'For All Mankind' Episode 8 sees stranded Edward mourn his son in isolation as Karen struggles to come to terms with the tragedy
Spoilers ahead for 'For All Mankind' Episode 8
It has been over 150 days since Edward Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) landed on the moon in 'For All Mankind' Episode 8 titled 'Rupture'. He is now the lone American, who is keeping the U.S.' James Town base on the moon safe from Soviet sabotage, considering the Soviet's have got their own base at Zvezda.
The selfless call that Edward took, of staying behind on the base while letting Gordo Stevens (Michael Dorman) and Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) leave in the safety boat has cost him his son and this is something that Edward would have never expected.
The episode begins with Karen (Shantel VanSanten) waiting in the hospital to hear about her son. She hasn't been told about the extent of his injuries and all that she is expecting is a broken bone.
When she meets the doctor and hears that Shane is in surgery, that is the first moment that we see a crack in her veneer. Until that moment, she was trying to hold the fear in, but once she hears about the extent of damage that was done to Shane, especially his brain, she begins panicking.
Tracy Stevens (Sarah Jones), Karen's close friend hears about it and brings in help. She stays with Karen, until Shane's surgery is completed but Karen is not ready to let the gravity of Shane's situation sink in.
She distracts herself by diving into mundane chores, like making calls, canceling her appointments and so on. Even once the doctor informs her that Shane is brain dead, Karen is not ready to accept it and goes for a second opinion. She gets Deke Slayton (Chris Bauer), to call in one of the best neurosurgeons in the country to take a look at Shane.
While she is struggling with possibly losing her son, NASA's flight director Margo Madison (Wrenn Schmidt) has to decide if the team on the ground should inform Edward about it. She listens to everyone's opinions but leaves the decision to be made by Karen.
Karen, who understands Edward the best, decides not to inform him until Shane's condition has been checked by the doctor Deke brings in. She even talks to Edward about the basketball game and the two reminisce about how fast Shane is growing up.
Edward doesn't understand what Karen is feeling at the moment but thanks to the Soviets who are surveilling the calls on the James Town base, Edward in part realizes that something is wrong. He receives communication from Zvezda who shares their sympathies with him about his son.
Edward doesn't understand what that is about, and when he does get in touch with Houston, Gordo and Margo tell him that they are not sure what the Soviets meant. In the meanwhile, Karen hears from the neurosurgeon that there is nothing he can do for Shane at the moment.
That is when Karen understands that Shane is never going to return to her, and the tears, the ones that she doesn't seem capable of stopping continue to drop. Even at this moment, Karen decides to box it all in.
She also has to inform Edward now, and she does so through a television screen. What would learning something like this do to a man, who is alone on the surface of the moon?
The only people around him are the ones that he was programmed to believe are his enemies. The isolation does him in, as does the frustration of not having a way to go back to his son and wife.
Karen struggles with grief in the confines of familiarity as her friends arrive to console her and if needed grieve with her. Edward, on the other hand, does it in complete isolation. The effect that this would have on him is as of now unclear.
The next episode of 'For All Mankind' can be streamed on Apple TV+ on Friday.