Five Thoughts On For All Mankind’s “Home Again” – Multiversity Comics – Multiversity Comics
Hello Multiversity readers, and welcome back to another episode recap of Apple TV’s For All Mankind. This episode, “Home Again,” deals with the similar episode formula of this show by following the aftermath of a launch gone wrong.
1. Trouble At The Launch
After finding ice in the previous episode, NASA established a base on the moon with Edward Balwin, Gordo Stevens, and Danielle Poole as crew. This episode starts with the launch of Apollo 23 to relieve them so they can return to Earth. The big shock in this episode is that during the prep for the launch, an explosion happens, killing the crew prepping the launch, not the astronaut crew, and causing a pause in any flights out. One of the more prominent casualties is a former director of mission control who was finally getting the big promotion he wanted at the Johnson Space Center. It’s a shock not only for the audience but for everyone involved in discovering what went wrong and how it could have been prevented.
2. Back On Earth
Karen Baldwin has consistently been a guarded but strong character for the sake of her husband and her family, but the realization that Ed may not be coming home soon is starting to chip at her. This episode highlights some of the more strenuous parts of being a single parent with their son Shane getting into trouble in school and helping raise Gordo and Tracy Stevens, two sons, while they are both on NASA missions. She’s not a character that will ever quit on her family, but with the topic of having another child, it’s clear to the audience that she doesn’t want to do it alone. We’re about halfway through the first season, and I’m still waiting to find out her personal goals because everything has shown her by Ed’s side, but we still don’t know what she wants to accomplish.
3. Questions From The FBI
With the FBI investigating the explosion, it’s only natural that they would question nearly every employee, but the line of questioning became awkward, to say the least, for Larry Wilson. He was asked more about his personal life, and eyewitnesses stated that they’d seen a man matching his description entering a gay dance hall in the nearby downtown area. Now while this does seem non-related to the explosion, according to Larry, hiding a secret such as sexual orientation could be used against him by the Soviets as blackmail. Ellen Waverly, his fake girlfriend, suggests coming out as a way to ease people’s minds, but once again, Larry has the idea that they’d be viewed as “sexual predators” in the eyes of NASA higher-ups. This is problematic for these characters as they strive for more significant roles in their professional careers while maintaining a lie in their personal lives.
4. Dinner With An Old Friend
As the FBI finishes their report about the explosion launch, they need a final report, and Margo has to retrieve it. Why her? This is because the man with the complete analysis report is Dr. Wernher Von Braun, who won’t give it to anyone else but her. Margo hasn’t talked to him since she learned about what he did during the war in the name of science and has felt betrayed ever since. We also find out that upon her father’s passing, he had a last wish for Von Braun: to tell her the truth about her father’s work. He was also a man of science and had been a secret part of The Manhattan Project, so after its destruction of Hiroshima, he retreated from living any part of his life because of the guilt he carried with him.
This revelation also gives Von Braun a little runway to tell her the truth about her job at NASA. He knows how intelligent and hard she works, but she won’t be given the promotion to director of mission control like she wants. It’s tough to see her hear it, but the audience knows it for the same reason she’s not social, and she’s not shown as a “team player”; thus, she was overlooked for someone less than qualified.
5. Every System Is Corrupt
Margo’s dinner with Von Braun was not only filled with personal truth bombs but one that could affect more than just her. In the analysis report, he gave her there’s information about a government contract being switched for political gain, resulting in faulty equipment at the launch. Margo isn’t sure what to make of this new information and is disillusioned to think it’ll make it to the public when the truth is the new administrator is just going to “classify” it, AKA bury it. She decides at that moment to take what’s hers. She threatens to share the information with the New York Times unless she gets a director of mission control position, even if it means making a new opening….or getting rid of the other woman. It’s a ruthless move that, for anyone new, might seem out of character, but for the people watching every episode, it’s a strong applause type of moment. Margo isn’t taking the crap they’re dishing her, and she will make it in her own way.