"Stranger in a Strange Land" is the tenth and final episode of the third season of For All Mankind. It was released on Apple TV+ on August 12, 2022.
Synopsis
The Martian crew debates on how to save the life of one of their own.
Plot[]
On 8 February 1995, a North Korean probe that was announced as unmanned entered the Martian atmosphere, on board was Lee Jung-Gil and Park Chol. During the descent, the two desperately try to slow the craft down. Park attempts to release the pilot chutes, as Lee announces that they're still going too fast. Eventually the chutes are released, but it is too late and they must brace for impact. As they do Lee looks to a photo of his wife. Lee awakes and tries to alert Park, but finds he has died on impact. He looks out onto the martian surface, taking the first steps by a human on the surface.
Lee slowly drags Park's body away from the ship and buries him on the surface, before attempting to make contact with Earth. His transmissions go unanswered, he attempts to fix the communication antenna to no avail. Over the next seven months, he takes soil samples and continues to attempt to communicate, looking to the photo of his wife for strength. He breaks his arm after falling off the capsule, but survives. The strain on his mental health leads him to begin looking at a locked box in the capsule.
After his 134th soil sample, he notices the impression his knees have made in the soil and draws a smiley under it, before breaking into manic laughter. Upon his return to the capsule, the cassette player, his only form of entertainment, breaks. He impulsively smashes it agains the console. Now with his food stores running low, no hope of rescue and his only form of entertainment gone, he opens the box. Inside is a Makarov pistol. The next sol he takes the photo of his wife and the pistol to a nearby ridge. While sobbing, he looks at the photo of his wife for the last time, but notices the trail of a rover in the distance.
He hides behind a rock with the pistol and awaits for the inhabitants, finding Danielle Poole and Grigory Kuznetsov. After they discover his footprints he holds them at gunpoint, announcing that it is the territory of The Peoples Republic of Korea and to get away from his ship. Danielle and Grigory are not on his radio channel and are not able to hear him, and neither can he.
In September, President Ellen Wilson reads the newspapers reporting on her shock coming out as lesbian, before meeting with her vice president, James Bragg. He tells her that she is likely facing impeachment and that she should step down, to spare herself and the party the embarrassment. She sees through the speech as simply a wish for him to become president and declines to resign.
Karen Baldwin goes to Wayne Cobb's house, but he is not at home, instead Molly answers. It is initially a frosty meeting, but Molly breaks the ice by pushing the issue and telling her to say what's wrong. Karen tells her that she's been asked to replace Dev Ayesa as CEO of Helios Aerospace. She is hesitant as she feels she owes Dev. Molly tells her that originally Gordo Stevens was slated for Apollo 15 and had trained for a year prior. But as soon as she was asked to replace him, she didn't hesitate. Because in her own words "selfish pricks change the world".
At Happy Valley, Kelly Baldwin is suffering from preeclampsia. Dr. Dimitri Mayakovsky tells Ed Baldwin that the baby needs to be delivered to save both their lives. Ed says that they won't be able to have enough fuel to get to Phoenix for another month. But Dimitri says that if they don't get her to orbit within 24 hours, both of them could die.
At the North Korean capsule, Lee is holding Danielle and Grigori at gunpoint. The two talk to each other, deducing that due to the time North Korea launched, Lee would be the first person on Mars instead of them. They break into laughter which confuses Lee. Grigori jokingly proposes that if they both rush him, only one will get shot, but Danielle notices the smiley face in the soil. Utilizing her own drawings, she tries to convince Lee to let them borrow a part of his ship so that they can all go home. He seems to understand, but Grigori pulls his oxygen tube out, and takes the gun. Danielle puts the tube back in, and after burying the pistol and marking it with a wrench, they tie Lee to the back of the rover and drive back to base with the Kurs systemW.
On Earth, President Wilson speaks with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev about the situation. Gorbachev says that he will straighten things out with the North Koreans, before he wishes her good luck with her own political issues.
