Glasnost (episode)

## Chronology

"**Glasnost**" is the premiere episode of the fourth season of *For All Mankind*. It was released on Apple TV+ on November 10, 2023.

## Synopsis

Eight years later, a new mission begins: Capture an asteroid. Aleida and Danielle are still haunted by events from the past.

## Plot

In 2003, the Cold War has ended and Happy Valley is thriving with the formation of the Mars-7 Alliance. On March 17, the Happy Valley team attempt to tow XF Kronos for later mining. Thanks to pulling a pair of queens against Ed Baldwin, Grigory Kuznetsov has the honor to be the first man to make contact with an asteroid. As they approach, the Mission Controls from both NASA and Roscosmos indulge in their shared accomplishments. Kuznetsov slowly approaches the asteroid and finally makes contact, as the Mission Controls celebrate.

Margo Madison, now under the alias "Margaret Reynolds", awakes in Moscow and undergoes her daily routine, learning of Kuznetsov and Happy Valley's accomplishment on making contact with XF Kronos.

Meanwhile, Miles Dale visits his soon to be ex-wife Amanda Dale looking for his good shirt. Explaining he has an interview with Helios Aerospace for an opportunity on the Moon which his former colleague referred him to. Miles believes the job could save his relationship but was told it wouldn't be so easy. Amanda tells Miles to not get his hopes up, buy Miles believes it will work out in the end. Amanda teases him that he wouldn't with the wrinkles in his shirt.

Danielle Poole celebrates Avery Stevens' ninth birthday. Poole checks in on Amber Stevens, who explains it has been getting easier the past years without Danny Stevens.

Ed calls Kelly Baldwin, who hopes to have Ed return home soon. After the call, the Happy Valley team anchor XF Kronos and begin the towing procedure. Back in Mission Control, Eli Hobson compliments Aleida Rosales for bringing her son to watch the mission. He explains that even if he shows little interest, he was once the same, but interest was still instilled when his father brought him to work one day.

Miles arrives at Helios Human Resources, shocked to see the number of applicants. He struggles to fill with the application due to his lack of higher education but ends up lying about studying at Florida State. At his interview, he's told his references checked out but when asked about his education, he nearly fumbles but manages to satisfy the interviewer enough with his response. He's given a slot for the summer of 2005 but Miles pleas for something earlier. Due to the high interest in the position, he's instead offered a position on Mars, which has two year tenure instead of four months which Miles accepts.

The cables attatched to XF Kronos completely become unstable and break loose. Without hesitation, Kuznetsov picks up his helmet, intending to re-tension the cables. Commander George Peters back in Happy Valley orders him not to, but Kuznetsov pretends he can't understand him. Helios space worker Tom Parker volunteers to help Kuznetsov to easen the task. As the two reach the truss, things quickly go downhill, as Kuznetsov's leg gets crushed by the truss and one of the anchors breaks loose and impales Parker. Baldwin quickly tries to suit up to rescue Kuznetsov but the latter pleads to leave him, as his spacesuit was punctured and alredy quickly losing oxygen. Baldwin hesitates, but Kuznetsov reminds him his duty was to the ship, and not to risk the rest of the team. Eventually, Baldwin disconnects the *Ranger* spacecraft, leaving Kuznetsov to drift off with the asteroid. At Mission Control, Aleida begins to have PTSD from the JSC bombing as they are learning of the tragedy.

Danielle Poole learns about the tragic event while still at Avery's party, while Margo learns about it in the Soviet news. She tries to call Lenara Catiche to discuss what went wrong, but is kept at arms length. She makes her way to Roscosmos headquarters at Star City, but is only allowed to see a representative, Kirill Semenov, who tells her to return during a scheduled appointment. She explains she wants to learn what went wrong but told her knowledge has now been obsolete due to being out of action since 1995.

