Oh my, that was the worst. The phone call from the president was just cheesy and unbelievable - as in not believable. Follow that up with AF1 being diverted within minutes to Moscow, in enemy territory, with zero threat assessment prep from secret service... I just couldn't view that without laughing. I know this is entertainment and I'm supposed to suspend disbelief, but COME ON!! Like I said, the writers tried very hard to ruin much of what I enjoyed about the show.
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Spoilers "For All Mankind" Discussion Thread (May Contain Spoilers)
- Thread starter AustinIllini
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Yea, I literally laughed out loud at that part. I've enjoyed the show overall, but man that was felt silly.
At DEFCON 2 as well across ALL US forces.
Never happened before (SAC was at DEFCON 2 for a week during the Cuban Missile Crisis - everyone else at DEFCON 3)
”Nancy, that’s a great idea. Pilot, turn left and head for Moscow. Never mind the SAMs.”
Also, don’t forget AF1 was a 707 in the ‘80’s, so it would have had to refuel at least once, likely in West Germany.
Pssst, it’s not a documentary
Of course not, but the more it’s based in science the more enjoyable it is.
If you're a science geek, sure. Otherwise, it doesn't make the show "more enjoyable" for most people.
I'm bothered by Sci-Fi shows screwing up basic science. For instance a common result in shows of being exposed to a vacuum is instantly exploding, or freezing, which wouldn't happen. One show that does the science of space flight well is The Expanse.
I think For All Mankind got this partly right in the last episode when Gordo and Tracey saved the base without spacesuits. Yes, you have to expel all the air from your lungs, you'd lose consciousness in about 15 seconds, you'd need some sort of protection against the temperature which can be as high as 200C in the daylight side of the Moon, for which duct tape is suitable. No, your body wouldn't balloon, your blood vessels wouldn't rupture, you would probably survive if you got oxygen within a couple of minutes
My problems with the last episode have almost nothing to do with science. It was just so stupid that within a 20min span, the US went to DEFCON2, alarms were sounding, people were hunkering in fallout shelters, it was so bad that mission control was almost abandoned, Marines and astronauts were shot and killed by enemies that took over the base, but then a handshake was so touching that AF1 immediately landed in Moscow followed by more handshakes, divorcees died and were buried side by side with no explanation why Cleveland was OK with that, but hey, it's 1995.
plot convenience to quickly wrap up everything all at once, and make all viewers eyeroll all at once
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect science-y accuracy for a grounded space drama.
I’m just glad noise in space is represented correctly.
No, they have priorities... like appealing to the masses. Your concerns are generally not important in the grand scheme of things. It's the kind of stuff that the masses don't care about.
I feel like if they did everything realistically, it would be a boring show to watch. Im okay with suspending belief for the sake of some excitement, but I totally understand people who are not.
Also, regarding the mellow drama, I realized in this season that the amount of drama actual accentuated the intensity of the action (minus the Kelly Baldwin stuff [plus the Navy stuff cuz it was super corny as a Navy vet]) I think season 2 was more well paced overall.
Season 1 had me at a 7/10 for the show, but I think I’m closer to a 9/10 now. Had a great time watching! Excited for 1995!
Also, regarding the mellow drama, I realized in this season that the amount of drama actual accentuated the intensity of the action (minus the Kelly Baldwin stuff [plus the Navy stuff cuz it was super corny as a Navy vet]) I think season 2 was more well paced overall.
Season 1 had me at a 7/10 for the show, but I think I’m closer to a 9/10 now. Had a great time watching! Excited for 1995!
Funny and accurate source to support everything you wrote: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/science/randall-munroe-moon.html
I'm a science geek, but I'm actually not that bothered by the incorrect depictions in the show. It appears to be normal earth gravity inside of Jamestown station, they get away with smoking cigarettes carelessly on the base, they just land on earth and immediately walk with perfect balance and no atrophy after spending a week in no gravity and many weeks or months in 17% gravity, etc. I'm ok letting some things go for plot convenience and the limitations of producing the show.
It bothers me a lot more when characters do something out of character, or when some unbelievable turn of events occurs to neatly and quickly wrap up a complex plot line. This season had a few moments like that which were annoying, especially the last episode.
I'm a software engineer with a Physics/Maths degree, and although I say it bothers me, it doesn't bother me enough to stop watching. For instance, I'm bothered that so many Star Trek episodes were cleared up in the last five minutes by "recalibrating the sensors", or that they have Inertial Dampeners that prevent them from being smooshed to an atom-thick soup on the back wall when accelerating to FTL but the dampeners can't handle a little bit of shaking (at least install seat belts) - but what really bothers me about Star Trek is that the Prime Directive can never be broken except when it's expedient to do so for this week's episode. The magical science hasn't stopped me watching Star Trek.
Or The 100. When they showed the space habitat for the first time, with multiple rings rotating at different angles and some parts not rotating at all, I thought "the stresses on the frame must be tremendous, how does it not break apart?" but I only stopped watching after they killed off Lexa.
However, there are thousands if not millions of nerds out there who would be happy to help writers get the science right. Too much of it is just sloppy writing, trying to get a dramatic effect that lasts five seconds based on something that makes no sense. Saying "most people won't even notice" isn't an excuse. It can be right and have dramatic impact.
By the way, the thing that bothered me most about the last episode of For All Mankind was when they showed Tracey's grave and it said Medal of Honor winner, but Tracey wasn't military personnel. I know civilians have won the Medal of Honor, but not since the Civil War.
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Just completed both seasons back to back, what an amazing show. Some of the scenes on the Moon, especially the combat scenes were properly terrifying.
Some random thoughts:
It would be nice to see more of the Soviet space programme.
Wouldn't a space station in orbit over Jamestown be useful to Nasa?
Loving the retro computing with those IBM PCs and Apple IIs with the green on black screens, reminds me of my childhood
Some random thoughts:
It would be nice to see more of the Soviet space programme.
Wouldn't a space station in orbit over Jamestown be useful to Nasa?
Loving the retro computing with those IBM PCs and Apple IIs with the green on black screens, reminds me of my childhood
I mean the president could just change that and say she deserved it. What award would civilian get in its place? For example the George cross instead of the Victoria cross in the UK.
Am I the only one who saw those bonus videos, or the only one who can't find them anymore?
Possibly the original female astronauts were given pseudo military positions as Nasa/US wasn't quite ready for civilians in space? Though i think some of the OTL Apollo astronauts were civilian?