At the Johnson Space Center, Margo Madison meets with Roscosmos director Lenara Catiche who tells her that she is being investigated by the FBI, due to Aleida Rosales having spoken to them. Catiche promises her safety, telling her that she will spend 40 years in prison if she does not take it.
At Helios, Dev meets with Karen and tries to stop the machinations of the board to replace them. After some hesitation, she tells him that she will be the new CEO. He rambles that it's only because he broke from his key principles, such as giving her an office. But she cuts through it, by honestly telling him that it is due to his erratic actions. After she says she wants him to stay on and work with her, he tries to make it personal. Saying he won't watch her pillage the company before leaving.
At Happy Valley, Ed starts to formulate a plan to get them to Phoenix. Danielle over video from the rover says that the main issue is still weight, and the people at the base are the weight. The rest of the crew begin to realise what must be done, staying on Mars for at least another year and a half until Sojourner 2 can pick them up. Kelly tries to argue against the plan, but Will Tyler says that their rations should hold out. Dimitri pushes the reality of the situation by telling her that there is no way for her to give birth on the base. Starting with Danny Stevens, the crew volunteer one by one to stay. The crew then send a video to NASA announcing their intentions, leading to Margo contacting the President.
Outside Johnson Space Center, a media scrum begins to form, along with Charles Bernitz and his conspirators posing as media. Bernitz speaks to Jimmy Stevens in a van, giving him the plan to plug a transceiver into a board inside the center, so that they can transmit their own message to the world. Jimmy tries to back out, but Bernitz tells him to push forward, that it will give his parents the recognition they deserve.
Inside the center, a meeting between NASA, Roscosmos and Helios engineers plan how to get the MSAM to Phoenix. Unfortunately they only have 95% of the fuel necessary to get it there, which Bill Strausser says means nothing because you can't just get 95% of the way there, it's 100% or nothing. Margo takes Aleida out of the room and tells her that she needs her focus, and that she knows about the investigation. Aleida asks why she did it, but Margo says that they will talk about it afterwards. Upon returning, the engineers are arguing, but Margo focuses everyone by asking how can they get the last 5%. Bill says a second stage could work, if they had time to build it. Aleida then says that Kelly can be the second stage, utilizing the PMU that is still on Sojourner. Margo then organizes the team, in order to make the plan work.
At Helios, Dev calls the workers in, and tells them that he will be made to resign. After a stirring speech, he tries to recruit the workers to join him in a new venture. Karen cuts through it all by asking if the pay will be the same. Once he begins to talk about pay cuts, the workers begin to realise that they will be losing over $100,000. One by one the workers begin to realise what's happening and abandon the plan. Dev leaves humiliated as Karen watches on.
At Happy Valley, Ed tells Kelly the plan to put her on the top of the MSAM wearing the PMU. She is hesitant at first but agrees if it's the only way to keep her baby safe. Although she asks how will she fly the MSAM if she's on top. He says that he will, which she realises is a suicide mission. He tries to reassure her by saying that they are working on his landing, and that he has Molly Cobb back on Earth helping.
Molly enters Mission Control to applause, she meets with Margo who alerts her that Ed will only have 2-3% of fuel after separation, before announcing that Molly can have anything she needs to get the job done.
Danielle and Grigori return to the base with Lee. Lee, who doesn't speak English, has not spoken a word since they got him. Ed who surprises everyone by knowing a small amount of Korean from his time in the Korean WarW asks for his name. Lee then asks to be taken back to his post, but Ed hears it as he wants to be taken back to his home. Ed then says that this is now his home. Lee acts somewhat confused, especially as Ed has also just called him "my good dumpling", but takes in the new surroundings. Ed and the rest of the crew then get back to work on the mission.
At Johnson Space Center, Karen runs into Jimmy who is acting nervous. He says that he is going to go out for a smoke and leaves. Karen walks into Mission Control, and Aleida approaches her, offering her a spot next to her. She begins to ramble about how 20 years earlier, she would have been up in the viewing gallery waiting to hear if her husband was going to be okay, and now she was on the floor, still waiting to hear if he and her daughter were going to be okay.
