For All Mankind: The Bear Hug
November 21, 2023 8:24 PM - Season 4, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Miles gets involved in Ilya's business, as his job turns out to be actually good for something. Kelly and Aleida hit up Dev for business. The Soviet chaos affects both Margo on Earth and the Russians on Mars. Ed shows off his secret pot supply.
We met Svetlana on the Russian side of Mars, who misses her dad and wonders what's going on. Ed offers her his secret pot stash for pain relief.
Kelly and Aleida eventually get somewhere with their proposals when they talk to Dev, who wants to take back Helios. Aleida goes to Bill (now handicapped from the blast) to get his shares, and Dev gets his company back.
Margo is captured and tortured for information regarding the nameless woman who gave her that card. By the end of the episode, that lady's rescued her, taken over Roscosmos, and recruited Margo to work at Star City. Well, finally.
Miles finds a new way to make cash, by going to work for Ilya in the "I can get it for you" business--his job gives him more access and that helps. But after fucking up by trying to help fix Ilya's still and blowing it up instead, he's out of a job unless he can find a replacement thermostat. Which he does...IN NORTH KOREA TERRITORY. Miles is either very smart, very stupid, or all of the above in that he engineers a situation to get into there--and gets lucky when he gets caught at it. The fellow who catches him lets him take that thermometer...but he has a job for Ilya and co: can you get me my wife?
Quotes:
"You can't take epiphanies to the bank." -Dev
"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have brought up my mom." "Ya think?" -Kelly and Aleida
"You were talking to the KGB who watch the rest of the KGB." -???
"Are you suggesting that we take over Helios?"
"I can't do manned space flight any more." -Aleida
"At least you didn't pee your pants." -Bill
"The lesson of Icarus isn't don't fly too close to the sun, it's make better fucking wings." -Dev, having a point.
"I might have found you a new customer today." -Miles
"Nixon opened up China, you opened up North Korea." -Samantha
"I need you to bring me my wife." -North Korean dude whose name I didn't get.
"Star City?!"
We met Svetlana on the Russian side of Mars, who misses her dad and wonders what's going on. Ed offers her his secret pot stash for pain relief.
Kelly and Aleida eventually get somewhere with their proposals when they talk to Dev, who wants to take back Helios. Aleida goes to Bill (now handicapped from the blast) to get his shares, and Dev gets his company back.
Margo is captured and tortured for information regarding the nameless woman who gave her that card. By the end of the episode, that lady's rescued her, taken over Roscosmos, and recruited Margo to work at Star City. Well, finally.
Miles finds a new way to make cash, by going to work for Ilya in the "I can get it for you" business--his job gives him more access and that helps. But after fucking up by trying to help fix Ilya's still and blowing it up instead, he's out of a job unless he can find a replacement thermostat. Which he does...IN NORTH KOREA TERRITORY. Miles is either very smart, very stupid, or all of the above in that he engineers a situation to get into there--and gets lucky when he gets caught at it. The fellow who catches him lets him take that thermometer...but he has a job for Ilya and co: can you get me my wife?
Quotes:
"You can't take epiphanies to the bank." -Dev
"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have brought up my mom." "Ya think?" -Kelly and Aleida
"You were talking to the KGB who watch the rest of the KGB." -???
"Are you suggesting that we take over Helios?"
"I can't do manned space flight any more." -Aleida
"At least you didn't pee your pants." -Bill
"The lesson of Icarus isn't don't fly too close to the sun, it's make better fucking wings." -Dev, having a point.
"I might have found you a new customer today." -Miles
"Nixon opened up China, you opened up North Korea." -Samantha
"I need you to bring me my wife." -North Korean dude whose name I didn't get.
"Star City?!"
Figured Margo would be picked up by the KGB but I need to work through who the sides are and who was on which side.
Gorbachev was undertaking glasnoft. Hardliners (Korzhenko) couped. Police shut down a newsstand protest and picked up Margo.
