S03.E07: Moondust

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The 1969 moon landing occasions a mid-life crisis in Prince Philip, who thinks of the adventures he has missed as the Queen's consort.

 

Dropping on Netflix on Sunday, November 17, 2019.

[shipmate]

My palms were sweating when Phillip forced the plane up over 45k feet. Had he been a commoner, the other pilot would have decked him (deservedly)

[phoenics]

I loved this episode.  Tobias Menzies is doing SO well as Phillip.  What a way to narrate his search for meaning and his frustration at not being able to achieve his goals because of who he married... and then his seeing the astronaut "gods" were just men and unable to give him the meaning he sought... finally resolving to seek help from his faith.

Wow.

That was unexpectedly powerful.

[Mindthinkr]

As barren and and gloomy as Prince Phillip thought the moon was, it was like looking into a mirror for what his own life represented. 

[pivot]

This episode was hard for me to get through. The Poor Phillip nonsense gets old partially because he is a pretty terrible person IRL. And in part, because the actor has zero charisma. The show is so much better when we don't focus too much on Phillip. 

On another note, I honestly keep forgetting Edward exists. 

Olivia Colman is doing a fabulous job bringing to life the ice cold Queen. I love Claire Foy but I always thought her portrayal was too sympathetic to the Queen.

[andromeda331]

I'm sorry Philip but your wrong. Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins are and always will be awesome. 

I like this Philip more then the previous Philip but its annoying having him still annoyed and frustrated with his life. Again. 

The death of his mother. I hate we got so little time with Alice and didn't find out until the end that she had passed away. 

[Helena Dax]

I'm surprised Philip and the dean became such close friends, but I loved it when he asked for help, which was an echo of the episode when young Philip was in his boarding school. I guess that Philip, after all, has always enjoyed being part of a group: his school, the army...So yes, it makes sense. And who knew he was an idealistic? 

I guess Elizabeth knew that the priest/dean was interested in psychology? It was too much of a coincidence. 

[Roseanna]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I'm sorry Philip but your wrong. Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins are and always will be awesome. 

Are you met them irl?

I think it's very common that if one admires someone very much and expects that person to be larger than life, meeting him or her in life (or even reading a truthful biography) will be disappointing. F.ex. a novelist writes humanistic books but is treats other people less than kindly or an athelete has won many Olympic champions but his political ideals are naive, or a decorated soldier is not an exemplary patriot but a person who only has the abilitity to kill better than others and can not leave the war behind.

When Philip wanted to meet the astronauts, he imagined persons who could descibe their experiences like a poet and, most of all, sages who could tell him how his life could no more be like a desert.   

[Roseanna]

This episode where Philip thinks what he could have done if he hadn't married the future Queen was a parallel with the episode 5 where Elizabeth ponders that if she could have lived in the country and raised horses, she could have had a happier life.

Ultimatetly, Elizabeth returns to her duties as Queen and Philip becomes humble enough to ask for help. Instead, in episode 2 Margaret stubbornly tries again to get something she is denied by her birth and becomes bitter because she can neither accept her position in life nor find a new way like Princess Alice did after experiencing much harder things that Margaret ever did (episode 4). 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Roseanna
corrected meaning with italics

[lorbeer]

2 hours ago, Helena Dax said:

I guess Elizabeth knew that the priest/dean was interested in psychology? It was too much of a coincidence. 

I thought about it too when she said tht she had found someone "suited for the job she asked him to do". I guess "the job" was related to helping Phillip.

I now wonder what happened to that priest? Did they changed him for a newer model as well? 😉

[phoenics]

1 hour ago, Roseanna said:

This episode where Philip thinks what he could have done if he had married the future Queen was a parallel with the episode 5 where Elizabeth ponders that if she could have lived in the country and raised horses, she could have had a happier life.

Ultimatetly, Elizabeth returns to her duties as Queen and Philip becomes humble enough to ask for help. Instead, in episode 2 Margaret stubbornly tries again to get something she is denied by her birth and becomes bitter because she can neither accept her position in life nor find a new way like Princess Alice did after experiencing much harder things that Margaret ever did (episode 4). 

Thank you for this perpsective - it helps me see the season a bit more cohesively.  I know I need to rewatch it but this helps.  I couldn't find the connecting threads before.

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, Roseanna said:

Are you met them irl?

