Karen Baldwin

*This article is not up-to-date and would benefit from updated information.* [ info ]

## Personal Information

### Date of death

4 September 1995
(at age 63)

### Place of death

Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX

### Family

Edward Baldwin (ex-husband)
Shane Baldwin (son †)
Kelly Baldwin (adopted daughter)

## Professional Information

### Occupation

CFO of Helios Aerospace
Manager of Polaris hotel
(former)
Manager of The Outpost
(former)

### Affiliations

Helios Aerospace (former)
Polaris Orbital Hotel (former)
The Outpost (former)

## Series Information

### Seasons

One, Two, Three

**Karen Baldwin** was the wife of NASA astronaut Edward Baldwin. Although once a traditionalist, believing a woman's job was only to take care of the family, Karen eventually came into her own as an entrepreneur. She purchased The Outpost before selling it to Sam Cleveland, with whom she later got into business by founding Polaris Space Tours. After the Polaris hotel disaster, Karen sold Polaris to Dev Ayesa, and joined him at Helios Aerospace.

## History

Karen is the daughter of Irish immigrants, and grew up in Gary, Indiana. When she was 12, she met a boy who was a couple of years older than she, while he was setting off bottle rockets. It was love at first sight, and she later married him and became Karen Baldwin.

### Season 1

When Ed gets home, as they fold clothes Karen tells him she cannot handle him going back to the Navy and getting calls that his plane has been shot down. She mentions she was under stress whenever the phone rang.

Karen goes to help Tracy Stevens out, who is doing everything to take her husband Gordo's things outside the house. Tracy is in a state of shock, but soon they relax and talk about problems with their marriage, and discuss divorce. However, when asking Tracy if she did not love him anymore, Tracy has to admit she still does.

After some time, Ed goes to DC with Karen in order to have a meeting with Congressman Sandman.

When they returned, Deke Slayton paid Ed a visit at his home, where he asked the latter how he was. He also mentioned Nixon was all hands on deck for the military base. He also gave Ed a plaque which recorded the landing of the Moon. Deke mentioned presidents come and go but NASA stays, and told him what he had said in DC took a lot of guts. He offered Ed his job back on Apollo 15, and Ed excitedly accepted.

Karen interrupted the men, telling them the Soviets were now on the Moon again; revealing that a woman, Anastasia Belikova, had now landed on the Moon, which now qualified as a historic moment for women across the world, since she was the first woman on the Moon.

The Baldwin family were watching television when they found out Tracy was recruited for NASA's female astronaut program. Karen thought it was ridiculous, but Ed mentioned he had heard a rumor that Deke had threatened to resign. However, Ed mentioned Tracy flying was none of his concern, only to be told by Karen that these women were simply going to waltz in and go to space, ignoring all the training men like Ed did.

Later, Tracy picked up her kids from Karen's home. While she was there, Karen congratulated her on making it through the first cut. Tracy gave Ed credit for this achievement, and Karen mentioned she hoped Ed would still be focused enough for Apollo 15.

After Patty Doyle's death, Ed is on a phone call with Patty’s father, who is angry at what happened. After Ed mentions he was Patty's instructor on the day of the accident, Doyle hangs up on him. Angered, Ed breaks his phone, and apologizes to Karen, who told him not to worry about it. She also told Ed the accident was not his fault, as Patty knew the risks involved in flying.

After Ed had dinner with the Apollo 15 crew, Ed told Karen how he offered to help Molly Cobb, but mentioned all she gave him was attitude, as if she had already been in space. Karen told Ed that she did not how he had agreed to it, but Ed simply replied that she was on his crew and he had to make it work.

Two hours before the launch, Karen walked with Gloria Sedgewick, and mentioned she liked her seats for the Apollo 10 launch. She greeted Wayne Cobb, who complimented her dress.

Apollo 15 reaches the Moon after 4 days, 3 hours, and 46 minutes, while Deke Slayton and Margo Madison work at Mission Control. Molly is told she is live on all networks. Shane asks Karen why everything is about her, and Karen tells him that she is the first woman astronaut, but Shane reminds him that Ed is her boss.

Ed mentioned that their current altitude was as low as he had gotten during Apollo 10, and Molly told him to stick with her. They neared a dark Shackleton Crater, but they managed to find a good landing spot and landed successfully on the Moon's surface. Molly mentioned she had never wanted a cigarette more; Ed told her she had come a long way, as Mission Control, Karen, and Wayne celebrated their landing.

