For All Mankind (Season 4 Finale), Episode 10: So ends this season of “For All Mankind” with a long 80 minutes episode that covers almost every plot thread that had originated from the second half of the season and sees them to their natural conclusion.
For All Mankind (Season 4 Finale), Episode 10 Recap
Episode 10 – Perestroika
Initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika was a program initiated in the mid-1980s that literally restructured the economic and political policy of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev had also been known for the “Glasnost” initiative, the policy of openness, and the sharing of information. It is perhaps no coincidence that both the opening and closing of this season are named after two of Gorbachev’s most famous policies.
Of course, because in “For All Mankind,” there is an ironic bent, a complete subversion of those policies, and the consequence of those policies leading to the uprising and even a revolution. One of the hints of an uprising about to take place is the discovery of the North Korean revolver that had been hidden on the surface of Mars. One of the Helios technicians discovers it and hides it in his locker for a rainy day, a couple of months before the beginning of the events of this season.
Back in the present, the asteroid heist mission is at a critical stage. There is only a limited amount of time before the burn is initiated, and Ayesa wants the mission to go on without any pause. Dev is in the command center, watching Danielle in charge of the mission and sending messages to his crew at the secondary OpsComm via Morse code. For Ed Baldwin, the presence of an unconscious North Korean officer is a major issue, and he finally takes the humanist route of sending him to the medical bay, even though there is a risk of him recovering as a result and revealing about Ayesa’s operations.
They wouldn’t have to worry because that possibility comes to fruition through another avenue. Miles’ aggressive interrogation by the CIA and the KGB agent leads to a boiling point when the two interrogators decide to introduce him into the air-locked room. Miles had held up for being tortured for hours, but this, along with the CIA interrogator showing his wife’s picture carrying in crates of material sent from Happy Valley, putting her as an accomplice to the smuggling racket, forces his hand. He finally relents and reveals the hideout of the “Rebel Alliance” in front of the “Empire.”
Dev hears that the team is burned and signals them to leave, so by the time Dani reaches Sub-Level 4, where the new OpsComm is located, they are already gone. At NASA, Eli Hobson is frustrated upon learning of such an elaborate arrangement, growling in frustration. “Don’t these people understand that we are trying to change the world?” Sure, but it also comes at the cost of sidelining the Happy Valley Program, and not just because of the money being lined in the pockets. Both Ayesa and Hobson and the companies they represent are worried about lining their pockets, so that argument itself is absurd.
Now, hiding within the North Korean capsule, the plan to regain control of Ranger takes root in Ed’s mind through the use of North Korean shortwave radio and exploiting North Korean paranoia. Through the private North Korean radio feed, Lee connects Ed with Massey at the Ranger, where the risky plan to resume the asteroid hijack mission, of course, leads to the age-old finale set-piece of “For All Mankind.” In this case, it is “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” where Massey would have to provide the override control by switching the override device—by attaching the tether she is using to spacewalk on the surface of the Ranger, perilously close to the burn exhausts, to the override switch, such that it doesn’t automatically go back in.
That process, as it stands, of course, leads to Palmer suiting up and going outside to stop Massey, leading to a satisfyingly nail-biting battle, with Massey almost getting thrown off the guardrail. When Dani learned that Ed was holed up in the North Korean camp, she made another attempt to speak with him, but Ed was not prepared to compromise because he was completely in with the idea of Mars being his home rather than that “blue planet.”
It is concurrently happening with the events at NASA. Not only Happy Valley but even NASA is now wise to the plan and wants to ensure that the asteroid reaches Earth safely. The only way to do that and stop the burning engines would be to initiate a shutdown code from Houston. But there are characters vehemently against this proposal, and while Ayesa’s Rebel Alliance would never know or never interact, the two silent accomplices turn out to be Margo and Aleida. Margo had urged Aleida to speak with Sergei and persuade him to flee Houston because she was worried about his safety. Sergei had shot himself the night before, and Aleida was informed when she arrived at the motel where he was staying.
Sergei’s death rocks Margo’s core, realizing it is a murder orchestrated by Irina. She goes to confront Irina only to realize that her hands are tied, but that moment is also instrumental in showcasing all the subterfuge falling off. It leads to Aleida and Margo effectively reconciling again, with Margo realizing that progress comes at a cost. If the asteroid entered Earth’s orbit, none of the nations would make investments again, but if it could be avoided, all of their efforts would have been worthwhile.