I think it's very common that if one admires someone very much and expects that person to be larger than life, meeting him or her in life (or even reading a truthful biography) will be disappointing. F.ex. a novelist writes humanistic books but is treats other people less than kindly or an athelete has won many Olympic champions but his political ideals are naive, or a decorated soldier is not an exemplary patriot but a person who only has the abilitity to kill better than others and can not leave the war behind.

When Philip wanted to meet the astronauts, he imagined persons who could descibe their experiences like a poet and, most of all, sages who could tell him how his life could no more be like a desert.   

I understand that and that was why he wanted to meet them and why they fell short. I'm sorry I failed to explain that I love NASA, the space program so much, planets, and astronauts they'll always be awesome to me. I've read so much on the space program, the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs I've read up on various astronauts. I've seen so many NASA documentaries. I have to disagree with Philip, and felt the need to post I disagree with Philip. The three great astronauts with colds and answers didn't change that all. They were still great. They walked on the moon. They walked on something other then Earth. They got to look back and see the Earth. That's so awesome. I loved their excitement at seeing the palace and questions they had. 

Also, one thing I'm surprised no one brought up and I really expected it was pointing out Armstrong and Aldrin completed their biggest achievement. Collins might still have one and hopes of walking on the moon one day himself. But the other two did it. What do you do after you complete your biggest achievement? How do you deal with that? They are still relatively young men and still have a lot of years left. What's next? 

[Ohiopirate02]

While I did not need a whole episode devoted to Philip's midlife crisis, this episode did have its moments.  I loved how Michael Adeane kept on going with the adjectives when Elizabeth asked him about getting a new dean for Windsor.  I did like the more emotional moments in Philip's story, but it dragged.  

Edited November 18, 2019 by Ohiopirate02

[PeterPirate]

Buzz Aldrin rocks.

[magdalene]

I wonder how I would have felt about this episode had Matt Smith been still in the role.  I don't like this actor at all. It does color how I feel about Philip now.

[MadyGirl1987]

5 hours ago, PeterPirate said:

Buzz Aldrin rocks.

That is awesome!

[Constantinople]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Also, one thing I'm surprised no one brought up and I really expected it was pointing out Armstrong and Aldrin completed their biggest achievement. Collins might still have one and hopes of walking on the moon one day himself. But the other two did it. What do you do after you complete your biggest achievement? How do you deal with that? They are still relatively young men and still have a lot of years left. What's next? 

Didn't Buzz Aldrin go on Dancing With The Stars?

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, Constantinople said:

Didn't Buzz Aldrin go on Dancing With The Stars?

Yes he did. Season 10 he was the second elimination.

[iMonrey]

Quote

My palms were sweating when Phillip forced the plane up over 45k feet. Had he been a commoner, the other pilot would have decked him (deservedly)

Honestly that pissed me off. So Philip is having a little midlife crisis and maybe in that moment didn't care whether he died or not, but that poor pilot sure did. What an asshole for putting his life in danger like that.

This was another episode I had a hard time getting into. For one thing, Philip himself comes off as a rather abrasive person so it's hard to feel anything for him other than contempt. For another thing, I have been so conditioned to seeing Tobias Menzies playing villains I have a negative visceral reaction to him. And I'm sorry but those creases down either side of his face are so distracting I have a hard time not thinking about them.

I did get a kick out of the astronauts being all giddy about having their picture taken at the palace though. They've been to the moon and they're more excited to see Buckingham Palace. The grass is always greener, Philip.

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie "First Man" but Buzz Aldrin comes off rather badly in it. He's depicted as being kind of a jerk.

[tennisgurl]

So because Philip cant just get a sports car like a normal guy going through a midlife crisis, he starts taking over planes and fan-boying astronauts and insisting on private meetings. Philip is such a tool so often, but I did enjoy his scenes with Elizabeth, they seem to be in a much better place this season then they have been the last two seasons, and him actually admitting that he was wrong to the clergymen and asking for help is a pretty big deal for him. When you look up persnickety in the dictionary, you probably see a picture of Philip. 

