For All Mankind (TV Series) Stranger in a Strange Land (2022) User Reviews

Well....Damn

[coolhandmo-700-198344 · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

I'm not sure why I'm here cause I'm sort of speechless. What an episode of tv tho, once again I'm almost completely surprised at what they choose to do.

This also shows, again, that what makes this show great isn't the space exploration or the ships or the action (and I'm a HUGE sci-fi guy)... It's the characters and what they go through together.

What some have relegated to a "woke soap opera" is exactly what makes eps like this great and meaningful instead of a mockumentary, it's the drama.

Can't wait for season 4!!

Best episode in the series

[Snarky-McSnark · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

I hope this show doesn't stop. It's built a world I didn't think I'd find myself invested in but this season and episode just killed it. The radio head at the end, Goode bumps.

Cover your eyes

[mlambertvaus · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

The season finale has me biting my knuckles and covering my eyes..And ended with my mouth gaping in pure shock!

Excellent episode that definitely makes the wait for season 4 even harder.

All the people complaining about the show's 'woke' storylines

[prouvaire-539-806441 · 12 August 2022]

... are missing the point.

There were quite a few people who downvoted the first season. It was rated in the 6s when I first checked out the show on imdb, and I couldn't work out why, until I looked closer and found the many complaints about the show's portrayal of women in the space program.

And it seems that the same types of people are complaining about the show's occasional focus on two or three LGBTQ characters as part of the series-wide tapestry of stories. (Personally, I find the Danny Stevens storylines to be much more egregious, but not because of any so-called political agenda - they're just badly conceived and executed.)

Those people who don't like Ellen's coming out story are missing the point. The premise of the show is not "straight, white men exploring the new frontier in a display of rugged American prowess". It's how the space program acts as a catalyst for societal change: technological, geopolitical and cultural.

For All Mankind posits a world where space travel is much more ubiquitous than in the real world, and how as a direct result of that, the women's movement evolved at a faster pace (to the point that the US elected a female President by the mid 90s). And how as a direct result of that, the LGBTQ movement evolved at a faster pace than in the real world.

It also shows how the space program accentuates but then ameliorates East/West tensions, with Americans and Soviets going from being at the brink of nuclear war to actively cooperating, when thrown together by circumstance on Mars.

And it shows how everyday technology such as PDAs and video calls evolved faster than in the real world as a result of the investments in the space program, not to mention the private space industry.

I've always considered For All Mankind as an unofficial prequel to Star Trek (just look at the long list of Trek alumni working on the show). There's drama galore, but underpinning it all is a basic optimism that space travel effects positive change, moving the world to the sort of future where a United Federation of Planets can plausibly, eventually, come to exist.

And it starts with change on Earth, from about the time period that Star Trek first aired - the 1960s. Cultural evolution. Geopolitical evolution. Technological evolution. It's all part and parcel of the fundamental premise of the show.

Best season finale ive seen in a long time.

[ttrampus · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

True to form show keeps getting better. Im hooked...like how they rewrite history in a believable way. Focuses more on science less on fiction. Cant wait to see where they go next.

Redeeming

[mattader-19115 · 9/10 · 12 August 2022]

Similar to season 2, the ending is a return to form and adds more emotion without the drama. Plot armor while still remaining for some, is lost on others. It's not the best but it's far better than some of the other episodes this season.

They have done it Again.

[sbilalahmed · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

It's hard to top that Season 2 Finale, but they have done it again. The character Arc in this show apart from all the space nerdyness goes from great to amazing every season.

The last 15 minutes makes you go through every emotion there is, from joy to utter grief.

Can't wait for season 4.

Stranger in a Strange Land [9.7]

[jimmyishere-37748 · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

We have finally reached the end of a rollercoaster season and with few spoiler-less words I have to say: Oh My God!

This season finale was easily the best episode of the series. Packed with powerful and breathtaking scenes! Really loved what they've brought to us, after a bunch of not-so good episodes.

There were times I was seated, with my heart beating fast, not knowing what could come next, and also moments I was laughing out loud. This is the show we all love, right?

However there is a slight problem. The second part of the season had unwanted drama, and now when drama and emotion was necessary at certain scenes, they skipped it! They could have created remarkable scenes if they stepped up on their emotion game.

