Set in the mid 90s, Season 3 of For All Mankind wrapped up this week with a very satisfying ending.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
I love how the writers of the series are creating a wholly believable alternate timeline, one that mirrors of events in our own—but always with a twist.
Case in point, the Oklahoma City bombing. In the timeline of FAM, it's not Oklahoma City, but rather the Johnson Space Center in Houston that was the target of the bomber(s). The results were no less horrific, and at least one main character—and possibly more—did not survive.
The American/Russian team on the surface of Mars received an unexpected guest. This guest turned out to be the first human on Mars, beating all the other teams to the surface not by days or hours, but by months…and they were from North Korea.
Baby Momma Kelly safely made it back up to the orbiting Phoenix, where she successfully gave birth to her Russian-American love child.
The truth finally came out about who caused the drilling disaster that led to the events of the final two episodes. Granted, it was by his own admission, but it still resulted in his exile from the rest of the crew—spending his remaining days and nights on Mars in—of all places—the North Korean capsule.
As with any drama, there were more than a few WTF moments over the past ten episodes, but not so many or so egregious that they took you out of the story as it was unfolding.
It will be interesting to see how the First Lesbian President of the United States story plays out next year, not to mention the fate of the first crew on Mars, now forced to remain an additional fifteen months with limited supplies while they wait for a rescue ship from Earth.
Margo's Russian love interest, who had been imprisoned in the Soviet Union for most of the season, was finally spirited to the West. And in the most prescient moment of the series thus far, Margo, now facing imminent FBI investigation for—you guessed it—espionage—ends up in Moscow in the final scene of the season, that was prefaced with "2003."