Yeah, sorry that the astronauts caught colds (gasp!) and didnt take time to compose any sonnets or philosophy papers while they were doing something no person in the history of ever has done Philip. He was awfully harsh on the astronauts for not living up to his expectations and just being normal guys, but I guess he was just upset that they didnt find God living up there or the meaning of life, and they always say that people are often disappointed when your heroes dont live up to your standards. They weren't gods, they were just men. Men who did something amazing, but men none the less. Its funny that as he was talking about what he wanted them to be (dazzling, exciting, poetic) and what Elizabeth said she saw about them (disciplined, consistent, focused) was exactly how Philip described the House of Windsor in episode two, and how while people might gravitate towards the dazzling ones, its the disciplined ones that you would want steering the plane. No wonder Elizabeth sympathized. And some of them did get rather more philosophical about their voyage later on, to which I am sure Philip would have approved. 

I really liked the whole part where everyone was watching the take off and the moon landing, it really must have been an amazing thing to experience first hand. 

[Ellaria]

On 11/17/2019 at 7:46 PM, phoenics said:

I loved this episode.  Tobias Menzies is doing SO well as Phillip.  What a way to narrate his search for meaning and his frustration at not being able to achieve his goals because of who he married... and then his seeing the astronaut "gods" were just men and unable to give him the meaning he sought... finally resolving to seek help from his faith.

Wow.

That was unexpectedly powerful.

I loved it as well, in part, because I adore Tobias Menzies. The gravitas that he brings to this role is extraordinary and perhaps is unworthy of the man that he is portraying. I also enjoyed it because I am intrigued by Philip. (Before someone jumps down my throat, let me clarify that remark by saying that this does NOT mean that I like Philip or claim that he is a good person.) I am fascinated by his complexities and his flaws. 

I will suspend disbelief and assume that the royal family watched the Apollo 11 liftoff and the moon landing together...as I did with my family. Loved seeing the little royals on red ride-on balls and Anne placing party hats on a sleeping Queen Mum. The astronauts racing up the palace stairs was delightful, even if Philip didn't think so.

Menzies is incredible in this role. I can't take my eyes off him.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Ellaria Sand

[BooBear]

2 hours ago, Ellaria Sand said:

I loved it as well, in part, because I adore Tobias Menzies. The gravitas that he brings to this role is extraordinary and perhaps is unworthy of the man that is portraying.

Agree. In general the acting has been so much better this season and I think Tobias really captures Phillips real life effortless jerk essence. 

I think this is the best pro royal family propaganda Phillip could ever hope for and yet, he still comes across as a jerk. 

I happed to enjoy this not especially for Phillip's journey but perhaps it is something that we all go though in mid life. I enjoyed the "character" Phillips realization that what worked for him as a youth didn't work in midlife when he probably thought it would. I liked his reflection / realization that maybe he didn't know best for once. I liked that he did seem to miss his mom. On a personal level I have had the opportunities to meet heroes of mine only to find out they didn't know much more than me and were just human... that is always shocking.  I also thought it was an intriguing look at two "big" stories looking at each other in a way that isn't usually brought up. It just moved me a bit.

But make no mistake Phillip is still a jerk. 

[Kfir]

Must be so hard for Phil to have all of that money and privilege and yet still feel like he isn't able to achieve what he wants to in life. If he would ever like to exchange problems with someone I am sure he will have a lot of people applying for his job. 

He seems to be wanting something deeper and became a fan boy over the astronauts, perhaps he hoped they saw God or something up there. It was interesting how they wanted to ask him questions and were more fascinated by his life than they were by his rather boring question(s). 

Perhaps the reason he became so angry at the priests talking about their issues was because he saw that he was a lot more like them than he would like to be.

[Razzberry]

Phillip has a mid-life crisis, recklessly commandeers a plane, fancies himself as having the right stuff, and gasses on endlessly in a pity-party of epic proportions.

[benteen]

Tobias Menzies put in a great performance here but this was probably my least favorite episode.  A whole episode dedicated to Philip just watching stuff and doing nothing isn't compelling to me.

I agree he was way too harsh on the astronauts and this show seems to go with the "country bumpkin" portrayal when it comes to the Americans.  It was super ridiculous doing it with Kennedy, whose father was the former ambassador to the UK and knew how to act around them.  As pointed out, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were extraordinary men.  

I suspect older Buzz and Philip would have had a lot of fun together.

I liked the scenes too of the family gathering around the television to watch the moon landing.  This episode also goes to show you that even if you are the Royal Family, you still had shitty televisions to watch stuff on in 1969.

 

I did notice that the astronauts wives are also shown visiting the palace with him.  It would have been funny if they had Claire Foy reprise of role as Janet Armstrong whom she played in First Man.

