Open Source finally gives this season a problem big enough to hit everybody on Mars at once and thats why it works so much better than another hour built around one secret or one argument between just too many people as we have seen on other episodes. Ed is gone now and the episode gives that some real space without turning the whole hour into one long goodbye, it wont be easy as everything use to turn around him and besides the series only has one season left since they closing with Season 6. Kelly and Alex go through what he left behind while the people of Happy Valley throw together their own memorial after the officials refuse to give him one and that tells you everything about how different the officials and the people actually living there saw the guy, Ed is an icon and that cant be taken away from him even after he is dead. To them he wasnt just some criminal tied to the Goldilocks theft, he was part of the reason their whole home exists in the first place and that sets the tone for the rest of the episode, where those same people find out their place on Mars might not even be permanent. The show keeps moving instead of milking his death over and over, which was the right call, I still felt his absence but the season does not act like it cant go on without him, it takes that loss and uses it to push Alex into stepping up, and by the end he makes a choice that could change things for pretty much everyone around him.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7772588/
- Platform: {{PLATFORM}}
Alex gets the most out of this new direction because for once he has something to do besides being Eds grandson or Kellys son, his first job at Helios looks ordinary and I liked that Kelly tells him everybody has to start somewhere even with the Baldwin, its better this way so it doesnt provide the impression he is getting hand overs. Dev pulls him into the Meru City project fast, but the conversation shows that Alex is very competent, he looks at this perfectly designed city and tells Dev a real home cannot feel completely planned out, people need room to change things and make it theirs. Dev does not brush him off, he asks Alex to figure out how to make it affordable instead of just handing him an easy job. There is that uncertainty feeling that doesnt go far from Dev and that is what keeps me hooked, he seems really serious about building a permanent city for real people instead of a work camp for mining, but that does not prove he is innocent about the automation plan, it just gives the episode a reason to hold the answer back. If Dev knows almost every worker could get replaced then Meru might be a city built for the handful he picked and if he does not know then people inside Helios made a massive call without him, either way his reaction to the leak does not settle which one it is. That puts some spice in this situation because he wants Mars to become something bigger but also likes control more than he likes being questioned.
The automation proposal is the core of everything right now and makes a strong case for the episodes because it turns some hidden plan into a direct threat against basically everybody in Happy Valley. Alex finds a restricted document laying out replacing up to 98 percent of commercial work on Mars over five years, with most workers expected to get shipped back to Earth and even if this was only a proposal it is still awful to even know the thought exist already in paper. A lot of these people didnt go there just for a short contract, they built real lives on Mars and Alex is proof of that himself since the planet basically made him who he is, so going back to Earth is not some simple thing for him. Basically the plan treats people like equipment, something you swap out the second a cheaper option comes along and thats why this leak can change things drastically if the public finds out too early and they front run it, there could be a strike but I doubt it would have any impact since in fact what the plan wants is to replace human labor as much as possible, plain simple. I liked that Lily refuses to assume Dev can be trusted just because Alex knows him, taking the file straight to him could give the company time to bury it. Leaking it means everybody finds out at once, but it also puts Alex and Lily in danger since their involvement is not hard to trace and the episode does not explain much the impact and risk that much, and thats fine since why giving up all of it at once. Still the final reactions show the information reaching workers, security, Helios leadership and the governor all at once, and that gives the season a real reason for people to be angry, because almost everybody now has a reason to fear losing their place if this plan moves forward.
The Avery part is quieter and at first I was not sold on her introduction because an angry young recruit with a troubled famous father is an easy character to understand. She joins the off planet force and keeps trying to separate herself from Danny Stevens, even though she is still carrying years of anger toward him but it feels the episode leans hard on that connection, creating a bridge betweer her last name and the fear that she could make the same mistakes he did, but does help a lot that the script do not drag this out for the season before letting Avery talk about it. Danielle tells her that joining for the wrong reasons could put her on the same path as Danny, so she makes Avery see that building her life around proving she is nothing like him still means he is controlling every choice she makes. I like that Danielle is the person who has this talk with her. She knew Danny, made some painful decisions about him on Mars, and stayed close enough to his family that Avery listens to her. Avery returns to the interview and gets accepted after being honest, giving her somewhere to go beyond being angry, and getting this obvious part of her story out of the way early gives her a chance to become more than another Stevens who cannot escape the family name.
During the episodes there are a lot of split pieces that point toward one bigger question about who Mars is actually for, because it starting to look like it was never intended for humas who where looking for a new start. Kelly leaving on the Titan mission represents that older dream of going farther and finding something new, and her time with Aleida gives the episode some warmth before they split up again, their friendship make sense because they can disagree about Helios decisions without pretending it never happened. Aleida shows up ready to confront Dev only to find out he already agrees the company is not working right, which shows how little control either one of them has over the business they run. Aleida cares about getting the Titan mission done while Dev stays locked in on Meru and that leaves room for other people to make choices that could affect the whole planet. Irina showing up in the incoming delegation gives another reason to suspect this plan comes from people way above the regular workers and it does seem like a smart choice becuase that keeps part of the secret and does to explain everything at once, the secret is not private anymore, Alex and Lily basically handed Happy Valley something that could unite them faster than any speech or memorial. I do not know if Dev is going to stand with them, defend Helios or just protect his own city plan, and thats the question that keeps me wanting to continue watching. I have mention before that this season for me has been a slow grind mostly because sometimes Im just too tired after work and in real life stuff to watch content everyday so I have to make the most when I can, but this season is starting to get spicy that keeps me watching. There are still sections that feel less urgent, specially the Avery stuff on Earth but the ending gives everything a much clearer direction than before. For the first time Mars does not feel like a place where separate problems just exist next to each other, it feels like a home where the people living there might finally be done taking orders from anyone who treats them as some temporary population that is about to be ship back to Earth, just with a good job medal when they once where offer a new start.
#forallmankind, #opensource, #mars, #happyvalley, #alexbaldwin, #devayes, #aleidarosales, #kellybaldwin, #averystevens, #daniellepoole, #helios, #automation, #workers, #rebellion, #space, #scifi, #television, #recap, #review, #titan, #merucity, #legacy, #future, #colony, #streaming
Rating: 80/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.
