For All Mankind Review: He Built The Saturn V (Season 1 Episode 2)
Relationships, when pitted against such high stakes, become a heated and emotional affair. For All Mankind Season 1 Episode 2, “He Built The Saturn V,” looks into whether we really know someone over the years, and whether we must accept them for who they are then and now, or to move on completely.
The Apollo team able to set flight and return home is rather sudden, and rather positive. Some shows would take the time to bring them home with many faults and errors along the way; For All Mankind, though, is looking forward to a bigger concept, and rather move at a faster clip.
The episode taking on the women’s perspective of this era is a fantastic change of pace. Margo, and Wrenn Schmidt with her portrayal, brings an enthusiasm to her love of the work, and so becoming the first woman in mission control will hopefully bring with it chances to prove herself.
Her closeness to Wernher is one of the more endearing friendships on the show, their quiet times together and quips back and forth this father/daughter sort of relationship that really speaks volumes about the care they have for each other and for the work they do. It makes the reveal later on during the episode that much more heartbreaking for her.
It says a lot about the time period, too, that Margo at first questions getting her new job on her own merits, as it seems such a foreign thing during this period in history. But perhaps this alternate history is starting to show that progress is moving a little quicker.
Karen convincing Tracy not to divorce Gordo is certainly a window into the ways of the past, of the view of divorce and a woman’s responsibility to her family. It feels so foreign now, with Karen’s pleas for Tracey to do right by her family. Karen’s advice may be in the right place, but in the modern day, it feels like she is saying all the wrong things. It’s this moral dilemma of the time period being a burden.
The turn to race for a space base, and Wernher’s apprehension to it, is a sign that exponential growth will be the only option under Nixon’s orders.
Nixon steering the blame for the Russian landing on von Braun, and trying to use Ed to do so, is a great way to restore the faith in Ed’s heart. The congress hearing reveal of it being Ed’s choice not to go down, when he potentially could have, is a nice use of withholding information on a scene we’ve seen before on For All Mankind Season 1 Episode 1, “Red Moon.”
Ed, as it turns out, is a good company man, and accepts his fate as the man responsible for letting the Russians overtake them. It’s a moment that Kinnaman lands well, and continues to show that Ed’s virtue is a strong factor with what makes him tick.
But the fact that it then becomes futile as von Braun’s past, ignoring that the workers at his factory during World War II are concentration camp victims, sets a dark tone on his career. It is a gut punch of sorts, the reversing of the message the show has been going for, and showing that commitment to the work and only the work can have catastrophic consequences.
None know the pain of this reveal more than Margo. The scene near the end, of Wernher never taking responsibility and brushing it off as she questions him, is a hard revelation, after he’s been such a kind and warm presence on the show, and a guiding force for Margo as she strives for better things.
It comes as a betrayal, one that hopefully does not leave Margo disillusioned just as she is growing into her own.
Colm Feore plays the aftermath so hauntingly, like a man whose shell is now gone.
Ending the episode with a woman on the moon, though Soviet, keeps with the theme of the episode, that it’s slowly but surely becoming a woman’s world. It’s a great message to end on, and will hopefully mean that more women are brought in not only to mission control to join Margo, but will be joining Ed, Gordo and the gang on future Apollo missions.
For All Mankind Season 1 Episode 2, “He Built The Saturn V,” continues the remarkable streak set by the premiere, of a period drama that informs on its time by veering from itself, and setting up a wealth of character development that helps define them in succinct and poignant ways.
The times are changing, and these characters are ready for it.
What did you think of this episode of For All Mankind? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
For All Mankind airs Fridays on Apple TV+.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.