Edited November 22, 2019 by benteen

[Bunnyette]

Well this episode finally show Andrew & Edward...love how the Queen shoves Edward forward to shake Neil Armstrong’s hand.

[GaT]

Another "Phillip feels his manhood is threatened" episode. I didn't like them in the first 2 seasons either.

[pasdetrois]

Quote

I adore Tobias Menzies. The gravitas that he brings to this role is extraordinary and perhaps is unworthy of the man that he is portraying.

Perfect explanation of the contradiction. I'm watching for Menzies, not for Philip's story. At least they are not painting him as a good egg, because he is known to be quite horrible.

The way the spiritual conversations and setting were handled felt very twee. Again, how much of that discourse actually happened that way, in those words? How much of the script serves as a master class in acting by Menzies?

All I could think as I watched this was how entitled Phillip was in his depression, imposing his needs on the earnest people around him.

The astronauts were portrayed as simpletons, when in fact some of them were brilliant and introspective. But the talk about staying focused on space tasks and checklists rang true - those routine activities kept them alive.

Edited November 24, 2019 by pasdetrois

[lookeyloo]

For all of Philip’s questioning his role and looking for meaning, he and Queen surely didn’t give Charles any props for trying to find a place for himself. 

[bijoux]

God, it's so exhausting being married to Phillip. It seems like Elizabeth has to pencil in something in for him in her itinerary. 

August 2nd - find P. a new hobby

August 13th - find P. a new friend

August 28th - P. peckish again. might like an around the world trip? 

[lavenderblue]

5 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

The astronauts were portrayed as simpletons, when in fact some of them were brilliant and introspective. But the talk about staying focused on space tasks and checklists rang true - those routine activities kept them alive.

The portrayal of the astronauts reminded me of the show's portrayal of presidents, i.e. the broadest version of some notion of a particular hickish type of American. Which, hey, British production, I get it, but when you're basing these people on real figures, it's glaring when you build them from a starting point of fiction (granted the LBJ characterization had truths to it).

Also, yes, Philip has manpain. Got that the first 17 times, thanks.

Edited November 24, 2019 by lavenderblue

[Magnumfangirl]

I loved the first half of this one, but it lost it's way in the last 20 minutes and I really wonder how much of this episode is based on reality?  Good for Phillip for being in awe of the astronauts, but boo on Phillip for being disappointed in them.  The line about them lacking in imagination was complete bullshit.  Who ever wrote that needs to do some more research.   Plus, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins all turned 39 in 1969, but the show portrayed them like 22 year old kids.  In reality, Phillip is not that much older than they are.  I get what they were going for, but negative portrayals of Apollo 11 do not sit well with me.😕

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/23/2019 at 7:33 PM, Bunnyette said:

Well this episode finally show Andrew & Edward...love how the Queen shoves Edward forward to shake Neil Armstrong’s hand.

I'm pretty sure it was Princess Anne.  He was standing by Anne, not the Queen, just as Andrew and Edward sat with Anne in church.

Edited November 30, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ha, I laughed when Philip's idea of doing something useful with his time (instead of going to church) was practicing polo.

Philip continues to annoy me. Between his snotty attitude with the servants, telling everyone to STFU when they were excited about the moon landing, and then flying the plane recklessly so he could get a better view of the moon, I was over his spoiled obnoxious attitude. Going through a midlife crisis isn't a good enough reason to be rude to everyone around you.

As for his petty whining about how he'd been forced to eat venison TWICE IN ONE WEEK, cry me a river. Here's a solution: ask the kitchen staff if they can make less venison in the future. Or tell them you need to approve the menus a week in advance. There are actual solutions but he's whining about it like a freshman who's tired of the chicken nuggets in the dorm cafeteria. It's not out of your control, man, so either do something about it or STFU.

And boo hoo that the astronauts didn't live up to his fantasy and it turned out they were just hard working people who endured incredibly difficult training and were good at their jobs. What a let down, man. Who wants to talk to losers like that?

[dubbel zout]

On 11/24/2019 at 1:53 AM, GaT said:

Another "Phillip feels his manhood is threatened" episode. I didn't like them in the first 2 seasons either.

Are we going to have to see him suffer through late middle age, too? Ugh. Suck it up and shut up, Philip. I'm so tired of him whining about how constrictive his life is. It's been 20 years or so. If he hasn't figured his life out now, that's on him.

