Blu-ray Review: ‘For All Mankind’ Season 1

The Astronaut Wives is one of those one-season shows that if you didn’t watch it when it aired on ABC in 2015 than you’ve probably never heard of it before. It was an excellent series, and because it covered the events leading up to Apollo 11 (AKA the moon landing), it actually works as a one-season show (though ABC should’ve renewed it).

As the title gives away, The Astronaut Wives focused on the lives of the wives of the Mercury 7, the original seven astronauts. One of those wives and her husband also feature on the show this review is about (Deke and Marge Slayton, played in For All Mankind by True Blood’s Chris Bauer and Ghosts’ Rebecca Wisocky).

The reason I bring up The Astronaut Wives is because of how well it works as a prequel to For All Mankind, while also being a very different animal. While I’m sure some creative license was taken (because that’s the nature of fictionalized accounts of past events), The Astronaut Wives stayed close to history. For All Mankind begins where The Astronaut Wives ended – with the moon landing – except it’s not Neil Armstrong who appears on TV to give his famous address.

How different would the space race have been if the Russians had landed on the moon first? This is the question that alternate history show, For All Mankind, explores, and if you’re not an emotional wreak by the series finale (which includes a post-credits scene, so don’t take the disc out too fast) than you’re not doing TV right.

Granted, it would’ve been amazing if this Blu-ray release could’ve come with some bonus features going over the research that went into this series, because that’s one of the reasons it works. This may not have been how events transpired but that doesn’t mean the writers gave themselves carte blanche to write anything. People aren’t suddenly traveling by jetpack. All of the ideas feel grounded in actual science and for everything that changes after Russia starts winning the space race, it’s equally fascinating to see what stays the same, and to see how those changes reverberate through all aspects of society, from pop culture to politics. Even without bonus features, this is a series worth owning, and I hope season two comes next.

Time jumps are taken liberally, so there are never any filler episodes, and For All Mankind goes through more plot in an episode than some series go through in an entire season. Nothing is saved for a rainy day.

For a series that works so well on a plot level, it’s also heavily character-focused. Different people are paired up all the time, often in high pressure situations, sometimes literally stuck together in space, and through those relationships you get to see different sides to their personalities. Not only are people allowed to change (which is why it’s so rewarding to rewatch this season after catching up on season four, because you realize how far certain characters have come), but people are allowed to contain multitudes and be progressive on some issues while small-minded on others. The different reactions to NASA’s decision to train female astronauts is a perfect example.

From the narcissistic personalities that populate NASA to a reconsideration of what the All-American hero looks like, For All Mankind has it all, and while you’re braced for things to go wrong in space, the drama on Earth gets just as hard-hitting, making both sides of the show compelling.

Having seen the episodes before, I thought knowing what’s coming would soften some of the blows but that wasn’t the case at all and the other thing I was struck by this time around is how well the series utilizes music, both in generating tension and placing the series in a specific time (late sixties, early seventies).

For All Mankind Season 1 is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Season four recently started streaming on Apple TV+.