快猫短视频

Created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi
Apple TV+

ONE of the most reliable shows on TV has to be . In part, that is down to its irresistible formula. This alternate history of the space race, in which the US, the USSR and North Korea have put humans on Mars, follows astronauts, engineers and scientists grappling with political barriers and the dangers of space. Research funding may flow freely, but the many nightmarish ways to die off-Earth are all too present 鈥� in brilliant detail. It is impressive, theatrical and adventurous.

There are familiar joys in this fourth season (I have seen the first seven of its 10 episodes). As ever, a montage reminds us where we left off 鈥� in 1995, with a team of astronauts stranded in the Happy Valley Mars base saving pregnant scientist Kelly Baldwin. Kelly made it home and had her baby, while most of the team, including Kelly鈥檚 father Ed, survived.

It is now 2003; space agencies have begun an ambitious asteroid mining scheme alongside Helios, the leading private space firm. Happily there are familiar faces. The first woman on Mars, Danielle Poole, has now retired. Former NASA flight controller Margo Madison, having defected to the USSR, is living in obscurity. And Ed cuts a cantankerous figure on an expanded Mars base, seeming unwilling to return to Earth.

But the show鈥檚 timeline will soon outstrip the lifespans of its remaining original characters. Can it survive without them, I wondered 鈥� especially since, to borrow a term from sci-fi series Firefly, they are 鈥渂ig damn heroes鈥� whose absence will be felt acutely?

I needn鈥檛 have worried. The new additions are promising: take Miles Dale, a former oil rig worker and our window into class conflict on Mars. He trained as a Helios fuel technician, signed up for two years and then found that on Mars he will be a dogsbody for astronauts.

While the base there looks like an astonishing collaboration of international governments and private industry, it is underpinned by the recognisable exploitation of its blue-collar workers, as Helios embodies the worst of today鈥檚 neoliberal capitalism.

All things considered, For All Mankind looks a lot less escapist than it did. In its realm, investment in space-race tech had the handy upside of fuelling a transition to green energy, but as consumption didn鈥檛 need to change, the show鈥檚 version of humanity has the same rapacious mindset that created climate inaction on our Earth.

This is one of the many ways the drama is now posing the same big questions plaguing us: How do you convince people to act for future generations? Can scientists show the value of their research beyond profit? And can we decouple exploration from expansion and exploitation?

I greet each season like an old friend: with warmth, recognition and some trepidation. What I find now looks more complex and relevant than the show I knew before, but it has the same spark of adventure. I like what I see. I think you will too.

Bethan also recommends鈥�

NASA+

NASA has just launched its ad-free, no-cost streaming service dedicated to all things space. With new content and archive material on demand, as well as live events, I can鈥檛 wait to discover the history and future of space exploration.

Firefly

Disney+ (UK); Hulu (US)
There are plenty of flaws in this cult series, set aboard a smuggler ship in the outer reaches of the galaxy, but when it鈥檚 good, it鈥檚 great.

Bethan Ackerley is a subeditor at 快猫短视频. She loves sci-fi, sitcoms and anything spooky. She is still upset about the ending of Game of Thrones. Follow her on聽 Twitter @鈥宨nkerley