Elizabeth had no choice in her future, but Philip did. And all he can do is whine about it. SHUT UP, PHILIP. OMG. 

At least at the end he had the humility to ask for help.

[merylinkid]

I loved seeing the whole family show up for the moon landing.   You saw Princess Margaret getting out her car with her kids in tow.   Then the little ones bouncing around.   If they had soemthing like THIS in the documentary (I know the documentary came out well before the moon landing) it would have been less boring.   Princess Anne putting things on the Queen Mother while she slept, and laughing about it with Princess Margaret.   

I did like how the astronauts were excited to be in Buckingham Palace.   Yes they went to the moon, but they can still get excited about being in Buckingham freaking Palace.   Remember, they hadn't opened it to tours yet.   But yeah, they overplayed their normalcy so it could highlight Philip's realization that they were just people.   That he wasn't missing out on his life by not doing anything extraordinary.   

[dubbel zout]

I cracked up at Philip's annoyance that all the astronauts had colds. Well, yeah: They were on a whirlwind, worldwide tour. You tend to get sick when you're constantly traveling through different time zones and don't get much sleep. Just like regular folks, gasp!

I understand his yearning for a bit more depth from the trio, but on the other hand, they're pilots and military men, and they were trained that the mission was the top priority, not waxing poetic over the shape of the earth. They had a lot of stuff to take care of while they were in space.

[TimWil]

This was, for me, the least enjoyable episode of the entire series so far. I didn't give a shit about Philip's mid-life crisis, although Menzies played it as well as he could. And reducing the Apollo 11 astronauts to dim, one-dimensional jerks first baffled me then angered me. I did enjoy Anne placing paper cups (?) on the snoozing Queen Mother, though. It makes me hope they will still do a Christmas-set episode where they all sit around wearing those flimsy, stupid looking paper crowns on their heads which a lot of British families wear at Christmas lunch.

Edited November 30, 2019 by TimWil

[Clanstarling]

On 11/24/2019 at 6:13 AM, pasdetrois said:

The astronauts were portrayed as simpletons, when in fact some of them were brilliant and introspective. But the talk about staying focused on space tasks and checklists rang true - those routine activities kept them alive.

I know that seems to be the consensus, and given the showrunner, likely the intention, but I didn't take it that way. Given that the men were on a whirlwind tour, I expect they mostly had canned responses to questions about their achievement.  Paying attention to the lists and tasks is both an accurate statement, and a way to deflect further attempts to delve deeply into their jobs or lives, and they would definitely not want to want to reveal much of their personal feelings - military men don't do that on official business. Philip sees himself as one of them, a pilot and an adventurer. But he isn't - so they ask him questions suitable for any person who wouldn't understand what they do.

On 11/26/2019 at 11:08 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I'm pretty sure it was Princess Anne.  He was standing by Anne, not the Queen, just as the Andrew and Edward sat with Anne in church.

Yes, the dress was different than Elizabeth's.

I missed out on the most amazing space program moment because it was past my father's bedtime.  We were stationed in Germany at the time. But he didn't think it was important enough to lose sleep over, I guess. And we weren't allowed to stay up to watch it (noise, you know). I loved the program pretty much forever, and one of my military dependent schools was housed in the same building as a Gemini tracking station. Bitter? I'm a bit Phillip-y about it even now.

[BradandJanet]

I watched it in Barcelona, Spain on a tiny B&W tv, with a group of ex-pats. It was one of those moments I'll never forget. I remember thinking, what will these men ever do again in life as special as this? 

[mledawn]

Is there a massive conglomerate of Team Philip fans out there justifying these annoying Philip-centric episodes? Tobias is doing a fantastic job but he's playing someone who is a known jerk irl, so sympathy is hard to come by.

On 11/29/2019 at 9:23 AM, TimWil said:

It makes me hope they will still do a Christmas-set episode where they all sit around wearing those flimsy, stupid looking paper crowns on their heads which a lot of British families wear at Christmas lunch.

Christmas crackers! Love them.

[Umbelina]

1 minute ago, mledawn said:

Is there a massive conglomerate of Team Philip fans out there justifying these annoying Philip-centric episodes? Tobias is doing a fantastic job but he's playing someone who is a known jerk irl, so sympathy is hard to come by.

Christmas crackers! Love them.

I think I'll answer this post in the Season 3 thread, so I don't go off topic too much here.

