DISCLAIMER: This recap of For All Mankind Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
The mega-sized season finale of For All Mankind is a fast-paced, high-octane thriller that’s easily one of their best episodes, period. It packs an emotional wallop in some places, particularly toward the end. Wrenn Schmidt delivers a nuanced, heartstring-tugging performance, while Toby Kebbell also doles out potent work. The cast brings their A-game in “Perestroika.”
That fight between Sam and Palmer? I was on the edge of my seat, waiting with bated breath to see who would rise victorious. Besides Irina inevitably perishing off-screen, this has to be the first FAM finale without a significant death. I like that the tension was palpable and tangibly felt, but nobody (save Irina) died. It’s a neat twist that subverts the Game of Thrones-type formula we see in many shows. This outing is a testament to how great this series can be when it finds that perfect balance between space action and drama.
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Two Months Ago
We open with one Helios worker, Tuttle (Kurt Quinn), finding Lee’s gun buried in the Martian sands. When he returns to his bunk, he conceals the weapon among his belongings. That’s definitely not coming into play down the line (insert sarcastic but loving tone here). Then, we see Sam (Tyner Rushing) on Ranger as the crew prepares for the Goldilocks burn window. Palmer (Myk Watford) occasionally gives her the stink eye. Ravi (Vinny Chhibber) gives Danielle (Krys Marshall) an update, which Dev (Edi Gathegi) relays to the Operation: Asteroid Heist crew via, presumably, Morse code.
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
Then, in sub-level four, we see Ronnie (Tess Lina) translate what Dev sent her. She hands a note to Ed (Joel Kinnaman). He tells the crew the upstairs gang is checking the final plasma drive startup numbers. They only have two hours and four minutes until the final burn for the asteroid. Meanwhile, Lee (C.S. Lee) tends to Commander Cho (Charles Kim), who’s blindfolded and unconscious. Lee believes he should take Cho to med bay, but Gerardo (Salvador Chacon) believes this would sign his death warrant. Cho already saw his and Sparks’ (Cindy Jackson) faces.
However, Ed sides with Lee. Lee will tell the doctor that Cho got into an accident. Elsewhere, Mike (Billy Lush) and Timur (Nikita Bogolyubov) get creative with their torture of Miles (Kebbell). They crank up the carbon dioxide levels in the room, causing Miles to vomit. He still refuses to give up Ed and the others. Mike and Timur relent, returning the CO₂ to normal levels. They pivot to another method.
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A Surprise Visitor
Later, on Earth, Margo (Schmidt) wakes up on the couch in her office. She’s summoned to Hobson’s (Daniel Stern) office, where a familiar face awaits her: Irina (Svetlana Efremova). Irina traveled to America to ensure the asteroid capture goes off without a hitch. She informs Margo that they’ll depart for Russia once the mission concludes. Margo looks pleased as punch upon hearing this news.
When she ventures to the Mission Operations Control Room, Margo reunites with Aleida (Coral Peña). She tells Aleida about Irina’s arrival and to contact Sergei. He’s not safe. Aleida says he won’t answer his phone, so Margo asks her to hit up his hotel room. There are too many eyes on Margo for her to leave. Aleida obliges. Oh, she won’t like what she finds…
36-Hour Lockdown
Meanwhile, Danielle gets an update from Mike regarding Miles. She urges him to keep interrogating Miles until the latter waves the white flag. Then, Danielle orders her team to force all non-essential workers into a 36-hour lockdown. Tuttle refuses to go quietly, while Ilya (Dimiter D. Marinov) watches silently as Danielle’s crew gets rough with the former. One of the men who restrains Tuttle finds Lee’s gun in his quarters. He pockets it. Uh-oh.
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A Tragedy
Then, Aleida travels to Sergei’s hotel, where she learns about his death. Of course, the public believes it was a suicide, but Aleida doesn’t believe it. She sits in her vehicle and screams, knowing his death will crush Margo. Elsewhere, Mike and Timur adopt a new approach. They show Miles photos of his wife as she moves product, aka the Mars rocks, to be sold on Earth. Mike threatens to turn Amanda over to the authorities. He also claims his daughters will be safe in child services (uh, no, they will not).
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
That last remark gets under Miles’ skin. He lunges toward Mike while bound to the chair before falling flat on his face. He begs Mike to leave his family alone. Finally, he squeaks out that Ed, Dev and the others are on sub-level four. Miles sobs. Kebbell knocks this scene out of the park. Next, Dev discovers that Mike is leading a team to sub-level four to catch Operation: Asteroid Heist in the act of, you know, heisting. Thankfully, when Mike and the others arrive, Operation: Asteroid Heist is already gone.