But still, this episode is by far the best "For All Mankind" season finale for me, with also a no-context time jump for us to take wild guesses of what could happen in the next season of the series.

Oh My

[boggie4758 · 10/10 · 13 August 2022]

Oh My this episode was beyond awesome. I feel like others have said the were a few episodes that were not great. It was like a roller-coaster, some were pretty good and some not so good but, this season's final episode was so awesome it had me on the edge of my seat. I even got emotional on parts of it. I though the 2nd season's final was so good but this one had it beat. I see there is a time jump at the very end and my jaw hit the floor about Margo...I can hardly wait until season 4 starts it will have a lot of issues stemming from what happened in this episode. I know it will be good.

Who wet my face?!

[todayisnotfriday · 9/10 · 12 August 2022]

I'm crying. This show has me so invested that I ugly cried for 30 minutes after this episode. I'll gather myself, but damn this wrap-up has me overly emotional and I'm unapologetic of it!

Everything in its Right Place

[slak96u · 9/10 · 12 August 2022]

Who knew all we needed was the North Koreans to land on Mars to make the show interesting.... the opening 10 minutes was one of the best scenes of the season. A lot of loose ends are tied up, preg'rs Kelly turning into Iron Man, Ed's storyline comes full circle, his interaction with the stranded N. Korean astronaut was a nice call back to previous seasons. AN ACTUAL MOLLY SIGHTING!!!!!!! Poor Danny, dude literally got kicked off the island, they should have done it 5 episodes ago... The domestic terrorism plot was the OMG moment, shocking, so reminiscent of similar incidents of the 90s and early 2000s that occurred in the US.

Up and often down season, the weakest of the series thus far. Ridiculous amounts of ideology and rhetoric injected into the series, very often not enough attention paid to the actual premise of the show. Much of the season felt more inspired by Grey's Anatomy than by Apollo 13, First Man, or The Martian. Countless dead this season... like 7 or 8 astronauts, the victims on the ground, the body count is a bit ridiculous and yet another similarity to Greys, killing off characters as a plot device. I guess it's necessary, the cast needed to be turned over, it's just sad the only way the writers can do it is by killing them off.

Regardless, the season ended on a complete high note, thankfully, it makes it easier to forget what a slog much of the season actually was. I'm looking forward to the 2000s.

This completely worked for me

[jp-206 · 10/10 · 19 August 2022]

This was easily the best episode of the season. Hopefully they brought around those extraneous plots to a conclusion. I'm intrigued about what was shown in the last scene. After wondering if I was going to make it through this season, I'm looking forward to season four.

The Good, The Bad, and Why?

[BoomerFan · 7/10 · 15 August 2022]

I have mixed feelings about this season-ender. Just about all, of the dangling plot lines got wrapped up - some well, some not so well.

Kelly's pregnancy was always absurd, but it served as a useful plot device and they didn't spend too much melodramatic time on it. The North Korean astronaut was handled surprisingly well. Karen's dominance over Dev was the culmination of her journey as a force to be reckoned with. Contrary to some here, I liked how they handled the gay President arc in the end, though I wished she'd have more forcefully told the bigoted VP where to go. Even Danny finally got what he deserved.

Now for the not so good. The Jimmy/terrorist thing made no sense, especially since it cost us two women characters who both deserved a moment of triumph. Getting Kelly back to orbit should have been the dramatic high point of the entire episode instead of being shown as an almost afterthought. Most of all, Margo and Aleida needed to have that chat before all hell broke loose. Maybe next season.

It just doesn't make sense..

[jianxiongwu · 4/10 · 29 December 2022]

I like the first two seasons. But this episode as well as the 3rd season just have too many things don't make sense...

* Two elite astronauts, from two most powerful countries, both weren't aware of the consequence of having unprotected sex during the most important & dangerous trip in modern human history.

* Another "well-trained" astronaut just came out because he suddenly felt Mars was a new "Eden", without any consideration of his missions, his colleagues, and the world.

* In NASA, random people could steal badge, could steal two big statues, could park a van with bombs that blew up half of the building...no wonder its director could feed designs to rival country for years undetected.

