Perestroika (episode)

## Chronology

"**Perestroika**" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth season of *For All Mankind*. It was released on Apple TV+ on January 12, 2024.

## Synopsis

Season finale. Tensions on Earth and Mars come to a head.

## Plot

Two months earlier, during a geological mission, Helios engineer Frank Tuttle discovers a wrench sticking out of the sand. Investigating, he pull it up and finds a North Korean pistol buried beneath. He manages to smuggle it back to Happy Valley and hiding it in his locker.

In late 2003, the spacecraft *Ranger* is on the homeward leg of their mission. They are pulling the asteroid Goldilocks. Palmer James is monitoring Samantha Massey, but has to leave to monitor the preparations for their burn. The intent is to burn for 20 minutes, in order to slow the asteroid enough to benefit from a gravity assistW around Mars, on their way to Earth. Before Palmer leaves, he asks Maximus Taylor to look for anything unusual, a pointed remark about Massey. Commander Ravi Vaswani radios Happy Valley to inform them that the ion engine deactivation is complete, and they are set to use their plasma engines for the final burn. Danielle Poole in Ops-Com confirms the deactivation, and informs them that they should wait for the next authentication for the final burn. Dev Ayesa watches on, while communicating through morse code with Ghost Ops located four levels below. Ed Baldwin receives the message and orders the conspirators to send their own authentication. There are now only 2 hours and 4 minutes until the final burn.

Outside Ghost Ops, Lee Jung-Gil is monitoring North Korean commander Cho Byung Ho. Lee believes he needs to take Cho to the medical bay. Gerardo Ortiz-Niño disagrees, because Cho has seen their faces and will report them if he wakes up. Holly Edmondson says that if they keep him there, he could die. Ed agrees with Lee, but after Gerardo disagrees again, Lee volunteers to take him himself, passing it off as an accident with a cargo loader. Gerardo is still worried about Cho reporting them, but Ed says to cross that bridge when it happens. Before Lee leaves, Ed speaks to him in Korean, letting him know it will be okay.

Miles Dale is in the midst of being tortured by KGB and CIA agents Timur Avilov and Mike Bishop. He refuses to talk, keeping to his story of not knowing about Ghost Ops. They do not believe him though. The two agents begin to talk to him about the effects of carbon dioxide poisoning, while pulling out a control pad and oxygen masks. They place the masks on and increase the carbon dioxide levels in the room. Miles begins to get light headed and finds it hard to breathe. He still refuses to talk. After he throws up, pieces landing on Timur's shoes. Avilov punches him, and Bishop says that it isn't working. The levels are then lowered, but not before Miles says he just wants to be back with his family.

At the Cobb Space Center, Margo Madison is sleeping off a hangover on her sofa. She is woken by knocking from NASA administrator Eli Hobson's assistant Tim, because she is needed in Eli's office. She walks into the office to discover Roscosmos director Irina Morozova sitting with Eli. Margo is surprised to find Irina. Eli calls it a nice surprise, while making small talk about his previous meetings with Irina. Margo is shaken by the sight of Irina. She complains that she has found it hard to settle in, due to being followed everywhere she goes. Irina says that she won't need to endure it much longer, because they will both be back to Star City as soon as the mission is complete.

Margo visits Mission Control and asks Aleida Rosales to get a message to Sergei Nikulov, due to Irina's presence, telling him to leave Houston. Aleida has not heard from him since the previous night and he is not answering his phone. Margo sends her to meet with him in person and force him to leave the city.

At Happy Valley, Danielle meets with Bishop who informs her that Miles is not talking. She orders him to keep questioning. She then orders all non mission essential personnel to be confined to quarters until the burn is complete. The security team begin their sweep of the base, continuing to search for the stolen communications equipment, as well as sending personnel to their quarters. Ilya Breshov and other workers are eating when they are ordered to leave. One of the workers refuses and is taken away by the team.

During the search, security member Nate Lowry discovers the pistol hidden in Tuttles locker, hiding it in his pocket.

Aleida travels to Sergei's motel and asks the motel clerk for his room. The clerk is saddened at what happened to him, informing Aleida that he had shot himself the night before. Aleida is disbelieving, but before she can get into her car, she notices the police tape on his room. Once she is in the car, she begins to cry and scream.

