Often portrayed as heroes, Nasa astronauts and those around them have extreme stresses that we can only imagine. For All Mankind has never shied away from showing those difficulties and episode 5 of season 2, ‘The Weight’ is no exception. *Warning! Some Spoilers Ahead!*
The most immediate and distressing part of the episode happens near the start, as Karen (Shantel VanSanten) waits by the phone with Kelly (Cynthy Wu) for news about Ed (Joel Kinnaman). His accident in the T-38 that happened last week isn’t entirely uncommon, but brings back horrible memories for Karen from his time in Korea, and she is no longer sure she can cope with the strains of being a pilot’s wife.
For All Mankind hasn’t exactly let the Baldwin family have an easy time of it, but luckily the brilliance of VanSanten, supported by Wu, carries these scenes fantastically well. How this will play out now, given that Ed is due to pilot Pathfinder will be interesting to see, but whatever happens we know that this cast will deal with these rollercoaster emotions authentically.
As for Ed, he takes it in his stride, and the biggest issue is that he and Gordo (Michael Dorman) have to, quite rightly, get a dressing down from Molly Cobb (Sonya Walger), Tom Paine (Dan Donohue), and Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt). It’s an amusing scene as Molly takes complete charge, putting Ed in his place, which makes he and Gordo seem like naughty schoolchildren. Tom isn’t happy with her decision, as he doesn’t feel it goes far enough, but Molly is insistent and stands her ground.
For her this is a great scene in ‘The Weight’ as it cements her place, but this episode doesn’t end entirely well for her. Later we see that she is starting to show symptoms from the radiation exposure on the Moon. This is probably going to be an incredibly painful development, not just for Molly, but also for several of the main characters who have become close to her. What we will also see though, aside from the pain, is Molly’s strength and resilience, which will no doubt come into conflict with Nasa policy. Her attitude when talking to Wubbo (Bjørn Alexander) about his retirement because of the exposure told us all we needed to know about her viewpoint.
Elsewhere there is also great resilience being shown by Gordo, who seems to have decided to commit fully to his training and impending spaceflight. He is still troubled by his claustrophobia, so has been trying some odd methods of therapy on his own, which has his sons worried. Unusually for Gordo though, he is relatively open with them, and the signs are that he may well yet overcome his long-standing issue. Although not good for Gordo, it’s good for the show that they haven’t swept ‘The Weight’ under the rug, and are keen to show the ongoing battle that many face with mental health issues. No one simply gets cured and moves on, and here we see the same triggers causing problems for him. The difference now though is that he has more resources with which to fight them.
The main focus of ‘The Weight’ though is Tracy (Sarah Jones) arriving on the Moon and beginning her 6 month stay there. Very quickly she realises the reality does not meet the expectation, and she probably now has more of an understanding of what Gordo went through. She alone in Jamestown base knows what really happened back then, so is acutely aware of what can happen. That doesn’t stop her from losing the plot a little from the daily grind though. Even a reminder in the form of a photo of Dani (Krys Marshall) in a sling, posted as warning of what not to do, doesn’t shake her into realising the extent of her issues.
After a month of VIP treatment, due to her doing all sorts of TV interviews, it comes to a head with an emergency that she causes. This makes her condition all too plain to see to the commander (Scott Michael Campbell) and he only just decides to give her a second chance. It’s a second chance without all the trappings she is used to though. This will probably be good for her, as she has totally lost her way in terms of having her feet on the ground. Sarah Jones in great throughout, showing the decline from sparkly-eyed superstar at the beginning to the hooded, jaded figure after a month. There’s a lot of nuance here, as she slowly breaks under the strain, and it’s an interesting choice to burst her bubble that has been building for a while. After all that, it would not be a surprise if she ended up rekindling something with Gordo when he gets up there, as she now also has a greater insight into his past.
There are a couple of scenes in ‘The Weight’ that also have significant historical links, and which will also set up future plotlines. The first is the return to Nasa of Aleida (Coral Peña) who finally takes up her place as an engineer on the Apollo-Soyuz mission. It has been some time since she was last in the building as a child, so we get to see her rejoice in getting back to the mission control viewing gallery. With her reputation as an engineer already having been talked up, she will probably feature more heavily going forward. This is a bit of a triumph for her in the face of adversity, and is a good way to highlight representation issues within Nasa.
The other interesting blast from the past is the meeting of Ellen (Jodi Balfour) and Pam (Meghan Leathers). It has been a while since they last saw each other, and their lives have taken vastly different paths. Pam is now a published poet and has a master’s degree, while Ellen has been on the moon as we know. For Ellen though, the main difference is between their emotional lives. Pam has moved on and has a new partner, whereas Ellen is still hiding her true sexuality in her sham marriage to Larry (Nate Corddry). They have each made great strides, but in very different ways, and neither is probably happy. With the physical coda we see after their goodbye, we can assume that the passion is still there and Ellen will probably find herself challenging the status quo one way or the other.
‘The Weight’ is yet another great episode of For All Mankind, and this show seems very at ease whether it dramatising big action, or intimate moments. The strength of the show lies firmly in those more personal moments and inner struggles, which so many tv shows would recoil from. At least to the degree that For All Mankind displays them. Obviously, having the cast and the vision to execute such stories does help, and these it has in spades. Some of the characters may be perceived as heroes in their dramatic day jobs, but equally some of them, and their loved ones are heroic in private.
