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If you haven't seen "For All Mankind" now is the time to watch the first episode.

by simonjgreen 4y ago

orf 4y ago
Why? It’s not particularly good.
- mbernstein 4y ago
  The majority of people and critics reviewing it disagree with you as do I :). Personal preferences aside, the recreated Nixon footage and conversations are well done and quite convincing, which was the point of watching it I believe.
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  In the spirit of your comment: Because. It’s actually very good.
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    The show’s premise is a nuanced, optimistic take on what humanity might have achieved had we continued the space race. It focuses on historical plausibility, a bit like The West Wing. The main characters “pay the price” for this early progress in the way you imagine a hero astronaut/cosmonaut might - with their lives and/or livelihoods. I watched it with my dad however and he wouldn’t shut up about “wokeness” (we disagree on a few things). The show is effectively an imagining of “America, made great in the first place”, and at least the core premise - that we lost our hunger for exploration after winning the space race, _used to be_ a bipartisan talking point. Absolutely recommend it. Also, the imagined space shuttles they get to come up with are amazing.
    - dmitriid 4y ago
      > I watched it with my dad however and he wouldn’t shut up about “wokeness” I thought it was leaning a bit too heavily on what we consider modern issues. But then it turns out that some of the characters in the story where real and lived through this or something close to this (I forget now, but one of the women astronauts that never got to fly was a real person)
    - kybernetyk 4y ago
      The premise is intriguing. I was really looking towards the show. Until I watched the first episode. Sadly the show turned out to be boring.
- system16 4y ago
  I enjoyed it, although not as much as most critics. I found it took a few episodes to hit its stride, and enjoyed the first and second seasons. At its heart it's a character drama, so if you're watching it only for the science interesting moments are few and far between. Later episodes fall victim to lazy "a major catastrophe is about to occur, engineering team comes up with moonshot solution just in the nick of time to save the day" more often than I'd like. And the lesbian romance storyline seemed forced. I could barely finish the third season as it really went off the rails.
  - googlryas 4y ago
    I pretty much agree with this take. The aleida character is the worst though. She somehow has super powers that no one else posseses, but they never articulate her thought process or how she does it. It's just: entire team of rocket scientists stare at problem fruitlessly. Aleida stares at problem, inspiring music plays, her eyes light up and she tells you the solution. And then she explains simple things like impulse vs momentum to other rocket scientists, as if they didn't understand it before.
  - fortyseven 4y ago
    That's how it rolled for me, as well. That first season was perfect as a "what if" exploration. Then it like if ran out of gas quick and grew much less plausible... The parts I loved about it faded away, but I stuck around anyway. :P
koheripbal 4y ago
Meh. It spent way too much on lgbt issues for an alternate history / space exploration show. Otherwise it was ok.
- fortyseven 4y ago
  Aww, you poor thing. Life is so difficult. :(
  - klabb3 4y ago
    It should be considered legitimate to call out agenda seeking, even if you agree with the opinions of the agenda-holder. When creators sprinkle their convictions opportunistically, people will notice that they're being told what to think. For many, that leaves a bitter taste, even if they agree. There are a few stories were currently popular agendas overlap with reality, such as the story of Alan Turing. You cannot tell his story without also talking about the government abuse based on his sexuality. In those situations, you can tell the story neutrally, and let the audience judge. Obviously fiction is different though.

If you haven't seen "For All Mankind" now is the time to watch the first episode.

orf 4y ago

Why? It’s not particularly good.

mbernstein 4y ago
The majority of people and critics reviewing it disagree with you as do I :). Personal preferences aside, the recreated Nixon footage and conversations are well done and quite convincing, which was the point of watching it I believe.
ShamelessC 4y ago
In the spirit of your comment: Because. It’s actually very good.
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  The show’s premise is a nuanced, optimistic take on what humanity might have achieved had we continued the space race. It focuses on historical plausibility, a bit like The West Wing. The main characters “pay the price” for this early progress in the way you imagine a hero astronaut/cosmonaut might - with their lives and/or livelihoods. I watched it with my dad however and he wouldn’t shut up about “wokeness” (we disagree on a few things). The show is effectively an imagining of “America, made great in the first place”, and at least the core premise - that we lost our hunger for exploration after winning the space race, _used to be_ a bipartisan talking point. Absolutely recommend it. Also, the imagined space shuttles they get to come up with are amazing.
  - dmitriid 4y ago
    > I watched it with my dad however and he wouldn’t shut up about “wokeness” I thought it was leaning a bit too heavily on what we consider modern issues. But then it turns out that some of the characters in the story where real and lived through this or something close to this (I forget now, but one of the women astronauts that never got to fly was a real person)
  - kybernetyk 4y ago
    The premise is intriguing. I was really looking towards the show. Until I watched the first episode. Sadly the show turned out to be boring.
system16 4y ago
I enjoyed it, although not as much as most critics. I found it took a few episodes to hit its stride, and enjoyed the first and second seasons. At its heart it's a character drama, so if you're watching it only for the science interesting moments are few and far between. Later episodes fall victim to lazy "a major catastrophe is about to occur, engineering team comes up with moonshot solution just in the nick of time to save the day" more often than I'd like. And the lesbian romance storyline seemed forced. I could barely finish the third season as it really went off the rails.
- googlryas 4y ago
  I pretty much agree with this take. The aleida character is the worst though. She somehow has super powers that no one else posseses, but they never articulate her thought process or how she does it. It's just: entire team of rocket scientists stare at problem fruitlessly. Aleida stares at problem, inspiring music plays, her eyes light up and she tells you the solution. And then she explains simple things like impulse vs momentum to other rocket scientists, as if they didn't understand it before.
- fortyseven 4y ago
  That's how it rolled for me, as well. That first season was perfect as a "what if" exploration. Then it like if ran out of gas quick and grew much less plausible... The parts I loved about it faded away, but I stuck around anyway. :P

koheripbal 4y ago

Meh. It spent way too much on lgbt issues for an alternate history / space exploration show. Otherwise it was ok.

fortyseven 4y ago
Aww, you poor thing. Life is so difficult. :(
- klabb3 4y ago
  It should be considered legitimate to call out agenda seeking, even if you agree with the opinions of the agenda-holder. When creators sprinkle their convictions opportunistically, people will notice that they're being told what to think. For many, that leaves a bitter taste, even if they agree. There are a few stories were currently popular agendas overlap with reality, such as the story of Alan Turing. You cannot tell his story without also talking about the government abuse based on his sexuality. In those situations, you can tell the story neutrally, and let the audience judge. Obviously fiction is different though.