For All Mankind Season 5 Episode 4 Review: Finally, Some Excitement

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

For All Mankind Season 5 has lacked thrill for the last three episodes.

Some have been flat, others have been emotional, but this show thrives on grandeur and excitement.

Halfway through the season, things seem to be back on track and not a moment too late.

For All Mankind Season 5 Episode 4, “Open Source,” takes place in the aftermath of Ed’s death.

Ed Lives On

Shows can get bogged down by grief after a character like Ed dies, but luckily for us, this does not happen here.

Sure, Ed does get mentioned in several scenes, but just enough to keep the story going.

He’s someone who has had a big impact on Alex’s life, so it’s rational that the young man wonders what the future holds.

And Kelly doesn’t sugarcoat things. She doesn’t regale Alex with tales of a place in the sky flowing with honey and milk.

After mankind has explored the stars, the illusion of an omnipotent being who lives in the sky no longer holds true.

Kelly’s idea of what happens to someone after death is similar to what I have come to accept.

People are with us for a period, and then they leave. However, their impact is felt for years if not decades, and Ed will forever live in Kelly and Alex.

Nice post-death sentiments that aren’t dwelt on too much, because, finally, there is some exciting stuff.

Happy Valley Is Under Threat

The season has been building a season-long arc that has felt elusive for three episodes, but in “Open Source,” we get a clear idea.

Tensions on Mars have been on a tipping point, and the revelation that there are plans to automate everything is the final straw.

It has always felt like a war was brewing, and the fact that Earth aims to turn this place into a mining site won’t sit well with people who have considered it home for over a decade.

Many owe their freedom to this place, and some, like Alex, would literally die if they were to leave the planet.

Everyone on Earth should have heard his excitement when critiquing Dev’s plan for Meru. That’s someone who understands Mars inside and out.

So, no. No one wants to return to Earth to be prosecuted for baseless crimes.

The hour truly feels like classic For All Mankind — political tensions, missions, and secrets.

Aleida arrives in Happy Valley to oversee Helios’ latest mission, and the show reclaims one of its staples.

I’ll never get tired of the moment dozens of people work together towards a single purpose and the catharsis after success.

Like other missions before, there is an element of competition as Helios and Kuragis head for Titan to find any signs of life.

It takes me back to the days of NASA vs USSR. Much has changed, but that feeling remains the same.

Generational Whiplash

However, one cannot ignore the most obvious change in For All Mankind Season 5: the young generation.

They are doing great things, but since most of them are strangers, we don’t have a good idea of who they are.

For example, Alex, whom we know is related to the great Ed Baldwin. Beyond that, we haven’t built a connection with him.

It strikes me as odd that a young employee doing basically grunt work at Helios can stumble upon highly guarded secrets.

He needed to really earn it, and all he did was sit at his workstation and click away. I get the need to accelerate the narrative, but that’s a shortcut.

And this hour does rely on those a little too much. Case in point: Danny’s daughter.

She just drops into the narrative. No warning, no preparation, nothing.

Clearly, she’s going to be instrumental to the story this season as she joins the Marine company heading to Mars, but we could have done with a measured reveal.

In my ideal scenario, we should have met Avery on Mars during a tense showdown before the show flashes back and fills in the gaps.

It would have made for a jaw-dropping episode to see Danny’s daughter all grown while exploring the trauma she carries from the Stevens name and how she came to abandon it.

Her appearance is disorienting at first and even makes Danielle’s cameo feel less exciting than it should, at least for me.

Gut Check

“Open Source” is truly the first episode of the season that feels like For All Mankind. The pacing is excellent, and we finally seem to have something to look forward to, like Kelly’s mission and Dev’s reaction to Alex’s actions.

Intrusive Thoughts

• Ed Baldwin’s death should have brought more fare on Earth. Damn, not even one dedicated news segment highlighting his achievements?

• “It’s dangerous to give people too many options.” Careful Dev. This is why people hate billionaires. You’re people too.

• Alex really showed up on his first day and assumed he would be getting special treatment. Some lift me off this floor.

• While everyone has struggled with older versions of their characters, Krys Marshall’s out here nailing grandma Danielle.

Over to you, For All Mankind fanatics. What did you think of this hour? The odds are overwhelmingly against Mars, but do you think they’ll win this?

Did the show move on from Ed way too quickly?

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.

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