Then an interrogator wants to know who Margo works for, says the number is for a prefix "assigned to the Third Directorate of the KGB." Who opposes Korzshenko.
Then a bunch of gunfire and now a new angry guy walks in, declares his support for Gorbachov, reveals the number is a trap set by the Second Directorate who supports Korzhenko, executes the interrogator, and resumes the exact same interrogation line.
Except the identity of the person is someone who's authority he respects enough to lease Margo? Either the writers are high or this ROSCOM lady is a quadruple agent. Probably both?
posted by pwnguin at 10:38 PM on November 21, 2023
Gorbachev was undertaking glasnoft. Hardliners (Korzhenko) couped. Police shut down a newsstand protest and picked up Margo.
Then an interrogator wants to know who Margo works for, says the number is for a prefix "assigned to the Third Directorate of the KGB." Who opposes Korzshenko.
Then a bunch of gunfire and now a new angry guy walks in, declares his support for Gorbachov, reveals the number is a trap set by the Second Directorate who supports Korzhenko, executes the interrogator, and resumes the exact same interrogation line.
Except the identity of the person is someone who's authority he respects enough to lease Margo? Either the writers are high or this ROSCOM lady is a quadruple agent. Probably both?
posted by pwnguin at 10:38 PM on November 21, 2023
I don't think the KGB thing was intended to be that complicated. Margo got picked up by people siding with Korzhenko, people who at that point did not know who she was and believed the number to be connected to the Third Directorate, who were aligned with Gorbechev. People loyal to Gorbachev took over the prison and somehow knew the line was actually connected with the Second Directorate and therefore their enemy. The Gorbachev people also did not know Margo's true identity.
At some point mystery woman who becomes head of Roscosmos finds out where Margo is, approximately concurrently a settlement of some kind is made to end the power struggle, so the army people controlling the prison fall in behind Korzhenko, and Margo is hauled off to Star City to work for Roscosmos at mystery lady's behest.
posted by wierdo at 2:59 AM on November 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
At some point mystery woman who becomes head of Roscosmos finds out where Margo is, approximately concurrently a settlement of some kind is made to end the power struggle, so the army people controlling the prison fall in behind Korzhenko, and Margo is hauled off to Star City to work for Roscosmos at mystery lady's behest.
posted by wierdo at 2:59 AM on November 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Nice callback to last season where they went to the North Korean probe to scrounge for parts and were confronted by Lee Jung-Gil.
However, the North Korean gambit was a weird way to move the plot: a still is broken and can only be fixed with an obsolete thermostat that can only be found in the North Korean refrigerator. Why not hook up one of the new thermostats they have in stock? Aerospace engineers might have to run all sorts of analyses and recertification for a new part being replaced on the up-and-up, but this is for an off-the-books operation and field technicians do this kind of thing all the time.
Won’t the North Koreans notice their fridge isn’t working anymore, right after the technician visited them (and somehow convinced them to leave him unattended for what turned out to be a false alarm)?
Ed chooses to trust the Russians, right when they’re about to change management. Dev realizes he has trust issues, and purges the politburo of Helios. Aleida and Karen somehow think they can trust Dev with the keys to Helios. Ilya trusts Miles, gets burned but also finds new opportunities. I sense a theme.
posted by cardboard at 6:24 AM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
However, the North Korean gambit was a weird way to move the plot: a still is broken and can only be fixed with an obsolete thermostat that can only be found in the North Korean refrigerator. Why not hook up one of the new thermostats they have in stock? Aerospace engineers might have to run all sorts of analyses and recertification for a new part being replaced on the up-and-up, but this is for an off-the-books operation and field technicians do this kind of thing all the time.
Won’t the North Koreans notice their fridge isn’t working anymore, right after the technician visited them (and somehow convinced them to leave him unattended for what turned out to be a false alarm)?
Ed chooses to trust the Russians, right when they’re about to change management. Dev realizes he has trust issues, and purges the politburo of Helios. Aleida and Karen somehow think they can trust Dev with the keys to Helios. Ilya trusts Miles, gets burned but also finds new opportunities. I sense a theme.
posted by cardboard at 6:24 AM on November 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
You were talking to the KGB who watch the rest of the KGB." -???
