Finally finally, things start to blow and get really dangerous enough that nobody can hide behind speeches about freedom or survival, there are no excuses, there are no politics or words that can fix the mess that is happening and I love that kind of chaos, but that same danger makes the SDM Council rough to support without real concerns to be honest. I get why Miles and the rest agree with Lee that the Kuznetsov docking platform has to go, the M6 force is only three days out, Happy Valley barely has food left and the Council is betting President Korzhenko is close enough to being removed that a new Soviet government could make a deal with Mars if they buy some time. There is not much room to go here so it obvious their choices are terrible because the situation is terrible but that does not make a fertilizer bomb a smart move. Blowing up the platform might slow the M6 down, but it fixes nothing, not the food, not the soldiers, not Earth ever accepting an independent Mars, it could just hand the M6 an excuse to treat Happy Valley like terrorists, it could prove their theory without having to explain it and give them real motives to stop the chaos. That is why I liked the Mars drama we got on this episode even when I was not fully on board with the Council. Miles can call the plan necessary and Boyd can warn the soldiers seconds before it goes off but Ruiz still dies, and good intentions do not erase that the people fighting for Mars just caused a death while trying to protect their home.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7772588/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
Miles feels like more of a real leader here because he listens, pushes Irina on what she is not telling him and makes the call when waiting is just not an option anymore, but I am not fully sold on the political plan underneath it. Irina and Polivanov argue the embargo has put the American and Soviet economies in free fall and President Korzhenko is close to losing power, and a new Soviet government might cut a deal that weakens or ends the M6 response, that gives Miles a reason to hold out and gives Polivanov a personal reason since his own future and family are tied to the government changing. The problem is Happy Valley cannot wait on Earth politics, the colony is short on food, the soldiers are close and the Council is trusting people who worked against them not long ago. I get why Miles is right about having to question Irina, but its just obvious and almost look like he is force to proceed with his plan without having much control over, cant even call it a plan, so it was expected that blowing up the platform could easily make things worse before any new Soviet leader ever shows up. Here Miles got more control without having to pretend to be this seasoned expert politician and it still makes clear that being decisive is not the same as being right, as his growing reputation worries a bit, because Gerardo still treats him like the same guy who protected everyone back in 2003 and Miles still has not told anyone the truth about giving up Ghost Ops under interrogation, which Palmer knows, and that alone could wreck the trust he needs right now to keep on going.
Boyd and the new Happy Valley Corps make the Council decision feel even more uncomfortable because the show is basically giving us what Mars wants to become while its leaders sign off on more violence. Boyd tells the new officers straight up that they are there to protect people, not abuse their authority and I like her in that role because she is not just throwing the word independence around, she is actually trying to build a police force that runs different from the one that used to control Happy Valley. The other factor in place here is that Alex jumps in as a medic given how uncomfortable he seems around violence, even though Boyd still makes him go through weapons training anyway. That matters because Mars wants to be kinder now, but everybody knows a fight is coming and kindness alone will not stop it. Lily is helping in a different way after Gulsora dies, recording the people of Mars so Earth sees them as workers and families instead of one group of insurgents, but it feels small next to everything happening around her, a documentary and a song will not undo how easy the explosion at Kuznetsov could be for the M6 to use against them. The show is building a kind of shared identity for Mars and then the Council hands its enemies exactly the kind of event that could wipe out all the work Lily and Boyd have done in one news report, and I believe that is not a flaw on the script, mostly sounds totally intentional to show off how it is the whole reason their cause feels more serious now.
Everything going on at Titan is pretty clear although its a bit complex to care about, mainly because Walt is tearing himself up over the failed return burn because he thinks it was his mistake, while Kelly knows she is the one who changed the programming and still will not tell him. I get why she stays quiet admitting it could get her in trouble and split a crew already stranded far from where they planned to land, but watching Walt blame himself makes Kelly look worse the longer she waits. He ends up temporarily handing command to her because he no longer trusts his own judgment which should be a massive shift for the crew, but the episode moves on quick to a possible life site outside their safe travel range, with Walt still needed since he actually knows Titan. Kelly taking control makes sense based on the recent events and makes her the acting commander, even when she might feel guilty on the inside, but it does not feel settled, she has command because Walt believes he failed, not because the crew knows the truth and chose her. The episode loses force giving this scenes less room to expand and let it sink in or potentially giving her enough time to screw up, while Mars deals with an actual attack, this could have been moments with way more weight to uncover Kelly but fine, probably they saving it for latter. The search for life is a big deal too and Kelly gets a nice speech that gives Happy Valley a rare moment of pride but the Titan conflict feels paused instead of developed. Walt handing over command is not a solution, it just puts Kelly in a stronger spot while in reality things are just getting worst.
The ending is where episode proves the Council did not really win anything at all, even though the bomb takes out the docking platform exactly as planned. Boyd and Polivanov get to Kuznetsov believing the M6 recon team is still two hours away, set the bomb and find out too late that M6 soldiers are already inside. Boyd tries to warn them, which matters because it shows killing soldiers was never the goal but there is no time left and Ruiz pushes Avery away from the blast and ends up dying after debris tears through his helmet. Avery survives but her reaction says it all and this is more personal instead of strategic, she had to be destroyed from the inside looking at that scene, she was already scared whatever damage runs in her family might be inside her too and Ruiz had just gotten her believing she could make different choices, but it doesnt matter anymore. Now her first real mission near Mars ends with him dead because the people she was sent to stop just blew up the station. That is a terrible spot for someone already scared of losing control of herself and it means the M6 could show up even angrier, with proof of an attack and a dead sergeant to justify hitting back even harder. The Council bought itself some time, but it might have made negotiation almost impossible, and for me that is why this episode works really well as continuation of recent events getting prepare for the last two, it keeps the Mars fight easy to follow and shows how desperate they are that it doesnt look like anyone is thinking straight anymore as people are starting to die, and it leaves both sides more scared of each other and with even less reason to trust each other. Mars independence has become this dream and does sound like what had happen before in history, during similar situations where there is people fighting for land, independence, a home, but the people actually fighting for it keep creating consequences they might not be able to walk back.
#forallmankind, #bravenewworld, #mars, #titan, #independence, #resistance, #council, #miles, #avery, #ruiz, #kelly, #walt, #boyd, #irina, #polivanov, #aleida, #happyvalley, #kuznetsov, #m6, #helios, #explosion, #freedom, #conflict, #television, #recap
Rating: 75/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.