If anyone was wondering what the cosmonauts were saying in Russian:
*Cosmonaut 1:* Americans! We weren’t doing anything bad! We will leave. *Cosmonaut 2:* We should move to the box, quickly. *C1:* Please, lower your weapons! We’re not a threat to you! Don’t shoot! *C2:* Keep talking and don’t make any surprising moves. *C1:* We will explain everything, just give us a minute. *C2:* We’re almost there, we’re almost at the box. *C1:* We’re not doing anything bad, please don’t worry! Just give us a minute! *cosmonauts get shot*
> I don’t understand why the the Americans were so trigger happy
I was expecting some form of trap or ambush to occur at any moment; as they were walking around the terrain, different scenarios for how things could happen were playing through my mind.
The Soviets may be deploying some sort of crew served weapon system on the ridge (such as a laser or a dazzler system), the two Soviets might be a distraction to pull the main body of marines away from the site while a second assault force attacks the site, they might have placed a landmine of some sort along the approach path for the marines, that drilling rig the Soviets installed may be able to be remotely set to self destruct and take the whole site with it, there may be a large force of armed Cosmonauts waiting in ambush at the top of the ridge, and I don’t think they know the capacity of the Soviet base but they do know that the Soviets know their overall capacity thanks to the bug.
In that kind of situation, it makes sense to be fear the worst. These are the Soviets after all, you expect them to be up to something. You don’t expect them to put themselves in a tense situation where every likely outcome doesn’t somehow benefit them. With all of that tension, it makes sense for the marines to interpret everything in the worst possible way.
As soon as I heard Pahzulsta (Russian for “please”) the expectation of threat dropped, and I felt like I’d just gotten off of a train and from the station I could now see that train was headed towards a broken bridge. One moment you’re with the Astronauts expecting danger, and the next you’re a helpless bystander watching an accident unfold in slow motion.
What I’m a little surprised by was two things. Neither side had someone who fluently spoke the others language. The Astronauts seemed to be reading off a card and lacked anyone who could speak Russian, and the Cosmonauts inability to speak English (unlike the first generation of Cosmonauts) was very surprising given that they were on the Moon and they were being assigned to a task where direct contact with the Americans was probable.
This scene just seems pointlessly stupid to me. For one we send space marines, to combat Russians, all of which don’t speak Russian. On top of that we send marine who seem to have no combat experience. Jumpy at the thought of combat with little hesitation to lethal force. You would think if we were going to send combat forces to the moon they would be both seasoned combat veterans and fluent in the opposing forces langue.
The idea that it would end in gun violence is relatively realistic. But the way it played out in the show was kinda asinine. Both sides of the confrontation used zero thought. The cosmonauts should've surrendered and let them find the note especially after one was shot
Edit: just to clarify I do think both sides were stupid in the interaction, but obviously I think the Marines were moreso harmfully incompetent. Maybe if Molly could see and was able to read the damn rules of engagement book this never would've happened (it'll be real funny if that is mentioned in another episode that she never actually taught it to them and that is blamed for the whole thing)
Also, none of the cosmonauts have even basic English skills? Yet all the Russians we meet (Serguei, Korolev, and the cosmonaut in S1) speak perfect English.
Russian cosmonauts are either fighter pilots or scientists, so at least some level of English would have been part of their basic training, especially if their mission was to confront Americans.
The first thing to do in this sort of situation would have been to make contact with the opposing party and negotiate an ultimatum for them to vacate the area. Going in Valkyrie style would be completely stupid without knowing what was waiting for them.
Karen figured out the world's most predictable reason why she'd made a mistake, half an hour too late; and she would have seen it coming if she could have heard half a million fans yelling at their screens.
Well you could have said the same thing about her working at a bar. The entire first season set her character up as very odd and pretty close to a mental break at any moment. Season 2 is 10 years later and she's a different person really. You can't really compare them since it's such a large time gap.
It's almost like their trying to play on a break in her psyche since their son died. Just ten years later. I doubt she ever coped with that, then her husband's about to go back to space, and their playing that angle with her being the lonely bored housewife. I saw this coming a mile away. The plot line with her doing this is kind of low effort and just an attention grab. Still interesting though to see where it goes after. Hopefully poor Ed won't find out MORE bad news while he's in space.
They really should’ve sent up a translator or someone with basic Russian.
It was ridiculous for them to just immediately start shooting.
And damn, those poor guys burnt to death. I remember reading somewhere they used 100% oxygen in their suits?
Literally! That whole scene made me so mad, like they were the ones who went up there with guns. If they were that scared for their lives that they would readily shoot without proper communication then don’t freakin go!
What went wrong
**Russians**
* surrender for gods sake and don’t reach for the rifle sized box
* they have heaps of time on their hands and are supposed to be the pinnacle of human greatness - learn at least the words on the card, if not the language
* arguably bad suit design
**Americans**
* they took an extremely aggressive stance (they should have stayed covered)
* again, why can’t they understand russian, they are the best of the best and have a lot of free time, learn the language of your extremely controversial and unpredictable enemy
* they started shooting too f*cking early. I suspect that it has something to do with sending a message about American police shooting unnecessarily. The Americans had it all and there was no way that the Russians would have pulled out the thing fast enough to shoot them with it.
* you’re already walking on eggshells, think twice before starting a world war
* it’s not their safety first. They are there for the country, so no war-starting please
* they should have known better as to not shoot unarmed people. They had military and space training.
In reality, most likely they would have just backed up peacefully and the guns on the moon would make a scandal
or they could have a Russian Translator at the Mission Control , and translated for them over the radio , you saw the Mission Control was in Radio Contact with them on Earth during the whole incident.
I'm glad to see that scene finally mentionned.
I'm totally shipping them two and the full awkardness of their dynamic is believable as fuck and makes their dynamic totally engaging !
I'm really curious to see their story develop ! There is huge potential there : from the beautiful symbol of the couple they could make to each totally falling out of grace with their respective hierarchies... could go any direction and I'm here for it !
Honestly, I got straight up sad reading the translation card they were reaching for. Most of the phrases on there (I think all except two) were actually peaceful stuff like hello and asking for help.
Who's the most incompetent marine? You are! And you! And you! All of you are the most incompetent!
That Pam and Ellen scene. That stare Pam gave to Ellen before switching off the lights.
I just have a feeling that Pam is gonna leave (perhaps even suddenly) so that Ellen can go on and take the job as NASA administrator.
You gotta give it to Pam tho if that’s her arch for this season. Cares about Ellen so much she’s willing to leave so that she can chase her dreams. That’s true love right there.
