And so we begin a brand new journey...TO THE STARS! (also please excuse my lack of historical knowledge, okay, I never claimed to be smart when it comes to space/science 😅) xxx
So, I can give you all the historical context you need in like 2 sentences; in reality, the U.S. landed on the moon first, the space race with the Soviets ended when the Russians gave up, and the US space program essentially stalled for arguably 15-20 years. In this show, the Russians get their first, and the race never ends.
I will automatically subscribe to anyone who reacts to this show, so hello! :) The Space Shuttle "Challenger" exploded a little after it launched in the 80s (1986?), I think that's what you're thinking of. The astronauts in Apollo 1 died when a fire broke out during a test on the launchpad. The way it was designed, the door took approx 2mins to open, so the astonauts asphyxiated before anyone could get it open. They redesigned the door in the aftermath of that tragedy.
So some backstory, the guy with the "Failure is not an option" speech is Gene Krantz(whom is still alive today), he's played by Ed Harris in the "Apollo 13" movie where he also had a "Failure is not an option" speech. Apparently he never said those exact words, atleast not at the time of Apollo, even if it's gotten attributed to him. Apparently what happend was that the directors of "Apollo 13" interviewed him when they were writing the script for that movie and he spoke about the culture at NASA during the Apollo 13 crisis, about how failure was not even considered as a possibility, and thus the directors came up with that catchphrase for the movie. Then he ended up writing a book that exact title.
So excited to see reactions to this show! I'm an aerospace engineer who loves period dramas and the Space Race and so I'm the exact niche audience for this show, I'm always surprised that other people watch it too! I feel like it was made exclusively for me haha. If you have any questions throughout the show about the science I would love to try to answer them
Hi Carmen I've never seen your channel before (sorry!) but then I've never seen a reaction to 'For All Mankind', so it was a fast click for me. That was a great review. Considering you know very little about the space program, it was amazing how the Apollo 11 near disaster got to you. I shall resist the urge to make corrections - like, Hubble is a space telescope in orbit; there have been a number of unmanned landings on Mars - and just soak up this excellent show with you.
It was recently announced that not only is this show getting a fifth season (of the seven that the crew have always planned for) but also a spinoff showing the Soviet side of everything. One of my favorite parts starting out was that the focus on America with no real idea what the other side was doing meant the show didn't have to get bogged down in exactly what changed in history to allow them to get to the moon first and we could instead just jump right into the story, but at this point I'm definitely all for going back to it.
I only have a basic knowledge of our space history, and really enjoyed the show! I did occasionally look up random events to see if they really happened or not.
The main reason for the end of the space race in general was not only US winning the moon but The Soviet Union never reaching it, at least by their own means.
Real life: Apollo 1 burned up on the ground (not even while ready for liftoff.. just while still being used to practice runs). The people inside had no way to escape (and no good way to be saved, I guess). Big wake up call for NASA.
Don't be too concerned about knowing details beforehand, most of it would be a plus but it's not a requirement. I only knew of Sally Ride when Ellie brought it up on TLOU because I had watched this show. 😅 The alternate history side of it can be interesting at times but it might not go as deep as stuff like The Man in the High Castle.
"Watch This! With Joe and Kevin" is also reacting to it, Kevin is watching it alone and is already up to episode 6. He's loving it so far, it's worth a look (definitely good to boost the numbers of channels reacting to this amazing show!)
I'm here for this. Just as I was for Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica! And here we are with another one of his character-driven creations. For All Mankind is truly underrated. Sure, it's a slow start. But it does accelerate and offers a truly wonderful alternate history of the past 50 years. When I heard that they exactly recreated the entire Mission Control Room from 1969 I thought "OK, this is a serious show."
