S03.E03: All In

[tessaray]

Release Date:  June 24, 2022

As NASA scrambles to prepare for the launch to Mars, Margo is confronted with a harsh personal reality.

[Anduin]

Hard episode to watch. But here's a thought. Considering the presence of a hostile foreign power at the conference, why doesn't Margo have a discreet handler? One who can call for backup when the KGB arrives. Sloppy work. But I suppose it wouldn't suit the plot.

For that matter, I can see why she didn't report herself to the FBI when she got home. She's critical to the whole operation. If she goes down, everyone else will be investigated. Slow everything down no end. Still, the other shoe will drop for her eventually. I'll be sad to see her go, but at least she's had a good run.

Danny, no. This fails to move me to anything but irritation. Maybe it'll all come together in the end, but I'm skeptical.

And we have liftoff! Interesting to see the difference in ships. NASA have what looks to be an advanced space shuttle design. Helios have a spinship! Beautiful! Is it weird to have a crush on a fictional ship? Asking for a friend. While the USSR goes with what looks to be a big rocket design. Maybe an update on Soyuz. That sequence, I love.

All in all, thumbs in the middle.

[Goldfish77]

Watching Margo and the Russian guy struggle to get to first base was more cringe worthy than Karen and Danny sleeping together last season.  I thought for sure that they were already sleeping together when they talked on the pay phones in the last episode, but no they took 6 years just to barely graze hands in the elevator.  Margo kind of reminds me of Martha from The Americans.

I agree with the previous poster about the coolness of the three different Mars ships.  

[marinw]

Of the three ships, the Soviets seem to be the least technologically advanced. Launching a rocket from Earth is so 1970s. I like how they didn't tell us if Margo gave up the engine design. I'm guessing not as she is still running NASA.

Helios has the largest and most comfortable ship, NASA has the coolest looking. Which is obviously the most important thing here.

Karen must be so happy that Danny is off Earth.

[Anduin]

4 minutes ago, marinw said:

Of the three ships, the Soviets seem to be the least technologically advanced. Launching a rocket from Earth is so 1970s. I like how they didn't tell us if Margo gave up the engine design. I'm guessing not as she is still running NASA.

But they needed her help to get the engine working, unless they're relying on chemical fuel. That's what the blackmail was about. Not to sabotage anyone, just to be in the race.

I'm now going to speculate. I think there might be some problems on Mars, at least two of the factions will have to work together to survive. Possibly all three. I just hope no one shoots at each other.

[CarpeFelis]

Wow, technology development is really accelerated on this show—the Helios bridge had monitors that looked like today’s IRL. And their ship made me think of 2001 (does HAL run those automated systems they were talking about?).

WTF is wrong with Danny?! The guy’s a newlywed and already he’s out cheating on his wife, trespassing at his childhood house, and drinking even though he was supposedly sober? Someone had mentioned Gordo being “Good Time Gordo” back in the ‘60s and I guess Ed still thinks that kind of behavior is OK for Gordo’s kid. Too bad that’s letting him skip out on the consequences of his actions—I’m with Dani on that. The episode ended with a 2-year time jump, but I’d be interested in seeing what happened when Karen had to work with him over those 2 years.

BTW Danny’s wife had me shaking my head. Was she recreating the ‘50s or ‘60s? My husband and I got married a couple of months after their fictional wedding took place, and I sure as hell wasn’t dressing up like Donna Reed and popping a roast in the oven—after getting home from work, which Amber probably doesn’t.

I’m inclined to think maybe Margo did give the Soviets the engine design. Because a) they did manage to launch in 1994, b) her assistant gave her the same “your record is in” message which indicates to me she didn’t let them kill Sergei, and c) she wasn’t blackmailed into federal prison.

[marinw]

15 hours ago, Anduin said:

I think there might be some problems on Mars, at least two of the factions will have to work together to survive. Possibly all three. I just hope no one shoots at each other.

I'm hoping they decide to say FU to the nations on Earth and band together to form a colony. Which would be difficult to do without resupply ships from Earth.