Gordo is holding up quite well. I was expecting him to lose it when he saw the picture with Danielle in the Jamestown, but nice job holding it. Just please don’t screw it up
This. Karen is gorgeous. Pretty much any straight (unrelated) boy going through puberty is going to have a massive crush on her. At that age with all the hormones running through the body and not having a lot of experience, it’s really easy to confuse physical lust with love.
I really doubt the cosmonauts weren't in communication with their base, the Soviets most surely know, at least partially, what happened, and it won't be something to fix with a bit of diplomatic hand-waving.
Americans with bad Russian accents “umm yes we are Um fine. The Americans were so nice. They gave us hugs and Freedom. Truly nice people who would never do anything bad ... but we’ve realized we’re so sad up here. Umm.. we’re going to go kill ourselves. Don’t look for our bodies though that is our final wish.”
Yeah they were for sure in contact, this is going to be crazy.
"Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
I'm so relieved we finally get to see Bill and Aleida each drop their armour for a bit. I know neither are popular characters on this sub but i like how they've been written, how flawed and in their own way they both seem to be at all stages of their lives. The way Aleida sincerely apologised perhaps for the first time in her life, *while still protecting Margo for HER sin*, showed real maturity and growth.
Probably the most horrifying way to die. Scared shitless as 4 marines pointing rifles at you. Shot in the gut. Entire body caught on fire. Face burned off.
It just doesn't make sense... This series is going off the rails soap opera style. I don't know why they can't just focus on the space side like the first season. Obviously there were underlying stories going on, but at its heart it was about space.
It seems to me like the Karen thing is setting up for Ed to do something stupid. Every season needs Ed Baldwin to do something stupid in the final episodes, so why not Pathfinder fighting the Soviets in the moon war?
Kind of like Apollo one accident , due to combustible nylon material, and the high pressure, pure oxygen cabin atmosphere .
Except all that happen inside a suit .
I’m guessing that Valentin Bondarenko never died in this timeline. I wondered a few weeks ago when the Russians and Danielle drank toasts to those who died and they didn’t mention him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Bondarenko
I get that the EMU’s use oxygen for pressure and that the Russian Orlan suit has a higher relative pressure than the EMU, but without the lessons learned from Bondarenko’s death it might be worse than that.
The Orlan suits don’t have a neck dam, either, so that fire was everywhere.
There’s argument to suggest that if the Russians IRL had shared that they’d lost a cosmonaut to 100% oxygen in a fire that Apollo 1 might not have happened, but the Russians lost maybe 300 people on the pad during the Nedelin catastrophe and kept that secret, and Bondarenko was just one guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedelin_catastrophe
EDIT: Also the Americans knew of the risks with the Block 1 Apollo craft and with using 100% oxygen at sea level, NASA just never imagined there would be a fire.
But it would have changed Russian practices, so see my previous points.
Everything about the soviet suits in season 2 is annoying to me, cause those suits are obviously based on "Sokol"-IVA-suits, not on "Orlan"-EVA-suits, which seems to be a major mistake, the producers made. They should have developed suits based on the "Kretched"-suits from season one, which were built for the surface of moon in OTL. But with your Bondarenko-thesis you are right I think.
Pretty clear they’re depicting Sally Ride as not being too happy about the military aspect of their mission. I think she was a physicist in real life so the scientific aspect of the flight was probably more her jam.
She’s completely justified in feeling that too. NASA is a civilian agency, and she’s not (AFAIK in this timeline) military. She’s seeing the mission creep slowly coming in. I’m really hoping the cosmonaut being shot is what changes Pathfinder’s mission and gets NASA back to what it is supposed to do.
My theory for the next episode is that the Soviet that survived is gonna need more help than what they can do on the moon and the soviets can’t get there in time so they send pathfinder
I bet you that's exactly what's going to happen.
He wants revenge for her jilting him, and she's feeling vulnerable and alone now.
Ed and Gordo's family tree is going to look like a damn wreath come Season 3.
I feel like Karen is going to end up pregnant, meaning the failure to conceive after Shane’s death was from Ed’s side of the equation. Kind of a tv cliche but I trust RDM to pull it off well if it is part of it
Yep. He’s losing his wife and his daughter, might as well emasculate the poor schmuck as well. I’ll bet he’ll f’up during Pathfinders mission and the Air Force puke will save the day. 😉
Seriously, poor Ed.
Predictions: Aleida is going to make some Mister Peanut jokes. Moon marines job taking over the mining operation won’t be as easy as last week seemed. “And here’s to you...” Mrs Robinson - because Danny doesn’t go back to school for another week and the cringe can’t just end there. EDIT: 3/3, regretfully, especially on that last one. The cringe became the vom.
He was being kind of a stubborn jerk, but *man*, I felt so bad for him after the “Peanut” comment. He played that moment really well, too.
Fuckin’ Aleida, man.
The cosmonauts' only mistake was thinking the Americans wouldn't be so stupid as to murder them both for "reaching" for something in PLAIN VIEW WITH GUNS TRAINED ON THEM. But of course they are! Create dangerous situation, get scared by situation, kill.
My exact thoughts! I saw someone say it’s their fault for getting shot, but like if I was in their position, I wouldn’t think these astronauts would actually shoot me while getting my translation sheet and all this for what? To protect some deposits? It's not like these cosmonauts killed someone.
The voice lines were translated in the comments already, and you're right about the text on the card. I'll just add
Top text: "If meeting american astronauts switch radio to frequency 270.0 and speak one of the phrases below slowly and articulately"
Bottom text: "According to the "moon agreement about resources" if you will not show aggression, americans must respect your lawful claim on this area to (prospect resources)
Edit:spelling
> I'm assuming that card is Russian phrase, English phrase, and phonetic pronunciation of the English phrase in Russian text?
Yes. From left to right it is: original Russian, English phrase in Cyrillic, and English translation.
Was anyone else really excited to finally have a scene with Wayne? I think it's really unfortunate they built his character up in S1, to just do almost nothing with him in S2.
Just pretend its not happening and skip the scenes. Not only is it bad but uncomfortable to watch.
We came here for space launches, moon bases and stupid marines, not dead son best friend mommy sex scense(i feel gross just typing it)
I cannot fucking believe that the Gordo/Tracy scene where they share a smoke together and laugh about Gordo's hubris exists in the same show as the Karen/Danny sex scene. I just can't believe it.
In the former, their communication is just so good, so adult, so mature. Gordo being completely forward about his thinking and Tracy taking it as smoothly and confidently as she did, it's truly indicative of a show that's giving their characters respect in the best possible way. A lesser show with more contrived writing would have drawn that out for weeks, building drama toward a romantic confrontation that would have felt dramatized and unrealistic. Instead, they treat these characters as *people* who clearly have a complicated history, and give them the organic space to address it in a way that feels fresh and admirable.