In short, definitely an episode given to Tobias.

[Clanstarling]

3 minutes ago, mledawn said:

Is there a massive conglomerate of Team Philip fans out there justifying these annoying Philip-centric episodes? Tobias is doing a fantastic job but he's playing someone who is a known jerk irl, so sympathy is hard to come by.

Christmas crackers! Love them.

I personally have no particular affection for any of the royal family (past and current), and do think Philip, in particular, is a jerk (to put it mildly). However, that doesn't stop me from enjoying his portrayal, and the added nuance.

What I found interesting in this episode was that every moment that generated a modicum of sympathy for him (from me) was counteracted by his being a real asshole. I like having my basic dislike for a character (okay, real life person fictionalized)  challenged by moments of human connection. 

And, like @Umbelina, for me anything Tobias does is worth watching.

[Umbelina]

43 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I personally have no particular affection for any of the royal family (past and current), and do think Philip, in particular, is a jerk (to put it mildly). However, that doesn't stop me from enjoying his portrayal, and the added nuance.

What I found interesting in this episode was that every moment that generated a modicum of sympathy for him (from me) was counteracted by his being a real asshole. I like having my basic dislike for a character (okay, real life person fictionalized)  challenged by moments of human connection. 

And, like @Umbelina, for me anything Tobias does is worth watching.

Actually, I'm all for "story" over "stars."  

I get what they were trying to do here, aside from the probable agent/manager negotiated "screen time" for Tobias (and others) to get him to come on board.

They were trying, obviously, clumsily, to make a story out of Philip's mid life crisis, this time over faith, rather than just sexual escapades/manhood.  The best moments were with his mother, the least successful with the astronauts, who were just ripped to shreds by the writers to give Tobias shit to do.  

I'm rapidly tiring of Morgan's portrayal of any American as know-nothing, superficial, bores.  Actually, I'm completely over it.  Enough already, seriously.

Philip has "lost his faith" so he expects that these men, so recently on the moon, will be able to answer his spiritual questions with space given insight.  In addition, Philip, because he's learned to fly planes, fancies himself "one of them" and wants to discuss technical issues as an equal.  Morgan chooses to do this by making the astronauts idiots, so Philip is thwarted, and by the end turns back to the Church.

YAWN.

Now on paper, that should have worked, but the writing didn't get us there.  Astronauts have always talked not just about the technical side of going into space, but also looking back at that tiny blue and green planet and several different realizations that come to them, yes, including in spiritual ways.  There is NO CHANCE IN HELL that they, brilliant men, would not have realized what Philip was going for in his questions.  They may have used caution in answering him, but they WOULD get it.  There is also no chance in hell that Philip was the first to ask them about the spiritual side of that "first time ever" experience, "heaven" always supposedly "up there" and all.

Instead the writers decided, yet again, to make American's bumpkins.  I'm not that insulted as an American really, honestly, who cares what Morgan thinks of us?  However, for this STORY?  It was stupid, awkward, and beyond insulting, it was also unbelievable.  That takes me OUT of an episode, it doesn't pull me in.  It was cheap and easy, like much of this season.  (Elizabeth can't cry, OMG, so important! earlier for example.)

Tobias portrayed Philip's nervousness and all that quite well, but again I DON'T CARE about this self-centered shallow man.  In the previous two seasons?  I did care.

I'm not blaming the actor, I'm blaming the writing.  As far as it being "part of a whole" for the season?  It didn't really work for me, other than the mother/son scenes, which knocked it out of the park.

ETA

Actually the writers also failed to capture the whole "first man on the moon" experience as well.  They came close, but not really.  Mad Men did it better, FAR better.  In reality, we didn't know if those men would die.  We didn't know if that shuttle would crash and burn landing.  We didn't know if the shuttle would burn up on landing, or ever restart.  We didn't know if the breathing apparatus would work.  We didn't know how the astronauts peed.  We didn't know if that first step would sink them 20 or 100 feet below the surface, or if it would be like rubber, or, most importantly, would they be able to successfully return to the main ship.  We really didn't know if they would ever be able to make it back to earth alive.  It was the VERY first time mankind had visited another planet/moon in outer space.  It was tense, which Philip captured well, but the rest of the family didn't.  Small kids for example, wondered about the moon being made out of green cheese, or if we would meet space creatures.  Many felt that spiritual connection, adults and kids.  It was a big fucking deal.

