Final week’s season 4 opener of Apple TV+ alt-history drama collection For All Mankind went essentially huge to catch everybody up and begin off with a bang. So it’s not shocking episode two establishes a extra sensible stride, specializing in the realities of life in a working Mars colony.
Seems life sucks for the working man up there in additional methods than simply an alarming likelihood of fatality. Life in Glad Valley, Mars, additionally tells a deeply unfair story of haves and have-nots, similar to on Earth.
For All Mankind season 4, episode 2: ‘Glad Valley’ll kick your ass for those who let it’
Season 4, episode 2 — “Have a Good Sol” — takes it down a couple of notches from the season opener. It even has a boring tagline on Apple TV+ — “New Helios staff arrive on Mars as NASA undergoes main modifications.” Properly, that sounds awfully … administrative. And it’s, however the episode undoubtedly outdoes its description.
Out of the gate — or the house dock, I ought to say — the episode is filled with hope. New staff of personal house firm Helios are understandably excited as sweeping scenes present a shuttle undocking from a ship and flying right down to the floor of Mars. Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell), who we met final week attempting to persuade his spouse his new job is the precise factor for the household, can’t wait to start out work as a gasoline technician on the floor of the crimson planet in spite of everything his coaching.
Actuality checks on Mars and Earth
Besides that’s not his job. As a drill sergeant-like supervisor curtly explains, Helios not prioritizes fueling on the floor, so Miles might be an HVAC technician (an air conditioner man). He received’t be engaged on the floor, however in peoples’ quarters and elsewhere within the bowels of the house station.
That’s disappointment no 1 for Miles. It seems to be a protracted listing. Later he finds out the vid-calls to and from dwelling don’t work for him however they do for astronauts and scientists. The working crew’s meals sucks compared to theirs. He doesn’t have the job he got here for and he received’t be getting bonuses. After which he finds out his first paycheck subtracts all these deductions for garments, meals, toothpaste and extra. Helios is beginning to appear to be a kind of outdated firm cities the place the boss makes the miners pay for his or her shovels and headlamps.
And what occurs when Miles complains? Base XO Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) yells at him. “Welcome to Glad Valley,” a gray-jumpsuited colleague says, sarcastically. The astronauts get cool blue jumpsuits.
The episode switches between Miles’ fading hope and two different storylines. One focuses on Ed reconnecting along with his outdated colleague and new base commander, Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall). The opposite follows super-stressed flight engineer Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña) persevering with to emotionally self-combust after which commiserating and becoming a member of forces with Baldwin’s NASA scientist daughter, Kelly (Cynthy Wu). Then it finally ends up with a disturbing go to with Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt), the previous NASA director now languishing in Moscow.
‘Hello Bob’ brings again the early days
Photograph: Apple TV+
Ed and Danielle go manner again at NASA, earlier than Ed moved on to non-public firm Helios. They used to share the tongue-in-cheek greeting “Hello Bob,” and that’s how the 2 wrinkled and graying mates begin off when Ed studies to her at Glad Valley, with a giant hug. She’s the brand new boss after the outdated one obtained axed following the unintentional deaths of Grigory “Kuz” Kuznetsov (Lev Gore) and Tom Parker (Mac Brandt) within the season opener.
He leads her on slightly tour. Straight away issues appear off when she spots Lee Jung-Gil (C.S. Lee), the Korean astronaut she befriended after a tense standoff on Mars final season. However he ignores her at first, and the Korean officer with him orders him to “act correctly.” So he politely mutters “good to see you” and walks away.
Ed explains that the Koreans are simply being cautious to maintain Lee in his place. That doesn’t sound good. That together with the supervisor ordering the brand new employees to by no means go the place the Koreans sleep indicators battle forward.
Later Danielle will get off to an excellent begin along with her senior workers, drawing applause when she talks frankly with them concerning the lack of Kuz and, like within the season opener, offers them a thematically acceptable “get on with it anyway” speech.
