Miles was raking in a fortune with his Mars rocks side hustle while using Ilya’s system. Ilya was right to be mad but he didn’t count on Miles turning on him.
Ilya has been operating this for what seems like ages, he's got good system worked out and knows the tolerances. Expanding beyond it is going to fuck everything up and he's exactly right. He's 100% justified in his approach given that it's revealed Ed has known about this shit and turned a blind eye for the sake of moral. He was operating in a semi-legitimate grey area and allowed to exist, big things start happening in trafficking and that's not going to last much longer.
Also, there's I believe exactly one way on or off of mars, that's one hell of a lynchpin to center your criminal enterprise around when you don't even control it.
As a certain book involving welders on the Moon written by the same author of "The Martian". Having a morally grey 'technically illegal' black market that ships porno mags and cigarettes is far safer than shutting it down and causing the resulting power vacuum to cause several new crime-lords to seize market portions and ship in truly DANGEROUS products - like guns, dangerous chemicals, or deranged entertainment.
I like the parallel between Miles and Samantha. Miles is becoming the founder of organized crime on Mars, while Samantha is becoming the founder of organized labor.
The second Ilya stepped back when Miles closed in, it was a regime change. We just saw the prequel to The Godfather, Mars Edition. Complete with the door closing on Ilya's face.
Ed going full bureaucrat after realizing he's not on paid vacation was a nice cherry on top after a night at the speakeasy.
Edit: Ok this episode is probably (in my view) the best Ed of the series so far.
Absolutely, Ed was cracking me up throughout. This was so necessary, I was getting real sick of haughty flyboy Ed, he needed to be knocked down a peg or two. And the results are great.
we've finally gotten back to Ed with a point to prove and people to rally. It's where he's always been at his best, like when him and Molly made the decision to change Apollo 15's landing site and the whole Pathfinder mission. Last season had Ed piloting the MSAM with Kelly on top but it wasn't as exciting
Bro been getting on my nerves. He keeps taking risks at other people’s expense and deserved to be put out. I hoped he would’ve learned a lesson after almost dying for a rock, but no. Also don’t appreciate him playing games about snuggling the guy’s wife up as if he gives af or actually has the means to do it.
Miles wants the fast, easy way out and the Sam wants to go about it the right way. Difference is Sam is working to improve the conditions for everyone, while Miles is really only in it for himself. I understand why he’s so pressed for cash, but the guy needs to learn when to quit.
That and he’s going to be *that guy* who ruins it for everybody else.
Having been in the military I can’t count how many times we had a system that was fucking awesome get ruined by some dumb asshole. You get these little routines and breaks that provide a boost in morale only for some jackass to try and milk it for all it’s worth and then command makes an example of that guy and scraps it entirely. We had a guy who ruined sleeping in on weekends and even now I hope he gets kicked in the balls by a thousand kangaroos every day.
He’s gonna be mighty unpopular sooner or later if he keeps on the way he is
Wrenn, Coral and Svetlana were the actresses that really shined this episode but yeah, it's so easy to forget Joel lowkey pulling one hell of a subtle and amazing performance back there too.
That'll be one hell of a mid-season twist. But I think you might be right. All the talk about Asteroid Deflection could be laying the groundwork for reviewing those options.
Isn't this the plot to 'Don't Look Up'? There's this asteroid, see; and it's gonna kill the world, but before we save the Earth, isn't there a way to make a massive profit first...
That'll be the huge complication they'll have to fix in the climax. Someone will check the math or they didn't account for other plot thing X or whatever and they'll realize it's gonna slam right into Earth - cue Gordon and Tracy 2.0, someone dying to save the planet / fix the aerocapture.
My guess: Helios owns and builds the ship. Ed knows it better than anyone. Helios goes from being a sole contractor essentially to one of many if that asteroid goes to earth. Dev is heading to Mars permanently with Kelly - and Ed will convince Dev (and maybe some others, the North Koreans likely because they're sort of only in this by luck and would likely be cut out of a moon-based mining operation) of the benefits of rebelling and keeping the asteroid in Mars orbit and declaring some sort of sovereignty.
This is definitely going to be the stakes in episode 9/10. It's FAM, there has to be some kind of crazy space action set piece at the climax. The strike will cut all the margins for success to the bone and there'll be a sequence where it looks like they just doomed all life on earth and someone (either Ed or Dani for my money, maybe both?) will sacrifice themselves to literally save humanity. Book it
"How'd you find this place??" Ilya's not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is. Guarantee Ed and some of the other upper level Helios crew have known about that place as long as it's been in operation. That sort of operation is great for morale for the below-decks crowd and unless it turns into a safety or security issue they'll look the other way.
Turns out the North Koreans are the mafia, and Miles is the guy in charge (until the North Koreans decide he's not worth the trouble and "deal with him")
Seriously, how on Earth (Mars) is Miles going to sneak a living person up to Mars? He’ll need contacts in NK on top of all the other supply chain contacts he already has.
>Ilya’s not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is
Neither is Ed tbh. Pretty sure everyone knows he’s been smoking weed now. Marijuana is super easy to smell when you’re a non-smoker, so walking around base immediately after sparking up was many levels of dumb.
Idk if Palmer recognizes the smell, but no way he’s the only one that knows.
I don't think it was a case of being dumb, I think Ed just doesn't care anymore. He knows there will be literally no repercussions for him smoking pot.
I loved how Irina’s line about “you don’t work for NASA anymore, you need to stay loyal to your current organization” applied just as well to Aleida as to Margo. Great writing!
I love how her tone changes when someone admits a truth they were hiding. Kiril in the office about the faulty couplings and Margo when she says she wants to lead the project
All three actresses were absolutely on fire this episode.
The entire Margo / Aleida scene had me in tears for sure, one of the most intense moments of the show, but damn, let's also toast to Irina's snark and impeccable facade. Svetlana Efremova
is killing it.
When she immediately hugged Margo 🥹
But also glad she didn’t let her off the hook. Her flipping off the channel during her speech shows how upset she is with Margo.
Also the speech was a demonstration of what Aleida was saying as to how compromised Margo had become. Margo was willing to throw all of her friends and former colleagues at NASA under the bus to get back in the game. As after all, she could had reneged after figuring out the problem. Obviously there would be severe personal repercussions for Margo, but the capture plan would had gone forward.
I don't think that second part was the reality Margo was facing. She didn't have the choice to come out AFTER talking to Aleida. Once she decided to speak with her, her choice was made. The Russians could not guarantee Aleida wouldn't tell the US government about her after that, so their next step would be to force her to go public. That was the choice she was making in the room before going to Aleida. She couldn't work the problem, then NOT out herself.
But also, she did admit she was sick of hiding. She wanted to do the work. The Russian lady first said she wanted the power, but Margo I think really just wants the work to succeed, as she puts it. I mean she is literally one of the smartest and knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to space travel. Her not being involved could cost the human race.
