Basically the title. They just keep getting things wrong, ranging from little issues in dialogue to plot breaking errors. It’s like they forgot how Spaceflight works.

So I finished this week's episode this morning, but I'm confused as to what's been happening the last weeks and I'm hoping I'm just missing something instead of poor storytelling.

Firstly, what prompted Sergei to think the cosmonauts on the Venera 7 were still alive or at least that the rocket was still in comms range? And what was the envelope / contact subplot he had going on? We know he stays on at Star City and it feels to early for him to try and defect, even with his imprisonment.

Secondly, why was Irina chasing down Tanya even after she had already fled the city? And why did she try to make contact with her when she had gone to what was pretty clearly a foreign safehouse. If she wanted to make sure she was safe, she should have left the moment she comfirmed her location. If she had some other plan, I've no idea what it is. I know her allegiances are being tested and she's doing a bit of double agenting, but she's harder to read than the Central Committee at times 😅.

That tracksuit!

so, Anastasia launches to Salyut 1 along with 2 other crew members in the most recent episode. the 3 of them launch in pressure suits. this shouldn't happen. up untill Soyuz 11 Soyuz was crewed by 3 people, wearing tracksuits. after Soyuz 11, Soyuz missions were crewed by 2 people, wearing pressure suits. 3 person missions did not resume until the 1980s, where modifications were carried out to Soyuz to allow it to house 3 crew in pressure suits

Soyuz 11 not being the first crewed Salyut mission is plausible in star city, given N1 development taking a higher priority, so Soyuz 11 could just be a normal crew rotation, with, for example, Soyuz 9 being the first Salyut mission. thing is, Anastasia and her crew launch in pressure suits, which were bought in as a direct result of Soyuz 11, and there should only be 2 crew, not 3, again, because of Soyuz 11.

Soyuz 11 launched in June, 1971, the same year episode 7 takes place. we know it can't have happened yet, as the return to flight of Soyuz took place in September 1973.

on for all mankind, not only to the explicitly say Soyuz 11 happened, Daniel makes a comment along the lines of 'and if your cosmonauts wore suits during reentry like American astronauts, they'd still be alive'. like it is incredibly heavily implied, at least to me, that Soyuz 11 happens exactly as it did during our timeline

and finally, we know that Soyuz 11 happens in this universe. it explicitly does. during crew training for Apollo-Soyuz, Danielle Poole is getting drinks with the Soyuz crew and they explicitly toast the crew of Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11.

so. when does it happen? and how? if they already wear pressure suits, why do the crew of Soyuz 11 suffocate? if it's happened already, then why has Soyuz returned to flight so quick? given it's still 1971, and not snowy, that means there's only about 3 months that could've passed since Soyuz 11, assuming it happened in June, like our timeline, which is ridiculously quick for returning to flight, given it took 27 months in our timeline

so, what does everyone think of this? am I going a bit mad? cos we know Soyuz 11 is a think in this alternate history

edit: added some extra context surrounding what we already know about the for all mankind universe Soyuz 11

Has S2 been confirmed yet? This is one of the best shows ever made IMO. Please return for more! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

The Soviets are only focusing on the Salyut low earth orbit space station. No moon missions?

How does this match up with FAM Season 1. I didn't do a rewatch but I thought after their initial moon landing in 1969 they kept going back, just like the Americans.

Anastasia is back in space where she belongs, a welcome change from giving stupid speeches, milking animals and fixing tractors, not that there is anything wrong with the last two things.

How much time has passed since she was offered the mission and the actual launch into space? Weeks? Months? Or was this yet another case of being sent up on a few days notice? Anastasia certainly seems much more confident and prepared than last time. Earlier in the season I was comparing her to Tracy, now she is more of a Danielle.

Thoughts? In any case, it’s time for our cosmonaut to either rescue her husband or recover his toasted corpse.

S1E6 is the highest scored in the franchise since FAMK S2, thanks in part for the boldness of ending with a bang.

That was a "Red Wedding" moment, with the advantages that none in the public had read the books.

Now they are going to waste that away with some miracle "Hail Mary"/"The Martian" BS?

If in the 2010s a board computer wasn't able to calculate the insert maneuvers in Titan, how could they explain 3 cosmonauts flying blind, in a damaged ship, with few weeks of training be able to do a similar maneuver?

And... Well... They showed the explosion and flames engulfing the crew.

Was that a oxygen depleted induced delirious?

0 out of 10. I'm done with FAMK and Apple TV. I should have expected that after the shyte they did with Silo and Foundation.

• Asks for a favor but won’t say what it‘s for
• Demands access to an area he’s not supposed to be in
• Gives cryptic instructions without explaining them
• asks random people for the date (how does he not know after hours calculating the trajectory)
• unnecessarily drawn-out introduction (”there’s only one…”)
• ”now” as if arriving back is some event that just rather than a gradual process that’s been happening for months

Could he have not just said “Venera” at some point.

I don't know if I'm just particularly dense, or if there's some historical or cultural thing I'm missing, but some of the episode names seem super random.

The Eyes and Bear on a Chain make sense, and I can kind of understand Dark Forest if I think poetically, but Bite Your Elbow? Awl in a Sack? Plow Deep? What do they even mean?

Or am I just overthinking things?

Until next week at least

Venera 7. I still find it hard to believe someone survived it but let's suppose someone did.

They lost a lot of oxygen when the spacecraft was being depressurized and later when incinerated. If there's someone alive in there, the best chances for them to not run out of air is if at least one of them died so they have one less body to consume oxygen.

If so, Chadha 100% survived because she is needed to keep the life-support system.

We need at least one pilot to make the spacecraft return to earth so the second slot it's either Sasha or Valya. The other one is probably dead.

Ever since I watched Episode 6 I couldn't stop thinking about the flyby to Venus, how is it possible that such mission could had been hidden like that from the state, specially in such authoritarian one? Considering hoe much intelligence and spies the soviets had everywhere I can't get my head over it.

On a note, I can see why it wasn't shown in For All Mankind, both the US and Soviet Union could had an agreement considering that it could had been a humiliation to both states for letting that happen in the first place.

I recently got a gift six month subscription to Apple TV, as a space nerd I did enjoy For all Mankind and now I'm watching Star City, my only complaint so far is why do they insist on having English actors in Russian roles speaking with their English accents. If Idris can pull off a Baltimore accent in The Wire, They surely could have committed more to the roles.

THEY'RE ALIVE! I KNEW IT! well, we still aren't sure, we've only seen the outside of the ship and data being sent to Earth, that could be somewhat automated. BUT YOU KNOW AT LEAST ONE PERSON SURVIVED. Then it wouldn't be a piece of cinema. I can't wait to see what happened to them and how the f* did they survived the fire incident.

Rant over