Back on Earth, Karen congratulated Tracy on being assigned to Apollo 25, while Ellen was told by Gloria Sedgewick that she should marry Larry Wilson soon. Outside, Wayne looked up at the Moon and was joined by Karen, and he told Patty’s he was very relieved to have learned that Molly had landed safely as he had not been able to sleep much. Wayne told Karen about a dream of his, and she told him it was probably best to put it out of his mind, but he said he needed to tell it to someone who would understand.

Karen asked everyone to leave so she could sleep, since Ed would be sleeping. She coldly said goodbye to Wayne, and told Tracy he was weird and smelled funny. Tracy told her the smell was due to marijuana and left, leaving Karen surprised.

The next day, Karen visited Wayne, and told him she wanted to talk to him. She looked around at his paintings while Wayne got some tea, and she saw a joint next to a painting of his dream, in which Karen and Ed were dead on the Moon. Karen and Wayne discussed marijuana, and she told him he could get Molly fired. Wayne argued that it was a natural herb, while Karen reminded him it was illegal. Wayne was upset, and told Karen he thought she would understand that his wife could die on the Moon, but while she could pretend everything was fine, he could not; adding that if he needed to smoke a joint or paint his nightmare to get it out of his head, that was what he would do. He started crying, and Karen told him he would not lose Molly since Ed would protect her.

Karen and Wayne sat at the latter’s home. Wayne thanked her for staying, but Karen dismissed it, saying Ed had been shot in Korea, leaving her without knowing about him for a week. She started having a nightmare, which was still going on whenever Ed went to space. In the dream, Karen is running through a jungle where she is being chased by an animal, until she reaches a clearing in which she sees a dark panther, which is eating Ed, who is still alive and looking at her.

Later, Karen opened the door for Wayne, who brought her a painting. The painting was of a panther like in her dream, which was over Ed. She thanked him for it, and told him they should go to the TV in order to see the impromptu events which were unfolding.

When Molly found ice, Deke told Ed to bring Molly up, which he did, and they managed to safely return to the LEM. When they were inside, the public was told, and Karen hugged Wayne, who was relieved they were fine.

Gloria told Wayne and Karen that the press was on the Baldwin’s front lawn, waiting for a statement.

When Ed was in Jamestown, Karen is at the office of Mike Russell, the school pricipal, defending Shane and Danny Stevens against the principal, who is suggesting they are psychopaths. Karen tells him that all they did was a prank and that they would be punished for it, but the principal wants to get to the bottom of it, and would like to include Tracy in the conversation, which Karen mentions is not possible due to the nature of her work. Karen leaves the principal’s office and berates Shane and Tracy’s kid, telling them to not say a word until they got home.

Shane did not want Karen to tell Ed about the water meters he had smashed with Danny, but she told him that she would, and ordered him to wait while she video-talked to Ed, who asked if she had spoken to the doctor. She mentioned she had, who had told her some good news about getting pregnant. Ed told her he was fine, but was working long days; he asked about Shane, who Karen told him was missing the astronaut. However, Ed told her that he had to follow orders until relieved. After Karen left, she told Shane he was grounded for three weeks.

The school principal tells Karen and Tracy that the cost for their children's damages was $150, and told the women that he was concerned over the relationship the boys had. Karen and Tracy immediately told him that they were best friends, having grown up together. Tracy told the principal that perhaps the problem was the lack of discipline in the school since there was no spanking anymore. He told them that the friendship was becoming hurtful towards Danny since he was the follower if not for Shane, and they both got offended and stormed off.

On November 29, 1974, Ed tells Shane that an action of his was an embarrassment to his entire family since he was supposed to be the man of the house, while Karen listens. He tells his son he is disappointed in him, since he was now 11 years old and wanted to know when he would grow up.

10 days later, on December 14, 1974, Karen berates Shane again since he had stolen baseball cards. He was grounded from going to his basketball game, which made him lose his temper. Karen slapped him across the face and sent him to his room. She got in her car, and Shane waited until after she left to get on his bike to go to his basketball game.

When Karen got home, she saw a police officer parked on her driveway. Asking what her son had done, the police officers told her that there had been an accident involving Shane.