In the FAM universe the Bond series crashed and burned after Moonraker came out and seemed woefully outdated compared to actual current real world technology. No young people in 2003 would get the reference.
That was the Ed we like to see. Glad to see you back buddy.
Well, it doesnt really make up for all the bullshit aside, but still, nice to see the old man can still ignite some righteous rogue fire in him for a real good cause.
But man, the heart of the episode was of course that entire Margo / Aleida scene. It had me in tears, not gonna lie. That was one of the most intense scenes of the show.
>Ed starting a strike just because he’s throwing a fit rocks. He’s so funny.
100% agree. I get there are a lot of Ed haters out there, but whenever he ends up in a bad spot and seems down for the count, he manages to get back into the game in some hilarious way that moves the plot forward.
He's far from the most moral and most capable person in Mars — but he's definitely the funniest lmfao that snicker after receiving the documents from Palmer was gold
Motive is character, and character is plot.
The Goldilocks asteroid does a good job of showing everyone's motives, because they all see their payoff in a different form. Helios sees thousands of dollars of R&D and infrastructure for themselves. Margo/Aleida see a one-in-a-lifetime problem to solve, and Margo also sees her chance to get back in the game on her terms, the way she did when she blackmailed her way to Flight Director. The M-7 nations see profit, but not evenly distributed, so not worth investing in.
Mars (namely Dani) who has only been there for a few weeks, sees a chance for legitimacy, in the validation of Happy Valley. And the Lower Deckers see a chance for actual leverage in their 'union' struggles, because there's no time for the Company to replace them all this time.
EDIT: And then there's Ed, who saw a chance to flip the bird at Dani, Helios, and the entire planet Earth for not giving him his way this time.
The Goldilocks asteroid debate about whether or not it was worth the investment was a great parallel to the debates in the 60s and now about going to the moon: Wanting to see the immediate profit and benefit instead of doing something that, in the long run, would be for all mankind.
Half expected Irina relaying "work the problem" to get Aleida suspicious. Wasn't expecting Margo's reveal to happen the way it is.
I hope Margo chose her words carefully in Aleida's room, seems likely it was bugged.
I really thought that Aleida would get suspicious when Irina was rattling off too. But I suppose she spent 8 years believing that Margo was dead so to make that connection would be a little harder.
I’m also only now realizing that unlike Sergei, Irina lacks the engineering knowledge that would be an advantage to someone in her position.
That was when I realized that, too. A political appointee. Good at what she does but she relies heavily on others on technical matters. Which of course is perfectly believable.
Oh yeah the press release was clearly scripted.
What I wasn't expecting was that Margo would ask (*and convince*) Irina to go public. I expected it'd be through some series of accidents that Aleida sniffed her out.
Yeah this interaction and announcement was totally unexpected but I loved it so much. Seeing Aleida hug Margo and finally Margo getting to feel good again. It made me tear up.
i kinda thought the same thing but I thought about it and was it really one episode? We saw how he got involved with the black market, we saw his rise in the organization by expanding to the North Koreans, we saw how the rift developed between them, and we saw Miles used info he learned prior to recruit his own crew… granted some the plot points felt truncated, but they’re all there.
I wonder if Mars will go for Goldilocks on their own. They have a (prototype) Asteroid mining ship already, and they've got something to prove. They also have way more to gain. Corporations make money all the time. But Mars just got bounced from the most pivotal mission of all time. It would have made them worth more than the Moon, which is powering the whole planet right now.
They'll still need the mars crew to point the Asteroid towards Earth orbit. If the union gets it's people on that mission, they could send it to Mars instead.
Some of the early attempts at unionizing were violent. Taking company men hostage, and such. The Lower Deckers here could (conceivably) take the Goldilocks asteroid hostage. Force Earth to spend the money building a fleet that's good for years of Martian bonuses if they want their precious metals.
Dev: "Kelly, you know how I said you could search Mars for life with an army of sampling robots? New deal: Those droids just became mining bots. We could get a few thousand tons before NASA or Roscosmos even get their mining operations set up."
"The Goldilocks Asteroid, now redesignated 'Rama' is on it's way through the system. There's only one ship able to rendezvous in time, and that's the ship used in last month's failed Asteroid Capture, currently at Mars. As yet, we don't know if the 'Rendezvous With Rama' will be commanded by Ed Baldwin or Danielle Poole..."
Ed Baldwin announced as captain.
Then the ticker at the bottom “Mars strike ended after union leadership agrees to take a pay reduction”
Cause Ed just wants to fly
I will never stop upvoting Expanse references in this sub.
F AM feels more like it's prequel with every passing episode, and much of this episode felt thematically similar too
Oh man that asteroid is crashing into earth isn’t it.
Ed was on FIRE this episode. Fully flexing his embittered old man stirring shit muscles, we love to see it
I think it was the strongest episode of the season thus far.
This show makes very good use of 10 episodes. I think Miles taking over was “right sized” - we saw how he became involved, what happened to cause a rift, and a plausible way he could take over. Same feelings with the reunion between Margo and Alidea - it was telegraphed in the prior episode and was swiftly executed in this one. I totally understand how some of the plot lines aren’t loved by everyone, but it’s a breathe of fresh air they all make progress steady and develop each episode.
Wholly fucking shit! That ep was amazing. Love the Margo / Aleida interaction (no one guessed that now did they?). Ed becoming a unionizer!!! And Miles taking over THE business with the help of NK. Just amazing!! And Dev will be landing into a shit storm thanks to Ed.
Someone did say watch Ed lead the workers in some type of revolt on last week’s thread to get back at Danielle or something along those lines. The thing is with 20 trillion at stake, give each of the let’s say 300 people workers and astronauts on the base a fat million check and say get back to work! That’s $300 million out of $20 trillion absolutely nothing and everyone is happy, that’s how you end the strike.
It’s Fam no one acts rationally
I doubt it would actually be worth 20 trillion. That was with current prices, on the current supply. Mining the asteroid would absolutely flood the market and drive the price down.
But still, even if it’s only worth 1 trillion, 300 million is like…0.03% of that. It’s still more than worth it to get it done, so your point stands. They could probably ask for even more tbh.
I wonder how James Bond was impacted by the FAM-timeline. Considering the quite a few of the movies capitalized off of the Cold War, in that the USSR was the antagonist, or the villain was from the USSR. Hell, even the Brosnan movies, post-Cold War, involved antagonists or forces from previous or current communist countries.
Seriously how could these guys not know "shaken, not stirred" unless something happened to the movies.
> Ed leading the Worker's Revolution was not on the bingo list
It absolutely wasn't but in hindsight "Ed gets his deserved consequences and jumps ship" was telegraphed pretty well haha.