“The very last thing he would need is for his sacrifice to be for nothing,” she says. Preserve targeted on what’s forward. “Though you’ll in all probability be useless quickly,” she may’ve added as a result of, c’mon, it’s house. However she didn’t. And hell, a few of them may reside by way of the entire season.
Break up-screen montage exhibits haves vs. have-nots
A go to to the Rosales family exhibits Aleida totally deconstructing a defective TV within the wee hours, to her husband’s dismay. She hasn’t been to work at NASA in weeks, after struggling some flashbacks to the NASA bombing triggered by episode 1’s deadly accident on Mars. She received’t return to remedy. The scenario’s unimaginable and hubby’s offended.
After which we get an odd deal with. Again on Mars, a split-screen montage launches to a jaunty rap soundtrack. One aspect exhibits Miles blundering by way of a depressing existence as an AC restore man being handled like a servant whereas the opposite exhibits Danielle mingling fortunately with productive astronauts and scientists. Each Miles element proven sucks in comparison with Danielle’s.
The montage goes on and on, nearly too lengthy. On the finish, she will get off an elevator and half-smiles at him whereas he will get on. At that time it looks like the elevator ought to break free from its helps and plummet when he presses the button, but it surely doesn’t.
Ladies assist one another when NASA received’t
Photograph: Apple TV+
Within the cuts between storylines, we see NASA director Eli Hobson (Daniel Stern) visiting with Kelly Baldwin and her workers of scientists, whose work entails robotics to seek out and exploit methane sources on the crimson planet.
Hobson praises her up and down, however then takes her apart and says all assets should go to asteroid seize till it pays the “main dividends” anticipated previous to the horrible accident that derailed it. They’d been attempting to safe an asteroid to a ship to maneuver it into Mars orbit when cables broke and males died. So now Kelly’s work is on indefinite maintain.
Later we see her and Rosales commiserating and ingesting tons of tequila within the former Baldwin household bar from previous seasons. Aleida went there straight from her personal dreadful assembly with Hobson slightly than inform her husband she give up her healthcare-providing job. She finds Kelly ingesting beer and dealing on a laptop computer with a plate of untouched Mexican meals in entrance of her.
Aleida had tried to return to work with apologies for her absence, passing it off a household challenge. However when Hobson mentioned nice, however you must get some psychological well being assist first, she goes into one other flashback to the bombing. As he’s attempting one other tact, speaking about stress and his exhausting time filling Madison’s sneakers, she’s not even listening. When he wraps up and goes to shake her hand in welcome, having mentioned his piece, she surprises him. “I made a mistake coming again right here,” she blurts out, making for the door. “I give up.”
As Aleida and Kelly get hammered, Kelly sees in her tequila the hopeful promise of liquid as the perfect medium for all times. Then the 2 agree they need to “TP” Hobson’s home. It’s humorous, however all of the expositional dialogue within the scene isn’t, a lot. The 2 characters do all types of recapping about themselves and the bar’s story in case you forgot (stuff regular folks in all probability wouldn’t say).
Barfing on the carpet and discovering objective in life
Subsequent time we see Kelly, she’s waking up in pool of her personal drool on the Rosales sofa as slightly woman informs her she threw up on their carpet final evening and it stinks.
However within the kitchen, Aleida — who appears effective regardless of having changed most of her blood with tequila the evening earlier than — affords a plan to assist Kelly increase cash for her analysis with out NASA. Kelly complains she will’t depart her dream job at NASA and go begging for cash by herself.
“You wouldn’t precisely be doing it alone,” Elena says, implying a partnership. And her beforehand worried-as-heck husband smiles benignly as a result of his wayward spouse has objective once more.
Soccer occasion celebrates vid-mail’s return
Again in house, Danielle and Ed go to the commissary. She offers him shit for not going dwelling regardless of Kelly’s protests. However her actual objective for the lunch chat is to take Ed’s temperature relating to employee discontent, which she has shortly understood like the good supervisor she is.
