Heartbreaking 'For All Mankind' Episode 9 'Bent Bird' puts Apollo 24 on an unexpected trajectory leaving Ed still stranded
The penultimate episode of 'For All Mankind' has left us stunned with a risky mission that goes wrong in a matter of minutes while a family grieves the loss of a loved one. In the last episode, we saw Edward Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) learn of his son's death and following that he cut off communication with Houston.
His wife Karen Baldwin (Shantel VanSanten) is left to deal with the loss and further arrangements alone. She has no one to lean on and finds herself unable to face people she had once considered her close friends.
This episode sees Karen continue to grieve the loss of her son, but she also understands that her life, for the most part, revolved around her son, Shane, and her husband. In their absence, she is floundering around to find herself.
Then we have Ed, who after a period of mourning gets back to work on the James Town Base. Yet, he is not ready to get back in contact with Houston. Margo Madison, Gordo Stevens, Danielle Poole, Molly Cobb and Tracy Stevens, Deke Slayton, Ellen Waverly among others are trying their best to get Apollo 25 launched in time to bring Ed back home.
However, in a twist of fate, things do not turn out as expected. The episode titled 'Bent-bird' shows NASA launches Apollo 25, however, once the rocket leaves the earth's atmosphere, the team inside Apollo 25 is unable to launch the spacecraft and make it into the orbit that would take them to the moon because of a technical error -- the failure of SEC guide up.
That's when Molly Cobb (Sonya Walger) and Tracy Stevens (Sarah Jones) come to the rescue. Molly understands the problem and she suggests she lead a mission with Apollo 25, which would replace the faulty core in the computer on Apollo 24.
It is while this mission takes place that an accident occurs leading to the most nerve-wracking stretch of time in the entire season. During the self-test period, the Apollo 24's system, for some reason, arms the booster.
This takes Apollo 24 in an unplanned direction and along with it goes Apollo 25, since it is still tethered to Molly. It also led to the death of Harrison who got sucked into the booster and that's when Molly decides to detach the two spacecraft from one another and in the process, she is on a freefall in space.
This mission could have resulted in Molly's death too if Tracy hadn't stood her ground. This is just the beginning. With the video feed cut off, and Apollo 24 incommunicado, Houston is under a lot of pressure.
Apollo 25 looks out to rescue Molly before they return, however, she is not in sight. Apollo 25 is also on a new trajectory as they are trying to track where Molly is. When they spot her flashlight signal, she is about a half-mile out and NASA calculates a rescue trajectory, but with Apollo 25 losing fuel fast, they will not be able to rescue Molly and return to earth's orbit.
Margo is left with no choice, but to recall Apollo 25 and cancel any plans of rescue, but it is Tracy who takes control and stands steadfast. She is not leaving Molly behind.
With Gordo's help, Tracy manages to come up with a plan and they do successfully rescue Molly, but what is heartbreaking is the fact that Apollo 24 is one-man short and on an orbit that may not take the NASA astronauts to the moon. Ed, may as well be stranded on the moon for a longer time. In the face of his son's death, this failure is a cruel joke.
The last episode of 'For All Mankind' Season 1 can be streamed on Apple TV + on Friday.
