Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘For All Mankind’ Season 4.
The Big Picture
- The Season 4 finale of For All Mankind reveals that Dev and his group have gained control of the Iridium-rich asteroid Goldilocks on Mars, setting up a mining facility there.
- The final shot of the episode, with the words “Free Mars” painted on a roof, raises questions about who or what Mars needs to be freed from.
- Possible explanations for the “Free Mars” message include Dev’s new regime on Mars and a breakdown in relations between Earth’s superpowers.
For All Mankind wrapped up another solid season with the finale, “Perestroika.” In it, we see the rogue group on Mars led by Helios CEO and tech billionaire Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi), Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman), Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell), and Samantha Massey (Tyner Rushing) go toe-to-toe with the Earth-led faction of Commander Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) and the engineers back on Earth compiled of leaders from the United States, Russia, and North Korea engaging in a chess match over who will gain control of the Iridium-rich asteroid Goldilocks.
Dev and his group want to keep Goldilocks in Mars’ orbit so that they can continue to live and do research on the red planet while on Earth, Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt), Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña), and Eli Hobson (Daniel Stern) are working hand in hand with Russian head of Space City Irina Morozova (Svetlana Efremova) to redirect the asteroid into Earth’s orbit, so it can be used by the masses here on our home planet. And it appears that the Mars rebellion along with another calculated decision to sabotage Earth’s plan by a spiteful Margo has earned Dev and his band of disgruntled workers the rights to Goldilocks. We see a wonderfully shot final sequence that masterfully delivers a visual Easter egg that is virtually impossible to spot in real time and gives us some ideas about what has occurred over the last nine years on Mars and what may be on the horizon. Hell, it’s even damn near impossible to see frame by frame, but it is there, and we’ll get to it shortly.
For All Mankind
Exploring the possibilities that might exist if the global space race had continued and where humanity would be now.
- Creator
- Ronald D. Moore, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 4
What Does the Final Shot Mean For ‘For All Mankind’?
The final shots of the Season 4 finale show Dev standing at the precipice of the enormous Kuznetsov crater on Goldilocks and gives way to an epic, spacescape panorama. The sweeping pan-out shows that we have jumped from the finale to the year 2012, and Helios has successfully set up what appears to be a thriving Iridium mining facility on the asteroid. So what does this mean for the future of For All Mankind? Well, it is safe to assume that showrunners Ronald D. Moore and Matt Wolpert have plans for Season 5 that will be largely set on Mars and detail everything that has transpired in the 9-year time jump.
As far as who will be joining Dev in the main cast of another season, it is a little harder to determine. Ed Baldwin is already close to retirement age. After being shot in the shoulder during the worker’s rebellion and subsequently returning to Earth with her arm in a sling, it seems unlikely that Danielle Poole will be as involved moving forward. The more likely scenario will have some of the younger crew members like Miles and Samantha taking on bigger roles and wielding more power, as they will have been on Mars for almost a decade when the show picks up in 2012.
What Is the Easter Egg in ‘For All Mankind’ Season 4’s Final Shot?
We’ve already established how cool the final shot of Goldilocks in Season 4 is. We know that Dev and Helios control the asteroid and therefore control Mars. If you look very closely at that sweeping final shot of the harnessed Goldilocks as it slings around Mars’s orbit, you see a well-lit mining facility that is sprawling with the Kuznetsov crater. As the asteroid continues to rotate, there appears to be a remote building away from the grandeur of the mining center. On the roof of this small structure are the words “Free Mars,” painted somewhat haphazardly in all caps. Okay! So the question is who, or what, are we supposed to be freeing Mars from? There are a handful of delicious possibilities that we want to go over.
What Does Mars Need to be Freed From?
There are several reasons why someone might have tried to pass along the political message of “Free Mars” on the rooftop of the building in the final shot. The first is rather obvious; we know that Dev Ayesa is a man without a tight moral compass. He has proven time and time again that he will bend and even break rules to get what he wants, not only to make more money but also just to be able to say he won. We also know that he’s a smooth talker who can win you over with a few perfectly phrased eventualities that tend to lead the less morally squared-away individuals into doing his bidding.
We saw Ed succumb after Dev planted the seed of stealing Goldilocks, and we also saw Miles fall for the “Would you rather be a millionaire or a billionaire?” line from Dev. Even the most ideologically and ethically tethered of the crew, Samantha Massey, ended up risking everything to steal the discriminator box of the Ranger shuttle. So, it wouldn’t be too much of a leap to surmise that Dev has implemented some sort of new regime installing himself and the Helios Corporation as its unquestioned leader.
‘For All Mankind’ Season 4’s Burger Moment Has a Deeper Meaning
That was the best burger Margo had ever eaten.
Another Likely Possibility of the “Free Mars” Message
The relationship between the three superpowers on Earth has been less than cordial as they have begrudgingly worked together to set up a livable community on Mars and also harness the game-changing asteroid. The United States, Russian, and North Korean governments all have a huge interest in controlling Goldilocks for the enormous amounts of Iridium it contains. It would be easy to envision one or more of these countries deciding that they have had enough of the shaky alliance between the three and implementing a new regime of their own.
We know that North Korea and Russia have some unsavory players that will stop at nothing to maintain their “superpower” status, and it certainly isn’t beyond the Americans to want the asteroid all for themselves. Is it possible that an iron-fisted dictatorship on Mars is an extension of the breakdown in relations between one or more of the countries on Earth? Then there’s always the possibility that a dominant race of alien overlords have conquered Mars on their way to Earth….okay, that’s probably the least likely scenario.
For All Mankind is available to stream on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
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