Miles is still tied up and Avilov offers him water. After Miles rhetorically asks him if he was just down there with them the whole time, he responds that they all have things to hide. Bishop returns with photos of Amanda Dale, Miles' wife. He begins to tell him that she will get 5 years in prison as an accessory to his smuggling. While his children will be fine, because child protective services will look after them. Miles breaks, letting them know that Ghost Ops is on sub level 4.

In Ops-Com, there is only 54 minutes until the burn, Dev notices Bishop speaking to Danielle and sends a message to the team. The team realise they are made and make preparations to leave. By the time the security detail get to them, they are already gone.

Eli meets with Irina and Will Tyler about the discovery. Will informs them that stealing the asteroid is technically possible, but they have regained the discriminator. They still have control over *Rangers* engines.

Gerardo was unable to escape Ghost Ops in time and is caught by the security team. Bishop forcefully holds him against the wall, choking him. Danielle is surprised at the level of force and orders Bishop to stop. The rest of the team managed to escape to the North Korean sector of the base. Lee tells his fellow North Koreans that he is the leader while Cho is in the medical bay, and that the foreigners are with him. Dev agrees with Holly that the mission is over.

In Mission Control, Margo and Will lead the engineers with revised burn calculations. The calculations are then uploaded to *Ranger*. Aleida arrives and tells Margo she has to speak with her in her office. Margo is hesitant but goes with her. When they arrive, she is informed of Sergei's death. She struggles to control her emotions, not believing what she has just been told. Aleida tries to console her, but struggles to do so herself. Margo storms out of the room, confronting Irina who is with Eli, asking "what did you do?". Irina tells her to control herself, while refusing to admit what happened. Once Margo sees the situation, she leaves.

Gerardo is brought into the interrogation room and is placed next to Miles. Once they are alone, the two talk about what has happened. He informs Miles that everything they did has been for nothing.

On *Ranger*, the final burn commences normally, as Ops-Com breaks into applause.

In the North Korean sector, the conspirators brainstorm ideas. Ed notices a S-Band transmitter and mentions that any North Korean ujunaut on a joint mission is allowed to communicate privately with their superior officers. Dev agrees that they could talk to Samantha on a private channel. Rich Waters argues that it wouldn't matter as they no longer have control of the discriminator. But Dev says that the engines could be manually disconnected from the controls. If Samantha can engage the override and place a transmitter on the override, Dev can control the burn. Holly though mentions that Samantha would need to carry out an EVA during the burn to reach it. Lee says he will get in contact with Park Chui Moo, the science officer on the mission. He will then give Samantha the radio and she can be guided through.

On *Ranger*, Park gives Samantha the radio and she is told to go outside the ship. The rest of the crew notice the cargo hatch is open, on the cameras they confirm it isn't a faulty sensor, and discover Samantha outside in a North Korean suit. Samantha begins the EVA. She finds the burn is trying to pull her off the ship, but utilizes her tether to keep her attached. After she removes the access panel, it flies away and is quickly incinerated in the engine exhaust. While she can lift the override handle, it automatically shuts once she lets go. Ed tells her to use her tether to keep it lifted. She is hesitant, but he tells her that it's what she needs to do if she wants to become an astronaut. The ship's crew realise what she is doing, and Palmer is sent out to stop her.

In Ops-Com, Bishop informs Danielle that Cho has been unconscious in the medical bay since the morning. He believes that the conspirators are holed up in the North Korean sector. He has already notified Houston for authorization to go into the sector, which is technically North Korean territory. Danielle radios the North Korean sector herself. Lee answers, after she says to put Ed on, he tries to lie. But eventually Ed picks up the radio, answering with "Hi, Bob". She tries to reason with him, but he is unapologetic, saying that it will kill Mars if the asteroid is sent to Earth. She says that it is for the betterment of Earth and that Mars is not their home. He tells her she's wrong, because his family and future is already here. After the two hang up, they are both shaken. Lee and Ed speak in Korean, Lee offers him a proverb, and Ed responds by stating that Mars is his home. Lee finishes by stating it's his home too.

Eli and Irina discuss the issue with NASA and Roscosmos engineers. A solution is found where they can send a code to shutdown the nuclear fusion controls. Aleida agrees, explaining that the engines can't burn if they don't have fuel. In this case the nuclear reactor is that fuel. Margo meets with Aleida in the viewing room. She begins to talk about her time with Wernher von Braun, and how this was where she was when she confronted him over his past. She says he told her that "progress is never free". Aleida says she isn't him, but she says maybe part of her is. She then manages to convince Aleida to go along with a plan to extend the burn. Reasoning that the Mars program cannot survive if the asteroid is brought to Earth.

