Best Show You’re Not Watching: For All Mankind

Just over a week ago, my Twitter feed blew up with TV critics praising the second season finale of the AppleTV+ series For All Mankind. I’ll admit that when I saw the series pop-up in my screener queue in 2019, I assumed it was some type of documentary on the space program and I didn’t bother investigating it. But with those full-throated endorsements on my social media page – and finding out that it was not a documentary – I realized that, much like with Ted Lasso, it appeared I was sleeping on another great AppleTV+ series. And boy was I right. After spending the past week catching up on both seasons of For All Mankind, I can officially say this is another show you should check out.

Now, if For All Mankind isn’t a space documentary, what exactly is it? Well, the series asks the question, “What would have happened to the space race if the Soviet Union made it to the Moon before the US and how would that change impact the rest of history?” The answer is, as you might have guessed, wholly engaging and quite a bit different from reality. NASA admits women and astronauts of color at a much quicker rate than what really happened, the Moon becomes a strategic base of operations for both countries, money and tech are spent at a dizzying rate to keep upping the ante when it comes to space travel. Oh, and the Cold War heats up and plays out differently than you remember. If For All Mankind were simply a Cold War thriller set around the space race, it would be a solid series and would likely get my recommendation. But the series, by the end of its second season, proves to be so much more.

Stemming from the mind of Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Outlander), it’s hardly surprising that the series manages to thread the needle of creating deep, complex, and compelling characters while still providing well-rounded and laid out narrative arcs for each – and for the season as a whole. Moore has, since his early days as a writer-producer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, shown an uncanny ability to put character first in his writing (his scripts on DS9 always managed to deepen the characters and had heart). Every one of his characters is a living, breathing entity, with a clear point of view and emotional depth that can be missing from shows with complex narratives (and sci-fi and fantasy series – of which Moore spends a lot of time working on – tend to have a ton of world building that often allows for characters to serve as plot-delivery devices rather than the driving force behind the narrative). And For All Mankind continues this trend, providing us a slate of interesting, rich characters to follow, all while using a cast of mostly unknown actors.

The series’ most famous cast member is Joel Kinnaman (The Killing, Suicide Squad) who plays NASA astronaut Ed Baldwin, the stoic, stable force within the series. Surrounding Kinnaman is a cast made up of recognizable character actors (Chris Bauer (True Blood, The Wire) and Sonya Walger (Lost) are granted the best arcs and turn in two of the show’s strongest performances out of the veterans camp) and newer faces (Michael Dorman and Sarah Jones as the married Gordo and Tracy Stevens get two of the richest, most layered arcs over the course of the two seasons, and Jones in particular becomes the show’s emotional MVP throughout Tracy’s stellar journey). But the most amazing thing about this cast? There isn’t a weak link in the bunch. And that’s saying something when you realize just how expansive this cast really is. And with a mix of real historical figures (Bauer, for example, is tasked with portraying Deke Slayton, an original Mercury Seven astronaut who later took on the post of Chief of the Astronaut Office – the role he holds within the series) and fictional characters (Kinnaman’s Baldwin and the Stevens family are all original to the series), and the added complexity of portraying characters in space and on the Moon, this isn’t an easy acting assignment. Yet everyone is exceptional.*

*I would be remiss if I didn’t also call out three of the less flashy, but just as excellent performances, from Wrenn Schmidt, Jodi Balfour, and Kris Marshall. These actresses each have crucial roles within the series, but are often called upon to act as the “straight man” to the show’s larger performances, and they take on those roles with aplomb. Steady, focused, and intriguing – we know less about what makes each of their characters tick at this stage in the game (although we are privy to their non-NASA lives), but their performances make us want to spend more time with their characters and get to know them more. I’m intrigued to see where they go in season three – particularly Balfour’s Ellen Wilson.

When you pair spot-on performances with excellent writing, you end up with great television. It sounds like a simple formula, but if you’ve watched much TV in your life, you know that the perfect balance of writing, acting, and direction – not to mention narrative arcs that appear to effortlessly span a season – are incredibly rare. While season one is great, it’s season two that got everyone talking – and what impressed me the most about the series. Moore and his writing staff pulled off the delicate dance of taking multiple, seemingly disparate arcs and tying them off together into a neat bow by the close of the season (yes, there was one minor arc that sacrificed character development for the sake of creating tension between two of the show’s central characters, but I’m willing to forgive that obvious misstep in the face of the success of the overall narrative picture). That’s something that only the best shows can do. Is For All Mankind at the level of a Better Call Saul? No, but it certainly has all of the tools to get there. And that’s pretty high praise for a series most people had ignored before two weeks ago.

So, if you were someone who snagged an AppleTV+ subscription just to watch Ted Lasso (which returns for its second season this summer, FYI), then you need to dive into For All Mankind immediately. While they are clearly different shows, there’s a similar sensibility at the heart of both – their characters are motivated to push forward, against steep odds, for the good of those around them. Yes, they stumble and fail, but you aren’t rooting for an anti-hero or against the interests of anyone. You are watching three dimensional characters struggle to live their lives, protect their loved ones, and attempt to do their absolute best. It’s inspiring, engaging, and sometimes heartbreaking. And I loved every minute of it.

For All Mankind is currently streaming on AppleTV+.