Somewhere in this world there's a kid with the last name "Epstein" whose great grandkid is gonna make a massive technolgocal advancement to man's colonization of the Solar System (......at a great personal cost,.....of course)
Great reaction! This show seems to have gone a bit under the radar, so it's cool to see more people watching it. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing if you don't know a lot about the space race when watching this show. You'll avoid being distracted by inaccuracies and mistakes 😉 Btw. it was Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin that sent Shatner to space for a few minutes. Elon Musk's space company SpaceX has been sending both "regular" people and many trained astronauts into orbit and to the international space station, for several years now.
I wouldn't classify 'For All Mankind' as "Science Fiction", per se. It's more "alternate history/timeline" storytelling in the vein of 'Man in the High Castle' (what if the Axis powers had won World War II). While some elements of the story will read as "science fiction", it's more the result of the fact that their world and their timeline develops differently to ours to enable them to develop some technological advances that we don't because our timeline went differently - and not because it's like "future-tech" or "alien-tech". Most of the aspects of their world and society are almost identical and end up following the same paths except for some of those large divergences. Hopefully you'll also be reacting to some more of Apple+'s great Sci-fi and genre shows. I think they're currently the best Streamer and show producer, hands down, when it comes to science fiction storytelling. Foundation,... Silo,... Severance,... Dark Matter,.... I'd even add Hijack to that list (not sci-fi but still a great quick Idris Elba show to get through). All top tier shows. EDIT: Some people also suggested "Constellation" too. I only just started it recently and so far it's not too bad (even if a bit of a slow burn.) hence the part of the reason I didn't include it along with the fact that Apple+ decided not to renew it for a second season.
Fun Fact about Deke (The German guy and Margo's superior at NASA). His character is based on Werner Von Braun - the very real German scientist and unofficially considered by many to tbe the grandfather of the American Space program - (The Saturn Rocket system that took America to the moon was based on his V-Missile design......more on that in a bit) Project Paper-Clip. (this is the history part). He was in fact, a former German Nazi scientist for Hitler's nascent ballistic missle program and was captured by the Allied forces (specifically Americans) in PRoject Paper clip meant to prevent German scientists from falling into Soviet hands with all their knowledge of Hitler's weapons programs (some still did and eventually went on to be part of the creation of the USSR's own space program). That little bit of history actually comes into play even in this alt-history show (his former Nazi past and the whole question of his loyalty to the US). The real Werner Von Braun was nothing short of a genius. In addition to spearheading America's eventual dominance of the Space Race, he also had plans for establishing a human presence in space in a space station almost a full 30-40 years before we were eventually actually able to do it.
The character of Deke Slayton is based on Deke Slayton, not on Wernher Von Braun. They based the character Wernher Von Braun on Wernher Von Braun. (Deke isn't the German guy).
FYI: You should watch the classic "The Right Stuff" and maybe "First Man" before going through this show to understand the original specificities of this show. The real Space History before going on a dystopia, even a very good one.
And so we begin a brand new journey...TO THE STARS! (also please excuse my lack of historical knowledge, okay, I never claimed to be smart when it comes to space/science 😅) xxx
You know a show is good when it makes you cry in the very first episode.
This show is so fricking fantastic. I wish more people reacted to it.
So, I can give you all the historical context you need in like 2 sentences; in reality, the U.S. landed on the moon first, the space race with the Soviets ended when the Russians gave up, and the US space program essentially stalled for arguably 15-20 years. In this show, the Russians get their first, and the race never ends.
Heck yeah! Why don’t more people react to this. It’s brilliant!
I literally gasped when this popped up. :-D
I will automatically subscribe to anyone who reacts to this show, so hello! :)
The Space Shuttle "Challenger" exploded a little after it launched in the 80s (1986?), I think that's what you're thinking of. The astronauts in Apollo 1 died when a fire broke out during a test on the launchpad. The way it was designed, the door took approx 2mins to open, so the astonauts asphyxiated before anyone could get it open. They redesigned the door in the aftermath of that tragedy.
Yes!!! This series is amazing, thanks for watching!! 🤩
Was so excited to see you reacting to this show. It’s such a well done alternate history story.