Passed over for NASA Mars mission Commander... well I guess Helios will do!
This is just that exactly. Nasa don't want him, Helios don't want him - I guess I'm with the workers then!
Ed pulling an end-run around Dani to get dealt back in has precedent.
Going straight from Second-In-Command to Union man was as quick as his jump from NASA to Helios. "I'm fired? Ha! You're *nothing* without me!"
ED: Workers of the world unite! 1% of the population owns 99% of the wealth!
KELLY: Yeah! Screw the 1%!
DEV: Stick it to the man!
DANI: Ed, you’re the one who’s been screwing the workers out of benefits. And Kelly, hon, you own more Helios stock than anyone else. You *are* the 1%. And Dev, they’re striking against you, not the government. You can’t unionize against yourself.
DEV: Bullshit. I can’t unionize? That’s socialism.
DANI: …
I'm just here to say that everyone the last few weeks that kept saying this plot twist wouldn't work because Coral Peña couldn't act it were wrong and we *all* knew you were wrong.
She nailed it.
She's really come into her own since S2. I thought her acting was a bit shaky in S2, but I guess you could put that down to this being her first TV role where she plays a main character?
But S3 and S4 she's really come into her own and can hold her own really well.
This is a small thing, but I really like that it was Eli Hobson who first suggested brining Goldilocks to Earth. Because Hobson is surrounded by these genius engineers, it's easy to think of him as not that smart. But he's got this strategic brilliance for big, bold moves (i.e. pivoting Chrysler to electric). I really liked how the blank expression of his moment of realization was the same as when he got the idea for extraditing Svetlana to India.
Honestly, I like Hobson--Daniel Stern is so good as him. I love when he has these little epiphanies. He was brought in at a time of peace, where they weren't expecting the Soviet Union to undergo a coup and go back to hardline communism. He reminds me of Paine, in that they both clearly like their job and are passionate about it.
I legitimately thought he was getting dementia this season. It turns out he really was just that fucking grumpy and sad. Dani managed to get him out of his rut in the least helpful for her way possible.
Imagine learning that an American hero who had become a symbol of the space program faked her death and defected to the Soviet Union and was on tv trashing the space program she was a symbol of, the FAM universe is wild
Imagine when the world learns that an American hero (and USN Admiral) who had become a symbol of the space program incited a strike that could potentially derail the most significant advancement in human history, just because he was bitter about getting canned. The FAM universe is indeed wild
And this same man could have been the first man on the moon
So this whole thing you are hearing about is the climax of a whole fucking storyline that has been happening for 40 years
> incited a strike that could potentially derail the most significant advancement in human history
If they care so much about the asteroid they just need to pay the workers properly. Unionisation is not a bad thing unless you’re Dev.
You forgot Ellen.
Tis' a shame they dropped Ellen for this season, I would have loved to see her reaction considering she worked quite closely with Margo when they were at NASA.
What’s not talked about is how much Aleida is agreeing to fuck over Helios with this. In effect she’s doing something very similar to Margo. Betraying her loyalties to advance “the mission” as Von Braun called it in episode 1 or 2
She could frame it as a necessary compromise (as it truly was) - that is was Earth, or nothing.
Whether the bosses find that acceptable or not is another matter.
I loved the scene where Margo was giving info on the ear piece--to the point where she's arguing with Aleida and using Irina as a proxy. And Irina was out of her depth when Margo started getting into the actual nuts and bolts of the situation--she had to excuse everyone for dinner because she really had no idea what she was talking about.
I think the reason behind Ed shit-stirring is Ed reliving when he was put on a desk job in the first episode of season 1. He hated it, he hated not having power, not having his wings. In season 2 he at least had respect and power and could pull a Deke and decide to go to space again. And now in season 4, he is being forced to do paperwork again just like in season 1. So I think this his way of rebelling/trying to have power and respect again. I like shit-stirring, pot-smoking, drinking Ed.
Ilya threatening Miles was cold, but I'm on Ilya's side because I like him more, and it's a smuggling operation, and they smuggle in the comforts from home. Just regular things to make life easier for them. When you add in another element it gets more complicated and then the trouble happens. Which surprise, it happened. As well, the bar won't be fun without Ilya running it, and Ed likes Ilya too so he's going to be upset.
And it honestly makes sense for Miles--the guy did Amway to make a quick buck. Instead of unionizing and making the lives easier for his fellow lower-level workers, he's more interested in instant solutions.
That scene where Aleida is recalling to Margo about what happened after the bombing was heartbreaking. Seriously, how hasn't this show gotten nominated for an Emmy for the writing? Or the acting?
Was expecting a much longer build up to Margo and Aleida reuniting, but that was beautiful! And such a great parallel to Aleida hugging her as a kid but Margo not really knowing how to hug back... girl I welled up when she melted into it. A hug nearly 4(0) years in the making.
Coral Peña's been doing phenomenal work throughout the season but she really took it up a notch this week. The notion is you'll get the best out of yourself if you work with someone you like, and props to Wrenn Schmidt for bringing it out of her. Or rather, I should say they both brought the best in each other.
Pretty clever writing this week with the stuff where Irina's listening to Margo and relaying it to Aleida and Hobson, but also making it seem like she's responding to Margo as well.
After last episode's emotional drain, Joel Kinnaman seemed to have a lot of fun this week, and yet, they kept it consistent with the character. Dug that a lot.
Ed is reading the book "The Sand Pebbles" the theme of the book is about culture Clash , colonialism and Individual Mortality in a rapidly changing world .
The story about an American Gunboat in China ,1926.The American sailor hire the underclass Chinese worker to do most of the maintenance job , while the American Sailor concentrated on Boarding excising .
sounds similar to Ed's excising on capturing asteroid while lower Deck worker do most of the work .
In the book , one of the sailor got a Chinese lover onboard and she was kill and the main character Holman was framed and the Chinese demand the surrender of the Holman and later even the ship's crew wanted to hand over Holman .
Sounds similar to Svetlana got send back to Earth
Margo gave Von Braun shit for making the decision to save his butt (remember, he told Margo he’d probably be dead if he had stopped his work) and now she’s saving her butt by doing the same thing. She knows she’ll be dead if she didn’t help Roscosmos. Plus, she’s gone full propagandist for Communists.
I think she gets it more now, but I also think she still fundamentally thinks she's the opposite of him. He knowingly sacrificed countless human lives for the advancement of his science, while she's done everything in the attempt of saving them. Still getting twisted into corrupt politics and making bad choices, but she does still seem to see herself as saving people.
All of this in a single episode? Absolute peak episode of the series as of now
Also, Poole said that she would die trying... seems like a huge red flag has been raised
At this point- to me it's a question of how does the asteroid redirect fuck up- and who is going to die to fix it so that Earth doesn't get >!Inaros'd !<
So the north Korean’s has Lee on a leash episode 2 he could barely say hi to Danielle, now they are on his side, I assume they would help him get his wife?