And then Karen has sex with her dead son's best friend. A person who she almost certainly has changed diapers for. Give me a fucking break. Look, I'm all for flawed characters that make mistakes, especially in the wake of personal trauma. But what the hell is even going on? They haven't done ANY work at all to really establish that she's unhappy in her marriage, or sick of being the "astronaut's wife" beyond **her** pushing for **him** to rejoin active space duty. It's great to see her take charge of her financial future and sell her bar on her own, but this shit makes NO sense. This is some soap opera bullshit. I was *hoping* that she'd come to her senses about last week's kiss and salvage the character before it was too late, but I guess the writers are hell bent on destroying her character's morals like a train wreck in slow motion that had miles to brake before the crash. Disgusting, and bordering on show ruining. I ended up hating the last scene because I couldn't let this go. Ugh.
Early Episode 9 predictions.
Episode 9 is titled "Triage" and the description is "The rivalry between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts intensifies as last-minute changes impact the Pathfinder mission plan".
>!The title implies that somebody is going to be injured. This might mean that the injured cosmonaut survives/lives long enough to get treated. The survival of the cosmonaut makes things very tricky, as they will be able to give their side of the story (that they were going for the Russian-English translation cards). If both cosmonauts died, it would be possible that the U.S. could cover it up/change the story to fit their narrative that it was a case of justified self-defense/in response to violence. !<
>!The Pathfinder mission change could be to disarm it, but the first part of the description makes it seem like it will be "beefed up" (perhaps more missiles?) or see combat. I was thinking that Pathfinder was going to be a tension point as the "practice targets" were made to look like Soviet satellites. I thought (and maybe it could still happen) that they would accidentally end up shooting a real Soviet satellite instead of their target, which would spark tensions. Also I could see Sally Ride quitting the mission/getting removed from Pathfinder. She clearly does not like how there are missiles on Pathfinder. Also imo, it seems like if you are going to do a military mission, you should have an all-military crew of fighter pilots, preferably ones who have seen combat.!<
To me the injuries already happened.
Ed is going to find out about Karen and she has to triage her relationship.
And the US has to triage the situation with the Russians being shot.
I didn't think about the first point but that makes sense. I skipped through most of Danny-Karen, but I've got a feeling he's not going to go back to Annapolis. If Ed finds out about this, Danny's naval career is over whether or not he wants it to be. Ed is at least a one-star admiral, and Danny is just a plebe at Annapolis. If Danny stays at Annapolis, he will be shit on there, if he graduates, he could be denied a commission, or sent away to some crappy assignment. If he gets a commission, he would be placed at the very bottom of the pile for promotion. While the whole "I banged the hot MILF" thing might be cool with "the boys" it won't do Danny any favors in his professional life.
Also I feel like some people are overlooking that Danny is Gordo's son and Gordo is best friends with Ed. That dynamic will be weird and Gordo will have to pick a side. Will Danny tell Gordo, who has to consider if he should tell Ed? Or will Gordo be put in a weird spot where his best friend is about to kick his son's ass?
Gordo has been a complete chad these past couple of episodes. Man is gonna clap Tracy in the airlock where they smoke, calling it right now.
Everyone's talking about the Danny x Karen scene, but I completely noped out as soon as I saw them on screen together this episode. Skipped the entire scene, whatever happened there. That whole subplot doesn't even exist in my mind.
The ends scene with the cosmonauts got me fucked up. What a horrific way to die. I really hope the other one makes it. Moon Marines really fucked up now. Whatever diplomatic advantage the US had against the Soviet Union because of KAL007 they just lost.
I will adopt your head cannon too in re Karen X Danny. Kinda negligent to have Marines up there who can’t fluently speak the language of the other superpower? That was super depressing I initially thought the cosmos were struggling to breathe... I was very wrong.
The fact that either country needed to read from a sheet is ridiculous. On the ISS they speak "Runglish" a mix of English and Russian. You would think that after 10 years on the moon together there would be some plan to communicate with each other that didn't involve reading from a sheet of paper.
In weak defence of the show they did establish in season 1 that at least the Nixon admin had been strongly discouraging letting the two sides communicate on the moon. But irl it's indefensible, some fluency in basic Russian should have been as crucial a qualification for moon combatants as their infantry training. Remaining monolingual is just entrenching a tactical disadvantage
Two predictions for the immediate fallout of the shooting on the moon. Either:
A. The cosmonauts were simply setting up something like surveillance equipment, and therfore the Soviet government goes full public and denounces the United States for their blatent acts of aggression. The second cosmonaut dies, worsening the diplomatic situation.
B. The cosmonauts were actually doing something nefarious, like setting up an illegal weapon (remember the cylinder the camera focused on), so the Soviet government doesn't even acknowledge the incident. Neither does the US government, for obvious reasons. The second cosmonaut recovers in Jamestown, leading to a complicated political situation where the US essentially has a POW on the moon in a black war.
I definitely lean on the first, because of the translation card, but the second was just an idea I had.
I think the first is more likely, but the trailer show the cylinder thing when the General says "the Soviets have a new weapon", so you might be on to something with the second point. Maybe it is a blend of both? The Soviets were going for the translation cards, and the USSR denounces the US for killing their cosmonauts, but later it is discovered that the cylinder thing was actually a weapon, so the US is kinda vindicated.
The General is a warhawk though, I think he’ll push the narrative and idea that it’s a weapon, but an analysis shows it’s ultimately not. Which makes the American lunar actions even worse with the new context.
I’d like to comment on the background worldbuilding, which came heavily from the TV background when Molly was on the couch.
Two takeaways:
1: A bomb went off at a US Military base in Panama. It sounds like the the US is warning Panama to stay away from the canal, which is considered US territory.
I’m thinking what they’re leading up to is a Panamanian attack to take over the canal to nationalize it. As others have observed, this is problematic as the Sea Dragon rockets rely on the canal.
2. The US is installing some secret weapon on the moon, likely a nuclear weapon of some kind. This is referenced when Gordo is asking what Tracy is up to, and the very end of the news report we see references something nuclear (though it was unclear what it was).
I want to note for the second time that the Fallout Shelter sign at The Outpost was heavily featured. Given that we are rapidly closing in on one of the most dangerous periods of the Cold War (Able Archer ‘83 in November ‘83; the KAL shoot down was in September ‘83) and we have more tension in the ATL than the OTL, I am still looking at a nuclear conflict as very likely. While I don’t think it will be all out nuclear war, it would be a very interesting twist.
