For All Mankind, along with Dickinson , The Morning Show and See , is part of the Apple TV+ streaming service launched just over a month ago. And, despite the rather cold reception from viewers and critics, I would venture to say that this is one of the best series of 2019. But only if you understand the issue and the era to which it is dedicated.

For All Mankind is an alternate history of NASA in which America lost the space race, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first to set foot on the moon, the Vietnam War ended in 1970, and Ted Kennedy did not have an accident on Chappaquidick Island and became the 38th President of the United States . A story in which the rivalry between the two superpowers on the moon led to the further development of space technology and even some political shifts on Earth.

I don’t know what the viewers and critics who gave For All Mankind low ratings wanted to see in this series, but personally I saw exactly what I expected – the stories of people who connected their lives with NASA; the daily painstaking work of engineers, mission leaders, astronauts and how this work affects their personal lives; political intrigues associated with knocking out budgets when changing administrations; many real stories and legends of the initial stage of space exploration; a lot of real historical people and aerospace technology of the 60-70s. of the last century, as well as engineering prototypes that could have become a reality if history had turned a little differently.

The level of pleasure from watching For All Mankind directly depends on how well you know the real history of the lunar race and the people who had a hand in this historical event. Not only the names of the Apollo 11 crew members, but also the biographies of the people who designed the rockets, who were at the MCC, who conducted the tests, and so on. An order of magnitude more interesting to watch if you know who Dick Slayton is and why he, the only one from the Mercury Seven, flew into space only 16 years after the start of the program; if you understand who was the prototype of the first female astronaut Molly Cobb (this is a member of the Mercury 13 program Jerry Cobb , only six months before the premiere of the series); if you have heard who Gene Krantz is and are familiar with Wernher von Braun’s complicated history.

For All Mankind seems to have been inspired by the classic movie The Right Stuff , which focuses on the US’s first seven astronauts, and the documentary Mercury 13 . In addition, it is not difficult to see the influence on the writers of the show of such a picture as First Man , the series Mars and The Astronaut Wives Club .

Plus, don’t forget what series For All Mankind showrunner Ronald D. Moore has worked on before. His track record includes Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, the new Battlestar Galactica, Outlander , which is still on the air, and one of the episodes of the Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams anthology. That is, Moore knows well how to work with fantastic themes and, first of all, with space fiction. By the way, an attentive viewer will notice several references to the same Star Trek in For All Mankind.

One of the features of For All Mankind is the interweaving of existing technologies of the 60-70s into an alternative history. XX century and real events that took place at the dawn of space exploration. The same joke about the waste adapter for women is not a joke at all, it was one of the real reasons that delayed the recruitment of a detachment of female astronauts. The line that astronaut John Glenn says on the show about female astronauts is a word-for-word echo of a line Glenn said at the congressional hearing on the Mercury 13 program. to Mir station. Etc. etc.

The show’s focus on gender equality and sexual minorities, which may irritate some traditionalists, is also in keeping with the historical period in which some important civil liberties legislation was passed in the United States. Yes, and the real impact of the flight of Valentina Tereshkova on the feminist movement of the 60-70s. really hard to overestimate.

Special thanks to the authors for the selection of actors for secondary roles, the performers of which sometimes outshine the main characters of the series. It is worth noting the excellent work of Eric Ladin in the role of Gene Krantz; Chris Bauer, who plays astronaut office manager Dick Slayton; Colm Fiori as Wernher von Braun; and, of course, Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb.

Perhaps the only complaint that can be made against For All Mankind is that the series really accelerates very slowly and picks up pace only by the fifth series. Until this moment, some viewers who are not familiar with the history of manned flights and do not understand why, for example, the successful launch of the Soviet N-1 rocket is a fantastic event in itself, may have time to get bored. In addition, until the fifth series, there is very little space itself in the space series. But, again, the way the flight preparation is shown here, in my opinion, is no less important and no less interesting than the flights themselves.

In a word, if you are fond of space, the history of technology development and space flights, then with a high degree of probability you will like For All Mankind. If you’re looking for something in the spirit of The Expanse or Star Wars, you better check out The Mandalorian from Disney+.

Like most Apple TV+ and Disney+ releases, For All Mankind comes out one episode a week rather than an entire season at a time. The first season isn’t over yet, but Apple has already renewed the series for a second. Judging by the pace that the authors of the show took, by the end of the second season, the action of For All Mankind could move into the 80s and 90s. XX century, and events will develop as in the Battlezone series of games, which, if you remember, also take place on the Moon in an alternative timeline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3RjayAF0b4