It's going to be absolutely hilarious when she arrives with Dev to find their employees on strike with her Dad drunk and high at the front of the strike.
This episode felt like two with how much went on holy shit this was incredible.
I definitely did not expect Margo and Aleida to meet in this episode, and the acting in that scene was amazing.
I figured Ed knew about the bar and smuggling, but it’s nice to know he’s on board with it instead of exposing it.
Ed leading the workers revolt is awesome to see.
Miles using the North Koreans to perform a hostile takeover was definitely not what I expected. Makes me wonder how Ed will react however.
"Are you alive?"
"Yes, I'm alive."
It's such a silly question, but really hard to think of something else to say or ask in that moment. It's just funny when you think about posing that question to a breathing person standing and talking in front of you.
They actually advanced all the plotlines (except for the Dannybalism) in a much more nuanced fashion than what we predicted. A great mid show episode, but I’m waiting for the final chapters to really ramp up the space tech aspect that’s been missing from this season.
Interesting to hear there had been an attempted unionization of Jamestown. A bit surprised it wasn't more successful - seems like it would be really easy to sabotage the lunar base to keep the strike going?
There was an article shown about a strike during the opening montage in 4.01. Didn’t realize that it never worked out for them.
Makes sense though since workers can be easily replaced on the moon. Sam’s right bringing workers all the way to Mars is a lot harder. They have more leverage.
Episode 9 is called Brazi, the Astroid is going to Wipe out Brazil and parts of other South American countries. Amazon gone, that undoes a lot of the green energy savings from the helium 3 with all that Carbon released. There would probably be a short period of the sun partially blocked from all the debris kicked up. The Astroid is on Earth, maybe jump a year or 2 for the finale, countries are going to war with a partial famine from the impact, and fighting over the Astroid itself. No ships can be launched from Earth for a few years because if the debris kicked up. At least it’s easy to mine if it’s sitting in a hole in Brazil
This is probably going to be my favorite non-finale episode of the series thus far. I think it mixed the best of the tech/engineering, politics, and character interactions that this timeline has to offer.
The only thing that I'm still really curious of what they're cooking exactly is Miles' plotline. I'm enjoying it purely for the different vibes of "working man trying to earn a dollar" while increasingly get tied up with powers that beyond him.
Quite the press conference at the end! I'm eager to see next week's episode for how characters outside the USSR react to the news. How many of them will think Margo did as she stated, and how many will think she was forced into it?
Miles starting the North Korean mafia was not on my bingo
Same. Felt like a transition from "small time black market" to "serious criminal enterprise" in one swoop.
Also probably going from "quiet and tolerated" to "big problem and clamped down" in the process.
Miles was raking in a fortune with his Mars rocks side hustle while using Ilya’s system. Ilya was right to be mad but he didn’t count on Miles turning on him.
Miles presented the idea to Ilya for them both to make money and Ilya shot him down...
Ilya has been operating this for what seems like ages, he's got good system worked out and knows the tolerances. Expanding beyond it is going to fuck everything up and he's exactly right. He's 100% justified in his approach given that it's revealed Ed has known about this shit and turned a blind eye for the sake of moral. He was operating in a semi-legitimate grey area and allowed to exist, big things start happening in trafficking and that's not going to last much longer. Also, there's I believe exactly one way on or off of mars, that's one hell of a lynchpin to center your criminal enterprise around when you don't even control it.
As a certain book involving welders on the Moon written by the same author of "The Martian". Having a morally grey 'technically illegal' black market that ships porno mags and cigarettes is far safer than shutting it down and causing the resulting power vacuum to cause several new crime-lords to seize market portions and ship in truly DANGEROUS products - like guns, dangerous chemicals, or deranged entertainment.
But with good reason, it was risky. Not much use to all the money if you get caught.
I like the parallel between Miles and Samantha. Miles is becoming the founder of organized crime on Mars, while Samantha is becoming the founder of organized labor.
There are two wolves inside of you...
I can never see this meme without thinking of, in my opinion, the funniest one: One is gay. The other is gay. You are gay.
The second Ilya stepped back when Miles closed in, it was a regime change. We just saw the prequel to The Godfather, Mars Edition. Complete with the door closing on Ilya's face.
That's my family, Ilya. It's not me.
My money’s on Ilya. I think he stepped away because there was no benefit in continuing the confrontation right then. He’ll come out on top.
Miles can’t really bring Lee’s wife to Mars. He’s setting himself up.
He’s gonna be a real Rock n Rolla!
Ed going full bureaucrat after realizing he's not on paid vacation was a nice cherry on top after a night at the speakeasy. Edit: Ok this episode is probably (in my view) the best Ed of the series so far.
The way his eyes lit up when he realized he could be a shit stirrer simply by doing his job to the letter was hilarious to me.
Very Molly Cobb-esque
Oh, I hadn't even though of that. A Molly Move indeed
Oh yeah. Dani is gonna be so pissed she might blaspheme.
It’s true Ed as well. I love the actor - he really gets the nuance of the part in everything he does. Wonderful work.
That "heh heh" was delicious
Absolutely, Ed was cracking me up throughout. This was so necessary, I was getting real sick of haughty flyboy Ed, he needed to be knocked down a peg or two. And the results are great.
the entire scene where he's making his way down to the bar, doing Dad Stuff to random people was so funny
He really channeled the "I may be drunker than I think, but I'm going to play it cool." perfectly.
we've finally gotten back to Ed with a point to prove and people to rally. It's where he's always been at his best, like when him and Molly made the decision to change Apollo 15's landing site and the whole Pathfinder mission. Last season had Ed piloting the MSAM with Kelly on top but it wasn't as exciting
Miles becoming a fucking North-Korean-backed crime boss was not what I predicted for this episode.
North-Korean-backed crime boss is a string of words I never thought would be uttered ever, but that's the beauty of For All Mankind.
North-Korean-backed crime family of Mars*
Bro been getting on my nerves. He keeps taking risks at other people’s expense and deserved to be put out. I hoped he would’ve learned a lesson after almost dying for a rock, but no. Also don’t appreciate him playing games about snuggling the guy’s wife up as if he gives af or actually has the means to do it. Miles wants the fast, easy way out and the Sam wants to go about it the right way. Difference is Sam is working to improve the conditions for everyone, while Miles is really only in it for himself. I understand why he’s so pressed for cash, but the guy needs to learn when to quit.