After experiencing repeated betrayals, Margo became disillusioned and instead focused on doing what was right. So Aleida and Margo devised a restart code that would override the shutdown code. The only trick would be to type in the code in tandem with the shutdown code and then send it immediately. And while Margo plans it out, Aleida chooses to press the buttons and send in the code.
It’s another scene in American television where hacking or keyboard typing becomes exciting, but here the excitement makes sense because of the stakes. Viewers are kept abreast of the events on the computer screen and events occurring in the EVA walkway. So while Massey manages to climb up and kick Palmer off the walkway, only attaching him to the tether so that he doesn’t float off in space and be burned to a crisp by the engines, Aleida does succeed, and Ranger, under the control of Ayesa, becomes entrenched within the Mars Orbit. But Aleida’s subterfuge is caught by Irina, and to protect her, Margo takes the bullet. Irina looks almost disappointed at Margo, while Margo has somewhat of a contented face, taking the blame squarely on her shoulders.
Dani had perhaps been naive to think that the “interrogation” techniques of the CIA and the KGB would only be restricted to interrogation. As it turns out, that isn’t the case because the CIA agent is ordered by the DOD to use whatever force is necessary to bring the “rebels” to justice. And, of course, because it had worked out so well the last time, we see those soldiers arming themselves with guns (high-pressure nitrogen weapons firing non-lethal rounds) and beginning to breach the North Korean module where Ayesa, Ed, and his team are hiding.
Meanwhile, Gerardo is captured from the medical bay and kept tied up along with Miles under the watchful and aggressive eye of the KGB agent. However, the agent is soon overwhelmed by a squad of Helios workers led by Ilya, who rescues them. Miles, realizing that enough is enough, incites a riot, takes weapons consisting of tools, and moves towards the North Korean module, which leads to a battle between the Helios workers and the authoritarian police force. The class war had finally reached a boiling point, and to the horror of both Ed and Dani, it soon turned scary and not cathartic.
It leads to Ed and Dani silently teaming up to stop the riot. However, in the commotion, one of the soldiers recovers the North Korean gun and shoots it. The bullet hits Dani in the shoulder, which automatically stops the riot. Ed recoils in horror and immediately carries her to the medical bay, where Kelly is waiting for him as well.
For All Mankind (Season 4 Finale), Episode 10 Ending Explained
The ending of “For All Mankind” again reshuffles the chess pieces, removing a couple of them while also shifting a decade later for the next season. As it stands, Irina Morzovna arrests Margo, but the consequence would be laid squarely on her. As we see her entering the Roscosmos office, she realizes that her superiors are in her office. Her gamble hasn’t paid off, and in Rozhenko’s regime, failure is unacceptable. Margo might have made an irrevocable mistake, but her aim was pure: the saving of the space program. Thus, even if we see her imprisoned in the next season, at least her choice would carry more profundity.
We also see Dani having managed to return home to Earth, reuniting with her family, and being a proud grandmother. Season 4 sidesteps the tragic endings of its previous endings, choosing to end the story of this decade with a somewhat happier ending. It’s not that the show was perfect. It manages to make leaps in character development that are a bit harder to swallow, but its core theme of unionization and correct labor actions remains consistent.
The show this season also does a fantastic job of mirroring moments from the beginning to the ending, creating a coherent whole. It also had far better and more interesting subplots than its previous season, but some characters like Kelly do get shafted in the second half of the season. Also, Ed Baldwin, at this point, realistically should have retired or should have faced harder punishment for the actions he had chosen to execute.
The show ends with Dev Ayesa standing on the surface of Mars, looking up at the dark sky, and seeing Goldilocks rotating around Mars. As we see the year 2012 flash on the screen, we see that within nine years, the asteroid has become the hub of a refueling station called Kuznetsov Station. It calls back to one of those “blink-it-miss-it” lines of the first season, where the ultimate goal of the space race would be the colonization of different planets, with the moon becoming like the first instance of a refueling station. Considering that “For All Mankind” is supposed to have a seven-year run of storytelling, it feels that the show is moving towards its endgame quite well. Considering how the show ends, if “For All Mankind” isn’t renewed for another season, this ends in a neat little bow.
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