Karen is at the hospital, worried. A doctor walks up to her, and asks if Shane has a father. The doctor tells her that Shane was hit by a car when using his bike, but the person who had hit him had run off. The doctor tells her that Shane had sustained serious head injuries, fracturing his skull and had a bleeding brain, which meant he had to undergo surgery, which also worried Karen; she was in complete shock over what was going on. However, the doctor tried to make her feel better, and she tried to think Shane was strong and would overcome the situation.

Karen is waiting at the hospital and is joined by Tracy, telling her that Shane was in surgery and explained what had happened. Tracy asks Karen if she wants her to talk to the doctor, but Karen tells her that Shane would be fine. Tracy tells her what she brought and looks at her friend, worried.

The next morning, Karen is joined by Tracy, who tells her she would not leave. The doctor walks in and tells them that he usually asks for both parents to be present, but made an exception. He told her that due to the amount of time passed between Shane's accident and his arrival to the ER, he had lost a lot of oxygen in his brain, so he was now brain-dead, which meant that his brain was no longer functioning even though his heart was. He tells Karen that it was extremely unlikely that Shane would recover from the event, but she compared Shane living to Ed's being on the Moon. She refuses to listen to the doctor and wanted to ask for a second opinion. She told Karen that she wanted NASA's best neurologist, so Tracy started calling Deke while Karen went to see Shane.

When Deke asked Karen about telling Ed, she said that it was not an option since it was possible that Shane could live. Deke asked her once again if she was sure, but Karen refused to do so until something else happened. Deke said goodbye and told her that he would bring Ed home. Tracy hugged Karen in order to comfort her while Deke said goodbye to his wife as well, who was excited for him to go to the Moon.

Karen was walking in the hospital and was joined by a reporter who wanted to ask her questions, but Tracy grabbed the man and shoved him away. Tracy told Karen that it was time for her call with Ed, and she agreed. Karen asked Marge to look after Shane and left with Tracy to get ready.

Talking to Ed, Karen mentioned problems she had been having with a fence. Ed soon asked her how Shane's game had gone and she told him that it had been good, but when Ed started asking more questions, she started having a hard time answering. She told him that Shane had a good game, being nervous at first, but doing well in the end. They reminisce about Shane when he was younger and Karen mentions that nowadays, it always seemed like Shane did not have enough time. Ed told her that only ten more days and he would be down there, and they said goodbye.

Driving back with Tracy, Karen asks her friend if she had just done something unforgivable, but Tracy mentions that she did what she had to and told her to just drive.

Ed walks to the mining site as Karen walks through the hospital. She sees Tracy and NASA's doctor waiting for her; he told her that there was nothing else he could do for Shane. Ed grabbed the Soviet monitoring device and destroyed it, filled with rage. Karen walked into Shane's hospital room and started crying.

When Ed walks back into Jamestown, Karen calls him crying and tells him about what had happened to Shane, which visibly shakes him.

Tracy accompanied Karen to her house and comforted her friend. While they were inside, Karen told Tracy that she was starting with the funeral arrangements since Ed wanted to be buried with the Navy, but only qualified for interment if he made flag rank and there was nothing there for children. Tracy told Karen that only a few hours had passed since Shane's death, but Karen asked her to cry somewhere else.

Karen walked with Tracy through her house; they looked at the suit they had bought for Shane to be buried in and Karen realized that that was the last set of clothes she would ever buy her son. Tracy tells her that she would drop it off at the funeral home. The bell rings and Tracy tells Karen that Marge and a few others had come to join them, but Karen tells Tracy that she is not up for it and just wants to get in bed and wants to be left alone. Tracy tells them that they are not there to be comforted, but to help her in case she needs them.

Karen is woken by Marge, who brought her cornbread. Marge suggested she take a shower and join the rest of the women, but Karen just switches sides of bed, so Marge tells her to call them if she needed anything.

Karen watched as it was announced that Tracy and Molly's spaceship reached the Apollo 24. She looked at herself in the mirror and took a shower, getting ready to go outside. When she opened her door, she saw Marge and other women, but she closed the door again. Across the hall, she saw Danny Stevens and asked him what he was doing in Shane's room and he told her that Shane had left his derby car at his house, so he returned it, asking Karen not to tell his mother. Karen told her that it was fine, and Danny told her that he had had the idea of breaking the water meters, but had let everybody think it was Shane's idea.