The second directorate of the KGB was responsible for internal security matters, as opposed to foreign operations (1st directorate). The third, I think, dealt with the military. I'm not sure what the whole point of the shuffling around of interrogators was except to keep us off balance and confused along with Margo.
I'm not buying Ilyas setup on Mars - he's got to be siphoning power and water off the main systems, and I'm pretty sure they would watch that pretty close.
posted by nubs at 9:43 PM on November 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
The second directorate of the KGB was responsible for internal security matters, as opposed to foreign operations (1st directorate). The third, I think, dealt with the military. I'm not sure what the whole point of the shuffling around of interrogators was except to keep us off balance and confused along with Margo.
I'm not buying Ilyas setup on Mars - he's got to be siphoning power and water off the main systems, and I'm pretty sure they would watch that pretty close.
posted by nubs at 9:43 PM on November 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
a weird way to move the plot
You could say that about this whole season so far.
posted by fairmettle at 9:46 PM on November 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
You could say that about this whole season so far.
posted by fairmettle at 9:46 PM on November 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm not buying Ilyas setup on Mars - he's got to be siphoning power and water off the main systems, and I'm pretty sure they would watch that pretty close.
I wonder if the base authorities know about it and are turning a judicious blind eye.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 10:26 PM on November 22, 2023
I wonder if the base authorities know about it and are turning a judicious blind eye.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 10:26 PM on November 22, 2023
Well, maybe Miles isn't a potential labor leader, maybe he's just... a con man and criminal who potentially starts a war with a foreign power, and ends up getting arrested for espionage or maybe human trafficking? I don't know where they're going with him now.
Ed and Svetlana were good although I don't quite know whether she thinks he's a romantic interest or a father figure.
Nice to see Bill and to hear about Wayne. Can we smuggle Wayne to Mars? I think he could help everybody chill.
That was a BIZARRE way to get Margo to a job interview we all knew was coming. But I guess it was nice to have one more episode of "The Americans".
I don't trust Dev, and Kelly and Aleida shouldn't either.
The writing and plotting is a bit weird but it's Danny-free so I'm still on board!
I'm not buying Ilyas setup on Mars - he's got to be siphoning power and water off the main systems, and I'm pretty sure they would watch that pretty close.
I feel like Ilya has bargaining chips or blackmail material with some pretty high-level Mars staffers.
posted by mmoncur at 3:32 AM on November 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Ed and Svetlana were good although I don't quite know whether she thinks he's a romantic interest or a father figure.
Nice to see Bill and to hear about Wayne. Can we smuggle Wayne to Mars? I think he could help everybody chill.
That was a BIZARRE way to get Margo to a job interview we all knew was coming. But I guess it was nice to have one more episode of "The Americans".
I don't trust Dev, and Kelly and Aleida shouldn't either.
The writing and plotting is a bit weird but it's Danny-free so I'm still on board!
I'm not buying Ilyas setup on Mars - he's got to be siphoning power and water off the main systems, and I'm pretty sure they would watch that pretty close.
I feel like Ilya has bargaining chips or blackmail material with some pretty high-level Mars staffers.
posted by mmoncur at 3:32 AM on November 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm not buying Ilyas setup on Mars - he's got to be siphoning power and water off the main systems, and I'm pretty sure they would watch that pretty close.
Maybe Ed assumes it's caused by his secret pot farm?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:09 AM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
Maybe Ed assumes it's caused by his secret pot farm?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:09 AM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’m sorry, but whatever happened to Margot’s Russian friend?
posted by willF at 7:16 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by willF at 7:16 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
willF: "I’m sorry, but whatever happened to Margot’s Russian friend?"