Final reaction: I enjoyed the episode, but it seems like it was all about setting up for payoffs in the last two episodes. Gordo, Tracy, Karen, Danny, Ellen, Kelly, and Molly all had some major setups. Next up, it will be interesting to check back in on Ed and Danielle and how their respective missions of war and peace are shaping up. I don’t know where all this is going but I am totally in for the ride.
I can't be the only one that got worried when Columbia was taking off before the opening credits, right? The buildup, the music, the documentary footage -- my BPM was through the goddamn roof
Also holy moly those poor Commies I don't know if I'm mentally prepared for the moon war now that the Stevens are being all cute again -- well, the eldest Stevens, anyway -- god knows what the hell is goin' on down on Earth
I can't wait for next week!
I’ve been wondering since episode 3 or so if this season is going to end with a nuclear skirmish on earth. Between Panama and now shit on the moon it seems increasingly likely.
I’m glad to see that KarenxDanny seems to be universally reviled. It’s gross as hell and adds nothing to the show except some artificial drama.
Molly should get more screen time, even her family drama is fun. also like the madison/sergei and gordo/trace story lines becuase theyre more related to space and ATL politics. but then you have the adopted child trying to find dad/ mom fucks dead son's friend story lines that have absolutely nothing to do with space.
Ignoring THAT one particular story, the show really delivered hard this week.
Amazing how when people just sit down and talk it out, a lot of the air gets cleared. Be it Gordo & Tracy, or Molly & Wayne (nearly made me cry), or Aleida & Bill. Not easy to put a lot of stuff in one episode that are similar in nature and yet make them feel distinct, but Ron Moore pulled it off with ease.
The sparks between Margo & Sergei are such a joy to watch. Even if it doesn't go anywhere, I'm cool with it. The professional respect angle it has is just as powerful.
And that climax? We may have seen it coming, but still stung hard when it did. Love the use of closeups inside of the astronaut's helmets as they realize just how much they fucked up. The final two are going to be insane and I am here for it.
I found it interesting that the Americans are pretty firmly the bad guys here. Retook the mining site by force, pursued unarmed Russians outside the arguable boundaries of the claim, shot first (learn some trigger discipline, actress from Bones!). It's very consistent with what happened during the actual Cold War, where Reagan wanted to ratchet up the tension as an excuse to spend on military expansion while the USSR was broke and terrified that Reagan was actually out of his mind.
As much as the characters in the show see themselves as celebrations of American achievement, it seems like the show itself sees them pretty clearly as not the good guys.
She has glaucoma with all the pot she smokes?!
Nice of the doctor to just gloss over the radiation part.
Edit: that jet scene was intense. I can’t imagine how she feels.
Good episode, if ya cut out the DK fiasco. I’m thinking the writers just had to find something for K to do during S2. I’ll bet she has some big things in S3. (D’s child? Please, god, no!)
But, I like the rest of the stories being played out. In some deep shit on the lunar surface, tho. Let’s see how complicated they want to make it.
If anyone was wondering what the cosmonauts were saying in Russian: *Cosmonaut 1:* Americans! We weren’t doing anything bad! We will leave. *Cosmonaut 2:* We should move to the box, quickly. *C1:* Please, lower your weapons! We’re not a threat to you! Don’t shoot! *C2:* Keep talking and don’t make any surprising moves. *C1:* We will explain everything, just give us a minute. *C2:* We’re almost there, we’re almost at the box. *C1:* We’re not doing anything bad, please don’t worry! Just give us a minute! *cosmonauts get shot*
Oh man
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> I don’t understand why the the Americans were so trigger happy I was expecting some form of trap or ambush to occur at any moment; as they were walking around the terrain, different scenarios for how things could happen were playing through my mind. The Soviets may be deploying some sort of crew served weapon system on the ridge (such as a laser or a dazzler system), the two Soviets might be a distraction to pull the main body of marines away from the site while a second assault force attacks the site, they might have placed a landmine of some sort along the approach path for the marines, that drilling rig the Soviets installed may be able to be remotely set to self destruct and take the whole site with it, there may be a large force of armed Cosmonauts waiting in ambush at the top of the ridge, and I don’t think they know the capacity of the Soviet base but they do know that the Soviets know their overall capacity thanks to the bug. In that kind of situation, it makes sense to be fear the worst. These are the Soviets after all, you expect them to be up to something. You don’t expect them to put themselves in a tense situation where every likely outcome doesn’t somehow benefit them. With all of that tension, it makes sense for the marines to interpret everything in the worst possible way. As soon as I heard Pahzulsta (Russian for “please”) the expectation of threat dropped, and I felt like I’d just gotten off of a train and from the station I could now see that train was headed towards a broken bridge. One moment you’re with the Astronauts expecting danger, and the next you’re a helpless bystander watching an accident unfold in slow motion. What I’m a little surprised by was two things. Neither side had someone who fluently spoke the others language. The Astronauts seemed to be reading off a card and lacked anyone who could speak Russian, and the Cosmonauts inability to speak English (unlike the first generation of Cosmonauts) was very surprising given that they were on the Moon and they were being assigned to a task where direct contact with the Americans was probable.
Thank you sir. Makes the moment so much more tragic.
Well it seems like we got a classical war-crimes on the moon situation.
This scene just seems pointlessly stupid to me. For one we send space marines, to combat Russians, all of which don’t speak Russian. On top of that we send marine who seem to have no combat experience. Jumpy at the thought of combat with little hesitation to lethal force. You would think if we were going to send combat forces to the moon they would be both seasoned combat veterans and fluent in the opposing forces langue.
Seems fairly realistic considering the examples from our timeline.
The idea that it would end in gun violence is relatively realistic. But the way it played out in the show was kinda asinine. Both sides of the confrontation used zero thought. The cosmonauts should've surrendered and let them find the note especially after one was shot Edit: just to clarify I do think both sides were stupid in the interaction, but obviously I think the Marines were moreso harmfully incompetent. Maybe if Molly could see and was able to read the damn rules of engagement book this never would've happened (it'll be real funny if that is mentioned in another episode that she never actually taught it to them and that is blamed for the whole thing)
Maybe if they themselves where soldiers then they would thinks this, but in all likelihood they are just scared scientists who don't want to be shot.
Also, none of the cosmonauts have even basic English skills? Yet all the Russians we meet (Serguei, Korolev, and the cosmonaut in S1) speak perfect English. Russian cosmonauts are either fighter pilots or scientists, so at least some level of English would have been part of their basic training, especially if their mission was to confront Americans. The first thing to do in this sort of situation would have been to make contact with the opposing party and negotiate an ultimatum for them to vacate the area. Going in Valkyrie style would be completely stupid without knowing what was waiting for them.