Samantha manages to hold the override handle up using her tether, as well as insert the transceiver. Dev tells her that she must keep the handle up for the entire duration of the burn. As she does so, Palmer comes out of the cargo hold and begins to sneak around the side of the ship.

Margo and Aleida begin working on the code necessary for the burn. Margo agrees to upload it just before uplink. Aleida says she will do it, but only if she can upload it, due to the eyes on Margo.

Palmer pushes Samantha away from the panel, and a struggle ensues. The two begin to fight with each other over control of the panel. As they do so, Aleida is submitting the code. It is finally uplinked and Mission Control waits for the end of the burn. Palmer manages to push Samantha away from the panel and she flies off the back of the ship. He realises that the override is held stuck, and begins to cut through the tether holding it up. Samantha though has managed to hold onto a handrail before she flew into the exhaust. As he cuts away at the tether with less than a second to spare, she grabs his tether and hauls him behind the ship. He manages to be caught before flying into the exhaust but is now stuck behind. The burn continues unabated, leading to stunned silence in Ops-Com and applause in the North Korean sector as *Ranger's* crew reports the issue.

In Mission Control, there is also stunned silence. Irina breaks it by asking what has happened. Engineer Seth Razack says that the shutdown code was uplinked, but it was immediately superseded by a restart code. Irina immediately blames Aleida, who feigns ignorance. Aleida tries to reason that she does not have the expertise necessary to confirm what happened. But Irina states she knows when someone is lying and orders Eli to take her into custody. Eli says that it's a serious accusation and begs Aleida for it not to be true. Margo confesses to the restart command, absolving Aleida. Irina tells her that she shouldn't have done that, and that there will be consequences. She agrees, stating she knows.

The media begins to report on the theft. The asteroid will now be stuck in Mars orbit. President Gore and Premier Korzhenko call an emergency meeting of the M-7 and the UN security council. Finally Eli vows that anyone found to be involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Bishop and the security team begin to unpack non-lethal weapons. Danielle goes to question him. He says he has orders to enter the North Korean sector. She tries to say that she is commander of the base, and is ordering them to stand down. But he says her orders are superseded by his own from the Department of Defence.

Avilov continues to interogate Gerardo and Miles through torture. Petros Khorenatsi, Ilya and other workers break in, Petros and the other workers begins to beat Avilov, while Ilya takes the two prisoners out of the room. Faiza Khatib asks if Miles is okay, and informs him that the North Korean sector is about to be attacked. Miles then leads the other workers into revolt. Taking up makeshift weapons, they march to the North Korean sector.

Inside the sector, Lee orders his compatriots to blockade the door and defend their territory. The security team begin to set breaching charges on the door. Nate blasting the door. As the security team try to break in, the North Koreans desperately hold it shut. The workers show up, surprising the team. Bishop is only able to let out "what the fuck is..." before he is beaten over the head by Miles with a pipe. The two sides then begin fighting in the hallway. Danielle and Ed watch the fighting from their security feeds. The two arrive on the scene and try to regain order. They look at each other for a second, before continuing to try and stop it. Nate who has been beaten over the head walks away and pulls out the pistol. This is noticed by the workers who try to wrestle it from him. During the melee, it goes off, hitting Danielle in the chest. This stops the fighting, as they watch Danielle collapse. She is quickly rushed to the medical bay, where Dr. Dimitri Mayakovsky begins to work on her. As Ed watches on, offering reassurance, his daughter Kelly holds his hand. The workers and M-7 members stand in the hall way together in silence, watching on. Miles looks at the bloody pipe in his hand.

In Mission Control, Margo is led away by the FBI. Aleida tries to stop it, but Eli informs her that the Soviets withdrew her diplomatic immunity. Aleida embraces her before she leaves, being told it will be okay. As she is led out to the waiting police cars, the JSC bombing memorial is shown. Margo's name was vandalized.

Irina returns to Star City, where she finds three agents in her office, going through her files. Eli reads a newspaper in his office, the story revealing NASA allowed torture and abuse of detainees on Mars. A rover arrives at Happy Valley with a large container on board. Waiting in the loading bay is Lee Jung-Gil, he sees his wife, and the two break into tears embracing. As they do, many other people from the container walk by them. Happy Valley crew members arrive back in the United States, Danielle in a wheelchair and sling among them. She gets up and sees her granddaughter for the first time, surrounded by her family.