Stealing an Asteroid
Hobson paces his office while Irina and Will (Robert Bailey Jr.) sit on a couch. Irate, Hobson wonders how one can steal an asteroid. Is it even possible? Will reassures him that Happy Valley has regained control of Ranger‘s discriminator and is back on track for an Earth-bound burn. Hobson urges Will to stay on top of this. While he, Dr. Seth Razack (Ely Henry) and the others figure out how to block Operation: Asteroid Heist from hijacking Goldilocks, Aleida returns from her trek to the hotel. She pulls Margo aside and discloses the news about Sergei’s death. Margo’s reaction to this kills me. It’s heartbreaking.
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Margo quickly moves into the anger stage of grief. She storms up to Irina and confronts her regarding Sergei’s murder. How could she do this? Irina worked with Sergei for years. Hobson and other employees watch the display. Irina claims ignorance and orders Margo to control herself. Realizing she just had a public outburst, Margo excuses herself before fleeing. My poor girl. I can’t imagine Irina will take this lying down.
Meanwhile, having been caught by Mike at the Ops-Com in sub-level four, Gerardo is shoved into a chair beside Miles. Now, they can be torture buddies together. Elsewhere, Danielle gets confirmation that everything is back to normal and that they’re on track to send Goldilocks to Earth. We’re now 20 minutes out from the burn window.
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
Where Do We Go From Here
Next, Ed, Dev, Ronnie, Sparks, Rich (Moses Jones) and the others are holed up in the North Korean compound courtesy of Lee. Is this the end of Operation: Asteroid Heist? Not necessarily. Ed has an idea. As per the M-7 charter, North Korea can communicate with their team on a private line. That means they could feasibly chat with Sam without worrying about outside interference. Lee reveals his comrade is on Ranger. He could get said comrade to pass the communicator to Sam.
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Lee’s friend hands Sam a headset to communicate with Dev, Ed and the team. Dev asks Sam to go to Ranger‘s rear cargo bay. She will keep the engines running by manually disconnecting the flight deck from said engines. That will require her to engage the local command override switch and plug in a transceiver turned to their frequency. So, Dev would then be the only person in control of the burn. Boom!
Then, Sam dons a suit and heads outside. Palmer, Ravi and the Ranger team notice the back hatch is open. Sam finds the override switch, a yellow and black handle, and attempts to pull it out to engage it. However, it keeps springing back into place. Ed reveals they’ll need something to hold it in place. He asks Sam to use her tether to do this. Dangerous. Inside the ship, Ravi asks Palmer to stop Sam once they see she’s outside the cargo bay.
Hi, Bob
Later, Mike informs Danielle that they’ve got it on good authority that Operation: Asteroid Heist is camping out in the North Korean compound. He asked Houston for permission to barge into the base but hasn’t heard back. After he departs, Danielle decides to call Ed to try to help him see sense. When Lee answers, Danielle asks him to put Ed on the line.
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After Ed’s requisite “Hi, Bob,” he explains why they’re doing this. If Goldilocks heads to Earth, the Mars program is done. They won’t need to find another planet to support humanity. Mining the asteroid on Mars is the only way to ensure their years of work won’t be in vain. Ed hangs up on Danielle. He shares a lovely moment with Lee, where they declare in Korean that Mars is their home. I love Lee and Ed’s friendship.
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
On Earth, Hobson learns Operation: Asteroid Heist is attempting to lock Happy Valley out of Ranger. Will, Seth and the team brainstorm ways to counteract Ed and Dev. How do they ensure they aren’t locked out of their ship? Seth states they could upload a shutdown command that bypasses the nuclear fusion reactor controls’ safeguards and turns off the engines. Seth starts writing a code to send to Ranger to ensure the engines shut off before the burn window.
Revisiting the Past
Later, Aleida finds Margo watching the proceedings in MOCR. Aleida tells Margo that they could use her down there. She remarks this isn’t the place for feelings; we know she’s feeling a lot right now. She wonders if she’s turning into her old mentor, Wernher von Braun. Margo mentions a tense moment she shared with Wernher all those decades ago when she confronted him about his actions during the war. I love this callback. She’s reminded of what he said about progress never being free. That’s when she tells Aleida they should send the asteroid to Mars. Plot twist!
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Outside Mars, Sam secures the tether to keep the override switch in place. Then, with Dev’s instruction, Sam connects the P13 connector, giving Dev access to Ranger‘s engines. Dev informs Sam that she must keep the override switch in the up position for the duration of the Mars burn after Dev inputs the timing for said burn. Unfortunately, Palmer floats out of the cargo bay and looks ready for a fight.
