Warning! This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for For All Mankind season 5, episode 10.

For All Mankind season 5 has come to an end, but this season finale felt a little different from the ones that came before. Season 5 has seen enormous tension erupt between the M6 nations on Earth and Mars, when the people living on the Red Planet learned about plans to almost entirely remove residents of Mars back to Earth in favor of replacing them with automation.

Following this, the Sons and Daughters of Mars, aka the SDM, rose up, took over the Happy Valley Base, and stopped the supply of iridium to Earth. Unfortunately, the war became messier before it was eventually resolved, but with leadership from Miles Dale, a mind-bending discovery from the team on Titan, and a ceasefire agreement, the season seems to conclude on a more positive note.

For All Mankind Season 5 Ends On A Brighter Future

For All Mankind has consistently delivered messages about the hope and potential for humankind as they find ways to overcome differences, and focus on the future and the skies. In several seasons, despite being preceded by very dark moments and catastrophic problems, the ending has left audiences with a positive message for a brighter future, and in this capacity, season 5 was no different.

The show also finds a way to hint at what is coming up in the next season, with a sharp jump ahead that teases a major future discovery, or some other development. Again, For All Mankind season 5 did this in a similar way to earlier seasons, but broadly speaking, this ending felt kind of different.

With a Free Mars that has gained independence, new life discovered among the planets of our own solar system, and characters like Alex Baldwin and Lily Dale creating a life together, it seems as though the future is brighter than it has ever been at the end of a season of For All Mankind. And as lovely as that is, it does create an awkward aspect in the fact that this isn’t the show’s finale.

For All Mankind Season 6 Is Set To Conclude The Series

Season 6 of For All Mankind will take the story all the way up to modern times, with the decade time leaps now bringing the show in line with the 2020s. With that, there is room to explore how Mars is now coping with its freedom, how the discovery of microbial life has changed humanity, and the development of Dev Ayesa’s dream city, Meru.

Of course, that feels like a lot of material for the series to dig into, but it also feels as though all of these developments are pretty straightforward. Sure, there is tension brewing between characters like Lily and her father as she may uncover her father’s previous betrayals, and the arrival of Avery Jarret, who has now opted to take her father’s name, makes for another intriguing character to follow, but the series has largely done what it set out to do.

Could For All Mankind Season 6 Do More Harm Than Good?

For All Mankind is an alternative historical fiction series that was built on the idea of the Soviet Union winning the space race, forcing the US to respond with a greater focus to hit the next major milestone, which ultimately proved to push the space race as a central dominant feature of the US government, and encouraged several other countries to prioritize space exploration as a major government endeavor.

After five seasons, the series has gone above and beyond in this mission, and practically brought the show’s timeline up to date with current events around the world. But pushing to literally create an alternative present show, and imagine what the world could look like today had events been different, will prove an enormous challenge, and invite more criticisms than any previous season has had to endure.

There is room for the story to expand, but with how well season 5 wraps up the story, it seems like this could have easily been the place to wrap up the show, and avoid teasing some future aspect of a story where more tension is introduced largely for the sake of getting another season out of a concept that really doesn’t need more expansion.

Apple TV’s Sci-Fi Future Is Bright Even After For All Mankind Ends

On that note, For All Mankind’s story is already expanding thanks to the Apple TV spin-off, Star City, which brings the story way back to the beginning as the Soviet Union gets its first big win in the space race, and then continues to try to find ways to keep its position as global leaders.

For many, this will be a powerful additional thread in the already impressive world of For All Mankind, as audiences take a peek behind the Iron Curtain to get a closer look at how the events played out in the USSR. Beyond that, Apple TV appears to be establishing itself as the leading streamer for sci-fi content, thanks to For All Mankind and other shows within the genre.

From expansions to existing properties, like Star City, to the ambitious Vince Gilligan series, Pluribus, and upcoming shows and films that prove Apple TV is willing to invest serious money and time into making these shows stand out. While it may be a less substantial streamer compared to the heavy-hitters like Netflix and Disney+, the quality of the content overall appears to be massively elevated when compared to other projects currently.

All of that said, For All Mankind is still one season away from ending for good, and it does have several threads it can still tug at to continue the story, but seeing how effectively they closed out season 5, with characters like Kelly Baldwin giving their lives, and creating full-circle moments that make it feel that much more final, it just seems a little odd to keep the story going.

In the meantime, Star City promises to bring everything back to the start and let audiences see more of how the story begins, especially as it focuses on the early years of Irina Morozova’s career. Hopefully, For All Mankind season 6 doesn’t fumble the ending and create a disappointing dip after the highs of season 5.

Release Date

2019 – 2027-00-00

Network

Apple TV

Showrunner

Ronald D. Moore

Directors

Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Andrew Stanton, Meera Menon, Dan Liu, Allen Coulter, Craig Zisk, Dennie Gordon, John Dahl, Lukas Ettlin, Wendey Stanzler, Seth Gordon, Sylvain White, Michael Morris, Maja Vrvilo, Sarah Boyd

Writers

Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, Ben Nedivi, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Nichole Beattie, Joe Menosky