As Miles puts his daughters to sleep, Amanda pleads with Miles not to go to Mars after learning about the Kronos tragedy. She reminds them they had families also, who would never see them again and doesn't want that for their daughters. Miles assures her that everything will be fine and the two embrace and while they kiss, Amanda reminds Miles that they still wouldn't be getting back together.

Poole arrives at the Molly Cobb Space Center for a meeting with Eli Hobson. The latter tries to convince Poole to come out of retirement to take over as mission commander for Happy Valley to replace Peters. Hobson believes Poole is the only one who can turn things around due to people respecting her, including the Soviets and North Koreans. Hobson notes Poole must have accepted the call for a reason for the first time. Poole explains she did so in honor of Kuznetsov, who was her rock during the 15 months up in Happy Valley.

Aleida recieves several calls from NASA in the morning. Her husband Victor asks if she's alright but she said she'd just work remotely for the day.

Margo arrives at a nearby park, where a woman sits on the bench next to her. Explaining that the bullfinches nearby are patient birds who have to wait for the spring for the flowers to bloom. When asked who the woman was, she said she had Margo's interests in heart. The woman tells Margo to be patient like the bullfinches before leaving a call number on the bench.

As Poole leaves Eli's office, she runs into Will Tyler who is now engaged. Poole explains Hobson's offer and he tries to convince her to accept. He assures her that what happened revolving around Danny near the end of their time in Happy Valley wasn't her fault.

Some time later, Poole is aboard the spaceship *Unity* in Earth's orbit, along with Miles, as the ship takes off to Mars. At Happy Valley, Ed is sittting in his quarter and looks through the photos of his family, while smoking marijuana.

## Cast

show/hide list

Main Cast

* Joel Kinnaman as Edward Baldwin
* Toby Kebbell as Miles Dale
* Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole
* Edi Gathegi as Dev Ayesa (credit only)
* Cynthy Wu as Kelly Baldwin
* Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales
* Tyner Rushing as Samantha Massey
* Svetlana Efremova as Irina Morozova
* Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison
* Daniel Stern as Eli Hobson

Guest Starring

* Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson
* C.S. Lee as Lee Jung-Gil
* Lev Gorn as Grigory Kuznetsov
* Robert Bailey Jr. as Will Tyler
* Shannon Lucio as Amanda Dale
* Jorge Diaz as Victor Diaz
* Sean Patrick Thomas as Corey Johnson
* Meghan Leathers as Pam Horton
* Masha Mashkova as Svetlana Zakharova
* Vera Cherny as Lenara Catiche
* Madeline Bertani as Amber Stevens
* Mac Brandt  as Tom Parker
* Jessica Tuck as Christine Francis
* Dave Theune  as Tom Gamon
* Jay Paulson  as Colonel George Peters
* Santiago Veizaga as Javier Diaz

Co-Starring

* Gediminas Adomaitis  as Kirill Semenov
* Constantine Gregory  as Artem
* Nick Von Schlippe  as Baker
* Dimitar Bakalov  as Fyodor Korzhenko
* Blair Hickey as Richard Hilliard
* Ellie Grace Pomeroy  as Avery Stevens
* Piper Rubio as Lily Dale
* Coco Day as Sarah Dale
* Paris Rose as Graciana Diaz
* Ezrah Lin as Alex Poletov
* Irina Dubova as Olga Poletova
* Zylan Brooks as Flight Director Jen Hughes
* Matt Jennings  as Crew Member - Mars Ops Com
* Caity Ware  as Controller - Mars Ops Com
* Matthew Um  as Props
* Alex Demkin  as Russian Controller
* Alex Alexander  as Helios Receptionist
* Alex Cioffi as Tim
* Kelsi Roberts  as Brenda
* Keith Barber  as Delmar
* Jake Renner  as Soviet News Anchor
* George Zlatarev  as Customer
* Denis Kolomoyets  as Soviet Policeman #1
* Boris Georgiev  as KGB Agent
* Vladimir Dimitrov  as Father