* Weak characters with only purpose to push ridiculous arcs: sons of two great astronauts did nothing except messed things up in space and on earth, an astronaut didn't do anything except got pregnant in space, a gay president existed for the sake of being gay...

I like many characters from first two seasons, and still find Molly & Danielle amazing even in this much-worse season. However, the major twists were mostly built on settings didn't make much sense, which felt forced and distracting. If they don't improve the writing and don't bring it closer to a logical level, there isn't really much to look for in the new season as a sci-fi series.

As always, incredible finale.

[BairdBarrymore · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

Once again, despite some weak episodes and moments sprinkled throughout this season, For All Mankind has once again absolutely nailed it's season finale. While this show is overall a very solid show, it's season finales are some of the best TV I have ever watched. Absolutely incredible.

Golly, I'm all over the moon (no pun intended)

[alec_escala · 10/10 · 19 August 2022]

I keep wrapping my head over everything that happened in this season's finale, and in my opinion, it matched Season 2's (with Gordo and Tracy).

The irony about it all is that even though Helios, NASA, Russia, and as it turns out, North Korea, made each of their death-defying trips to Mars and encountered a few (but crucial) death-defying incidents on their stay there, the real danger came to the people back down on Earth. A seemingly disillusioned group of protesters, turned domestic terrorists bomb the Johnson Space Center. This clearly echos the real-life bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, as well as another space-themed film, Contact (1997). It also thrusts "For All Mankind" into a period of time that had me wondering how they were going to tackle: the age of terrorism.

Personally, Margo's brief speech to the Mission Control group felt like a thinly veiled goodbye to the NASA she spent decades being part of. Her walking down the corridor one last time had me thinking there's a chance she could become a defector of Russia after everything she has done. But the bombing certainly put that idea to bed as Aleida walked into her office in the aftermath with the whole front blown out (even taking her baby grand piano with the blast). Only at the end was the rug pulled out from under us again and it's 2003, the inevitable end of the season time jump has occurred once again and this time, "Everything in Its Right Place" by Radiohead (another favorite song of mine) is used to usher in the new decade. A still very much alive Margo wakes up, looking out into her view of what is presumably Moscow.

Is there really any doubt to what the creators and writers of this show do? Again, "For All Mankind" is not the show to shy away from significant deaths of characters (I won't spoil who they are this time). But even when it feels like they're starting to lose some ground with storylines and characters, they bounce right back and deliver. Season 4 can't come soon enough and I predict it may be its bleakest season yet as NASA (if it even exists, still) is sent on a whole new kind of mission. The only remaining question is where do we go from here?

What can I say. It was absolutely amazing.

[djwhyatt · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

I don't usually write reviews on IMDb, As I always feel like I can't describe the words in the best professional way possible, but here I just had to do it. This was absolutely an amazing final episode.

I watched it at 02:04 UK time, Constantly refreshing the page, so I feel like it safe to say I was among the first hundred, or internationally thousand people to watch the episode today.

It was absolutely worth doing straight away. They've given us a final episode over an hour and 20 minutes long. They definitely needed it. It didn't feel slow, or rushed at all. If anything it just felt so short because your enjoyment means it's still just flus by.

After the massive shock ending from episode nine, without giving away spoilers, episode 10 opens with answering the question of what actually happened in the first place, but not from the perspective of earth.

After the world does find out, it feels like there is a missed opportunity emotionally and internationally on the drama side to actually see how the planet would react to this incredible news. But on Mars it feels like it's still done really well. The believable emotional depth for what the astronaut had gone through both with following protocol and his own drive still felt deep and not at all two-dimensional. This I feel will be critical going forward in season four, as the story will be taking an even greater international and interconnected form when it comes to cooperation on Mars.

Is the episode isn't just one that deals with the fall out of the ending of episode nine, but has its own drama which even surpasses that.

That is what makes the story so brilliant. As soon as something good or incredible is happening, something else is always happening on Earth to then suddenly steal the light or flip everything on its head, usually for worse. But in the future who knows.

Episode 10 and is much like the ending of season two. Another time skip with a hint to the future but a huge amount of context that leaves you mouth open in shock on the edge of your seat.

Once again we are going to have to wait probably over a year to see what happens next, and I think all of us who have become hooked on the masterpiece series of For All Mankind will be eagerly waiting to see what next happens on Earth, and Mars.