I cannot get enough of this show! SOO glad you are reacting to it….theres 4 seasons so far too. Many many thanks!
So some backstory, the guy with the "Failure is not an option" speech is Gene Krantz(whom is still alive today), he's played by Ed Harris in the "Apollo 13" movie where he also had a "Failure is not an option" speech.
Apparently he never said those exact words, atleast not at the time of Apollo, even if it's gotten attributed to him. Apparently what happend was that the directors of "Apollo 13" interviewed him when they were writing the script for that movie and he spoke about the culture at NASA during the Apollo 13 crisis, about how failure was not even considered as a possibility, and thus the directors came up with that catchphrase for the movie.
Then he ended up writing a book that exact title.
SOOOO GLAD, you are reacting to this show...I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS SERIES! Can't wait...Can't Wait!!!!
There are so few people reacting to this that i sub to then all. This show is so god damn good.
So excited to see reactions to this show! I'm an aerospace engineer who loves period dramas and the Space Race and so I'm the exact niche audience for this show, I'm always surprised that other people watch it too! I feel like it was made exclusively for me haha. If you have any questions throughout the show about the science I would love to try to answer them
Hi Carmen
I've never seen your channel before (sorry!) but then I've never seen a reaction to 'For All Mankind', so it was a fast click for me.
That was a great review. Considering you know very little about the space program, it was amazing how the Apollo 11 near disaster got to you.
I shall resist the urge to make corrections - like, Hubble is a space telescope in orbit; there have been a number of unmanned landings on Mars - and just soak up this excellent show with you.
Don't apologize! I'm glad you're here now and I hope that even with my lack of knowledge you still have fun with these reactions!
It was recently announced that not only is this show getting a fifth season (of the seven that the crew have always planned for) but also a spinoff showing the Soviet side of everything. One of my favorite parts starting out was that the focus on America with no real idea what the other side was doing meant the show didn't have to get bogged down in exactly what changed in history to allow them to get to the moon first and we could instead just jump right into the story, but at this point I'm definitely all for going back to it.
I only have a basic knowledge of our space history, and really enjoyed the show! I did occasionally look up random events to see if they really happened or not.
I just found this channel and this is my first video of yours. You're a great reacter and I hope you do the entire series.
Nice choice of series. I really think this show grew with time (and got me especially on Season 3 &4). Nice trip to Mars Carmen 👍
The main reason for the end of the space race in general was not only US winning the moon but The Soviet Union never reaching it, at least by their own means.
Great show, glad to see you're checking it out! Enjoyed your bsg reactions a lot, looking forward to this one too.
Real life: Apollo 1 burned up on the ground (not even while ready for liftoff.. just while still being used to practice runs). The people inside had no way to escape (and no good way to be saved, I guess). Big wake up call for NASA.
Nice to see some react to this show its one of my favorite shows ever
Don't be too concerned about knowing details beforehand, most of it would be a plus but it's not a requirement. I only knew of Sally Ride when Ellie brought it up on TLOU because I had watched this show. 😅
The alternate history side of it can be interesting at times but it might not go as deep as stuff like The Man in the High Castle.
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space IRL, obv in this she's just another female astronaut
Oh my God, this is one of my favorite shows! Can’t wait to watch this with you!
Such a great show! Hope you'll keep watching. Think you might be the only person reacting to this.
"Watch This! With Joe and Kevin" is also reacting to it, Kevin is watching it alone and is already up to episode 6. He's loving it so far, it's worth a look (definitely good to boost the numbers of channels reacting to this amazing show!)
I'm here for this. Just as I was for Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica! And here we are with another one of his character-driven creations. For All Mankind is truly underrated. Sure, it's a slow start. But it does accelerate and offers a truly wonderful alternate history of the past 50 years. When I heard that they exactly recreated the entire Mission Control Room from 1969 I thought "OK, this is a serious show."
