Apple TV+ 'For All Mankind' Season 3 Episode 2: Who is Edi Gathegi's Dev Ayesa?
Enigmatic and charismatic would be the words to best describe Edi Gathegi's Dev Ayesa. The 'X-Men: First Class' actor joins 'For All Mankind' Season 3 as a series regular and makes his maiden appearance in the second episode 'Game Changer'. His first look in the trailer hinted his role to be that of a visionary of plans to make it to space, but from the second episode, his plans and his chutzpah, coupled with brilliant intellect make him a regular Elon Musk of the 90s.
The episode introduces him as the head honcho of Helios, an organization that joins the space race. With NASA and the Soviets aiming to get the first man on the Red Planet. He joins hands with Karen Baldwin (Shantel Vansanten) who reels from the losses after her space hotel Polaris' debacle. Over the course of the episode, Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) gets snubbed by Margo (Wrenn Schmidt) after Molly Cobb (Sonya Walger) picks him as the commander for the manned mission to Mars in 1996.
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However, in a twist, Karen, after selling her hotel to Helios, also makes an offer to Dev to get Ed on board as the commander of his Mars mission. The dynamic character puts it to vote with himself in favor of bringing Ed on his side, and the episode ends with his announcement conference shocking NASA. Not just did they see Ed joining Helios' ranks, but also gets to fly to Mars two years before the Soviets and US. Ayesa is one of those bold characters the show introduces and he's shown to be a man with a plan. His Methane-powered thrusters and tech with ample testing make him a local hero of sorts as he pushes his private enterprise to compete against two powerful opponents.
Prior to his role in 'For All Mankind', Gathegi was known for his role as Ronald Dacey in the crime drama 'StartUp' and his stint in 'House'. Quite essentially, he comes in as the perfect void-filler for former cast members Sarah Jones (Tracy) and Michael Dorman (Gordo), both of whom made their final appearance in Season 2. Talking to TV Line, executive producer Ronald D. Moore had earlier teased the arrival of new characters. “One of the unique aspects of the show is that this is a generational show. It moves through the decades. So people are going to come and go. Some people are going to die, some people are going to move out of the story, younger people are going to grow up.”
Ayesa is one of those newcomers who just might be more pivotal as the show motors along.
'For all Mankind' Episode 2 is streaming on Apple TV+