Karen stormed off and went directly to Wayne Cobb's house. He asked her what she was doing there, but she did not know. She smoked marijuana and the two had a conversation in which Wayne told her that he was into organic chemistry, but had quit studying it to be true to who he really was. He told Karen that his father had disowned him, but instead of feeling bad, he felt triumphant since he was free. Karen thinks back to her childhood, meeting Ed when she was twelve and falling in love with him pretty much at first sight. However, they were distancing lately and she did not know what her life was anymore since she did not even know who her friends were.

Karen was in her house alone, smoking. She looked at her hands, took off her fake nails and went to bed, while touching Ed's pillow.

Karen went to Outpost Tavern, where Pam Horton was told that Ellen was alive by Larry. He did not tell her anything else. Karen asked her if she was Pam and told her that Ed went there a lot. She asked Pam to surprise her and she told her that Ed always spoke highly of the place, but it was a shithole. Karen told her that it was understood that wives do not go to Outpost, and Pam complained that men had a lot of rules, which Karen called bullshit. Pam told her that the country looked up to them and told her that she would not feel sorry for her, but apologized, saying that the last few days had been rough since she knew some all of astronauts. She told Karen that she had become "good friends" with Ellen, but was not being told anything by anyone. Karen told Pam that Ed was her husband, and told Pam that it was okay, also telling her that she should go to JSC with her.

Karen and Pam walked in to JSC, where she saw Larry. Karen hugged Tracy and asked her where everybody was at. She told Tracy that she was proud of her and invited Pam to sit next to her.

Ellen goes back to 24, asking Deke if he had seen her, but sees he is slumped and not moving. At Houston, everybody finds out Deke has passed and look at his wife Marge. Harold Weisner personally walks up to her and takes his glasses off, breaking the news to her. Karen hugs Marge, who starts crying.

Later, Ed leaves the Moon and heads back towards Earth, crying as he entered the atmosphere. When he got there, he went to Shane's room with Karen.

### Season 2

Ed makes it to Outpost and goes directly to Karen's office, who tells him that thanks to her work, she would be able to pay off the second mortgage on the house the following month a full year ahead of schedule. He congratulates her and they are brought spaghetti by their adopted daughter, who mentions that she had not been able to look at the college catalogue Karen had given her. Karen mentions that one of the colleges had a great theater program, but Ed tells her that engineering, physics, computer science or any of those careers, which were "the future." However, Karen reminds him that they would not push her into studying something she did not want, and Ed agreed.

Karen worked the bar at Outpost, while Ed mentioned that that Tracy would be on television. On the program, Tracy greets the host and tells him that she had returned from being in Rio and Aruba, also stopping at Vegas before returning. The host asks her if she has a new ring and she tells him that it is a ring Sam Cleveland had given her when they got married in Vegas.

Karen makes Kelly and Ed breakfast. Kelly is in her room, but leaves to have breakfast with her family, hiding an Annapolis brochure she was reading.

Later, Ed plays golf with Karen, Molly, and Wayne. None of them do a very good job, except for Wayne, who hits a perfect drive. Molly makes fun of Ed for having to use reading glasses and says that she sometimes felt that being on Earth felt like being in outer space. Ed tells her that he read the incident report and knew that there was no way she had waited in the lava tube for the storm to pass and asks if she is okay. She tells him that she is fine and asks if he misses being on the Moon. He says he does, but not as much as he thought he would. Molly asks him if he was okay with someone taking "his baby," the *Pathfinder* to space, and he says that he had had all the time he needed up in space. She says that when she first met him, she never expected to see him happy behind a desk, and he agrees. He says that he found himself happy, even though he did not expect to find himself where he was before. He smells marijuana, and Molly says that Wayne and Karen would deny having smoked it.

Ed works on painting a small biplane, when he gets a call. He picks up and is called by Karen to Outpost, since Gordo was drunk and making everyone uncomfortable.

Karen talks to Kelly and talks about different places they could visit while looking for colleges. However, Kelly interrupts her and asks if they could go to Annapolis, the naval academy since she wanted to apply. Karen is surprised, but Kelly insists that she had thought about it for a long time now since she wanted to fly F-14 Tomcats, but Karen is not happy with her decision.