Jimmy goes back to the van, where he is cornered by Bernitz and Hal Goodman, another conspirator. After making an excuse to leave, he tries to call his brother's wife Amber Stevens, being worried about what's happening. But Sunny Hall interrupts him, she starts questioning him, and when he tries to leave, Bernitz knocks him out.
Margo gets a call from Ramstein Air BaseW in Germany, where Sergei Nikulov and his parents have been taken. He is excited, and thanks her, looking forward to seeing her within the week. Margo holds her emotions in check, before saying goodbye.
Ed watches a video from Molly who tells him how to survive the reentry. Before finishing by stating that it's lucky he's at the end of his career, because he doesn't have much to look forward to anyway. Karen asks her if it will actually work, but she says she doesn't know. Karen receives a phone call from Amber who tells her that she got a weird message from Jimmy about something happening at the center.
Danny makes the final preparations for the mission. In an attempt to atone for his actions, he volunteers to pilot the MSAM. Ed says that the odds of coming back are low, which Danny knows. He then admits that he was behind the Gagarin Ridge drilling disaster. That his actions killed three people. Ed is confused and tries to say that it's not true and it was just a simple mistake. But Danny pushes ahead and says that he saw the numbers rising and just turned the comms off because he was angry. Ed slams him against the wall, and ignores Danny's protests to pilot the mission. Saying that his daughter isn't the way to absolve his guilt, and that Danny is going to go back to work and make sure everything goes perfectly. But when he returns there is going to be a reckoning.
Karen goes out to the front of the JSC and asks a security man if they have seen Jimmy. When they haven't, she looks for him herself. After trying to call him, she notices Bernitz holding his phone.
In Mission Control, Margo speaks to them all, she shares her memories of her time at NASA, and says what a honour and a privilege it has been to work with them. She then gives the room to Aleida, before leaving. She goes back to her office and plays the piano, as she takes one last look at the room.
Kelly is helped into her spacesuit. After noticing that it is the suit of Alexei Poletov, the father of her child, Dimitri reassures her that it is what he would have wanted. They share a moment. Ed gets the MSAM ready with his daughter now on top of it, the crews of Phoenix and the MSAM communicate. Before they launch, Kelly says to Ed that she loves him, which he returns. The MSAM launches and Kelly separates perfectly as the fuel begins to run out. She manages to pilot the PMU to Phoenix being captured at the airlock. Ed then descends back to Mars.
Karen looks for Jimmy out the front of JSC, hearing his cries for help from the back of the van. When she sees that the van is rigged with explosives, she tries to alert security, but Bernitz notices Jimmy running away, detonating the bomb.
Ed's descent continues, only powering his thrusters at below 1000 metres. The MSAM crash lands.
The bombing blows a major hole in the side of the Johnson Space Center. Jimmy survives but is covered in dust, removing debris he is able to find Karen trapped, and she passes away holding his hand. In Mission Control, the room is in disarray, as alarms and sirens ring out. Molly manages to use her blindness to her advantage, rescuing people in the darkness and leading them out of the room. Aleida looks around the room and manages to walk out of the room, following Molly's voice. Molly then walks back into the building, disappearing into the darkness looking for more survivors. Aleida walks to Margo's office, she opens the door and finds half the room is gone and it is now open to the world. There is no sign of Margo to be found, even her piano is gone. She looks out over the edge of the building, as the entire side of the building is now missing.
Grigori travels out to the MSAM in a rover and finds Ed walking away from the now destroyed spacecraft. When back at the base, Danielle alerts him to the bombing, telling him that Karen has died.
