FOR ALL MANKIND S5 Review: Mars Is Ours! No, It Isn't! Yes, It Is!!

The cost of defending human rights is high, especially when it's on another planet.

For All Mankind S5
The first episode of Season 5 premieres Friday, March 27, exclusively on Apple TV. Subsequent episodes in the 10-episode season will premiere every Friday. I've seen the first eight episodes, as well as all episodes in the first four seasons, which are now streaming on Apple TV.

Former astronaut Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) is still alive, kicking, and growling, even with an ankle bracelet limiting his movements on the Happy Valley base on Mars.

In the alternative history established in its first season -- where the U.S.S.R. took the lead in the space race, landing on the moon first in 1969 -- For All Mankind has increasingly diverged from history as we know it, though it keeps bouncing off certain events and real-life people in the (real) timeline.

The aforementioned Ed Baldwin led an uprising by the people of Mars in Season 4 that led to their capture of an asteroid containing an abundance of iridium, a rare, extremely valuable mineral, which has made it possible for life on Mars to thrive. Season 5 begins, as have past seasons, with a dizzying news montage covering major events that have occurred in the years since the previous season concluded.

Picking up in the year 2012, the Happy Valley base remains under the governance of a coalition of nations, including the United States and Russia, known as the M-6; other space-faring nations, notably China, have formed a rival coalition and founded another base. Former Russian cosmonaut Leonid Polivanov (Costa Ronin) has been elected Governor of Mars, with pressure from his home country to increase shipments of iridium to Earth.

Mireille Enos, who teamed with Joel Kinnaman on the excellent U.S. adaptation of The Killing (2011-2014), appears early in the first episode, raising my hopes for another reunion of the two stars (after Hanna, the 2019-2021 series adaptation). Here, though, she plays Celia Boyd, a member of the Peacekeeper Security Force. In the first episode, she does nothing to stand out from the rest of the force, including her partner Fred (Tyler Labine); in view of her vast dramatic talents, however, her mere presence suggests she will play a bigger role as the series progresses.

The first episode also catches up on the current circumstances of returning characters. Aging Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt) is still imprisoned for her actions in Season 4, while her former protegee Aleida Rosales (Cora Pena) is now CEO of tech company Helios Aerospace, which has a major investment on Mars, where former mine worker Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell) is happily living with his wife (Shannon Lucio) and teenage daughter Lily (Ruby Cruz).

Miles and his wife are co-owners of a bar/restaurant with Miles' former smuggling partner Ilya (Dimiter D. Maranov). Ed Baldwin's adopted daughter Kelly (Cynthy Wu), a biologist, and her teenage son Alex (Sean Kaufman), are also ensconced in life on Mars. Lily and Alex are two of the four graduating members of Happy Valley's high school, with Lily planning to attend university on Earth, and Alex undecided about his future.

A growing number of Happy Valley residents are unhappy with the rulership by Earth's MI-6 coalition and have formed a community activist group known as the Sons and Daughters of Mars (SDM), of which Miles is the leader, with Ed voicing increasing calls for action. The inciting incident is the discovery of a dead body on the surface; initially thought to be a suicide, it's soon ruled a murder and, of course, on a planet with a limited population, it's not longer before an unlikely suspect is arrested, leading to a rippling series of events that soon embroil all of Mars in turmoil.

The series, created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Medivi, was one of the original series to debut on the streaming service, then known as Apple TV Plus, and found its groove in its second season, when it came to an amazingly emotional conclusion. The third season suffered a bit by comparison, while Season 4 rebounded with a different focus and a richer variety of characters.

I've only seen the first eight -- out of 10 -- episodes of Season 5, but it's safe to say (without spoilers) that it maintains its high production standards, fine-tuned performances by a well-assembled cast, and a narrative that reflects some recent troubles here on Earth, but also refracts it to shine a new light on old issues. Rather than just the same-old same-old, enough has been refreshed to maintain a good standard of quality throughout.

Among the new additions to the cast, Mireille Enos as Boyd once again shows her ability to build her character, starting off in more tentative spaces and gradually becoming more important to the narrative. She's quietly terrific. Ruby Cruz as Lily is quite impressive, too; her teenage character is inclined toward rebellion from the get-go, and she slowly asserts her agency, playing a key role in what happens at Happy Valley.

Apple TV has announced that Star City, an eight-episode spin-off series, set in the world of For All Mankind, will debut on May 29, telling the story "from behind the Iron Curtain." Coming from creators Moore, Nedivi, and Wolpert, it should be fascinating to see how that unravels in comparison to For All Mankind.

Until the spin-off debuts, however, Season 5 of For All Mankind should continue to satisfy science-fiction fans, especially those who love the alt-history sub-genre, and all of us who love stories that thrill while also touching the heart and unsettling deep-seated emotions.