Tracy visits Karen at Outpost, but finds it strange that Karen had not congratulated her. When she points it out, Karen rushes behind the bar in order to hug her friend. Karen is surprised by the size of the ring, and pours herself a drink as well. Tracy tells her that she was the only one who actually seemed happy for her, since everybody at JSC was looking at her funny like she needed Gordo's approval. She tells Tracy that Kelly wanted to go Annapolis, which she should not find strange since she grew up around Ed and Tracy, telling her friend that she had inspired a lot of young women. Karen tells Tracy that she had shut her daughter down, but Tracy tells her that her daughter had told her something that was a big deal. However, she also points out that if Kelly really wanted to do it, she would do it with or without Karen. Karen mentions that if anything happened to Kelly, she would not know how to live without her.

Kelly looks at a brochure about life in Annapolis, but goes to the air vent in her room and finds some toys. She gets a knock on her door from Karen, who she tells she is fine. Karen asks her daughter to tell her that joining the navy was what she really wanted and Kelly confirms that it was not a whim since she wanted to do something with her life, while making a difference and not writing essays. She also says that she wanted to make a difference like Ed. Karen says that she knows the feeling having lived with Ed, but also comments that Ed had payed a heavy toll and had not lived a normal life, but one filled with stress, danger and had missed time with her. When Karen was about to say that Ed had missed time with Shane, she stopped herself and said that he missed a lot. Kelly asked if Karen meant Shane, and she confirms this, saying that he had missed a lot of time with him. Kelly reveals the toy she had gotten out of the air vent; Karen mentioned that Popeye was his favorite, and Kelly tells her that she always knew that that was his room and sometimes felt like Shane was listening to her, which Karen could understand. Karen tells her that they had considered moving at first, but says that after she had come along, everything was good again, also agreeing to let Kelly go to Annapolis, which excited her daughter.

Ed got home and walked in, seeing Karen and Kelly happy. He is surprised to see actual dinner being made and asks if it is a special occasion. Karen says that it is since Kelly had finally decided where she wanted to go. Kelly tells him that she had decided on Annapolis, which surprises him, and he refuses, getting angry and telling Kelly to go to her room.

As he left the house, Karen told him to stop and discuss it. Ed says that he is the man of the house and did not need to explain himself to anyone, and when Kelly told him that she did not need his permission to apply, Ed said that he knew the superintendent of the academy, so with one phone call, she would be rejected. Kelly says that if he does that, she would go to the recruiting office and go to Annapolis as an enlisted sailor. Ed said that she could do that, but said that she should pack her bags and never come back. Karen tells him to take it back, and pushes him, while saying that she did not know what had gotten into him.

Kelly tells Karen to stop and starts crying, saying that whatever had happened, she did not want it to continue. Ed agrees, and so does Karen; he apologizes for having said what he said, also saying that he did not want her to leave. Kelly asks Ed what was going on, but Ed said that he did not know and had suddenly reacted and knew that he should be proud, but had gotten an overwhelming feeling that he was going to lose her as in her dying, like Shane. Ed starts crying and Karen says that she had the same feeling, but reminds him that Shane had died while biking down the street, mentioning that there was nowhere on Earth that was safe. Ed says that he was not there when Shane died and was not there for anyone, only being able to scream into the night. He mentions that he had promised himself never to let that happen again, always being there for Karen and Kelly to protect them. Karen asks Ed if he thinks that it was his fault, and he says that Shane had been angry at him and he was not on Earth, but Karen tells him that it had been an accident and says that thinking back to that day was just torturing themselves. The three hug each other and Kelly gives Ed the Popeye action figure. Karen tells him that she remembers when he wanted to join the navy, also mentioning that both of them ended up in the navy, with Shane wanting to be in the navy as well. Kelly starts singing a navy song, and both her parents join in.

Karen prepares breakfast and is joined by Ed, who reads over a paper she wants him to sign. He asks why she was cancelling their trip to the Bahamas and she says that she did it since he would be going back to space, which confuses him, but she says that he would be going on *Pathfinder*. He tells her that he would not be going back up, as he was happy where he was, but she tells him that he obviously was not. He said that he was very upset and had overreacted, but she says that he has a special look when every launch goes up or when he talks about *Pathfinder*. She tells him that things would be different since she would be running Outpost and would not be sucked into being worried about him all the time, but tells him to go.

Gordo sits at Outpost and yells at the TV while a wrestling match is on display. Karen smiles, and is joined by Danny, who is surprised she knows about wrestling. Karen asks Gordo if he was going to Ellington since he would fly down to the Cape with him. Gordo mentions that he could not miss the fight and would drive fast.

