For All Mankind Review: Rules of Engagement (Season 2 Episode 3)

For All Mankind Season 2 Episode 3, “Rules of Engagement,” is a big step forward over the season’s first two episodes, offering complicated character dynamics and an intriguing new lunar threat. 

While most of this episode — once again — is Earthbound, its opening sequence features a disturbing discovering. The ongoing competition between the U.S. and Soviet astronauts has been a theme since the series started, but this episode takes things up a notch in the rivalry between Jamestown and the Russian colony Zvezda.

Though the Americans have identified, and ostensibly claimed, a valuable lunar mining site, the Russians have suddenly picked up and taken it over. Now, the U.S. has to decide what to do — wait until the Russians must return to base and reclaim the site, keep a rotating team of American astronauts there, or protect what they see as their territory with potentially lethal force (i.e. heavy weaponry).

The question of whether there should be guns on the moon is a reasonably predictable one – the Cold War is raging, and we’re a highly militarized society, so it was probably always just a matter of time. (Also the Season 2 key art features photos of astronauts with guns, so…)

Especially since this episode gives us something that I assume is meant to be an analog for the Iran hostage crisis, which makes tensions with the Soviets even more complicated. There’s real fear here. 

This is a fascinating thread narratively speaking — technically NASA’s mission is exploration and learning and all things we definitely love to support. But….the moon is also an undiscovered country, and like any uncharted territory, someone is going to both claim it and try to defend that claim. 

Though, truly, I hate the idea of men roaming the moon with heavy artillery. It just seems as it should go against everything the space program is meant to be about, you know?

Elsewhere, I wish I were more invested in the smoldering wreckage of Gordo and Tracey’s relationship, but the fact that Gordo — a verified, proven hot mess — keeps getting handed more chances to fail upward is beyond ridiculous.

Despite Ed’s protestations, it’s clear that his friendship with Gordo influenced his decision to send him back to space and it’s offensive that anyone would think Tracey shouldn’t – or wouldn’t — be able to see that. (Especially when Ed threatens to blackball her for complaining about it.)

Sigh. Guess it’s nice to know that blatant misogyny is still alive and well in this version of the 1980s.

It’s true, Tracey’s evolved into someone much harder and often more unlikeable over the course of this show. But I think there’s an argument to be made that she has had to do so in order to survive. 

And, yes, she’s messy — but it’s interesting that the world of the show seems to judge her for her drinking and selfishness in ways that it never does with any of its male characters. (Again, whew at the patriarchy generally).

The way she’s asked to be and do things that men aren’t is something that honestly makes me want to root for her and see her succeed more than I might do otherwise. 

Take that, Gordo. 

Surprisingly, the most emotional scene of the hour comes at the Baldwin household, where Ed and Karen’s adopted daughter Kelly has decided she’d like to attend the Naval Academy and become a pilot like her father. Only, he apparently really doesn’t want her to.

Ed’s reaction to her decision is truly wild — he starts screaming, threatens to kick his daughter out, even gets into a semi-physical altercation with Karen. It’s so upsetting to watch because for all his flaws and internalized misogyny, Ed’s never been controlling and near-violent in this way before. Y I K E S. 

(The other thing about all this college drama is that we’ve only just met Kelly, so it’s not like we’re all rooting for her to scrappily make good in the Naval Academy, you know?)

At any rate, this family blow-up ultimately does lead to something good, in that Ed and Karen finally have to hash their shared guilt and grief over their son Shane’s death.

Ed feels responsible because he was busy being an astronaut and never around. Karen feels guilty because she was. (And still couldn’t stop a random accident from killing her son.)

It’s a beautifully acted scene and Joel Kinnaman and Shantel VanSanten sell the heck out of it in such a way that it’s easy to find yourself actually caring about these two again for the first time in a long while. It’s a nice surprise, to be honest. I certainly wouldn’t mind more of this, and less of Ed arrogantly throwing his weight around at work.

Stray Thoughts and Observations

• Maybe by the time this show reaches its third season, someone will realize that there’s truly no need for every single episode to clock in at over an hour. Yes, when the show’s firing on all cylinders, the extra time can feel rich and necessary, but more often than not it just makes every installment feel plodding.
• I’m just going to say it: I really didn’t need Aleida to come back. Am I the only one who feels that way?
• No update on Molly at all feels weird after the high stakes tension of her rescue of Wubbo. 
• I’m not sure if For All Mankind wants me to be rooting for Tracey and Gordo to get back together or not, but truly their relationship as it stands currently is just….blech.
• This episode’s soundtrack was so perfect. The 80s, man. 

What did you think of this episode of For All Mankind? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of For All Mankind stream Fridays on AppleTV+.

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