For All Mankind (TV Series) Bent Bird (2019) User Reviews

Jaw Dropping

[helzy-bryan · 10/10 · 17 December 2019]

This episode was jaw dropping and completely shocking. I literally watched it again - immediately after it ended. I hope this show never ends.

9 is the best

[moviesfilmsreviewsinc · 10/10 · 12 August 2022]

The episode smartly places characters into their most trying time, or to a limit that requires them to rise to the occasion. In both cases, For All Mankind reinvents its characters by showing how they react to the pressure or tragedy, and where it takes them from there. Karen finds her redefining as a moment of clarity, where she no longer recognizes the life she's come to call her own. The loss of Shane has left a large hole in her life, and the questioning of what it's all about, who she is and what she wants to be is idealist, rather than defeatist, in its approach. Karen turning to Wayne during her time of need is one of the best surprises of the episode, as they are both linked by their bonding during For All Mankind Season 1 Episode 5, "Into The Abyss," as all of the great character work done during that episode helps cement their friendship and leaning on each other as a wonderful alternative to the pageantry of looking after Karen at home. The trip down memory lane helps center them beyond simply being the spouses to astronauts, but as two people who started on a different path and shifted into their current lives. Wayne's advice, of how he left a sure thing in medical school to be who he truly is, is as perfect a voice for Karen, as Karen finds herself in a life she can't accept as hers. The somber tone throughout isn't one of doom and gloom, but of pitfalls and setbacks that cements the damage and pain this line of work will always have. Nothing is ever a guarantee in space exploration, where anything that can go wrong can easily go wrong. But it's the pursuit, and the striving to continue that pursuit, that makes the possibilities worth the pain.

Great penultimate episode

[kamtv · 9/10 · 25 May 2020]

This episode is very emotional from the lows to the highs. Well scripted and acted. The last scene is unexpected setting up for a good finale.

Great episode...

[jonastevens · 10/10 · 16 December 2019]

...great ending. Sad there is only one more episode this season.

Superrrrrrrrrr

[rogertespaillat · 10/10 · 14 December 2019]

For a long time I did not see such a good chapter, the truth is that with this chapter I ended up falling in love with this series, I congratulate you.

Best episode of the first 9

[tswiftma-58423 · 10/10 · 4 March 2021]

All action in this episode with incredible plot twists and story. I have to remember that this is Sci-Fi and not real.

WOW

[egsayers-99737 · 9/10 · 10 February 2022]

Hands down the best episode in this season. Full of suspense, psychological depth, twists & turns, and just the right balance of satisfying resolution and cliffhanger to keep you watching - and all while being perfectly in keeping with the rest of the show.

I did it my way ...

[bosporan · 9/10 · 16 May 2022]

A dramatic space rescue puts two crews at risk and creates tension between Mission Control and the astronauts. On earth Karen is grieving and returns to a previous source of comfort. On the moon, Ed builds a memorial to Shane, meets a Russian and makes a dramatic decision.

Bad back down on the moon

[scott677 · 7/10 · 19 December 2019]

When baldwin sees the Russians are in the crater he should have just disabled the lift, left the Russian in the crater and returned with the removed part to report to base and let them decide what to do. The Russians would have been stuck and would not openly attack the armerican base...

Those who were actually alive Apollo 11 landed will recognize the lack of a rigorous plan

[nwvwpfr · 2/10 · 4 July 2022]

This episode is the one in which anything remotely related to a thoughtful approach to space exploration is abandoned in favor of a combination of space cowboy plot lines. In the real history, missions were planned and each event thought through for its safety implications. No one who has enough intelligence and experience to become a NASA flight controller would start a test of the rocket while there was another spacecraft yards away let alone while two astronauts were outside performing an EVA. As soon as the crew started to "test" the new computer, the outcome was obvious. This wasn't an alternative history in which different choices were made. This is an alternative history in which everything is done by the seat of one's pants.

This stupidity then set the stage for recurring "drama" in which those in charge, usually men (though sometimes Margo) made decisions that would have led to horrible consequences only to be overruled by the commander of the ship, usually a woman who thinks outside the box. When you do it once, it is clever, when you rely on the same plot device over and over, it becomes tiresome.

A mix of The Expendables with horror movie logic

[chrislexander · 3/10 · 5 May 2023]

The positive: Karen had well delivered character development.

Now for the rest. One big portion of the episode was dedicated to a situation that would raise an eyebrow in any fantasy show. A completely manufactured drama that could have been easily avoided if all or at least one of the highly trained and well equipped professional would've had followed protocol and orders. But okay, they didn't. Proceeding this incident, the writers gave flight director Margo a heartbreaking dilemma, only to take it away from her because an astronaut said "screw you flight director and scientists, this is my ship!" With the power of love, hope, and the will even physics can be conquered. Watch the episode and when watching it keep in mind that the ISS has an orbital speed of 8km/s or 5 miles per second. So around 16 orbits around the Earth under 24 hours.

After that completely artificial tension that took half the episode and gave nothing to the show as it stripped away the only moral choice it could have dealt with, we once again get to meet our hero and protagonist, whose brief appearance leaves you wondering, "is this really who I should be rooting for?"

More bad writing

[OftenCriticalGuy · 3/10 · 10 November 2021]

A simple trick hack writers use is to make their characters do stupid things to make something dramatic happen. If they're decent hack writers, there's at least a hand-wave at a good reason. These writers went for "no good reason". It's not a spoiler. This episode is dumber than the last.

Ruined the Series

[GoldenGooner04 · 5/10 · 9 September 2022]

Before this episode the writing was good yes its a bit daft. But most of the series was based round facts The very clever episodes with Operation Paperclip Asking questions which thousands over the years wanted to ask Then last episode a lot of people had a moan, but as we travel out to the stars, the Astronauts will be away from their families for months maybe years, so of course bad things could happen to their loved ones, life happens.

So onto this episode WTF, If NASA was this bad they would have given up years ago. Come on folks where has the Truth gone? It's just stupid. Then we have Ed and the Russian, it's a Dream has to be, otherwise the world is F and that can't happen as we are on season 3.