For All Mankind: Apple TV

This will have spoilers for the TV show, For All Mankind.

I've been enjoying my binge watching of this show. My friend's wife suggested it and I've been hooked since. There's points of the show that make my leftist brain itch too much but it's part of the narrative of what makes America America - its jingoistic, racist but ever-curious, persistently curious and overly ambitious goal to get ahead by any means necessary.

Now Season 3 is where things get very interesting. Due to the work of the public sector, the private sector is able to capitalize on the development of space travel and end up competing with two national superpowers to make it to Mars. At this point, the show enters full-on fantasy (one - folks are going to Mars and we elected a woman President who's bad at hiding that she's gayer than a chaise lounge). We also get to see the exceedingly annoying hubris of a man be the guiding factor of NASA finally be matched by his inability to be a decent role model for men leading to him being indirectly cucked by his best friend's son.

The science of the show is very cool including things not yet fully proven or has failed in the past like helium-3 and underwater rocket launches. I also learned about the deep-faking technology they used for the Reagan and Nixon era. It's an interesting show because it's clearly science fiction but also is toying on the edge of literal fiction. I will say though - this show both reinforces the tropes of how the Soviet Union depicted themselves in yesteryear and has me way more curious on watching older Russian television to see how they were actually depicted. At times, it feels like there's some directive by the State Department that all TV production studios are required to produce a uniform depiction of what Russians look like. I feel like it was one of the cheapest parts of the show.

With all my misgivings, I think this show is great. I'm planning on finishing it!