Beautiful.

[ldargue · 10/10 · 13 August 2022]

Just absolutely amazing.

The direction, acting, music, story. Just all at the top of their game. What a beautiful thing to behold. I wish there was a new episode every day.

More.

Major Plot Twist Ending

[jlsmithgrad · 10/10 · 17 August 2022]

I just finished the finale, and I'm completely speechless. That twist of an ending just blew my mind, I was shocked and gasped out loud. Still think the season 2 finale was one of the best episodes of tv I've ever seen and the best For All Mankind episode, but this was a close second for best For All Mankind episode. Shocked by the changes that will now be in place for season 4. I saw one spoiler so I knew one of the losses, but not the other. But wow, just in shock. Well done!

A strong finish to cap the season.

[TheActionBuff · 8/10 · 14 August 2022]

The last episode was well put together and did a good job of integrating a majority of the characters. The episode did a good job of bringing in suspenseful moments and kept the suspense going for a significant duration. Well done! 8.4/10.

Oh Margo, what have you done?

[aaback · 8/10 · 12 August 2022]

What will happen in the next season?

The astronauts and cosmonauts land in the United States and the cosmonauts are held hostage until an exchange with Margo takes place. She will spend the rest of her life in prison.

Too Much

[epickering-02120 · 6/10 · 13 August 2022]

It was a great episode however I just felt there were too many things going on. I can see one or two plot surprises, but this was like a series with ADHD. Stick with a couple of plot lines and go with it. It is harder to watch.

Another disaster in space

[michaelprescott-00547 · 2/10 · 1 September 2022]

Season three puts a double exclamation point on its shocking decline in quality with a ridiculous finale that attempts to tie together an Oklahoma City-style terrorist attack, a pregnant astronaut, a stranded North Korean spacefarer, the coming-out of a gay US president, and the exposure of a high-level NASA spy. Any one of these plots would be hard to swallow; the combination is so laughably over-the-top.

Add a pretentious homage to "The Right Stuff" (Ed Baldwin walking away from a smoking crater) and the continuing idiocy of the Danny Stevens character (doesn't NASA do psych evaluations?), and you have one hot steaming mess of a show. Incredibly, it's been renewed for season four.

They really should have quit after the first two seasons, which were mostly excellent. Season three is when "For All Mankind" screwed the pooch.

But why?

[greenmangreat · 6/10 · 30 May 2023]

This is what happens when you write too many different plots at once: chaos.

For all mankind pulled a "Martian" in this episode. But The Martian was at least consistent with its story telling. Matt Damon's friend's son wasn't a lunatic and NASA wasn't bombed by terrorists while he was planting his potatoes.

I cannot for the life of me understand why the writers couldn't focus on Kelly's triumphant flight to the space station. Were the writers too worried they'd be accused of copying the Martian? But wasn't Danny's story enough? Or Margo? Or Ellen? Why was there a need to fit in a terrorist bombing as well? Why was there a need to kill off 2 fantastic characters when it added nothing to the story? Gordo and Tracy's deaths from S2's finale were poetic and beautifully written. But Molly and Kelly? And right after Kelly was supposed to take over as CEO of Helios? Why even create that plot point of Kelly taking over from Dev if she was just going to be killed off? This was far too much madness for me.

At the very least, we know there's going to be a season 4, which I'm assuming is going to continue the story of Colonel Lee and the North Koreans. Otherwise the North Korean plot point would've made absolutely ZERO sense. Still, I have no idea how another large timeskip is going to work out. 2003? Oh boy.

This show thrives on suspense and thrills. But the show's writers seem to have too great of a reliance on it. I can only hope season 4 has more focus instead of the crazy amount of noise we've seen from this season.

Utterly ridiculous

[junk-mail-me-here · 3/10 · 13 August 2022]

This show started out strong in season 1 and season 2 was quite good also. But more recently its become a ridiculous soap opera with no scientific sense. It is utterly IMPOSSIBLE that North Korea could have sent 2 people to mars in that tiny little ship with enough supplies and equipment to keep them alive for all that time. And that's just one stupid thing.

This will be the last episode of For All Mankind I ever watch. Stick a fork in it, its well past done.