You mean Sergei, the Russian space-program guy who defected to the USA? We haven't seen him this season.
posted by adamrice at 7:45 AM on November 24, 2023
You mean Sergei, the Russian space-program guy who defected to the USA? We haven't seen him this season.
posted by adamrice at 7:45 AM on November 24, 2023
Wrenn Schmidt's character (Kate) in The Americans meets her end while hanging by her wrists so I was a little spooked when Margo was in the same position. 😅 I didn't need Vulture to point that out but I did need it to tell me that Gura, the first person to interrogate her, was played by the same actor who played Father Andrei in the last two seasons of The Americans.
I was happy to learn that Aleida is trying to give Margo the benefit of the doubt.
posted by kingless at 1:20 PM on November 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was happy to learn that Aleida is trying to give Margo the benefit of the doubt.
posted by kingless at 1:20 PM on November 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
We knew Miles' attempt at subterfuge was going to go south pretty quickly, but I'll admit, I'm happy that it resulted in Lee Jung-Gil going out there to ask for his wife. My guess is that once his wife arrives, Lee plans to defect. I'm starting to feel like Miles is just this stand in every day guy who is going to bumble and gripe his way into one major incident after another, and I'm okay with that.
Ed knows he's medically unfit to fly anymore, so he refuses to go home. He won't be special anymore, just a washed up astronaut. Which makes me wonder how they're going to end his story this season. I'd like to think it involves going home to see his grandkid. If the writers are awful people, they'll have the grandkid in some serious medical emergency from a car accident and that'll jolt Ed back to earth.
Helios take over....yo.
posted by Atreides at 8:08 AM on November 27, 2023
Ed knows he's medically unfit to fly anymore, so he refuses to go home. He won't be special anymore, just a washed up astronaut. Which makes me wonder how they're going to end his story this season. I'd like to think it involves going home to see his grandkid. If the writers are awful people, they'll have the grandkid in some serious medical emergency from a car accident and that'll jolt Ed back to earth.
Helios take over....yo.
posted by Atreides at 8:08 AM on November 27, 2023
Atreides: "Ed knows he's medically unfit to fly anymore, so he refuses to go home. He won't be special anymore, just a washed up astronaut. Which makes me wonder how they're going to end his story this season."
Now that you say that, it makes me think he goes out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing himself for everyone else on Mars. Probably something to do with diverting a runaway asteroid.
posted by adamrice at 8:21 AM on November 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
Now that you say that, it makes me think he goes out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing himself for everyone else on Mars. Probably something to do with diverting a runaway asteroid.
posted by adamrice at 8:21 AM on November 27, 2023 [2 favorites]
I did not need this alternate history space show to turn into torture voyeurism like 24. There are many ways to put Margo in such a dire and vulnerable situation without depicting such brutality on screen.
I do like Miiles as the original Beltalowda though.
posted by Nelson at 9:42 PM on November 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
I do like Miiles as the original Beltalowda though.
posted by Nelson at 9:42 PM on November 27, 2023 [5 favorites]
"The lesson of Icarus isn't don't fly too close to the sun, it's make better fucking wings." -Dev
The lesson is listen to the engineer when he tells you the design limitations.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 3:42 AM on November 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
The lesson is listen to the engineer when he tells you the design limitations.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 3:42 AM on November 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Wouldn't someone notice the massive spike in scrip Dr. Doom's been depositing to his account?
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:52 PM on January 10
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:52 PM on January 10
I don't trust Dev, and Kelly and Aleida shouldn't either.
Yeah, I’m hoping the Look they exchanged as Dev purged everyone who looked at him funny indicated a dawning on their part, but who fkn knows at this point
posted by coriolisdave at 10:39 PM on January 23
Yeah, I’m hoping the Look they exchanged as Dev purged everyone who looked at him funny indicated a dawning on their part, but who fkn knows at this point
posted by coriolisdave at 10:39 PM on January 23
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What's it to a woman who apparently owns so much of that same company she should be a legally registered shareholder and can perform a hostile takeover?
posted by pwnguin at 10:05 PM on November 21, 2023 [6 favorites]