Philip's family annoying him by not paying attention was actually absurd.  There wasn't a person alive that had a TV screen that wasn't riveted by what was happening, and most later went outside to gaze up at the moon and wonder.

Instead these writers gave all of that wonder to one character...just silly.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Umbelina

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

Actually, I'm all for "story" over "stars."  

Sorry, I misread your statement - combination of too early in the morning and a general crap week. I like story too - and I like Tobias because he brings amazing depth to even thinly written story beats.

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

Philip's family annoying him by not paying attention was actually absurd.  There wasn't a person alive that had a TV screen that wasn't riveted by what was happening, and most later went outside to gaze up at the moon and wonder.

From my own personal experience, I know that's not true.  My father, a military man who'd been interested in the space program, was remarkably uninterested in seeing it live, and therefore I didn't see it live, though I wanted to. (we were stationed on a different continent and it was late).  But yeah, when I was able, I did gaze at the moon in wonder.

I also know from my same experience, that American activities- even those that advance humankind, are not of particular interest by some people in different countries, some of whom will actively ignore or reject anything American. Which, to be fair, how many of us know the names and accomplishments of all the Soviet Cosmonauts? Some, sure. But in general, people tend to be oriented toward their own national achievements.

And even many Americans are focused on what's immediately in front of them, on solid ground, and not on the stars.  Hence the diminished space program, which broke my heart.

That being said, that scene did irk me as well.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Clanstarling

[Umbelina]

9 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Sorry, I misread your statement - combination of too early in the morning and a general crap week. I like story too - and I like Tobias because he brings amazing depth to even thinly written story beats.

From my own personal experience, I know that's not true.  My father, a military man who'd been interested in the space program, was remarkably uninterested in seeing it live, and therefore I didn't see it live, though I wanted to. (we were stationed on a different continent and it was late).  But yeah, when I was able, I did gaze at the moon in wonder.

I also know from my same experience, that American activities- even those that advance humankind, are not of particular interest by some people in different countries, some of whom will actively ignore or reject anything American. Which, to be fair, how many of us know the names and accomplishments of all the Soviet Cosmonauts? Some, sure. But in general, people tend to be oriented toward their own national achievements.

And even many Americans are focused on what's immediately in front of them, on solid ground, and not on the stars.  Hence the diminished space program, which broke my heart.

That being said, that scene did irk me as well.

It wasn't, at least in my experience, an "American" thing at all.  It was a human on the moon!  

I would  have been just as riveted if it had been someone from another country, it was just so completely magical and wondrous that a human being was actually up there, standing there, looking back at us, and not knowing if they actually would live through it all.    Now, it's all very commonplace and space shuttles fly and land all the time, but THEN?  Amazing.  It would probably be just as amazing to actually know a human landed on another planet, even today.

[Clanstarling]

21 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

It wasn't, at least in my experience, an "American" thing at all.  It was a human on the moon!  

I would  have been just as riveted if it had been someone from another country, it was just so completely magical and wondrous that a human being was actually up there, standing there, looking back at us, and not knowing if they actually would live through it all.    Now, it's all very commonplace and space shuttles fly and land all the time, but THEN?  Amazing.  It would probably be just as amazing to actually know a human landed on another planet, even today.

I'm sure it wasn't from your perspective. It wasn't from mine either. Just saying that not everyone reacted that way, no matter how amazing and magical it was. There are a lot of dullards in the world.

And, BTW, I am forever pissed off that I was denied the once in a lifetime experience of watching the landing.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Clanstarling

[dubbel zout]

I'm American, and I sort of enjoy the contempt with which we're treated on the show. How many times are we shown swooping in and saving the day? So while I get why people are insulted (and agree the show is unfair to real-life people), it's not my biggest problem with the show.

[Umbelina]

41 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I'm American, and I sort of enjoy the contempt with which we're treated on the show. How many times are we shown swooping in and saving the day? So while I get why people are insulted (and agree the show is unfair to real-life people), it's not my biggest problem with the show.

It's not my biggest problem with the show either, but in the episode it was glaringly wrong, not just to the whole, tired "stupid lunkhead Americans" thing, but to the particular plot of Moondust.  It wrecked, rather than add to the whole Philip spiritually lost crap.

[dubbel zout]

Philip being Philip wrecked things for me. Poor, underappreciated, lost prince consort. 

Spare me.