Review: For All Mankind, "Brave New World" | Season 5, Episode 8

Television storytelling relies on convergence. In a medium where shows often juggle multiple storylines, one of the most powerful tools at a writer’s disposal is bringing two of those narratives together in a dynamic fashion. Serialized shows like For All Mankind train us to read their seasons in this way: Jimmy Stevens’ whole deal in Season 3, for example, was all set up for the Houston bombing that would converge with the season’s big finale.

The challenge becomes creating stories that don’t depend on that convergence. The Jimmy Stevens example is demonstrative of this challenge. There was an early argument that he offered a window into the unrest on Earth following the economic turmoil caused by the turn toward Helium-3 mining, but the story never really went anywhere, and Jimmy was a weird choice of an anchor. It seemed like an unnecessary divergence until you realize that it’s all just setting up for the bombing, a necessary ingredient to the now expected chaotic pileup of narratives come season’s end.

My problem with the fifth season of For All Mankind is that it feels so much more predictable than what we’ve seen before. Back in season three, there is a stretch where Jimmy’s group of radicals feel more like conspiracy theorists than terrorists, and the sudden turn at the end of the season comes as at least a moderate surprise. But this time around, there’s something problematically simple about the two stories that converge in “Brave New World.” The coup on Mars may have delivered more action last week, but it hasn’t enriched the characters involved, who still feel like an afterthought compared to the plot of it all. And while Avery Jarrett may bring a tie to the series’ past, she has never not felt like a walking plot device, and her introduction so clearly choreographed her trip to Mars that there’s nothing here we couldn’t see coming a mile away (even if they’re trying to hide off radar).