Later, Danny worked the bar at Outpost, but as he took out the trash, he saw Karen who was smoking weed. He told her that he would not tell anybody if she did not. Karen said it was fine, but did not want him smoking with Kelly as she passed him the joint. Danny took it and agreed.

Karen wakes up at night to a phone call. She and Kelly sit at the breakfast table, and she tells her daughter that she was devastated by the phone call and could not live like that. Although Kelly tries to comfort her mother Karen is not convinced. The phone rings and Kelly picks up, and is told that Ed was fine. Karen says that it was good for Kelly to know what it was like when situations like this happened.

Later, Ed arrives at the house, they both worry since he looks terrible, but he mentions that all that happened was that he had gotten wet. Ed apologizes, but Karen seems a little off, and says she would go to work even though it was 6 A.M. Ed turns to Kelly, who tells him that it had been a long night for both of them.

Danny is having dinner with Karen and Kelly. When Ed joins them, he salutes Ed, who tells him to stand down. As soon as Ed sat down, Danny left. Karen told Ed that she did not think he would be joining them, and Kelly brought Ed a plate, but also left. Ed tries to break the silence between him and Karen by saying he wanted to watch a movie, but she spoils it for him and leaves him to eat dinner alone.

Pam and Ellen grab their drink, where they talk about their lives. Karen told them that the next round was on the house, and Pam told her that she had done a good job making it not look like a shithole anymore, but mentioned the plants did not quite fit in. Karen told her that nobody liked them and offered her the bartender job whenever she wanted, but Pam told politely declined, saying she lived in Austin with her girlfriend. Pam asks if they wanted kids, and Ellen said that they had discussed them, but were not sure. Pam replies that Elise definitely wanted them, but she was not so sure. Pam asks her if Ellen had ever figured out which poem was about her, since it took her awhile to write it, but mentions that she had now gotten her shit together. Pam looks at her watch and mentions that she had to leave and they say goodbye to each other. However, soon after, they were in Ellen's house having sex.

Danny looks at a NASA ashtray at Outpost and realizes Karen had the same ashtray on her coffee table. Danny tells her that he remembers one night he and Jimmy were over at Karen's house misbehaving, which was annoying Ed, but when an adult went over to berate them it was Karen who did it. But, she was secretly relaxed with them, which made him realize she was the best mom ever. He also remembered one time he went to her house and heard her Elvis music, which she was dancing to by herself. He changes the mood by saying he still thinks about Shane pretty much daily, considering what happened to be the dividing moment of his life. Karen mentions that she felt it too and held his arm, telling him that he had done a good job that day. They wished each other a good night and he left.

Later, Karen played "Don't be Cruel" and started dancing to it.

The Baldwin family watches the news, which mentions that people are protesting the launch of the Sea Dragon, since it contained nuclear fuel. Karen says that it does not seem very safe, and asks what would happen if it exploded in the atmosphere, and Ed mentioned that was why the launch was in the middle of nowhere. The launch begins, and after it successfully lifted off, Ed reassured her that there was nothing to worry about, which did not convince her. Kelly asks Ed what he had written his essay about when he had gotten into Annapolis, but Ed said he did not remember, and told her to simply tell them who she was, which left her stumped. She asks Ed why they had adopted her, and Ed tells her that when they walked into the adoption center, they saw her help a kid with a puzzle, being kind and patient and tells her that they knew right away. Karen told her that it was love at first sight, and Ed agreed. However, Kelly asked why they did not have another baby. Karen tells her that she had some medical issues, and Ed had been living away from Karen for a while, since it was a difficult time after Shane died. They remember getting excited over adopting a Vietnamese baby, which makes Kelly think she only served as their band-aid, but Karen tells her that she was their heart transplant.

At The Outpost, the cosmonauts enjoyed their burgers. Karen walked up to them and asked if they wanted vodka, but the Russian asked her if she had Jack Daniel's, which she agrees to bring. The Soviet looked at the bottle and poured them all a glass. When Danielle Poole makes a toast, the Soviet cosmonaut told her that they usually toasted to fallen comrades, which they did, followed by a shot. The other cosmonaut tells Danielle that if they had mixed nitrogen with their oxygen like the Soviets did, then the Apollo 1 might still be alive. She responded by telling him that if the Soyuz 11 crew had worn pressurized suits, then they might still be alive as well. They do the second toast, which they say is to the women of the world.

