Goldilocks (episode)

*This article is about the episode of season 4. For the asteroid with the same name, see Goldilocks. For the capturing mission, see Goldilocks capture mission.*

## Chronology

"**Goldilocks**" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of *For All Mankind*. It was released on Apple TV+ on December 8, 2023.

## Synopsis

A discovery sends teams across Earth and Mars scrambling for answers.

## Plot

The Thomas Paine Space Telescope spots an as of yet unknown object heading towards the inner Solar System. Dubbed 2003LC, it was later discovered to be an asteroid that had degraded from a Jovian trojan orbit. An analysis shows that it is rich in IridiumW, with a market value of over $20 trillion. The discovery creates major news, as due to it's trajectory and substance, it is quickly referred to as Goldilocks, leading President Gore to see it's capture as a priority for his reelection while the Soviet Union, who are a major exporter of Iridium, holding the vast majority of the world's supply feel threatened by the potential exploitation. Helios is interested in its capture in order to claim the monetary goals that Goldilocks could bring them.

In a flashback to the original Happy Valley, Lee Jung-Gil and Ed Baldwin teach each other Korean and English respectively. Strict rationing is observed among the members, with Danielle Poole packing a bag full of supplies to bring to Danny Stevens in the North Korean capsule, dropping them off to him.

Back in the present Happy Valley, Dani addresses the representatives from the M-7 members as well as Helios about the impending capture of Goldilocks, with only 10 weeks to go until it will be too late to obtain it. After mentioning that training will need to be stepped up in the meantime to prepare, Ed interjects, claiming that they should be stockpiling Argon for the mission. Dani does not agree, leading Ed to believe that Dani wishes to send unprepared members on the mission. Dani takes Ed aside and rebukes him, saying that she needs her XO and her to be on the same page, and that he has disagreed with her at every turn after Svetlana Zakharova was returned to Earth. Ed still believes that it was a mistake to return her and that it was bad for morale. Dani disagrees and leaves.

On Earth, Dev Ayesa announces that he will be travelling to Mars without alerting Aleida Rosales, Kelly Baldwin, or the rest of Helios. Aleida is put in charge of Helios in his absence while he asks Kelly to join him on Mars to train the S.E.E.K.E.R. crew on the journey to Mars. Aleida does not believe she is suitable for the job as she is an engineer, while Kelly also believes that she is not able to go as she has to look after her son, Alex, and declines the offer.

Onboard *Ranger*, Ed receives a communication from Danielle, chastising him for making last-minute changes to the crew list without her verification or approval. Ed explains that it's customary for the mission commander to pick his own crew, and Dani responds by reminding him how it's not the 1970s anymore and that she is responsible for getting Goldilocks into Mars orbit, so crew changes should be run by her. She also notes that the crew list is irregular, with unclear reasons for his selections. Ed explains that after the Kronos incident, he decided it would be good to change the roster. He further asks if Dani would like to "start all over" with the crew selection, to which she declines. After ending the call, Ed grips the control stick on *Ranger*, but his hand begins to shake erratically, attracting the attention of Palmer James. Ed says that he's fine and asks Palmer to crosscheck the reactor temperatures as a way of taking the attention off his hand.

At Julio's Tex-Mex, Kelly and Aleida discuss their new situations over drinks. Aleida encourages Kelly to accept Dev's offer to go to Mars. Kelly remains hesitant, not wanting to abandon her son. Aleida light-heartedly responds with how kids will always hate their parents anyways, so it makes no difference.

President Gore takes credit publicly for discovering the asteroid, mirroring the real life faux pas of taking credit for the Internet. This creates an international incident as the Soviets are not happy about this remark, while it creates negative publicity for Gore's reelection hopes.

On Mars, Palmer meets with Dani in her quarters, explaining how Ed was a hero to him before informing her about the tremor in Ed's right hand he observed during the training exercise on the *Ranger* spacecraft. Dani says that it is a serious accusation, to which Palmer agrees, but he knew what he saw.

In another flashback scene, Dani prepares rations for Danny before visiting him again. He pleads to be allowed back, but Dani says that this is how it has to be, leaving him a copy of the Bible.

Kelly breaks the news to Alex that she has decided to go to Mars. Alex wants to go with her, but she explains that spaceflight isn't possible for children yet. He then asks why that is if his classmate in second grade went to a hotel on the Moon, and Kelly replies that it's because Mars is much farther away from the Moon. Alex asks how long she will be gone for, and Kelly admits it will be for at least a year, causing Alex to run out of the room to his grandmother.

Due to Miles Dale's work with Ilya Breshov, his wife has been able to buy a house. When Miles asks Ilya about the progress of retrieving Lee's wife, Ilya confesses that it will not be possible and that he should not tell Lee. At his quarters, Miles asks Samantha Massey to join in on the Martian rock side business, but she refuses as she has been placed on the asteroid capture mission. When unpacking a recent shipment from Earth, Ilya discovers a newspaper that reveals Miles's Mars jewelry side business.