A montage is held where a candle lit vigil is held out the front of the Space Center, Aleida and her family are present. While on Phoenix, Kelly has given birth to her son. Danny is exiled to the North Korean capsule for the good of the crew. He agrees and walks to the capsule, his own photo of his wife and daughter now in the same place as Lee's was. Danielle writes a daily report, but shuts it to look at a photo of her husband and stepson. Lee watches a tearful message from his wife. Ellen visits Pam Horton, the two finally able to be together. Finally, Sergei retrieves a newspaper from his lawn, having started his new life in America. The paper shows that the Johnson Space Center has been renamed to Molly Cobb Space Center, due to her sacrifice in rescuing survivors.
In 2003, Margo wakes up in a new room, walking to her window and looking over the skyline of Moscow.
Cast[]
- Joel Kinnaman as Edward Baldwin
- Shantel VanSanten as Karen Baldwin
- Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson
- Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole
- Edi Gathegi as Dev Ayesa
- Cynthy Wu as Kelly Baldwin
- Casey W. Johnson as Danny Stevens
- Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales
- Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison
- Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb
- Piotr Adamczyk as Sergei Nikulov
- Noah Harpster as Bill Strausser
- C.S. Lee as Lee Jung-Gil
- Meghan Leathers as Pam Horton
- David Chandler as Jimmy Stevens
- Madeline Bertani as Amber Stevens
- Jorge Diaz as Victor Diaz
- Lev Gorn as Grigory Kuznetsov
- Alexander Sokovikov as Rolan Baranov
- Robert Bailey Jr. as Will Tyler
- Goran Ivanovski as Dimitri Mayakovsky
- Anne Beyer as Louisa Mueller
- Vera Cherny as Lenara Catiche
- Zac Titus as Charles Bernitz
- Taylor Dearden
as Sunny Hall - Randy Oglesby as Vice President Jim Bragg
- Teya Patt as Emma Jorgens
- Sahana Srinivasan as Nuri Prabakar
- Jessica Tuck as Christine Francis
as - Amol Shah as Adarsh Sethi
- Nick Boraine as Lars Hagstrom
- Mandy Levin as Sandy Bostik
- John Hartmann as Administrator Richard Truly
- Cheyenne Perez as Heather
- William Cowart as Hal
- Tiago Martinez as Javier Diaz
- Aleisha Force as NASA Engineer #1 - Melanie Stanton
- Christopher Ellay as NASA Engineer #2 - Johnathan Adams
- Scott Rosendall as NASA Engineer #3 - Steven
- Zedrick Restauro as NASA Controller - Andrew
- Selah Victor as NASA CAPCOM
- Mark Weiler as NASA Security
- Chet Dixon as Helios Engineer #1 - Geoffrey Keller
- Cole Stratton as Helios Employee - Warren
- Leah Zhang as Helios Employee - Gwen
- Aliysa Shareef as Helios Employee - Sophie
- Eric Satterberg as Helios Employee - James
- Jason Andre Smith as Helios Employee - Ted
- Vlad Pavlov as Pavel Zaitzev
- Jason Her as North Korean Cosmonaut - Park Chol
- Shane Denil as American Neighbor
- Hailey Winslow as Reporter #1
- Andrew Ghai as Reporter #2
- Frank Lui Geo as Martin Baker (uncredited)
Appearances[]
Events & missions
DPRK capsule Mars landing (flashback)
Flight to Phoenix
Vehicles & vessels
Locations & stations
Closing monologue[]
In 1620, a ship called the Mayflower traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new world. Some came to escape their past, others to follow their dreams. They faced many hardships and turmoil.
But together, and with the memory of those they left behind...they were able to overcome. What was once a group of strangers, voyagers seeking a better life, had become something different, something more. And in the unlikeliest of places...they found a new home.
Media[]
Video[]
Trivia[]
With a runtime of 82 minutes, this is the longest episode of the series so far.
References
- ↑ Newspaper date at 11:12 → Screenshot
External links
Soundtrack
Transcript
- Transcript of episode 3x10, "Stranger in a Strange Land" on TV Show Transcripts
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