Danny is not fit to be on any ship. But at east we don't have a ship with two Danny's (or Dani's).

I really like the way they do timejumps on this show.

Edited June 25, 2022 by marinw

[chocolatine]

I really loved the use of Black Hole Sun in this episode, although I'm biased because I love Soundgarden. But hearing '90s grunge also felt a bit weird while looking at the super-accelerated technology of the FAM-verse, including a private spaceflight company a la SpaceX decades ahead of its time.

This episode really beat us over the head with how much Danny is like Gordo, so I foresee a meltdown on Mars in his near future.

Ed's not my favorite character and I find his old-school astronaut shtick overplayed, but I laughed at his reaction to Not!Musk's suggestion that he include a poet in the Mars crew. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by chocolatine

[marinw]

5 hours ago, chocolatine said:

This episode really beat us over the head with how much Danny is like Gordo, so I foresee a meltdown on Mars in his near future.

Danny has probably checked to see that the ship's bar is still well stocked from its hotel days.

5 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Not!Musk's suggestion that he include a poet in the Mars crew. 

Astronauts can write poetry! 

Edited June 25, 2022 by marinw

[xaxat]

On 6/24/2022 at 4:33 AM, Anduin said:

Is it weird to have a crush on a fictional ship?

Not at all! I've had a crush on the Enterprise since TOS.

I thought this episode was kind of weird. The show has used the past seasons to build a series of Chekov's Guns, none of which went off. Danny is literally going to be millions of miles from Karen (and presumably booze). Margo apparently cooperated enough with the Soviets to avoid being exposed. And Ellen managed to survive the white hot scrutiny of a presidential election without being outed. A situation made weirder by the fact that the show name dropped Gary Hart and Bill Clinton.

I like the scene where the older flight controller felt appreciated instead of taken for granted.

13 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

TW Danny’s wife had me shaking my head. Was she recreating the ‘50s or ‘60s? My husband and I got married a couple of months after their fictional wedding took place, and I sure as hell wasn’t dressing up like Donna Reed and popping a roast in the oven—after getting home from work, which Amber probably doesn’t.

That scene made me laugh. A whole roast! How much does Danny eat?

13 hours ago, Anduin said:

I'm now going to speculate. I think there might be some problems on Mars, at least two of the factions will have to work together to survive. Possibly all three. I just hope no one shoots at each other.

Spoiler

In the season trailer, there are three distinct spacesuits working in close quarters on Mars.

8 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Ed's not my favorite character and I find his old-school astronaut shtick overplayed,

When Dev explained the bridge setup Ed made it sound like he would be taking to the seas with a sextant and nautical charts with the legend "Here They be Dragons" on the border.

[Anduin]

13 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Not at all! I've had a crush on the Enterprise since TOS.

I thought this episode was kind of weird. The show has used the past seasons to build a series of Chekov's Guns, none of which went off. Danny is literally going to be millions of miles from Karen (and presumably booze). Margo apparently cooperated enough with the Soviets to avoid being exposed. And Ellen managed to survive the white hot scrutiny of a presidential election without being outed. A situation made weirder by the fact that the show name dropped Gary Hart and Bill Clinton.

When Dev explained the bridge setup Ed made it sound like he would be taking to the seas with a sextant and nautical charts with the legend "Here They be Dragons" on the border.

While the Enterprise is a classic, it's just never done much for me. But glad to know I'm not the only one in love with spaceships. :)

As I remember, there was a time when a lot of people thought computers could do anything. Ed is old and wise/cynical enough not to buy into it. But it's funny to imagine him captaining a spelljammer.

Now, on further thought, 2001 and Babylon 5 both had spinships. But this one is so damn shiny! I don't know why I'm obsessed with it, but I just am. However, it looked like the ring was spinning while the ship was under burn. Wouldn't that mess up the point of the spin? Both those mechanisms provide gravity. Surely one would be dominant. Hopefully it'll be the spin, or else the wall will become the floor.