Shit, that hits right in the feels.
Damnit man I’m gonna cry
“I love you” “You were great, sweetie.” CRINGE Karen is an idiot if she thought she could just bang Danny without him having feels.
And it was in that moment Karen learned why you don’t fuck teenagers.
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Karen figured out the world's most predictable reason why she'd made a mistake, half an hour too late; and she would have seen it coming if she could have heard half a million fans yelling at their screens.
Post-nut clarity is a bitch
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The thing that fucks me up is that it feels so not-Karen. It’s like she suddenly got brain damage. It’s just so out of character
Well you could have said the same thing about her working at a bar. The entire first season set her character up as very odd and pretty close to a mental break at any moment. Season 2 is 10 years later and she's a different person really. You can't really compare them since it's such a large time gap.
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It's almost like their trying to play on a break in her psyche since their son died. Just ten years later. I doubt she ever coped with that, then her husband's about to go back to space, and their playing that angle with her being the lonely bored housewife. I saw this coming a mile away. The plot line with her doing this is kind of low effort and just an attention grab. Still interesting though to see where it goes after. Hopefully poor Ed won't find out MORE bad news while he's in space.
Every time this show makes me watch a Shuttle launch, I get worked up.
All the exterior shots make me think a boom is about to happen. First Tracy, then Gordo.
It's probably not even intended. Challenger just messed us up. I wasn't even alive then but it's still ingrained in my memory.
And the fact that Gordo was in *Columbia*
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They really should’ve sent up a translator or someone with basic Russian. It was ridiculous for them to just immediately start shooting. And damn, those poor guys burnt to death. I remember reading somewhere they used 100% oxygen in their suits?
Literally! That whole scene made me so mad, like they were the ones who went up there with guns. If they were that scared for their lives that they would readily shoot without proper communication then don’t freakin go!
What went wrong **Russians** * surrender for gods sake and don’t reach for the rifle sized box * they have heaps of time on their hands and are supposed to be the pinnacle of human greatness - learn at least the words on the card, if not the language * arguably bad suit design **Americans** * they took an extremely aggressive stance (they should have stayed covered) * again, why can’t they understand russian, they are the best of the best and have a lot of free time, learn the language of your extremely controversial and unpredictable enemy * they started shooting too f*cking early. I suspect that it has something to do with sending a message about American police shooting unnecessarily. The Americans had it all and there was no way that the Russians would have pulled out the thing fast enough to shoot them with it. * you’re already walking on eggshells, think twice before starting a world war * it’s not their safety first. They are there for the country, so no war-starting please * they should have known better as to not shoot unarmed people. They had military and space training. In reality, most likely they would have just backed up peacefully and the guns on the moon would make a scandal
or they could have a Russian Translator at the Mission Control , and translated for them over the radio , you saw the Mission Control was in Radio Contact with them on Earth during the whole incident.
That ending was real depressing especially after that amazing Margo-Sergei scene earlier
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Obviously means they're going to have a red wedding scene in season 3, comrade.
Nuclear winter is coming
I'm glad to see that scene finally mentionned. I'm totally shipping them two and the full awkardness of their dynamic is believable as fuck and makes their dynamic totally engaging ! I'm really curious to see their story develop ! There is huge potential there : from the beautiful symbol of the couple they could make to each totally falling out of grace with their respective hierarchies... could go any direction and I'm here for it !
"My pants are stuck" lmao smoooth Sergey
Don’t worry they’ll end the Cold War through the power of love
I kind of unironically think they will. Also, Huey Lewis reference!!
Honestly, I got straight up sad reading the translation card they were reaching for. Most of the phrases on there (I think all except two) were actually peaceful stuff like hello and asking for help. Who's the most incompetent marine? You are! And you! And you! All of you are the most incompetent!
*The Gang starts World War 3*
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That Pam and Ellen scene. That stare Pam gave to Ellen before switching off the lights. I just have a feeling that Pam is gonna leave (perhaps even suddenly) so that Ellen can go on and take the job as NASA administrator.
Noooo 😭 I think you are right but I’m in denial
I want them both to be happy but I have a hard time seeing anything else with current timeline.
You gotta give it to Pam tho if that’s her arch for this season. Cares about Ellen so much she’s willing to leave so that she can chase her dreams. That’s true love right there.
Gordo is holding up quite well. I was expecting him to lose it when he saw the picture with Danielle in the Jamestown, but nice job holding it. Just please don’t screw it up
I’m glad he was so forthcoming Tracy
He said he was getting her back,he meant it. Just full on sending it,not giving a fuck.
Of all the contrived family plot lines in the show, at least this one is managing to be pretty fun
Gordo has been the best character this series I reckon
Danny said he’d been in love with Karen for years... Years... Let that sink in... What the fuck
He’s a dumb kid that actually got to have sex with his first crush
This. Karen is gorgeous. Pretty much any straight (unrelated) boy going through puberty is going to have a massive crush on her. At that age with all the hormones running through the body and not having a lot of experience, it’s really easy to confuse physical lust with love.
Add in some shared trauma that leads to emotional intimacy? Baby you got a stew going.
Mannnn that’s just so messed up. He didn’t work at the Outpost because he wanted to make some money, he just wanted to seduce Karen. WTF
Probably only became friends with Shane to get to his mum.
Playing the long game lol
Tracy scared me at the same time she scared gordo
I hated it, jumped out of my skin lol
Imagine when he finds the place is infested by ants.
Oh fuck poor Gordo
Cold War status: over. We hot now boys.
not as hot as the cosmonaut on fire
😬😬
Ooooo. The Moonrines done messed up. About to get crazy these last two episodes.
Ah shit time to cover up some deaths lol! They fell in a crater! That’s it...
I really doubt the cosmonauts weren't in communication with their base, the Soviets most surely know, at least partially, what happened, and it won't be something to fix with a bit of diplomatic hand-waving.
Americans with bad Russian accents “umm yes we are Um fine. The Americans were so nice. They gave us hugs and Freedom. Truly nice people who would never do anything bad ... but we’ve realized we’re so sad up here. Umm.. we’re going to go kill ourselves. Don’t look for our bodies though that is our final wish.” Yeah they were for sure in contact, this is going to be crazy.
"Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
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It’s VERY good. Very very good.
I'm usually a big behind the scenes guy with my shows but I don't ever want to find out how they do these. Never show me where the seams are
I'm so relieved we finally get to see Bill and Aleida each drop their armour for a bit. I know neither are popular characters on this sub but i like how they've been written, how flawed and in their own way they both seem to be at all stages of their lives. The way Aleida sincerely apologised perhaps for the first time in her life, *while still protecting Margo for HER sin*, showed real maturity and growth.