At Outpost, Karen looks around and has a beer given to her by Danny, who would be leaving the following week. They toast to what is coming and Karen tells him she is ready to move on. He tells her to celebrate with him and he plays Billy Swan on the jukebox, who was singing Don't Be Cruel. She starts dancing to the song and invites him to join her. They start dancing together and Danny kisses her. She kisses him back afterwards and leaves directly after that.

Karen makes it home and sees Ed sleeping. She joins him in bed and hugs him. He asks her if she had been drinking, but she gets on top of him and they start having sex.

Karen counts Danny's tips and gives them to him. He says he does not know what had happened the other night, but she tells him that nothing had happened, only two friends had had a nice moment. He apologizes, but she tells him not to be sorry, but to change the subject. They say good night, but he turns around and tells her he cannot forget and wanted to hold her in his arms. She tells him to stop talking, but then throws herself at him and they begin kissing each other passionately. She tells him to lock the door, turn off the lights and meet her downstairs.

The two hug after having had sex and Karen says that she really would be selling the place while he stroked her leg. He asks her if she was not having fun anymore, and she relates to it, but says that when people look at the space pictures, it was great. Danny looks at Karen and tells her he loves her, but she tells him he does not and to get a grip. He tells her that he could leave the academy and they could find a place to live, but she tells him that their relationship would not be going any further even if he had done a good job, and it was over. She tells him to call in sick, and adds that she would still pay him, but Danny tells her he does not care about that. She kisses him and tells him to do an about-face and go.

Kelly watches the news while Karen cooks. While Kelly talks about what she sees, Karen does not pay attention and tells her to get everything ready for when Ed got home. However Ed walks in and tells them that he could not stay since he had to leave, but wanted to say goodbye to them both. Karen does not pay much attention to Ed, though and simply cooks until she interrupts Kelly to tell her that Ed could not promise them that he would be okay since it was unrealistic, which Ed says is right. They hug, and Ed asks Karen if she could walk him to the car.

When they go outside, Ed asks her if she is okay and she coldly tells him she is tired and tells him she would wait to explain why she was behaving weirdly until he got back since he had to focus on *Pathfinder*. However, he told her that he would not be able to concentrate until she told him. She tries to avoid telling him, but he reminds her of the pact they had made to not keep secrets from one another. She reveals that she slept with someone else and she did it sober and knowingly. Ed asks who, since it mattered to him, and asks her if this was a way of asking him for a divorce. Karen tells him they need counselling, which angers Ed since he thought marriage was a thing where you either wanted in or out. She tells him that he does not like living in the gray, which Ed does not understand. He gets in his car and leaves.

Karen walks to Sam Cleveland's building, where he asks if she ever worries about Ed on the Moon, so she tells him that she tries not to think about it and tells him that Pot is a good solution. Sam asks her what she would do next, but she admits she was not sure. Sam tells her that if she was having second thoughts it was fine, but Karen tells her she was sure.

At Outpost, Karen pours herself a drink and is joined by Kelly, telling her that she had sold it. She tells her daughter that she sold it because it seemed right and tells her that she did not know what she would do now. Kelly tells her that she could not imagine her doing nothing and is told that maybe Karen would go to India or go back to college. Kelly asks her if she and Ed would be getting a divorce when a siren started sounding. An emergency broadcast started to sound and they both go downstairs.

Karen and Kelly watch the news. Kelly tells Karen that she went to see her birth father after looking him up. Karen is in shock and says that she did not know her daughter wanted to meet him, but Karen tells her it is okay and asks her what she was like. However, Kelly tells her that she did not even talk to him since they both had their lives and families.

Later, at Tracy and Gordo's graves, Ed cries and leaves a deck of cards on top of Gordo's. Molly, Ellen, Danielle, Jimmy, Danny, Karen and Kelly cry as well. Karen leaves Tracy flowers.

After the funeral, Ed and Karen hug and both go their separate ways after Kelly hugs him as well.

### Season 3

*This section is currently incomplete. You can help by expanding it! Click here to add more.*
## See also

* Sam Cleveland
* Polaris Space Tours
* Helios Aerospace

## References

1. ↑ Bonus Video: Leap Into a New Millenium: 1996-2001 - The Mars-7 Alliance (1997)
2. ↑   comicbookmovie.com: Shantel VanSanten reflects on *For All Manind* season 3 finale *(Archived 2023-02-07)*
3. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 10: "Stranger in a Strange Land" (Newspaper date at 11:15)
4. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 1, Episode 9: "Bent Bird"