As we reach the end of season 5 of For All Mankind, things are setting up for the final run.
Things are also coming to a head on Mars as the fight between the M6 and the Sons and Daughters of Mars is in full swing. Who will survive? Who will win?
A mole in their midst
In episode 9, Governor Polivanov (Costa Ronin) was captured by M6 soldiers, who thought he was being held hostage, and immediately offered to help. It seemed like a strange reversal for someone who had just helped bomb the mining platform the previous episode. In the finale, we got an answer off the top.
We flash back to just as the conflict is beginning and a plan comes together to bomb the command center of the M6 troops, throwing them into chaos. Polivanov suggests he could be captured and taken there to give them a precise location since they see him as a hostage. Flash-forward to the moment he’s taken, and it’s clear it’s all part of the plan. He is taken to the headquarters, and a plan is hatched.
They’ll slowly fill the oxygen to 100 percent and then ignite it. Not everyone is on board with the plan, though. Aleida (Coral Pena) has some misgivings about killing that many people.
In the end, it’s Miles (Toby Kebbell) who steps up and pushes the button. In an instant, the command is incinerated, leaving the remaining troops in chaos. That proves to be a bad thing later, as communication has been cut off and routed only to command, which is now gone.
Trouble on Titan
Meanwhile, after the events last week Elena (Kristina Klebe) has been rescued by Kelly (Cynthy Wu), and they are back in the shelter with Walt (Christopher Denham). Oxygen is running low, so they need to get back. But Kelly was able to grab one last sample, despite the chidings from Walt. She runs the test, and it turns out she has, indeed, found life. Their mission is a success—sort of.
Their communications are still out thanks to the M6 battle blockade. And when the Rover won’t start, it leaves them with some grim options. There is just enough oxygen to walk back to the command vehicle to leave—if one of them stays behind. It’s not a choice that anyone wants to contemplate, but Kelly steps up and declares she’s staying. Walt protests, as does the injured Elena, but Kelly has made up her mind.
Walt and Elena head back to the ship to return to Mars with proof of life on Titan. Kelly, meanwhile, spends the rest of her oxygen taking in the planet where her journey will end. She records a message for Alex (Sean Kaufman), who has now lost his grandfather and mother in the span of a few weeks. Kelly ends her journey—and the journey of season 5—with a walk on Titan.
The final battle
Meanwhile, on Mars, the two sides are preparing for a massive showdown, guns blazing. A.J. (Ines Hoysaeter Asserson) has returned to her unit after making sure that Marcus (Barrett Carnahan) is stable. She and Alex share an exchange. He’s shell-shocked by events and by having shot his friend. He’s staying with Dev (Edi Gathegi), where he can collect supplies to help his friends. Dev reaches out and tries to make amends, having reflected on the plan he enacted that brought them to this point. No matter what, Dev still loves Alex, and Alex will need him going forward.
Aledia and Irina (Svetlana Efremova) arrive at the Helios command center with a plan to activate an older satellite to reach the Titan team with the coordinates needed to get home. They achieve that goal but, in addition, hear a message from Russia. The protests on Earth over the M6 attack have led to a new peace and a ceasefire—but the message can’t reach the troops with the command center destroyed.
So, a plan is hatched. Alex takes a bike and races to the front to spread the word. Dev, meanwhile, suits up and uses the antenna from his new hotel to redirect the message to M6 troops. Just as both sides have opened fire and are preparing to destroy each other, Alex arrives, as does the recorded message. Peace has come to Mars, just in the nick of time.
In the closing moments, we see things moving forward. We see the people of Mars, now declared a free and independent world, are coming together and healing. Miles has been elected leader, and even Dev is participating in the rebuild. It’s the hope of better things to come on the Red Planet.
This was an interesting season with some highs and lows. It was tough to see Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) end his run, and then to have Kelly meet her end in the season finale. It sets up questions of what becomes of Sean and how his relationship with Dev will evolve in the future.
The discovery of life on Titan, too, has big implications for the final season. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
For All Mankind is now streaming its entire season 5 on Apple TV. Make sure to catch up with the recaps of the whole season here.
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