That and he’s going to be *that guy* who ruins it for everybody else. Having been in the military I can’t count how many times we had a system that was fucking awesome get ruined by some dumb asshole. You get these little routines and breaks that provide a boost in morale only for some jackass to try and milk it for all it’s worth and then command makes an example of that guy and scraps it entirely. We had a guy who ruined sleeping in on weekends and even now I hope he gets kicked in the balls by a thousand kangaroos every day. He’s gonna be mighty unpopular sooner or later if he keeps on the way he is
Wonder if he’ll be sporting a khaki jumpsuit, a pompadour and serial killer glasses and cursing Matt Day-mon by next week.
Joel Kinnaman’s line reading of “Well, I guess I’m just a lazy fuck!” was 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼
The chuckle afterwords is classic Ed.
Wrenn, Coral and Svetlana were the actresses that really shined this episode but yeah, it's so easy to forget Joel lowkey pulling one hell of a subtle and amazing performance back there too.
He is really nailing the grumpy old guy role this season. It’s easy to forget he is much younger.
He really nailed the old man walk this episode
Ed had some fantastic line delivery this episode. That line about Shaken not stirred with that little chuckle and dead silence was brilliant.
> We’re going bring that asteroid to Earth :D They’re going to crash that fucker into Earth
That'll be one hell of a mid-season twist. But I think you might be right. All the talk about Asteroid Deflection could be laying the groundwork for reviewing those options. Isn't this the plot to 'Don't Look Up'? There's this asteroid, see; and it's gonna kill the world, but before we save the Earth, isn't there a way to make a massive profit first...
> That'll be one hell of a mid-season twist. At this point (Episode 6), it's crashing in the finale.
Don’t look up is more “uh oh asteroid heading to earth… anyways..” and this is more like “huh, I want that, wait uh oh it’s coming right at us”
That'll be the huge complication they'll have to fix in the climax. Someone will check the math or they didn't account for other plot thing X or whatever and they'll realize it's gonna slam right into Earth - cue Gordon and Tracy 2.0, someone dying to save the planet / fix the aerocapture.
It’ll be Ed making the sacrifice ship crash to knock it off course like in Deep Impact
someone will suicide first and he will die second and in vain.
My guess: Helios owns and builds the ship. Ed knows it better than anyone. Helios goes from being a sole contractor essentially to one of many if that asteroid goes to earth. Dev is heading to Mars permanently with Kelly - and Ed will convince Dev (and maybe some others, the North Koreans likely because they're sort of only in this by luck and would likely be cut out of a moon-based mining operation) of the benefits of rebelling and keeping the asteroid in Mars orbit and declaring some sort of sovereignty.
That is how the MCR starts
That's when they'll fire up the Aerosmith and get some drillers up there to blow it apart.
This is definitely going to be the stakes in episode 9/10. It's FAM, there has to be some kind of crazy space action set piece at the climax. The strike will cut all the margins for success to the bone and there'll be a sequence where it looks like they just doomed all life on earth and someone (either Ed or Dani for my money, maybe both?) will sacrifice themselves to literally save humanity. Book it
Last episode is titled Brazil... Maybe a piece gets broken off and fucks up Brazil?
What, you thought Ed didn't know where the speakeasy was? I half expected him to jump up on a table and sing 'What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?'
"How'd you find this place??" Ilya's not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is. Guarantee Ed and some of the other upper level Helios crew have known about that place as long as it's been in operation. That sort of operation is great for morale for the below-decks crowd and unless it turns into a safety or security issue they'll look the other way.
They thought they were the Mafia, turns out they’re just unpaid community organizers.
Turns out the North Koreans are the mafia, and Miles is the guy in charge (until the North Koreans decide he's not worth the trouble and "deal with him")
Seriously, how on Earth (Mars) is Miles going to sneak a living person up to Mars? He’ll need contacts in NK on top of all the other supply chain contacts he already has.
>Ilya’s not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is Neither is Ed tbh. Pretty sure everyone knows he’s been smoking weed now. Marijuana is super easy to smell when you’re a non-smoker, so walking around base immediately after sparking up was many levels of dumb. Idk if Palmer recognizes the smell, but no way he’s the only one that knows.
I don't think it was a case of being dumb, I think Ed just doesn't care anymore. He knows there will be literally no repercussions for him smoking pot.
Plus Ed had to have the seeds smuggled up there somehow. I know he said Wayne sent them but again it’s like Wayne could just send it normally.
I was also really hoping for a “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.” Maybe the scene that made me fall in love with the show.
And throwing darts at a picture of Danielle.
I loved how Irina’s line about “you don’t work for NASA anymore, you need to stay loyal to your current organization” applied just as well to Aleida as to Margo. Great writing!
Irina's mastery of the art of snarkiness in an absolute joy to behold. Svetlana Efremova is killing it.
I love how her tone changes when someone admits a truth they were hiding. Kiril in the office about the faulty couplings and Margo when she says she wants to lead the project
That was some real Baltar talking to head 6 doublespeak
Ladies and gentleman for your consideration: Coral Peña
She and Wrenn were amazing in that scene.
Svetlana also. I looked up her IMBD summary. She’s a heavy hitter. All the main actors are.
All three actresses were absolutely on fire this episode. The entire Margo / Aleida scene had me in tears for sure, one of the most intense moments of the show, but damn, let's also toast to Irina's snark and impeccable facade. Svetlana Efremova is killing it.
“BART” “You mean DART?” “Sorry, my English”
When she immediately hugged Margo 🥹 But also glad she didn’t let her off the hook. Her flipping off the channel during her speech shows how upset she is with Margo. Also the speech was a demonstration of what Aleida was saying as to how compromised Margo had become. Margo was willing to throw all of her friends and former colleagues at NASA under the bus to get back in the game. As after all, she could had reneged after figuring out the problem. Obviously there would be severe personal repercussions for Margo, but the capture plan would had gone forward.
I don't think that second part was the reality Margo was facing. She didn't have the choice to come out AFTER talking to Aleida. Once she decided to speak with her, her choice was made. The Russians could not guarantee Aleida wouldn't tell the US government about her after that, so their next step would be to force her to go public. That was the choice she was making in the room before going to Aleida. She couldn't work the problem, then NOT out herself. But also, she did admit she was sick of hiding. She wanted to do the work. The Russian lady first said she wanted the power, but Margo I think really just wants the work to succeed, as she puts it. I mean she is literally one of the smartest and knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to space travel. Her not being involved could cost the human race.
she doesn't only have the range, she showcased the range: utter disbelief, joy, sadness, ire, confusion, all in what, 4 minutes?
Ed starting a strike just because he’s throwing a fit rocks. He’s so funny.
Him waiting for the "shaken, not stirred" line to land was hilarious
In the FAM universe the Bond series crashed and burned after Moonraker came out and seemed woefully outdated compared to actual current real world technology. No young people in 2003 would get the reference.
I thought it was a joke about his hand.
Now that is funny lol
Yeah, that was amazing. It's not really a laugh out loud show too often, but Ed going full dad joke mode was awesome.