Other

* Gee Alexander  as Fireman (uncredited)
* Mikhail Gorbachev  as Self (archive footage, uncredited)
* Al Gore  as POTUS (archive footage, uncredited)
* Portia D. Harris  as Astronaut (uncredited)
* Gary Nguyen  as Lab Tech (uncredited)
* Tony Rothstein  as Bartender (uncredited)
* Andrew Troy  as Astronaut (uncredited)
* Heather L. Tyler  as Astronaut's Wife (uncredited)
* Marco Vazzano  as Conference Room Staff (uncredited)

## Appearances

### Events & missions

Event:
 **First steps on an asteroid**Mission:
 **Kronos capturing mission**
### Locations & stations

 **Happy Valley colony** **Asteroid belt**
## Press review intro

The episode starts with a montage of events that occurred between 1995 and 2003. The alternate history differences are as follows:

* President Ellen Wilson is re-elected, surprisingly defeating Governor Jerry Brown in the 1996 United States presidential election. In reality, Bill ClintonW defeats Bob DoleW and is re-elected.
* The Mars-7 Alliance is formed, bringing together seven major space programs, although China and Canada decline to be included. In reality, the International Space StationW was launched in 1998 as a collaberation between the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency.
* The Seattle MarinersW reached the divisional round of the 1997 MLB playoffs, after Michael JordanW hit a 3 run home run. In reality, while Michael Jordan did play professional baseball for the Birmingham BaronsW, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago White SoxW during the 1994 season. He returned to the NBA in 1995.
* HiltonW opened the first hotel on the Moon. In reality no one has stepped foot on the Moon since 1972.
* The TV show EllenW was renewed for a 6th season. In reality, it was axed after 5 seasons, partly due to the backlash from the shows titular star Ellen DeGeneresW coming out as lesbian.
* Hillary ClintonW files for divorce with Bill Clinton. In reality, while Bill Clinton had affairs with other women, the two remained married.
* President Wilson legalizes same sex marriage in 1998. In reality, it would take until 2015 to become legal in the United States.
* Hollywood producer Harvey WeinsteinW is charged with sexual assault in 1999. In reality, it would take until 2018 to be charged over allegationsW dating back to the 1970s. He would receive an effective life sentence of 39 years in prison at the age of 67.
* Eli Hobson saves ChryslerW by moving into the electric vehicle market in the 1990s. In reality, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcyW in 2009, reemerging shortly after. They did create an electric vehicle conceptW in 1979, but currently their first production EV  is not scheduled until at least 2025.
* John F. Kennedy Jr.W runs for senate in October 1999. In reality, John F. Kennedy Jr. was killed in a plane crash in July 1999.
* The Y2K bugW caused issues at the International Space Port due to clocks resetting. In reality, the Y2K bug did not cause major issues, either due to the work taken to prevent these issues, or due to the risk being overblown to begin with.
* Al Gore defeated George H. W. Bush in the 2000 United States presidential election, winning the crucial state of Florida. In reality, Gore lost the 2000 election to Bush's son George W. BushW, due to the state of Florida controversially falling to Bush.
* Saudi Arabia falls into civil war as insurgents seized government building in RiyadhW. In reality, Saudi Arabia has not fallen into civil war, likely due to fossil fuels such as oil still being a valuable commodity.
* John LennonW played the half time show of Super Bowl XXXVIW in 2002. In reality, Lennon was killed in 1980.
* Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev's policies continue to create an economic boom in the Soviet Union. In reality, reforms by Gorbachev did occur although in the 1980s, being termed perestroika. It was considered the beginning of the downfall of the Soviet Union and the communist bloc in general.
* In 2003, President Gore announced the end of the Cold War as the United States and Soviet Union formed closer ties. In reality, the Cold WarW is widely seen as ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

## External links

### Soundtrack

  Soundtrack of episode 4x01, "Glasnost" on Tunefind
### Transcript

  Transcript of episode 4x01, "Glasnost" on TV Show Transcripts