Apple TV’s Otherworldly Sci-Fi Is At Its Peak

For All Mankind season 5 maintains the high quality we’ve all come to expect from Apple TV, with a captivating look at life on Mars now that the humans are officially settling in. Apple TV has been on a roll when it comes to sci-fi TV, and For All Mankind is one of the shows that continues to establish its capabilities in this space.

For All Mankind delivers the story of each season in a unique format that takes the story approximately 10 years later with each new entry. As this is the fifth season, we are entering the 2010s, which means For All Mankind‘s season 4 finale, where the employees working on Mars come into conflict with security, while a meteorite is diverted from a path towards Earth into Mars’ orbit, has had time to settle.

The trailer showcases a little bit about what this looks like and introduces Kelly Baldwin’s son, Alex, as a central character for this season. But, of course, the show continues to switch focus between several key figures, including Dev Ayesa, Aleida Rosales, Miles Dale, and several others.

For All Mankind Balances Conflicting Characters With Impressive Precision

The show’s ensemble cast speaks to the ambitious nature of telling a story across multiple planets, with characters that have vastly different points of view, and governments that are also seeking to serve their own interests. Despite so many moving parts, For All Mankind season 5 once again nails it when it comes to checking in with characters and giving everyone a chance to shine.

The story of For All Mankind season 5 is one of the most engaging and tense yet.

That being said, this season also passes the torch to some of the newcomers in a way that is sorely needed after the rest of the characters have gone through decades of life in the course of five seasons. Alex is effectively the central protagonist of this season, which makes sense with the continuous Baldwin focus from the start, and actor Sean Kaufman rises to the occasion beautifully. But he is joined by a few of the rising generation who make similarly strong impressions this season.

Alongside Kaufman, this new generation calls Mars their home, leading to what is beginning to feel like humans becoming a truly interplanetary species. However, as has been the case throughout the show’s run, politics and governments continue to serve their own interests while the people on the ground have to push back to make real change.

Distant Worlds Are Brought Ever Closer In For All Mankind

The story of For All Mankind season 5 is one of the most engaging and tense yet. For several seasons, the show has worked up to the moment when humans will colonize Mars, and that end is finally being realized here. However, it’s not a done deal, and this season sets up that conflict in a thrilling way.

With a clever storyline and high stakes for all involved, For All Mankind season 5 captures visceral and intense emotion with huge payoffs. Characters that we have grown to love are experiencing a range of emotions, both in terms of their career goals, their ambitions for humanity, and their personal relationships. And combined with the stunning visuals throughout, the story feels grandiose and profoundly important.

In recent years, some of the best sci-fi TV shows have been strictly Earth-bound. Popular shows have dealt with ideas around AI, and how technology and its integration into our lives can be both good and bad. But For All Mankind feels like classic sci-fi with stories that take place in space, and inspires awe as the characters view worlds and skies in a way that no human has ever experienced before.

For that reason, this series is imbued with a sense of wonder and intrigue that naturally grows from human curiosity, a desire to explore, and to do something that hasn’t been done before. And while not every spaceship is a polished CGI masterpiece, there are plenty of moments that feel immense and hopeful in a way that is deeply satisfying.

For All Mankind Season 5 Expertly Navigates Themes Of Power And Independence

As seen at the end of season 4, some dreamers like Ed Baldwin and Dev Ayesa want to see Mars become a new human colony, and actually have people settling on the Red Planet. This season sees the seeds of this dream starting to sprout, but as with everything in this series, there are challenges to meeting that goal.

For instance, this season sees the inhabitants of Mars come into conflict with Earth-bound governments. This leads to the show exploring ideas around independence and struggles for power between the aforementioned parties. However, this theme is further driven home thanks to the fact that the next generation of leading characters also begins to settle into lives that they build and create for themselves. With Alex and his friends pursuing their various goals, and starting to make changes that affect the world and people around them.

For All Mankind season 5 is another wonderful entry in what is repeatedly setting itself up to be one of the best sci-fi shows in recent history.

It’s also interesting to note how many of the stories have now progressed to take place beyond Earth, as many of the central characters have left their lives on their homeworld behind in pursuit of something new that they can shape and create for themselves. It all speaks to a need to create, to own, and to forge a new path that feels distinctly human in nature.

These parallels between individuals seeking power and/or independence, and the social and political elements of power and independence in the series line up perfectly, and help to cement these concepts as highly important for the show and its future. And interestingly, this season also subverts expectations in a delightful way in terms of several characters’ actions and motivations throughout.

For All Mankind season 5 is another wonderful entry in what is repeatedly setting itself up to be one of the best sci-fi shows in recent history. With phenomenal characters and the actors that bring them to life, to the introspective questions it raises, and the unique way the story unfolds in each new season. All of this combines to create another great season of sci-fi as alternative history becomes alternative present, and reflects more of the reality we face, for better and for worse, in the world today.

For All Mankind episode 1 will be available to stream on Apple TV from March 27, with subsequent episodes dropping weekly.