Furthermore, the NASA ship seemed to be oriented wrong. Dani and her copilot looked to face the window, at the front. But if their thrust comes from the rear, that's actually the bottom, no matter what shape the ship is. So what you'd think would be the floor would actually be a wall. W only caught a glimplese of the Russian ship, but it looks like it makes more sense from a thrust perspective.

Is my thinking correct? As much as I love SF, my grasp of science isn't the best.

[KarenX]

On 6/24/2022 at 7:09 AM, Goldfish77 said:

Margo kind of reminds me of Martha from The Americans.

I had the exact same thought.

Also… what was with all The Martian references? Just some tribute to a writer’s favorite movie or something? “Work the problem,” “It’s not the worst idea,” one of the six seats was for a botanist (“anybody can grow plants on Mars”)…

[CarpeFelis]

22 hours ago, KarenX said:

I had the exact same thought.

Also… what was with all The Martian references? Just some tribute to a writer’s favorite movie or something? “Work the problem,” “It’s not the worst idea,” one of the six seats was for a botanist (“anybody can grow plants on Mars”)…

I was an engineer for many years and “work the problem” was a commonly used phrase.

[xaxat]

On 6/25/2022 at 10:18 AM, Anduin said:

Furthermore, the NASA ship seemed to be oriented wrong. Dani and her copilot looked to face the window, at the front. But if their thrust comes from the rear, that's actually the bottom, no matter what shape the ship is. So what you'd think would be the floor would actually be a wall. W only caught a glimplese of the Russian ship, but it looks like it makes more sense from a thrust perspective.

Even with their advanced AU tech, I don't think any of the teams have engines capable of simulating gravity through acceleration/deceleration. No Epstein Drive (The Expanse) yet.

On 6/26/2022 at 12:35 AM, KarenX said:

Also… what was with all The Martian references? Just some tribute to a writer’s favorite movie or something? “Work the problem,” “It’s not the worst idea,” one of the six seats was for a botanist (“anybody can grow plants on Mars”)…

When NASA was discussing the mission in the conference room, I was thinking "Y'all need to science the shit out of this."

[marinw]

The Command Centre (or whatever the correct term is) of the Polaris looked a like a smaller version of the bridge of the Enterprise. That's not a coincidence.

Ed and crew didn't even need to put on thier spacesuits! Luxury! I assume they are the only ship of the three with gravity, if the spinny part is still spinning.

IIRC, the phrase "Work the problem" was in the film Apollo 13.

Edited June 27, 2022 by marinw

[Anduin]

7 hours ago, xaxat said:

Even with their advanced AU tech, I don't think any of the teams have engines capable of simulating gravity through acceleration/deceleration. No Epstein Drive (The Expanse) yet.

So you're saying that the engines don't put out enough thrust to generate any notable gravity?

[PurpleTentacle]

On 6/24/2022 at 10:33 AM, Anduin said:

For that matter, I can see why she didn't report herself to the FBI when she got home. She's critical to the whole operation. If she goes down, everyone else will be investigated. Slow everything down no end.

That is precisely why I think the whole thing would have been covered up and Margo would have gotten away with a slap on the wrist, if she had turned herself in. Nobody would have risked the Mars race for a little espionage. Especially since it was mutually benefitial and Margo was sure to not share anything with military application. I mean this show already dealt with how far the US was willing to go to win the space race. Operation paperclip, anyone?

I can't believe she went along with that. Her main motivator was the fear for Sergei, I guess. But was there really no way to give him the message "you better defect while you are here in London, because I'm not going to play ball"? Or get somebodies attention to extract him? She must have connections to CIA and FBI and a secure way of contacting them, right? She is the head of NASA and the cold war and space race are still in full swing.

On 6/24/2022 at 10:33 AM, Anduin said:

While the USSR goes with what looks to be a big rocket design.

They actually launched from earth, which makes no sense to me. Why wouldn't they launch from their moon base? Why would you use up all your fuel to get out of earths gravity? That seems like the showrunners made it different just to be different.