Would Say that "For All Mankind" is The Unofficial"The Expanse ' Prequel....😅
Exactly. I could totally see the world of the Expanse be a natural extrapolation of this show.
Somewhere in this world there's a kid with the last name "Epstein" whose great grandkid is gonna make a massive technolgocal advancement to man's colonization of the Solar System (......at a great personal cost,.....of course)
great show, don't worry about not knowing real events this show sparked my interest to learn it after but it doesn't effect the show.
Great reaction! This show seems to have gone a bit under the radar, so it's cool to see more people watching it. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing if you don't know a lot about the space race when watching this show. You'll avoid being distracted by inaccuracies and mistakes 😉
Btw. it was Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin that sent Shatner to space for a few minutes. Elon Musk's space company SpaceX has been sending both "regular" people and many trained astronauts into orbit and to the international space station, for several years now.
So cool you startet with this awesome show - will be with you, accompany you to the end!
I'm already looking forward to it....
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Soooo so excited!
I wouldn't classify 'For All Mankind' as "Science Fiction", per se.
It's more "alternate history/timeline" storytelling in the vein of 'Man in the High Castle' (what if the Axis powers had won World War II).
While some elements of the story will read as "science fiction", it's more the result of the fact that their world and their timeline develops differently to ours to enable them to develop some technological advances that we don't because our timeline went differently - and not because it's like "future-tech" or "alien-tech".
Most of the aspects of their world and society are almost identical and end up following the same paths except for some of those large divergences.
Hopefully you'll also be reacting to some more of Apple+'s great Sci-fi and genre shows.
I think they're currently the best Streamer and show producer, hands down, when it comes to science fiction storytelling.
Foundation,...
Silo,...
Severance,...
Dark Matter,....
I'd even add Hijack to that list (not sci-fi but still a great quick Idris Elba show to get through).
All top tier shows.
EDIT:
Some people also suggested "Constellation" too. I only just started it recently and so far it's not too bad (even if a bit of a slow burn.) hence the part of the reason I didn't include it along with the fact that Apple+ decided not to renew it for a second season.
HELL YES!! Apple's sci-fi has been great but it all started here. Just maybe don't compare it to The Expanse just yet.
Your knowledge doesn't have to be limited! Read the NASA Wikipedia!
OMG this is hype!
Fun Fact about Deke (The German guy and Margo's superior at NASA).
His character is based on Werner Von Braun - the very real German scientist and unofficially considered by many to tbe the grandfather of the American Space program - (The Saturn Rocket system that took America to the moon was based on his V-Missile design......more on that in a bit)
Project Paper-Clip.
(this is the history part).
He was in fact, a former German Nazi scientist for Hitler's nascent ballistic missle program and was captured by the Allied forces (specifically Americans) in PRoject Paper clip meant to prevent German scientists from falling into Soviet hands with all their knowledge of Hitler's weapons programs (some still did and eventually went on to be part of the creation of the USSR's own space program).
That little bit of history actually comes into play even in this alt-history show (his former Nazi past and the whole question of his loyalty to the US).
The real Werner Von Braun was nothing short of a genius.
In addition to spearheading America's eventual dominance of the Space Race, he also had plans for establishing a human presence in space in a space station almost a full 30-40 years before we were eventually actually able to do it.
The character of Deke Slayton is based on Deke Slayton, not on Wernher Von Braun. They based the character Wernher Von Braun on Wernher Von Braun.
(Deke isn't the German guy).
FYI: You should watch the classic "The Right Stuff" and maybe "First Man" before going through this show to understand the original specificities of this show. The real Space History before going on a dystopia, even a very good one.
From the Earth to the Moon, produced by Tom Hanks and Ron Howard is another good one.
If it's a "good one" then by definition it's not a "dystopia"
The opposite of "dystopia" is "Utopia"
Unfortunately, this is on Apple+ 😢
Why "unfortunately"?
All the great sci-fi shows nowadays are on Apple+
One of my favorite shows