper Lab). You can find photos online of her standing next the pile of computer printout of the Apollo computer code.
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10/10
Stunned...
klaudiasjewelrybox22 January 2024
I was struggling with the first few episodes but I am so glad I kept watching. Became one of my favorite tv shows of all times. I will miss this show so much and maybe will revisit it one day - what I don't normally do.

My least favorite season was the third, but it didn't disappoint with the fourth. I think the magic is in the characters and the tales about dreams of every human being. The music is absolutely amazing, starting out with old times songs and ending with a really cool track at season 4. There is something magnificent to follow a human beings from childhood or young adulthood to elder years - that is one aspect that is amazingly done in this TV show.
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9/10
This is not a documentary Warning: Spoilers
I've seen a lot of comments about it not being historically correct. They should look up the meaning of drama. ;). It's a thought experiment, and an interesting one at that.

It's not trying to rewrite history, it's trying to answer the question. What if?
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10/10
Good show
chadscott-6475321 January 2024
I really like the show but some things don't make sense , like Ed's wife being a bar owner and all of a sudden next season she has a hotel in space ... cmon , she had nothing to do with space but now she's a huge part of mars missions . I'll watch the show to the end but there's a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense. I'm all for a woman president but the lady they have playing her I don't believe . I don't know why eds wife had to sleep with Danny and how all the kids just become astronauts and end up on mars , I guess what I'm saying the most is that I don't like Ed's wife's part of the show.
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6/10
Too much soap
DocDAT15 July 2022
It pains me to write this, but it's becoming almost unbearable to watch this series. It started as great alternate history sci-fi but has now devolved into pure soap. The drama in season 1 was well written and integrated naturally with the space stuff. Season 2 also, but to a lesser degree. Season 3 is completely off the rails.

We have astronauts on friggin Mars, but instead of all the exiting possibilities that entails, the plot revolves around creepy stalker Danny, petty squabbles and various people's sexual orientation.

There's nothing wrong with being LGBTQ+ and people should be free to be who they are (which they are in the civilized world), but drama like this is just not very interesting. Especially not when you're trying to watch a show about space travel.
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6/10
Started good, becoming hard to watch.
leh028726 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
First let me say that my rating is only as high as a 6 out of respect for the first season. Last season was weird and had unnecessary drama, and season 3 is awful. I would rate season 1 a 9, season 2 and 6, and season 3 a 2.

As I'm sitting here watching season 3, I'm wondering how these idiots have had the discipline and fortitude to make it through the military and into space. Almost all the characters are highly dysfunctional. Danny is obsessed with his dead best friend's mom (that whole thing was just weird and out of the blue), he's jealous of Ed for getting along with his own (ex) wife, and he's clearly about to become addicted to pain killers. How is this the kind of person who NASA chooses to go to Mars? Don't they do psych assessments? He lost his parents in a horrific way and is clearly screwed up because of it. Stay home and work on your stuff, Danny.

Then in episode 6, a new character decides that his interview about being on Mars is the perfect time to tell the world he's gay. WHAT?!?! Again.. how do these people make it on this mission? I can't imagine what it had to be like for his character and I hate how he's being treated, but what an idiot. You're on a mission to freaking Mars, your house isn't working and it's your job to fix it, you're already in a tense environment with Russians breathing down your next, so why not make a stupid decision. Even though he shouldn't be treated the way he is being treated, it's dumb to risk the mission to make a point. Was he not trained in the army that the mission comes first?

So annoyed with the direction of this show. It's gone from great to a stupid decision factory. You're throwing away a great plot for unnecessary, stupid drama.
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