So, in Margo’s office, Aleida and Margo concoct a plan to override the shutdown command to ensure Operation: Asteroid Heist gets a win, with Goldilocks making a beeline toward the Red Planet. Margo claims she’ll put in the code right before NASA sends the uplink; however, Aleida volunteers to do it instead. Margo has too many eyeballs on her as it is.
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
A Fight Among the Stars
Palmer and Sam struggle outside Ranger while Seth inputs the shutdown command beside Aleida, who surreptitiously cranks out a code to stop him. Well, under the guise that she’s helping Team Earth, of course. We’re now seconds away from the burn window. If anyone acts outside that window, the asteroid will be gone forever. After knocking Sam off the ship’s side, Palmer works to sever the tether holding the override switch in place. Thankfully, she’s holding on for dear life with one hand. She scrambles up the side (as fast as one can in space) and yanks on Palmer’s tether, sending him flying outward.
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There he is, dangling by his tether, as Operation: Asteroid Heist wins the day. With Ranger‘s engines going strong, Goldilocks is now heading toward Mars instead of Earth. Success. Dev, Ed and their crew celebrate while Danielle and her Happy Valley team look despondent. At NASA, Irina wonders aloud why their plan to shut down the engines didn’t work.
Then, her eyes land on Aleida. She accuses Aleida of sabotaging the mission. Aleida vehemently defends herself, but Irina claims she knows when someone’s lying. That’s when Margo takes the fall for Aleida. Taking the heat off her, Margo declares she was the one who put in the code to override the shutdown command.
Storming the Castle
Later, Mike tells Danielle that he has the go-ahead to storm the North Korean compound. Danielle puts her foot down, claiming that this is still her base. However, Mike insists his orders come from the Department of Defense, and they supersede hers. Elsewhere, Ilya and a few others burst into the room where Miles and Gerardo are held captive. Ilya saves his Milosh. As they congregate in the employee breakroom, Miles declares they should protect the Operation: Asteroid Heist crew. They can’t let Mike and his team take them down.
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Emboldened with purpose, the Helios workers prepare to defend Operation: Asteroid Heist by launching an assault against Mike and his fighters. It gets bloody. Miles punches Mike hard, which must’ve been cathartic for him after his torture session. Seeing the horrifying skirmish play out, Danielle and Ed attempt to stop the fighting. Then, the one man who stole Lee’s gun decides to bring it out. Unfortunately, he fires the weapon during a struggle. When you think Ed is the one who takes the bullet, we see it’s actually Danielle. She collapses as the bullet wound in her chest bleeds profusely. Noooo! Dani is my favorite.
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
Ed carries her to Dr. Mayakovsky (Goran Ivanovski), who gets to work right away on saving her life. A crowd gathers as he plugs away. Kelly (Cynthy Wu) finds Ed and grabs his hand as they encourage Danielle to hold on. Meanwhile, the FBI arrests Margo at NASA. Since Russia removed her diplomatic immunity, she can be prosecuted. Aleida embraces her mentor as the officers lead her out of the building. Listen, I started crying when Dani was shot, and this moment ensured the tears kept coming.
Justice
Then, we hear a voiceover from Margo as she pleads her case in court. She talks about how justice as a virtue attracted her to engineering. Amid her monologue, we see Irina return to Roscosmos. She finds men in suits rummaging through her belongings. One of them asks her to come in. Uh-oh. Somebody might need to find another job (meaning she’s already dead). Hobson reads an article in his office about how NASA allowed for the torture of detainees on Mars. He doesn’t look too happy.
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On Mars, we see a transport vehicle make its way to Happy Valley. Lee is led to the cargo area, where he reunites with his wife, Moon Yeong (Chen Chen Julia). It’s a beautiful moment. A horde of people follow in her wake, refugees seeking a better life on Mars.
Danielle returns to Earth, having survived that harrowing ordeal on Mars. That’s my girl. She’s a badass. She finally meets her grandson and reunites with her family. Nope, I’m not crying; you are. Finally, Dev boasts a suit as he stands on Mars’ surface. He looks up at the asteroid as it orbits the planet.
FOR ALL MANKIND Season 4 Episode 10, “Perestroika.” Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.
2012
It’s now 2012, and the song “Midnight City” by M83 plays to usher in the new FAM era. I half expected it to be “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye, considering how that song was inescapable back then, but here we are. As the camera lingers on the asteroid, we see it now has a fully functioning station — Kuznetsov Station. Oh, I’m definitely not crying; you are.
Naming it after Kuz had to have been Ed’s idea.
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What are your predictions for the 2012 era of For All Mankind? Where could a potential Season 5 take us? Hopefully, we find out sooner rather than later.
For All Mankind Seasons 1 through 4 are now streaming on Apple TV+.
What I Learned From the Women of THE EXPANSE
Melody.McCune@geekgirlauthority.com
What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
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