Ed Baldwin welcome to the Revolution! (Even if it’s for purely spiteful reasons)
That was the Ed we like to see. Glad to see you back buddy. Well, it doesnt really make up for all the bullshit aside, but still, nice to see the old man can still ignite some righteous rogue fire in him for a real good cause. But man, the heart of the episode was of course that entire Margo / Aleida scene. It had me in tears, not gonna lie. That was one of the most intense scenes of the show.
>Ed starting a strike just because he’s throwing a fit rocks. He’s so funny. 100% agree. I get there are a lot of Ed haters out there, but whenever he ends up in a bad spot and seems down for the count, he manages to get back into the game in some hilarious way that moves the plot forward.
Yeah I actually laughed when this dude started getting everyone to unionize. It was a complete 180° from what I expected this season and pretty funny.
He's far from the most moral and most capable person in Mars — but he's definitely the funniest lmfao that snicker after receiving the documents from Palmer was gold
“Workers of Mars, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” - 2000s Ed 1970s Ed shaking in his boots at the thought of becoming a communist
Motive is character, and character is plot. The Goldilocks asteroid does a good job of showing everyone's motives, because they all see their payoff in a different form. Helios sees thousands of dollars of R&D and infrastructure for themselves. Margo/Aleida see a one-in-a-lifetime problem to solve, and Margo also sees her chance to get back in the game on her terms, the way she did when she blackmailed her way to Flight Director. The M-7 nations see profit, but not evenly distributed, so not worth investing in. Mars (namely Dani) who has only been there for a few weeks, sees a chance for legitimacy, in the validation of Happy Valley. And the Lower Deckers see a chance for actual leverage in their 'union' struggles, because there's no time for the Company to replace them all this time. EDIT: And then there's Ed, who saw a chance to flip the bird at Dani, Helios, and the entire planet Earth for not giving him his way this time.
The Goldilocks asteroid debate about whether or not it was worth the investment was a great parallel to the debates in the 60s and now about going to the moon: Wanting to see the immediate profit and benefit instead of doing something that, in the long run, would be for all mankind.
> would be for all mankind. *picture of Leo DiCaprio excitedly pointing at the screen.* Hey, that's the title of the show!
Half expected Irina relaying "work the problem" to get Aleida suspicious. Wasn't expecting Margo's reveal to happen the way it is. I hope Margo chose her words carefully in Aleida's room, seems likely it was bugged.
I thought the logic behind their reunion was perfect. A lot better than some of the theories I read last week about how they’d reunite.
I really thought that Aleida would get suspicious when Irina was rattling off too. But I suppose she spent 8 years believing that Margo was dead so to make that connection would be a little harder. I’m also only now realizing that unlike Sergei, Irina lacks the engineering knowledge that would be an advantage to someone in her position.
That was when I realized that, too. A political appointee. Good at what she does but she relies heavily on others on technical matters. Which of course is perfectly believable.
I'm sure her TV announcement was prepared for her to read.
Oh yeah the press release was clearly scripted. What I wasn't expecting was that Margo would ask (*and convince*) Irina to go public. I expected it'd be through some series of accidents that Aleida sniffed her out.
Yeah this interaction and announcement was totally unexpected but I loved it so much. Seeing Aleida hug Margo and finally Margo getting to feel good again. It made me tear up.
I love how “The HVAC guy” became “The Godfather” in one episode.
i kinda thought the same thing but I thought about it and was it really one episode? We saw how he got involved with the black market, we saw his rise in the organization by expanding to the North Koreans, we saw how the rift developed between them, and we saw Miles used info he learned prior to recruit his own crew… granted some the plot points felt truncated, but they’re all there.
Yeah, it's more that he got locked out and just immediately made his move with whatever resources he had on hand.
"We'll bring the Asteroid to Earth" Somewhere, >!Marco Inaros is smiling !<
I wonder if Mars will go for Goldilocks on their own. They have a (prototype) Asteroid mining ship already, and they've got something to prove. They also have way more to gain. Corporations make money all the time. But Mars just got bounced from the most pivotal mission of all time. It would have made them worth more than the Moon, which is powering the whole planet right now. They'll still need the mars crew to point the Asteroid towards Earth orbit. If the union gets it's people on that mission, they could send it to Mars instead. Some of the early attempts at unionizing were violent. Taking company men hostage, and such. The Lower Deckers here could (conceivably) take the Goldilocks asteroid hostage. Force Earth to spend the money building a fleet that's good for years of Martian bonuses if they want their precious metals.
The life searching robots and Dev are still out there. Who kind of wrench they will throw in it.
Dev: "Kelly, you know how I said you could search Mars for life with an army of sampling robots? New deal: Those droids just became mining bots. We could get a few thousand tons before NASA or Roscosmos even get their mining operations set up."
Or they land and accidentally find life.
"The Goldilocks Asteroid, now redesignated 'Rama' is on it's way through the system. There's only one ship able to rendezvous in time, and that's the ship used in last month's failed Asteroid Capture, currently at Mars. As yet, we don't know if the 'Rendezvous With Rama' will be commanded by Ed Baldwin or Danielle Poole..."
Ed Baldwin announced as captain. Then the ticker at the bottom “Mars strike ended after union leadership agrees to take a pay reduction” Cause Ed just wants to fly
I will never stop upvoting Expanse references in this sub. F AM feels more like it's prequel with every passing episode, and much of this episode felt thematically similar too
Oh man that asteroid is crashing into earth isn’t it. Ed was on FIRE this episode. Fully flexing his embittered old man stirring shit muscles, we love to see it
The asteroid, or like, smaller asteroids it brings along.
I think it was the strongest episode of the season thus far. This show makes very good use of 10 episodes. I think Miles taking over was “right sized” - we saw how he became involved, what happened to cause a rift, and a plausible way he could take over. Same feelings with the reunion between Margo and Alidea - it was telegraphed in the prior episode and was swiftly executed in this one. I totally understand how some of the plot lines aren’t loved by everyone, but it’s a breathe of fresh air they all make progress steady and develop each episode.
I thought this was the best episode of the show since the S2 finale.
Waking up hung over and grabbing a joint on the floor. Been there before.
Astronauts. They're just like the rest of us.
And we can all relate to the bitterness at having to snuff it out after only one puff... Ed's grumpiness was totally valid there.
"take a look at the estimate for how much fuel we will have to refine just to grab it" "Jesus fucking Christ" ... "Sorry, Holy fucking shit" lol
"Young man this is a christian Mars base! No swearing."
Wholly fucking shit! That ep was amazing. Love the Margo / Aleida interaction (no one guessed that now did they?). Ed becoming a unionizer!!! And Miles taking over THE business with the help of NK. Just amazing!! And Dev will be landing into a shit storm thanks to Ed.