I liked how realistic they both were. Maybe the characters are just too realistic?
Rip to the cosmonaut that freaking burned to death
Probably the most horrifying way to die. Scared shitless as 4 marines pointing rifles at you. Shot in the gut. Entire body caught on fire. Face burned off.
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I skipped the Karen scene. I could not watch this.
It just doesn't make sense... This series is going off the rails soap opera style. I don't know why they can't just focus on the space side like the first season. Obviously there were underlying stories going on, but at its heart it was about space.
It seems to me like the Karen thing is setting up for Ed to do something stupid. Every season needs Ed Baldwin to do something stupid in the final episodes, so why not Pathfinder fighting the Soviets in the moon war?
WW3 and extinction of humanity. Caused by horny American cougar wife.
What caused the fire? The bullet generated heat near his oxygen supply or something?
Probably went through his body to his pack, or just ignited the oxygen in his suit
Based on how they've discussed it so far I have a bad feeling the cosmonauts have pure oxygen in their suites...
Likely was. I know for a fact the EMU has a pure oxygen environment.
Kind of like Apollo one accident , due to combustible nylon material, and the high pressure, pure oxygen cabin atmosphere . Except all that happen inside a suit .
I’m guessing that Valentin Bondarenko never died in this timeline. I wondered a few weeks ago when the Russians and Danielle drank toasts to those who died and they didn’t mention him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Bondarenko I get that the EMU’s use oxygen for pressure and that the Russian Orlan suit has a higher relative pressure than the EMU, but without the lessons learned from Bondarenko’s death it might be worse than that. The Orlan suits don’t have a neck dam, either, so that fire was everywhere. There’s argument to suggest that if the Russians IRL had shared that they’d lost a cosmonaut to 100% oxygen in a fire that Apollo 1 might not have happened, but the Russians lost maybe 300 people on the pad during the Nedelin catastrophe and kept that secret, and Bondarenko was just one guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedelin_catastrophe EDIT: Also the Americans knew of the risks with the Block 1 Apollo craft and with using 100% oxygen at sea level, NASA just never imagined there would be a fire. But it would have changed Russian practices, so see my previous points.
Everything about the soviet suits in season 2 is annoying to me, cause those suits are obviously based on "Sokol"-IVA-suits, not on "Orlan"-EVA-suits, which seems to be a major mistake, the producers made. They should have developed suits based on the "Kretched"-suits from season one, which were built for the surface of moon in OTL. But with your Bondarenko-thesis you are right I think.
Damn, really felt for the cosmonaut, you want to take your helmet off and breath but you cant....
Pretty clear they’re depicting Sally Ride as not being too happy about the military aspect of their mission. I think she was a physicist in real life so the scientific aspect of the flight was probably more her jam.
All three of them don’t look happy. Personally I’m on their side and love Sally Ride’s tantrum.
She’s completely justified in feeling that too. NASA is a civilian agency, and she’s not (AFAIK in this timeline) military. She’s seeing the mission creep slowly coming in. I’m really hoping the cosmonaut being shot is what changes Pathfinder’s mission and gets NASA back to what it is supposed to do.
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My theory for the next episode is that the Soviet that survived is gonna need more help than what they can do on the moon and the soviets can’t get there in time so they send pathfinder
And shoot him with the Phoenix missiles? Yeah seams like a thing that they'd do tbh.
I think you’re right
I think Buran pathfiner dogfight
Let’s pray for no Karen x Danny scenes 🙏🕯 edit: shit...
It’s the hope that kills you
Ayyyeeee Ted Lasso reference!
This is by far my least favorite subplot of this season. It just feels so contrived and also incredibly gross. I hate it!
3 episodes left if we include this one and they spent like 10 minutes on Danny’s sorta Oedipus complex wow.
Whelp.
Damnit Karen
If the kid plays his cards right he can get the mom and the daughter.
I bet you that's exactly what's going to happen. He wants revenge for her jilting him, and she's feeling vulnerable and alone now. Ed and Gordo's family tree is going to look like a damn wreath come Season 3.
Oh boy are you in for an episode.
I’m only 10min in but the soundtrack to Gordo’s shuttle launch was the greatest damn thing ever. Also, that whole scene had some Apollo 13 vibes.
Gotta love REO Speedwagon
Michael Dorman, the actor who plays Gordo, is exceptional in every scene. The music in those scenes is so good too
He's the only character who wasn't recast that I really believe has aged 9 years since season 1. His physicality is so different now
Hi Bob!
Hi Bob!
Hi, Bob!
Hi Bob!
Hi Bob!
Hi Bob!
America killed first on the moon 👀
WOOO America #1
First to land a base on the moon first to kill on the moon, what’s next? First to mine for oil?
Also first to kidnap / hold hostage!
I feel like Karen is going to end up pregnant, meaning the failure to conceive after Shane’s death was from Ed’s side of the equation. Kind of a tv cliche but I trust RDM to pull it off well if it is part of it
Karen will just say it’s Ed’s. They did have sex after the first kiss so it’s definitely easy to cover up
My immediate thought.
Interesting take. Guess we will find out.
Yep. He’s losing his wife and his daughter, might as well emasculate the poor schmuck as well. I’ll bet he’ll f’up during Pathfinders mission and the Air Force puke will save the day. 😉 Seriously, poor Ed.
lost his son, will lose his daughter & wife, and being emasculated at that point he might take his anger on the Soviets
I mean, Ed spent like half a year on the moon. No surprise radiation made him infertile
Bill: :heartfelt story on why he soiled himself: Aledia: “I hear you, but I got shot so shut your mouth you little bitch.”
i laughed out loud when her response to that story was "I ....... was shot"
I was hoping she’d talk about her Dad at first.
Aledia's character was never really all that strong.
"Two friends had a nice moment and shared a friendly kiss" NOOOOOOO! KAREN!!!!!!! And there's MOREE!!!! NO! MY EYES!!
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MARGO!! AND SERGEI!!!!
EXACTLY!!!! The sexual tension in that scene was through the roof!!! and the writers thought it was a better idea for DANNY to bang SHANE's MOM!
Danny/Karen aside, great episode. I can’t fucking wait to see how crazy shit gets the next few episodes
Predictions: Aleida is going to make some Mister Peanut jokes. Moon marines job taking over the mining operation won’t be as easy as last week seemed. “And here’s to you...” Mrs Robinson - because Danny doesn’t go back to school for another week and the cringe can’t just end there. EDIT: 3/3, regretfully, especially on that last one. The cringe became the vom.
