Maybe I’m too hard on FOR ALL MANKIND. I’m sure that my love/hate relationship with the show is driving some readers insane at this point. Yet, there are times when this show about space gets “lost in space,” and then it defies gravity with snippets of TV perfection like it did this week. And whoa, the final ten minutes of HAPPY VALLEY are far superior to any “good shanty,” you know.
We have blasted off as the space race to Mars is officially on between the Phoenix, NASA, and the Soviets. We know this because the show takes a lot of time to catch us up through a slew of news reels. Watching one FORREST GUMP-inspired revised version of history is fun, yet the show’s creators overuse this CGI mechanism to exhaustion. Look, I get it – there is much to catch us up on. Yet, I can’t help but get the sense FOR ALL MANKIND would be a perfect thirty-minute show, trapped in hour-long segments.
That slowness comes to a jarring halt towards the end when S3 has its second-best action sequence of the season. Although no one of importance faces peril, it does set the stage for a thrilling second half of the season that will have me continuing to watch. I’ll do my best to keep my complaints minimum and buckle up to enjoy the sci-fi ride.
FOR ALL MANKIND is available on Apple TV+.