Dev meets with his mother Malaika and tells her that he will be leaving for Mars and will not returning. She pleads for him to reconsider and blames his father for planting the delusions of space in his head, imploring him to stay and make a difference on Earth. Dev retorts that it was her fault that his father ended up the way he was.

Eli Hobson meets with Irina Morozova on a video call to discuss the fallout of the President's recent claims. Eli tries to assure her that it was a mistake by the President and that the United States fully recognizes the Soviet Union's commitment to the M-7 alliance, but Irina calls it a grave insult to the honor of the Soviet Union. Eli reminds her that both the United States and Soviet Union need to work together to successfully capture the asteroid, and she responds that the best course of action would be to negotiate the recent incident with the rest of the M-7 nations in the Soviet Union. Eli objects, suggesting that the negotiations should take place in a more neutral location, but acquiesces when Irina remains stoic.

In a flashback scene, the members of Happy Valley are starving and on the last of their rations, Dani packs a small bag with the last rations for Danny, and Ed volunteers to go with her. When they arrive they find Danny in his suit outside the capsule, having committed suicide.

Aleida finds out about the summit and discovers she will have to go to the Soviet Union the next week as Dev will already be on his way to Mars.

Kelly says good night to Alex before watching a video from her mother where she says how proud of her she is. Kelly then goes to Dev and says that the mission is important to her and that she will go to Mars with him on the condition that she is allowed to bring her son. Dev, who is still reeling from his meeting with his mother, agrees.

Miles meets with Ilya to drop off the money from the smuggling business and Ilya gives him back his cut before asking if he wishes to count it after. Miles simply places the money in his pocket and says it will all be there. The two share a drink afterwards.

Dani meets with Ed in private and suggests that he step back from flight duty. Ed receives the suggestion poorly, believing it's a ploy by Dani to take him off the mission so that she can replace him. She suggests that he see the doctor to look at his hand, but he still believes that she is trying to spite him. An argument ensues, where Dani accuses Ed of lying to her to stay on missions while he calls her a coward. Ed sarcastically asks if she's going to exile him to the North Korean capsule and leave him with a Bible to read like they did with Danny. Dani shouts at Ed, calling him an old man who makes selfish decisions and who doesn't know when to quit before officially revoking his flight status and relieving him as XO of Happy Valley. Ed backs down and asks her not to do anything she will regret. Dani replies by saying that she has done a lot of things she regrets, but this is not one of them, before leaving.

## 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 (credit only)
* Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison
* Daniel Stern as Eli Hobson

Guest Starring

* Casey W. Johnson as Danny Stevens
* C.S. Lee as Lee Jung-Gil
* Lev Gorn as Grigory Kuznetsov
* Robert Bailey Jr. as Will Tyler
* Goran Ivanovski as Dimitri Mayakovsky
* Dimiter D. Marinov as Ilya Breshov
* Myk Watford as Palmer James
* Shannon Lucio as Amanda Dale
* Jorge Diaz as Victor Diaz
* Santiago Veizaga as Javier Diaz
* Sean Patrick Thomas as Corey Johnson
* Anne Beyer as Louisa Mueller
* Jessica Tuck as Christine Francis
* Larry Clarke as Bill McGann
* Thea Andrews as Zoey Chase
* Valeri Ross  as Malaika Ayesa
* Dustin Ingram  as Brandt Darby

Co-Starring

* Ania Bukstein  as Tatyana Volkova
* Salvador Chacon as Gerardo Ortiz-Niño
* Moses Jones as Rich Waters
* Sebastiano Pigazzi  as Luka Gurino
* Alexander Terentyev  as Lev Babanin
* Emil Markov  as Leonid
* Jon Levine  as Ron Klain
* Zylan Brooks as Flight Director Jen Hughes
* Ezrah Lin as Alex Poletov
* Irina Dubova as Olga Poletova
* Piper Rubio as Lily Dale
* Coco Day as Sarah Dale
* Sacha Seberg  as Dimitri Egotov
* Brandon Ford Green  as Shaun Arlee
* Steph Evison Williamson  as Geraldine Middaugh
* Madara Jayasena  as Natalie Morioka
* Libby Baker  as Kate Marsteller
* Danielle Nottingham as Vera Martil
* Jake Renner  as Soviet News Anchor
* Alex Cioffi as Tim
* Rami Essa  as Ramsey
* Ian Gary  as Helios Crew Member
* Reid Rathore  as Off-duty Helios Worker

Other

* Al Gore  as POTUS (archive footage, uncredited)
* Shantel VanSanten as Karen Baldwin (uncredited)

## Appearances

### Locations & stations

 **Happy Valley colony** **Happy Valley (1996)**
## References

1. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 4: "House Divided"

## External links

### Soundtrack

  Soundtrack of episode 4x05, "Goldilocks" on Tunefind
### Transcript

  Transcript of episode 4x05, "Goldilocks" on TV Show Transcripts