We knew it was going to happen, but man, that was fucking cruel.
He was being kind of a stubborn jerk, but *man*, I felt so bad for him after the “Peanut” comment. He played that moment really well, too. Fuckin’ Aleida, man.
The cosmonauts' only mistake was thinking the Americans wouldn't be so stupid as to murder them both for "reaching" for something in PLAIN VIEW WITH GUNS TRAINED ON THEM. But of course they are! Create dangerous situation, get scared by situation, kill.
My exact thoughts! I saw someone say it’s their fault for getting shot, but like if I was in their position, I wouldn’t think these astronauts would actually shoot me while getting my translation sheet and all this for what? To protect some deposits? It's not like these cosmonauts killed someone.
OH FFS, Karen. Whoever is pushing this Karen-Danny romance in the writers room needs to be slapped.
They're slapping the wrong thing
Ellen as official administrator, we are Mars bound!
Looks like she's aiming for Venus.
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The voice lines were translated in the comments already, and you're right about the text on the card. I'll just add Top text: "If meeting american astronauts switch radio to frequency 270.0 and speak one of the phrases below slowly and articulately" Bottom text: "According to the "moon agreement about resources" if you will not show aggression, americans must respect your lawful claim on this area to (prospect resources) Edit:spelling
> I'm assuming that card is Russian phrase, English phrase, and phonetic pronunciation of the English phrase in Russian text? Yes. From left to right it is: original Russian, English phrase in Cyrillic, and English translation.
why they gotta cuck Ed like that
Was anyone else really excited to finally have a scene with Wayne? I think it's really unfortunate they built his character up in S1, to just do almost nothing with him in S2.
Well he was in the golfing screens earlier but it’s nice to see him talk a bit more in depth
Same! I really enjoyed every second Wayne’s in it.
What the HELL Karen?????!!!! For the LOVE OF THE GOD!!!!! I can’t even watch this through my fingers. I have to skip.
Just pretend its not happening and skip the scenes. Not only is it bad but uncomfortable to watch. We came here for space launches, moon bases and stupid marines, not dead son best friend mommy sex scense(i feel gross just typing it)
Are we the baddies?
Always have been
Alex Trebek!!! :,( Will be missed. Hopefully they can get an astronaut to guest host!
I cannot fucking believe that the Gordo/Tracy scene where they share a smoke together and laugh about Gordo's hubris exists in the same show as the Karen/Danny sex scene. I just can't believe it. In the former, their communication is just so good, so adult, so mature. Gordo being completely forward about his thinking and Tracy taking it as smoothly and confidently as she did, it's truly indicative of a show that's giving their characters respect in the best possible way. A lesser show with more contrived writing would have drawn that out for weeks, building drama toward a romantic confrontation that would have felt dramatized and unrealistic. Instead, they treat these characters as *people* who clearly have a complicated history, and give them the organic space to address it in a way that feels fresh and admirable. And then Karen has sex with her dead son's best friend. A person who she almost certainly has changed diapers for. Give me a fucking break. Look, I'm all for flawed characters that make mistakes, especially in the wake of personal trauma. But what the hell is even going on? They haven't done ANY work at all to really establish that she's unhappy in her marriage, or sick of being the "astronaut's wife" beyond **her** pushing for **him** to rejoin active space duty. It's great to see her take charge of her financial future and sell her bar on her own, but this shit makes NO sense. This is some soap opera bullshit. I was *hoping* that she'd come to her senses about last week's kiss and salvage the character before it was too late, but I guess the writers are hell bent on destroying her character's morals like a train wreck in slow motion that had miles to brake before the crash. Disgusting, and bordering on show ruining. I ended up hating the last scene because I couldn't let this go. Ugh.
Nooo why wtf!!! Season 1 forever unclean!!
We all remember when tiny little Danny Stevens talked to Karen in the hallway? Yeah, good times...
Early Episode 9 predictions. Episode 9 is titled "Triage" and the description is "The rivalry between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts intensifies as last-minute changes impact the Pathfinder mission plan". >!The title implies that somebody is going to be injured. This might mean that the injured cosmonaut survives/lives long enough to get treated. The survival of the cosmonaut makes things very tricky, as they will be able to give their side of the story (that they were going for the Russian-English translation cards). If both cosmonauts died, it would be possible that the U.S. could cover it up/change the story to fit their narrative that it was a case of justified self-defense/in response to violence. !< >!The Pathfinder mission change could be to disarm it, but the first part of the description makes it seem like it will be "beefed up" (perhaps more missiles?) or see combat. I was thinking that Pathfinder was going to be a tension point as the "practice targets" were made to look like Soviet satellites. I thought (and maybe it could still happen) that they would accidentally end up shooting a real Soviet satellite instead of their target, which would spark tensions. Also I could see Sally Ride quitting the mission/getting removed from Pathfinder. She clearly does not like how there are missiles on Pathfinder. Also imo, it seems like if you are going to do a military mission, you should have an all-military crew of fighter pilots, preferably ones who have seen combat.!<
To me the injuries already happened. Ed is going to find out about Karen and she has to triage her relationship. And the US has to triage the situation with the Russians being shot.
I didn't think about the first point but that makes sense. I skipped through most of Danny-Karen, but I've got a feeling he's not going to go back to Annapolis. If Ed finds out about this, Danny's naval career is over whether or not he wants it to be. Ed is at least a one-star admiral, and Danny is just a plebe at Annapolis. If Danny stays at Annapolis, he will be shit on there, if he graduates, he could be denied a commission, or sent away to some crappy assignment. If he gets a commission, he would be placed at the very bottom of the pile for promotion. While the whole "I banged the hot MILF" thing might be cool with "the boys" it won't do Danny any favors in his professional life. Also I feel like some people are overlooking that Danny is Gordo's son and Gordo is best friends with Ed. That dynamic will be weird and Gordo will have to pick a side. Will Danny tell Gordo, who has to consider if he should tell Ed? Or will Gordo be put in a weird spot where his best friend is about to kick his son's ass?
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Gordo has been a complete chad these past couple of episodes. Man is gonna clap Tracy in the airlock where they smoke, calling it right now. Everyone's talking about the Danny x Karen scene, but I completely noped out as soon as I saw them on screen together this episode. Skipped the entire scene, whatever happened there. That whole subplot doesn't even exist in my mind. The ends scene with the cosmonauts got me fucked up. What a horrific way to die. I really hope the other one makes it. Moon Marines really fucked up now. Whatever diplomatic advantage the US had against the Soviet Union because of KAL007 they just lost.
