Review: For All Mankind – Triage s02e09

If ever an episode of a tv show was going to demonstrate that the writers don’t mind pushing the envelope, and then push it a bit more, this might be it.  Episode 9 of Season 2, ‘Triage’ has For All Mankind truly flying in rarefied air, both figuratively and literally. *Warning! Spoilers Ahead!*

As expected, much of ‘Triage’ deals with the ramifications of the marines shooting the Russian Cosmonauts last week.  It’s the kind of unfortunate event that isn’t exactly unheard of, but in this scenario looks set to have more of a global significance than it could in other circumstances.  Webster (Michaela Conlin) is all too aware of this and throughout a lot of the episode sits by the injured Cosmonaut’s bedside.  That is of course, until he awakes and asks to defect.

The politics are well handled all the way through this series and that continues to be the case in ‘Triage’, with immensely high stakes cat and mouse games being played.  Neither side is sure exactly what the other will do, but both the US and Russia take whatever advantage they can on the world stage to paint the other in a negative light whenever possible.  It would have been difficult enough without the defection, but that chips away at the foundations of an already uneasy peace.

It’s a tense cold war scenario, and like Margo (Wrenn Schmidt) says, the First World War was started with a single gunshot.  General Bradford takes this thought to an even bleaker place, by stating that the death toll in World War Three would make the First World War look like a car crash.  This isn’t exactly cheery, but is accurate.  After the Russians launch their new space shuttle, Margo begins to have some regrets, as she gave Nikulov (Piotr Adamczyk) the tip off about the booster rockets.  While that fact was treasonous before, it would be seen even more unfavourably now that it could have real, and immediate implications.

For much of ‘Triage’ there is also uncertainty about what is likely to happen with the Apollo-Soyuz mission, leaving her fretting about how things will pan out.  For a brief period though she feels relieved as Nikulov contacts her to say that Soyuz has taken off as planned.  This will clearly be short lived however, if the events right at the end of episode have any bearing on it, which they surely will.  What this means is that Dani (Krys Marshall) and Morrison (Josh Duvendeck) have been launched towards an entirely unknown situation.

Moving into a grey area of a different type is Ed (Joel Kinnaman), who has his world unsettled by news of Karen’s (Shantel VanSanten) affair.  With his Pathfinder mission being moved up, he quickly visits home before shipping out to Ellington AFB, and senses something is wrong.  As they now have a pact that there are no secrets, he pressures Karen into telling him what is bothering her, which in hindsight he may feel was a mistake.

Thankfully, for everyone’s sake, she refuses to say who it was with, so we are spared that part of the drama.  At least for now, although it is likely that it will annoyingly rear its head later.  Just to compound the problems, Ed is then tempted to cheat himself, presumably as revenge, but can’t go through with it.  This is a bit of an annoying storyline, much like the whole affair with Danny (Casey W. Johnson) has been from the start, and it seems like it’s just being used to manoeuvre Ed into a place where he is angry and distracted.  I’m sure that bodes well for next week when he comes up against some Russians!

The global angle isn’t the only significant political thread running through ‘Triage’ either, as yet again there is interest in Ellen (Jodi Balfour) being moved up into higher office.  This time it is one of Reagan’s political advisors, Lee Atwater (Dustin Seavey) suggesting that she run for congress, with an eye of eventually running for President.  Much like before, Pam (Meghan Leathers) is the one that really sees what the true consequences are, while Larry (Nate Corddry) and Ellen always seem a bit blinkered.

It’s fairly clear that any kind of further movement up the ladder by Ellen will require her to remain firmly in the closet and it’s a mystery why her and Larry are always the last to figure that out.  Here, Pam decides that enough is enough and in the interests of not forcing Ellen to make a choice, breaks up with her by leaving a letter.  It’s not the nicest way to do it, but Pam obviously feels it is necessary, although in their blinkered state, it confuses both Larry and Ellen.  Hopefully they’ll figure it out and decide what they will do in the long run once and for all.

Away from the more political side, others are dealing with their own trauma and trying to find a way forward.  Gordo (Michael Dorman) and Tracy (Sarah Jones) are sort of rekindling their romance, with Gordo feeling more confident having come to terms with his own issues.  At the same time, Tracy is experiencing some shock at recent events and trying to calm her nerves. This ends up moving her closer to Gordo, as he knows what she is going through and can be supportive.

For Molly (Sonya Walger) and Wayne (Lenny Jacobson) it isn’t quite so harmonious though, as Molly is intent on going to a charlatan doctor in a bid to cure her glaucoma.  It’s an act of desperation which Wayne can spot a mile off, so has to lay down an ultimatum for her.  If she goes to see the doctor, he’ll leave.  It’s not a smooth path, but she does end up remaining with Wayne, and in the process we get some great character development thrown in.  They have always been an interesting couple on the show, as they are both quite extreme figures compared to some of the other characters, so it’s good that we are getting more of them at this stage of the show.

For all the interesting interpersonal plot points this week though, and all the relationship ‘Triage’ involved, the main focus is what’s next with the Russians.  The episode moves forward looking like it will definitely be a tentative experience, with pieces slowly being put into action, right up until the final scene of the episode.  In that scene all hell breaks loose and proves that the situation has most certainly crossed the Rubicon.  All bets are now off, and where it goes from here is debatable.  Are they there to take back their comrade or destroy Jamestown for instance?

It’s another fantastic move for a show that constantly keeps you on your toes and delivers some of the best TV that we’ve seen in a while.  For All Mankind consistently stays well on top of its game and keeps on surprising us.  It’s only the fact that season 3 has already been confirmed that prevents us becoming too dispirited that next week is the season finale.