IR TV Review: FOR ALL MANKIND - EPISODE 7 (“The Sirens Of Titan”) [Apple TV-S5]
As 'For All Mankind" moves towards a new frontier, it does what it does best in creating context...it skips time. With Episode 7 of Season 5 entitled "The Sirens Of Titan" which leads into the season finale, it continues the standoff that really came to bear in the previous episode where the Mars compound was taken over by locals who are branded terrorists. It does create some interesting compromises for the characters. It is interesting seeing Toby Kebbell's character Miles come in to see a certain path especially in comparison to Coral Pena's Aleida. It is interesting in how it plays out especially integrating Mireille Enos' security officer. The time jump of 6 months per se really allows what the normal is sink in. Of course the periphery is the Titan voyage which was undertaken months before with Cynthy Wu's Kelly Baldwin on board. While a lot of the beginning salvos here are cat and mouse (along with some teenage angst by Alex Baldwin -- which doesn't play as effective as it should), this storyline focuses the rage instead of the pseudo political rhetoric which populated two earlier episodes.
But that said, it is about showing how that approach may not work in order to show the new different paths and the choices (and actions) that results from that. Creator Ronald D. Moore knows how to make this work. However what is more than glaringly obvious is the pullback on a lot of the visual effects in the recent episodes...which makes sense. However when it comes down to it at a certain point, they do deliver. It just is different compared to the season finale last year (which might bode well for the next episode honestly). The politics are still in play on the periphery but the Mars equation and how the next episode wraps it up will dictate where the next (and final season) goes in how the series (with its very large footprint) will end. With "Star City" (showing the Soviet progression on their side starting with the moon landing), the psychology is different. But the final moments of this episode reflect why this kind of program can work even if it gets mired down in certain things. It is about the human spirit...and the man who rebooted "Battlestar" knows when to hit the gas when needed. B+
By Tim Wassberg