However Ed exhibits no sympathy, as he conveyed within the scene the place he chewed out Miles for all his completely justifiable whining. He additionally says Helios didn’t construct issues just like the busted satellite tv for pc (which is hampering video mail and extra) to be mounted, and the anticipated new satellite tv for pc in all probability received’t arrive till subsequent yr.
That’s when Danielle places on her NASA commander boots and orders him to get the satellite tv for pc mounted, superseding Helios tips. Ed appears skeptical however form of impressed. Later, through the fixes which have gone nowhere however lastly culminate in working satellite tv for pc communications for all, he’s thilled together with everybody else. He even places collectively a soccer-viewing occasion for crew.
However life isn’t nice for everybody. Miles remains to be down. He binges on household vid mails and cries, however can’t deliver himself to answer about how issues are for him.
‘Maggot meat’ and moonshine
Photograph: Apple TV+
Again when Miles took his bunk for the primary time, he discovered a Tom Parker household photograph tucked beside the mattress. A feminine colleague named Samantha (Tyner Speeding) bunking in the identical room abruptly snatched it out his hand, giving him a imply look and stalking away. However we get to know her slightly bit through the episode, and he or she gives a few of the most essential messaging.
“Right here’s our actuality,” she tells Miles and one other man at one level. “Astronauts and cosmonauts, scientists and pilots, all of them work collectively. However us, down right here, on the finish of the day we’re simply … the assistance.”
And when a colleague calls fallen employee Parker a hero after she factors out that nobody is honoring him like they’re Kuz, she says, “he did it for the bonus. Cash for his household. Now he’s maggot meat.”
When Miles later says to her he doubts he can hack 2 years of engaged on Mars for Helios, she offers him a cause. If he bails, the corporate will invoice him $150,000 to recoup its funding in him.
Now he’s actually down, so she helps him out. She leads him to the key lair of a Russian upkeep man who earlier provided to get him no matter he desires that he can’t get from the PX. Seems he distills moonshine.
Feeling extra welcome, Miles tells the lady he’s sorry about her buddy Parker.
“Glad Valley’ll kick your ass for those who let it,” she replies.
They toast and drink the do-it-yourself hooch. “Shit, that’s sturdy,” Miles gasps dramatically, frightening some much-needed laughter.
All is not properly in Moscow
Photograph: Apple TV+
With regards to former NASA Director Margo Madison, the present loves to point out her waking up in Moscow. It’s nearly like a coy nod to Groundhog Day. This time she’s wanting even older and slower than normal. After laying in mattress awhile, she slowly begins her routine, frivolously exercising, making espresso.
She activates the TV to seek out nothing however two channels with ballet and one with a take a look at sign. She friends out the window. She dials her telephone and appears to seek out it not working. She is more and more freaked out. When she walks exterior, no man is watching her from a automobile. An ambulance passes her with sirens blaring. She asks her pleasant acquaintance the baker, in his store, if he is aware of what’s occurring, however he cuts her off.
“It’s effective,” he snaps in Russian. “I’ve bread within the oven. It’s best to go dwelling.”
She limps (a clue to her poor healthcare within the Soviet state) by way of the neighborhood and finds a gaggle of individuals gathered round cops shutting down a newsstand. The stand’s proprietor is outraged. The gang grows angrier. When the cops begin busting heads and arresting folks, Margo is hemmed in, so she will’t depart. Then she tries to maintain a cop from hitting the newsstand proprietor and will get hit herself. The digital camera dwells on her damaged glasses on the pavement as we hear him pleading that she’s “not a part of this” once they take her away.
Makes you surprise. Will she get despatched again to the States?
Watch For All Mankind on Apple TV+
You possibly can meet up with the primary three seasons of the alternative-history collection, plus the brand new season, on Apple TV+. It’s obtainable by subscription for $6.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can too get it by way of any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a restricted time, prospects who buy and activate a brand new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod contact can get pleasure from three months of Apple TV+ totally free.
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