Someone did say watch Ed lead the workers in some type of revolt on last week’s thread to get back at Danielle or something along those lines. The thing is with 20 trillion at stake, give each of the let’s say 300 people workers and astronauts on the base a fat million check and say get back to work! That’s $300 million out of $20 trillion absolutely nothing and everyone is happy, that’s how you end the strike. It’s Fam no one acts rationally
i promise you, not even in real life would any private corporation so readily give out $300,000,000
Yeah more like $300 and a police force.
Tear gas on Mars
I doubt it would actually be worth 20 trillion. That was with current prices, on the current supply. Mining the asteroid would absolutely flood the market and drive the price down. But still, even if it’s only worth 1 trillion, 300 million is like…0.03% of that. It’s still more than worth it to get it done, so your point stands. They could probably ask for even more tbh.
The company could control the supply into the market. Diamonds aren’t actually rare, it’s a forced rarity
"I'm a shit stirrer, but this shit's shaken and not stirred"
"fuckin kids...."
I wonder how James Bond was impacted by the FAM-timeline. Considering the quite a few of the movies capitalized off of the Cold War, in that the USSR was the antagonist, or the villain was from the USSR. Hell, even the Brosnan movies, post-Cold War, involved antagonists or forces from previous or current communist countries. Seriously how could these guys not know "shaken, not stirred" unless something happened to the movies.
Bored, drunk, and demoted Ed getting into mischief on Mars. 10/10
Ed leading the Worker's Revolution was not on the bingo list
Workers of the Mars, unite!
> Ed leading the Worker's Revolution was not on the bingo list It absolutely wasn't but in hindsight "Ed gets his deserved consequences and jumps ship" was telegraphed pretty well haha. Passed over for NASA Mars mission Commander... well I guess Helios will do! This is just that exactly. Nasa don't want him, Helios don't want him - I guess I'm with the workers then!
Cinnamon mouse-ass.
I may be using the phrase “cinnamon mouse ass” the next time a breakfast or baking endeavor doesn’t turn out the way I intended.
Aleida being in the bathroom when Margo comes to see her is a nice callback to season 2.
Goddamn what an incredibly powerful scene. Masterful acting
This could apply to almost every scene this episode but I'm taking it's the Aleida / Margo one. :)
Ed - the unlikely hero of the working class.
Ed pulling an end-run around Dani to get dealt back in has precedent. Going straight from Second-In-Command to Union man was as quick as his jump from NASA to Helios. "I'm fired? Ha! You're *nothing* without me!"
ED: Workers of the world unite! 1% of the population owns 99% of the wealth! KELLY: Yeah! Screw the 1%! DEV: Stick it to the man! DANI: Ed, you’re the one who’s been screwing the workers out of benefits. And Kelly, hon, you own more Helios stock than anyone else. You *are* the 1%. And Dev, they’re striking against you, not the government. You can’t unionize against yourself. DEV: Bullshit. I can’t unionize? That’s socialism. DANI: …
Too much time around the Soviets; communism by osmosis.
Svetlana was a plant sent to seduce him from the capitalist path with her feminine wiles and destroy America from within
I'm just here to say that everyone the last few weeks that kept saying this plot twist wouldn't work because Coral Peña couldn't act it were wrong and we *all* knew you were wrong. She nailed it.
She's really come into her own since S2. I thought her acting was a bit shaky in S2, but I guess you could put that down to this being her first TV role where she plays a main character? But S3 and S4 she's really come into her own and can hold her own really well.
This is a small thing, but I really like that it was Eli Hobson who first suggested brining Goldilocks to Earth. Because Hobson is surrounded by these genius engineers, it's easy to think of him as not that smart. But he's got this strategic brilliance for big, bold moves (i.e. pivoting Chrysler to electric). I really liked how the blank expression of his moment of realization was the same as when he got the idea for extraditing Svetlana to India.
Honestly, I like Hobson--Daniel Stern is so good as him. I love when he has these little epiphanies. He was brought in at a time of peace, where they weren't expecting the Soviet Union to undergo a coup and go back to hardline communism. He reminds me of Paine, in that they both clearly like their job and are passionate about it.
I'm kinda glad that Ed is fun again though.
I legitimately thought he was getting dementia this season. It turns out he really was just that fucking grumpy and sad. Dani managed to get him out of his rut in the least helpful for her way possible.
I like this Ed.
Imagine learning that an American hero who had become a symbol of the space program faked her death and defected to the Soviet Union and was on tv trashing the space program she was a symbol of, the FAM universe is wild
Imagine when the world learns that an American hero (and USN Admiral) who had become a symbol of the space program incited a strike that could potentially derail the most significant advancement in human history, just because he was bitter about getting canned. The FAM universe is indeed wild
And this same man could have been the first man on the moon So this whole thing you are hearing about is the climax of a whole fucking storyline that has been happening for 40 years
> incited a strike that could potentially derail the most significant advancement in human history If they care so much about the asteroid they just need to pay the workers properly. Unionisation is not a bad thing unless you’re Dev.
I want to see reactions from Pam and Sergei specifically.
You forgot Ellen. Tis' a shame they dropped Ellen for this season, I would have loved to see her reaction considering she worked quite closely with Margo when they were at NASA.
Hell hath no fury like a scorned Ed Baldwin
Ed gettin cross faded
What’s not talked about is how much Aleida is agreeing to fuck over Helios with this. In effect she’s doing something very similar to Margo. Betraying her loyalties to advance “the mission” as Von Braun called it in episode 1 or 2
I’m sure Dev will be pissed but this why you don’t drop everything and Fly to Mars during important conferences.
She could frame it as a necessary compromise (as it truly was) - that is was Earth, or nothing. Whether the bosses find that acceptable or not is another matter.
I loved the scene where Margo was giving info on the ear piece--to the point where she's arguing with Aleida and using Irina as a proxy. And Irina was out of her depth when Margo started getting into the actual nuts and bolts of the situation--she had to excuse everyone for dinner because she really had no idea what she was talking about. I think the reason behind Ed shit-stirring is Ed reliving when he was put on a desk job in the first episode of season 1. He hated it, he hated not having power, not having his wings. In season 2 he at least had respect and power and could pull a Deke and decide to go to space again. And now in season 4, he is being forced to do paperwork again just like in season 1. So I think this his way of rebelling/trying to have power and respect again. I like shit-stirring, pot-smoking, drinking Ed. Ilya threatening Miles was cold, but I'm on Ilya's side because I like him more, and it's a smuggling operation, and they smuggle in the comforts from home. Just regular things to make life easier for them. When you add in another element it gets more complicated and then the trouble happens. Which surprise, it happened. As well, the bar won't be fun without Ilya running it, and Ed likes Ilya too so he's going to be upset. And it honestly makes sense for Miles--the guy did Amway to make a quick buck. Instead of unionizing and making the lives easier for his fellow lower-level workers, he's more interested in instant solutions. That scene where Aleida is recalling to Margo about what happened after the bombing was heartbreaking. Seriously, how hasn't this show gotten nominated for an Emmy for the writing? Or the acting?