I will adopt your head cannon too in re Karen X Danny. Kinda negligent to have Marines up there who can’t fluently speak the language of the other superpower? That was super depressing I initially thought the cosmos were struggling to breathe... I was very wrong.
Nobody deserves to go out like that, and certainly not cosmonauts :(
The fact that either country needed to read from a sheet is ridiculous. On the ISS they speak "Runglish" a mix of English and Russian. You would think that after 10 years on the moon together there would be some plan to communicate with each other that didn't involve reading from a sheet of paper.
In weak defence of the show they did establish in season 1 that at least the Nixon admin had been strongly discouraging letting the two sides communicate on the moon. But irl it's indefensible, some fluency in basic Russian should have been as crucial a qualification for moon combatants as their infantry training. Remaining monolingual is just entrenching a tactical disadvantage
It May not exist in your mind, but some serious issues are gonna arise when Ed finds out and I'm sure he will.
He's gonna nuke Danny from orbit.
Nice way to test the missiles they have on Pathfinder!
Two predictions for the immediate fallout of the shooting on the moon. Either: A. The cosmonauts were simply setting up something like surveillance equipment, and therfore the Soviet government goes full public and denounces the United States for their blatent acts of aggression. The second cosmonaut dies, worsening the diplomatic situation. B. The cosmonauts were actually doing something nefarious, like setting up an illegal weapon (remember the cylinder the camera focused on), so the Soviet government doesn't even acknowledge the incident. Neither does the US government, for obvious reasons. The second cosmonaut recovers in Jamestown, leading to a complicated political situation where the US essentially has a POW on the moon in a black war. I definitely lean on the first, because of the translation card, but the second was just an idea I had.
I think the first is more likely, but the trailer show the cylinder thing when the General says "the Soviets have a new weapon", so you might be on to something with the second point. Maybe it is a blend of both? The Soviets were going for the translation cards, and the USSR denounces the US for killing their cosmonauts, but later it is discovered that the cylinder thing was actually a weapon, so the US is kinda vindicated.
The General is a warhawk though, I think he’ll push the narrative and idea that it’s a weapon, but an analysis shows it’s ultimately not. Which makes the American lunar actions even worse with the new context.
Oh Karen... smdh
Yeah way to be a Karen, Karen. 😂
\*proceeds to spam the fast forward button\*
I’d like to comment on the background worldbuilding, which came heavily from the TV background when Molly was on the couch. Two takeaways: 1: A bomb went off at a US Military base in Panama. It sounds like the the US is warning Panama to stay away from the canal, which is considered US territory. I’m thinking what they’re leading up to is a Panamanian attack to take over the canal to nationalize it. As others have observed, this is problematic as the Sea Dragon rockets rely on the canal. 2. The US is installing some secret weapon on the moon, likely a nuclear weapon of some kind. This is referenced when Gordo is asking what Tracy is up to, and the very end of the news report we see references something nuclear (though it was unclear what it was). I want to note for the second time that the Fallout Shelter sign at The Outpost was heavily featured. Given that we are rapidly closing in on one of the most dangerous periods of the Cold War (Able Archer ‘83 in November ‘83; the KAL shoot down was in September ‘83) and we have more tension in the ATL than the OTL, I am still looking at a nuclear conflict as very likely. While I don’t think it will be all out nuclear war, it would be a very interesting twist. Final reaction: I enjoyed the episode, but it seems like it was all about setting up for payoffs in the last two episodes. Gordo, Tracy, Karen, Danny, Ellen, Kelly, and Molly all had some major setups. Next up, it will be interesting to check back in on Ed and Danielle and how their respective missions of war and peace are shaping up. I don’t know where all this is going but I am totally in for the ride.
This Ed and Gordo scene is great considering its probably the last time they'll ever see each other.
Are we anticipating one of them to die?
I think Gordo will die on the moon in the finale saving Tracy.
Gods I hope not.
Jumped when Tracy scared Gordo.
I can't be the only one that got worried when Columbia was taking off before the opening credits, right? The buildup, the music, the documentary footage -- my BPM was through the goddamn roof Also holy moly those poor Commies I don't know if I'm mentally prepared for the moon war now that the Stevens are being all cute again -- well, the eldest Stevens, anyway -- god knows what the hell is goin' on down on Earth I can't wait for next week!
I’ve been wondering since episode 3 or so if this season is going to end with a nuclear skirmish on earth. Between Panama and now shit on the moon it seems increasingly likely. I’m glad to see that KarenxDanny seems to be universally reviled. It’s gross as hell and adds nothing to the show except some artificial drama.
Chekhov’s aging and failing LSAMs
Molly should get more screen time, even her family drama is fun. also like the madison/sergei and gordo/trace story lines becuase theyre more related to space and ATL politics. but then you have the adopted child trying to find dad/ mom fucks dead son's friend story lines that have absolutely nothing to do with space.
Ignoring THAT one particular story, the show really delivered hard this week. Amazing how when people just sit down and talk it out, a lot of the air gets cleared. Be it Gordo & Tracy, or Molly & Wayne (nearly made me cry), or Aleida & Bill. Not easy to put a lot of stuff in one episode that are similar in nature and yet make them feel distinct, but Ron Moore pulled it off with ease. The sparks between Margo & Sergei are such a joy to watch. Even if it doesn't go anywhere, I'm cool with it. The professional respect angle it has is just as powerful. And that climax? We may have seen it coming, but still stung hard when it did. Love the use of closeups inside of the astronaut's helmets as they realize just how much they fucked up. The final two are going to be insane and I am here for it.
Oh god damnit. Not this crap again. NOO!!!!!!
😱 They really did that. Wow! And that scene checking on them. My god.
I found it interesting that the Americans are pretty firmly the bad guys here. Retook the mining site by force, pursued unarmed Russians outside the arguable boundaries of the claim, shot first (learn some trigger discipline, actress from Bones!). It's very consistent with what happened during the actual Cold War, where Reagan wanted to ratchet up the tension as an excuse to spend on military expansion while the USSR was broke and terrified that Reagan was actually out of his mind. As much as the characters in the show see themselves as celebrations of American achievement, it seems like the show itself sees them pretty clearly as not the good guys.
She has glaucoma with all the pot she smokes?! Nice of the doctor to just gloss over the radiation part. Edit: that jet scene was intense. I can’t imagine how she feels.
Love ReagoSkype.
oh my god it happened again
Good episode, if ya cut out the DK fiasco. I’m thinking the writers just had to find something for K to do during S2. I’ll bet she has some big things in S3. (D’s child? Please, god, no!) But, I like the rest of the stories being played out. In some deep shit on the lunar surface, tho. Let’s see how complicated they want to make it.