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For All Mankind (TV series, S1-5, 50 episodes)
Apple TV, 2019-2026
Even today, people are sceptical about whether Man actually set foot on the Moon. Some claim that the footage of the Moon landing was staged in Hollywood studios. The studios had already perfected space photography, as seen in their 1968 blockbuster, Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Many conspiracy theorists questioned why The Star-Spangled Banner appeared fluttering on film and why the shadows on objects were multi-directional, as if the light source were studio spotlights. People like Joe Rogan, who was a Moon landing denier in his early years, sold the idea that it was fake. After the seemingly successful Lunar Mission, NASA suddenly stopped space exploration. Again, deniers thought they had proved their point. No amount of talk about return on investments, lack of funds, or dearth of resources in the lunar soil convinced them otherwise. To top it all, the deniers questioned why, after 55 years since Apollo 11, NASA finds so much joy in going around the Moon to the dark side and back. They should be doing more than that.
NASA, in its defence, reiterated in the 1970s that it had won the space race over the Soviet Union by sending a man to the Moon. Period.
The TV series offers an alternative narrative of how the world would have turned out if the Soviet Union had landed the first man on the Moon rather than the USA. The Americans who took the space race because it was hard were embarrassingly defeated by the Russians.
The defeat was not the end of space exploration. NASA continued mission after mission until they built a moon base after finding water on the Moon. Surprise, surprise, the Soviets made it there too.
They talked about Apollo missions, numbering more than 45. They had extended their reach to Mars in a multinational joint effort. A wealthy megalomaniac enters the picture to aid with research and logistics (think Elon Musk).
In a surprising turn of events, the secretive North Koreans beat the multinational team to the finish line in the race to Mars. They start a self-sustaining colony on Mars. By the start of the fifth season, there are already people who develop patriotism for Mars as they spend a lot of their growing years on Mars. The space teams break up into factions over national and self-interest when a stray asteroid with mineral resources becomes the point of conflict. Everyone wants to lay their claim on the massive asteroid.
While on Earth, in this alternative universe, Nixon is not indicted for Watergate but loses his reelection to Ted Kennedy. In real life, Ted Kennedy's candidacy was marred by a scandal involving his campaign worker, who was his passenger when he met with an accident on Chappaquiddick Island. In this series, this never happened because the Soviets had landed on the Moon. So Ted cancelled his trip. There was, however, another controversy, the Florida Files, involving Ted later. The series used some photos from the Chappaquiddick incident. Reagan was the President earlier, in 1977, as Ted did not seek reelection. Gary Hart, who withdrew from the election for an extramarital affair, became the President in 1985 and 1993 in this alternate universe. America got a lesbian two-term President, and precariously, both Bushes, Clinton and Obama are absent. Al Gore was actually successful in the 2001 elections.
In the Soviet Union, the USSR never collapsed, and Gorbachev presided over its reforms as it remained a spacefaring nation to be reckoned with.
At the human level, as the series spans more than 35 years, we see how relationships sour, how tragedies strike families, how strong men and women grow fragile, how people grow old, and how people cope with trauma.
An engaging series. 4.5/5. Just ignore the fact that age never seems to be a barrier to going to space, or why nepotism exists in the space programme. Do not ask why the kids of astronauts repeatedly get the chance to go to space, or why astronauts do not find much difficulty walking on Earth despite being in space with zero gravity for months.
As mentioned in one of the dialogues, humans are just a few steps away from animals. This is so true, as we see an endeavour to push the limits of science and technology to their extremes slowly morph into something that shows real human fragility. Humans suppress fellow humans to slave for them. Everybody thinks they know the best way to do things. The only way they know to resolve issues is through violence, unlike what we saw in 'Star Trek', set in the 23rd century, where people resolve confrontations through negotiation.
P.S. A plaque left on the Moon by Apollo 11 read "We Came in Peace for All Mankind".
Farouk Gulsara (asokansham@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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