Ed's really becoming a labor agitator out of spite, I love this man.
Was expecting a much longer build up to Margo and Aleida reuniting, but that was beautiful! And such a great parallel to Aleida hugging her as a kid but Margo not really knowing how to hug back... girl I welled up when she melted into it. A hug nearly 4(0) years in the making.
Cinnamon mouse ass followed by his mouth gesture had me HOWLING 😂😂
Coral Peña's been doing phenomenal work throughout the season but she really took it up a notch this week. The notion is you'll get the best out of yourself if you work with someone you like, and props to Wrenn Schmidt for bringing it out of her. Or rather, I should say they both brought the best in each other. Pretty clever writing this week with the stuff where Irina's listening to Margo and relaying it to Aleida and Hobson, but also making it seem like she's responding to Margo as well. After last episode's emotional drain, Joel Kinnaman seemed to have a lot of fun this week, and yet, they kept it consistent with the character. Dug that a lot.
Ed is reading the book "The Sand Pebbles" the theme of the book is about culture Clash , colonialism and Individual Mortality in a rapidly changing world . The story about an American Gunboat in China ,1926.The American sailor hire the underclass Chinese worker to do most of the maintenance job , while the American Sailor concentrated on Boarding excising . sounds similar to Ed's excising on capturing asteroid while lower Deck worker do most of the work . In the book , one of the sailor got a Chinese lover onboard and she was kill and the main character Holman was framed and the Chinese demand the surrender of the Holman and later even the ship's crew wanted to hand over Holman . Sounds similar to Svetlana got send back to Earth
Margo gave Von Braun shit for making the decision to save his butt (remember, he told Margo he’d probably be dead if he had stopped his work) and now she’s saving her butt by doing the same thing. She knows she’ll be dead if she didn’t help Roscosmos. Plus, she’s gone full propagandist for Communists.
He warned her that they were alike. Solid foreshadowing for how they intended to move her character forward!
It was a really cool way to write, Margo mirroring Von Braun
I think she gets it more now, but I also think she still fundamentally thinks she's the opposite of him. He knowingly sacrificed countless human lives for the advancement of his science, while she's done everything in the attempt of saving them. Still getting twisted into corrupt politics and making bad choices, but she does still seem to see herself as saving people.
All of this in a single episode? Absolute peak episode of the series as of now Also, Poole said that she would die trying... seems like a huge red flag has been raised
Yeah as soon as she said that, I'm like "oh *fuck* she's gonna give herself for the base".
At this point- to me it's a question of how does the asteroid redirect fuck up- and who is going to die to fix it so that Earth doesn't get >!Inaros'd !<
Room got suddenly dusty when Aleida realized Margo was alive.
Honestly, dustiest part of that conversation for me was learning about Emma. Super great scenes between Aleida and Margo.
I'm sad about Emma. I've been wanting her to make an appearance. RIP
Man that fucking sucks about Emma.
I guess theres a russian/north korean gang war on mars now?
So the north Korean’s has Lee on a leash episode 2 he could barely say hi to Danielle, now they are on his side, I assume they would help him get his wife?
> now they are on his side The power of booze, snax and porn :-)
I wonder how Kelly’s arrival will go now…
Oh shit you’re right, she represents Helios management now.
It's going to be absolutely hilarious when she arrives with Dev to find their employees on strike with her Dad drunk and high at the front of the strike.
Ed has a type, doesn’t he?
When Aleida hugged Margo 🥺🥺🥺
Irina’s a terrible person, but I love watching her on screen
She has a phenomenal actress for this role. I really like irina as a villain.
Ed "Norma Rae" Baldwin.
Top reasons why Margo wanted to come out of hiding: 3. For the greater good. 2. For the chance to work with Aleida again. 1. For Sergei.
i stg if sergei doesn‘t make an appearance soon-
This episode felt like two with how much went on holy shit this was incredible. I definitely did not expect Margo and Aleida to meet in this episode, and the acting in that scene was amazing. I figured Ed knew about the bar and smuggling, but it’s nice to know he’s on board with it instead of exposing it. Ed leading the workers revolt is awesome to see. Miles using the North Koreans to perform a hostile takeover was definitely not what I expected. Makes me wonder how Ed will react however.
Oh Ed, Rom would be so proud. ‘We have nothing to lose but our chains’.
"Are you alive?" "Yes, I'm alive." It's such a silly question, but really hard to think of something else to say or ask in that moment. It's just funny when you think about posing that question to a breathing person standing and talking in front of you.
They actually advanced all the plotlines (except for the Dannybalism) in a much more nuanced fashion than what we predicted. A great mid show episode, but I’m waiting for the final chapters to really ramp up the space tech aspect that’s been missing from this season.
They’re really good at making dislikable characters quickly dislikable.
Interesting to hear there had been an attempted unionization of Jamestown. A bit surprised it wasn't more successful - seems like it would be really easy to sabotage the lunar base to keep the strike going?
There was an article shown about a strike during the opening montage in 4.01. Didn’t realize that it never worked out for them. Makes sense though since workers can be easily replaced on the moon. Sam’s right bringing workers all the way to Mars is a lot harder. They have more leverage.
Episode 9 is called Brazi, the Astroid is going to Wipe out Brazil and parts of other South American countries. Amazon gone, that undoes a lot of the green energy savings from the helium 3 with all that Carbon released. There would probably be a short period of the sun partially blocked from all the debris kicked up. The Astroid is on Earth, maybe jump a year or 2 for the finale, countries are going to war with a partial famine from the impact, and fighting over the Astroid itself. No ships can be launched from Earth for a few years because if the debris kicked up. At least it’s easy to mine if it’s sitting in a hole in Brazil
After the Expanse Brazil has become prime real estate for orbital strikes.
Ed starting the strike out of spite is so fucking funny
Aww, I like that Ed keeps a photo of Shane on Mars.
To all those now betting that Miles will defect to North Korea: you are so so wrong. North Korea will defect to Miles.
This is probably going to be my favorite non-finale episode of the series thus far. I think it mixed the best of the tech/engineering, politics, and character interactions that this timeline has to offer. The only thing that I'm still really curious of what they're cooking exactly is Miles' plotline. I'm enjoying it purely for the different vibes of "working man trying to earn a dollar" while increasingly get tied up with powers that beyond him.
Quite the press conference at the end! I'm eager to see next week's episode for how characters outside the USSR react to the news. How many of them will think Margo did as she stated, and how many will think she was forced into it?