In 2012, Dev is standing at the rim of the Korolev crater, looking up to the sky. Goldilocks is orbiting Mars, with mining facilities all over the asteroid, the main station having the name Kuznetsov Station.

## 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
* 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

* C.S. Lee as Lee Jung-Gil
* Robert Bailey Jr. as Will Tyler
* Dimiter D. Marinov as Ilya Breshov
* Myk Watford as Palmer James
* Vinny Chhibber as Ravi Vaswani
* Billy Lush as Mike Bishop
* Nikita Bogolyubov  as Timur Avilov
* Ely Henry  as Dr. Seth Razack
* Goran Ivanovski as Dimitri Mayakovsky
* Tess Lina as Veronica "Ronnie" Hunt
* Elliott Ross  as Maximus Taylor
* Nick Gracer  as Petros Khorenatsi
* Jessica Tuck as Christine Francis
* Larry Clarke as Bill McGann
* Sean Patrick Thomas as Corey Johnson
* Justice as Isaiah Johnson

Co-Starring

* Salvador Chacon as Gerardo Ortiz-Niño
* Moses Jones as Rich Waters
* Cindy Jackson  as Holly "Sparks" Edmondson
* Jennifer Marshall  as Lynn Hegarty
* Charles Kim as Cmdr. Cho Byung Ho
* Kurt Quinn  as Frank Tuttle
* Sean Patrick Murphy  as Nate Lowry
* Katarina Morhacova as Nina Rozhenkova
* Noor Razooky as Faiza Khatib
* Alex Cioffi as Tim
* Suzanne H. Smart  as Motel Clerk
* Mark Kwak  as Park Chui Moo
* Kang Kim  as Lim Sum Gi
* Leo Seo  as Kim Byung Soo
* Chen Chen Julian  as Nam Moon Yeong
* Charles Maceo  as Andy Whistler
* Alex Cacho  as Ops Comm Controller
* Emi Nishimura  as Ops JAXA Controller
* Mustafa Haidari  as Atilla Yucer
* Hans Obma  as Jan Huebner
* April Mae Davis  as Courtney Johnson

Other

* Portia D. Harris  as NASA Astronaut (uncredited)

## Closing monologue

> I've always been captivated with the idea of justice. It's what attracted me to engineering in the first place. A sense of right and wrong. That I was in control.
>
>
> But the truth is, the world is not as simple as we want it to be. It can't just be boiled down into an equation. Especially when it comes to human beings. We are flawed, unpredictable, and full of contradictions. It's taken me most of my life to realize it's exactly these traits that make us so resilient. They give credence to the improbable idea that anything is possible. Even in the darkest of times.
>
>
>
> Your honor, I was always told that we shouldn’t let personal feelings cloud our search for the truth. But looking back now, I don't think that's right. Feelings may not be convenient. They may slow our progress, but they are also the only way to truly begin to understand the world around us. And the new worlds that await us.
>
> Margo Madison

## Trivia

* This is the first season finale to not open with beeping sounds or an emergency.
* This is the first season finale where no character dies.
* The inscription on the North Korean pistol translates to "*Protect the Leader at All Cost*". Ironically, that pistol shot Danielle Poole, the leader of Happy Valley at the time.
* In one instance in the Houston Sentinel article, Carbon Dioxide was mistakingly written as "C02" instead of "CO2".

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 ***Houston Sentinel* publication date:** Only a partial date could be seen on screen, however both September and December 7th 2003 fell on a Sunday while November 7th 2003 was on a Friday. Usually, smaller newspapers would not publish a Sunday edition while those with higher circulation would publish a larger edition with additional sections. The newspaper seen on screen was of a typical size and Eli Hobson was reading it in his office which suggests this occured on Friday November 7th, 2003.

## Appearances

### Events & missions

Mission:
 **Goldilocks capturing mission**Mission:
 **Goldilocks hijack mission**Event:
 **2003 Happy Valley riot**
### Vehicles & vessels

 ***Ranger*** **Mars rover (1)** **Mars rover (2)** **Hopper**
### Locations & stations

 **Happy Valley colony** **Asteroid 2003LC "Goldilocks"** **Korolev crater** **Kuznetsov Station**

## External links

### Transcript

  Transcript of episode 4x10, "Perestroika" on TV Show Transcripts