For All Mankind Season 4 (Spoilers)

[Stalker0]

I've been a big fan of this show for a long while, and finally got to see Season 4.

I do think this season lost a step compared to the other seasons. The fundamental notion of each season has been some sort of "space race", and with Season 4 it turned into more of just a "this is how living and working in space goes now". The arrival of the Goldilocks asteroid in the midseason was a solid plan (now it was all of humanity versus time rather than humanity vs humanity which I was fine with), and honestly should have been the plan from Episode 1.

However, the other big problem I have with this season....is the idea of the worker's strike. Not that the strike was silly, but that the Helios company, the US, and Soviet Union were willing to risk a 20 trillion dollar asteroid to deal with some worker issues that might have amounted to maybe 10 million on the absolute high side. Its such a pittance at this stage in the game, and considering just how much more they were asking of the workers, it boggles the mind that they would let the strike go on that long, when you could have solved the problem in 5 minutes with a lump of cash so small compared to the massive budget that its a rounding error (actually much less, its literally .0005% of the budget).

But then they finally do go "ok lets actually pay them a lot of money", and then suddenly it became "well its really about keeping the Asteroid on Mars". I'm sorry but that started out as a nice to have, but it was always about worker conditions and pay. Yes the workers wanted the asteroid to stay on Mars for long term longevity, but its not like long term work for them was gaurranteed, most of them had 2-3 year contracts. It was always about getting paid with they were due. Dav finally comes in and goes "I'll pay you that and then some", but they keep the Mars asteroid thing around to keep the drama flowing and keep stirring the pot. The workers won, the strike succeeded, Dav had caved....but they still acted like the workers had lost.

 

[Rabulias]

I do think this season lost a step compared to the other seasons. The fundamental notion of each season has been some sort of "space race", and with Season 4 it turned into more of just a "this is how living and working in space goes now".

It has been a bit since I watched season 4, but I recall it putting different spins on the "space race" idea. First was the private corporation vs international alliance, then the "race" (Mission Impossible assignment in space, actually) to put the asteroid around Mars instead of around Earth.

However, the other big problem I have with this season....is the idea of the worker's strike. Not that the strike was silly, but that the Helios company, the US, and Soviet Union were willing to risk a 20 trillion dollar asteroid to deal with some worker issues that might have amounted to maybe 10 million on the absolute high side. Its such a pittance at this stage in the game, and considering just how much more they were asking of the workers, it boggles the mind that they would let the strike go on that long, when you could have solved the problem in 5 minutes with a lump of cash so small compared to the massive budget that its a rounding error (actually much less, its literally .0005% of the budget).

That seemed very realistic to me. There are a number of analogous issues here on Earth that could be improved if people were paid more fairly for their work, but it does not happen. :-/

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I do think this season lost a step compared to the other seasons. The fundamental notion of each season has been some sort of "space race", and with Season 4 it turned into more of just a "this is how living and working in space goes now".

I think this is you not the show. The show is being relatively realistic - as @Rabulias says, the race has changed in nature, we can't expect them to mimic the historical space race forever.

I felt the strike stuff was pretty realistic for the 1990s, honestly, and made sense. Companies have always been ludicrously stubborn and keen on strike-breaking over giving in, even on completely reasonable and low-cost demands. There was a lot less of this from the 1930s through the 1970s because unions had so much power, but by the 1990s it was very much back as a corporate behaviour, especially with non-union labour.

And the asteroid isn't been kept around to "stir the pot", it's nascent Martian nationalism from Dev (planetism?), which is both a very common sci-fi trope at this point, and a logical one. I can only assume you've never read hard-sci-fi about Mars before? This sort of thing (and labour issues) are major plot points in Kim Stanley Robinson's Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy, for example, and I know that's not the only books where that's a thing (though I read most Mars 20+ years ago so I hesitate to assert which the others were).

 

[briggart]

Season 4 was when they jumped the shark for me.

The main storyline didn't work for me.

I don't see the Martians getting away with stealing a 20 trillion dollar asteroid. Wars had been waged for much less.

And the Martian independence plotline seems even less credible. Mars is not a self-sufficient colony. It's a military/research outpost with what: a couple thousand people at most? Most of them temporary workers on a few years shift, hoping to make a bunch of cash and then go back to their families on Earth. I could have understood second, third generation Martians, born and raised on the planet who may have never even visited Earth, pushing for independence.

This is not the Colonies declaring independence from the British Monarchy, it's an oil platform declaring independence from the rest of the world.

 

[Hattly82]

I've been a big fan of this show for a long while, and finally got to see Season 4.

I do think this season lost a step compared to the other seasons. The fundamental notion of each season has been some sort of "space race", and with Season 4 it turned into more of just a "this is how living and working in space goes now". The arrival of the Goldilocks asteroid in the midseason was a solid plan (now it was all of humanity versus time rather than humanity vs humanity which I was fine with), and honestly should have been the plan from Episode 1.

However, the other big problem I have with this season....is the idea of the worker's strike. Not that the strike was silly, but that the Helios company, the US, and Soviet Union were willing to risk a 20 trillion dollar asteroid to deal with some worker issues that might have amounted to maybe 10 million on the absolute high side. Its such a pittance at this stage in the game, and considering just how much more they were asking of the workers, it boggles the mind that they would let the strike go on that long, when you could have solved the problem in 5 minutes with a lump of cash so small compared to the massive budget that its a rounding error (actually much less, its literally .0005% of the budget).

But then they finally do go "ok lets actually pay them a lot of money", and then suddenly it became "well its really about keeping the Asteroid on Mars". I'm sorry but that started out as a nice to have, but it was always about worker conditions and pay. Yes the workers wanted the asteroid to stay on Mars for long term longevity, but its not like long term work for them was gaurranteed, most of them had 2-3 year contracts. It was always about getting paid with they were due. Dav finally comes in and goes "I'll pay you that and then some", but they keep the Mars asteroid thing around to keep the drama flowing and keep stirring the pot. The workers won, the strike succeeded, Dav had caved....but they still acted like the workers had lost.

I felt the same way about the worker’s strike. It made no sense that they’d risk everything over such a tiny amount of money. The asteroid is worth trillions, but they let the strike drag on like it wasn’t a big deal. Then, when they finally agree to pay, they switch the focus to keeping the asteroid on Mars. It felt like they just added that to keep the drama going. The workers won, but the show made it seem like they didn’t. That part just didn’t sit right with me.