On 6/25/2022 at 7:43 AM, chocolatine said:

Ed's not my favorite character and I find his old-school astronaut shtick overplayed, but I laughed at his reaction to Not!Musk's suggestion that he include a poet in the Mars crew. 

I mean I can see both sides. I'm all for the arts and a poet on Mars would be a cool thing eventually. But for the first flight? I mean come on. That is about establishing a base and survival. Mars won't explode tomorrow and a poet can be on trip three in 6 years.

On 6/25/2022 at 4:18 PM, Anduin said:

Now, on further thought, 2001 and Babylon 5 both had spinships. But this one is so damn shiny! I don't know why I'm obsessed with it, but I just am. However, it looked like the ring was spinning while the ship was under burn. Wouldn't that mess up the point of the spin? Both those mechanisms provide gravity. Surely one would be dominant. Hopefully it'll be the spin, or else the wall will become the floor.

The gravity from thrust should be minor after the first accelleration. Remember, objects in motion stay in motion unless acted upon. If you drive on the Atuobahn with 250km/h you don't feel the speed after the initial accelleration either. You only feel it if you come to an aprubt stop. Well for a second, afterwards you are too dead to feel much.

On 6/25/2022 at 4:18 PM, Anduin said:

Furthermore, the NASA ship seemed to be oriented wrong. Dani and her copilot looked to face the window, at the front. But if their thrust comes from the rear, that's actually the bottom, no matter what shape the ship is. So what you'd think would be the floor would actually be a wall.

Not sure what you mean. It looked fine to me. The only question I had was why it was so aerodynamic. The moon has no atmosphere and Mars has extremely little (and I don't think they are going to land the ship itself anyway?). They could have pretty much built a cube. That would have been easier to construct and more space efficient. Only explaination would be if most of the ship was built on earth and they had to bring it up to the moon. But it sounded like it was going to be built there.

[Anduin]

29 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

The gravity from thrust should be minor after the first accelleration. Remember, objects in motion stay in motion unless acted upon. If you drive on the Atuobahn with 250km/h you don't feel the speed after the initial accelleration either. You only feel it if you come to an aprubt stop. Well for a second, afterwards you are too dead to feel much.

Thanks. Like I said, science isn't a strong point. :) And I have very little tolerance for Project Rocket's writing style.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Lol, Clinton looking over at Ellen during the debate like, "I could get her." Yeah, no.

Gosh, Danny having to look up at that NASA statue of his parents on their fatal mission. It must've weighed on him, being reminded every day going into work that he had to live up to their heroic legacy.

Aleida's loyalty to Margo is impressive. But wow does she have her head in the sand about her home situation. Great compartmentalization skills.

Danny's Stepford wife Amber was setting down vintage (in 2022, anyway) Mikasa dinnerware. Historical prop details still on point. Too bad her husband is a cheating drunk liar.

Whoa, Danny as Ed's wingman! What could possibly go wrong? When Ed made the announcement Karen's face went, "Oh shit" for a split second before she caught herself.

Margo was finally going to get her some Sergei after decades of nerdy foreplay but alas, no good deed goes unpunished. I don't know how she didn't see that extortion coming--or at least the potential of it.

Helios and NASA literally in a race in space, with the Soviets bringing up the rear. Okay. Just a wee bit corny to me.

So are we to assume Margo gave the Russkies what they wanted? Geez. Hopefully she included a bit of sabotage, or she's doing a double-agent thing via President Ellen's intervention with the spy agencies.

Black Hole Sun is never wrong.

Edited July 2, 2022 by Joimiaroxeu

[Hanahope]

But won’t the Russians or soviets come back with the same threat to Margo again and again?  Will Margo continue to give up info?  Maybe not if she never gets another record, but the Soviet’s have other ways of contact.  Will she never go to London again?

Nice of Alieda not to tell Bill that Helios approached her first.  
 

I know for plot reasons Ellen was going to win, but I would have a hard time thinking to public would want a hard evangelical as VP in the 90s.

if nothing else, I love this show for realisticly (relatively at least) depicting the infancy/toddler stage of space travel.  It may never actually happen in my lifetime.