Star City can definitely be a slow burn at times, and it tends to focus more on politics and social interactions on the ground than on space exploration, but it does deliver an interesting continuation of the For All Mankind universe.
What Is It?
This alternate-history science fiction drama is set in the same universe as For All Mankind, but told from the Soviet perspective. After the Soviet Union becomes the first nation to land a man on the Moon, the series follows the cosmonauts, engineers, and intelligence officers working behind the Iron Curtain as they struggle with political intrigue, espionage, and the immense personal sacrifices required to keep their nation’s space program ahead in the race for the stars.
Airing: Apple TV, One Season Totaling 8 Episodes (So Far)
Starring: Rhys Ifans, Anna Maxwell Martin, Agnes O’Casey, Alice Englert, Solly McLeod, Adam Nagaitis
Created By: Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Ronald D. Moore
Johnny Jay’s Thoughts:
For All Mankind debuted in 2019, helping to usher in the Apple TV streaming service, and it has run five seasons so far, delivering one of the best true science fiction shows currently on television (you can read my review of the latest season at this link). That series presents an alternate history in which the Soviets beat the Americans to the Moon in the 1960s, leading to an ongoing space race that results in the exploration of Mars and beyond. Star City provides a logical extension, giving us a perspective from the Russian side shortly after the Moon landing as they try to remain a step ahead of their rivals in the conquest of space. It takes place in the titular location, which is based on an actual place that served as the primary training facility for the Soviet space program.
For those coming in new to the show, you do not have to have seen For All Mankind to understand what is going on. They reveal early on that the Russians have landed on the Moon, establishing the alternate history, and then events pick up from there. Two characters from the show, Chief Designer Sergei Korolev and surveillance agent Irina Morozova, play important roles in the parent series, but the viewer does not need to know that at this point because Star City simply fills in their background stories (and both characters are played by different actors). Apart from that, the show delivers mostly a new set of characters as it follows the progression of the Soviet space program.
The series alternates between the events in Star City and the space excursions, mostly focused on the Moon, spending more time in the former likely due to budgetary reasons. It shows the heavy surveillance state keeping an eye on the cosmonauts and the people working on the ground, maintaining secrecy as the government holds a tight grip on the space program. This in particular offers an interesting contrast to the first season of For All Mankind, where we saw the astronauts and their families bound by the high expectations placed on them by the government and the public. The astronauts had to keep up the All-American hero image while the wives had to stick close to the domestic norms of the 1960s and 1970s. On both sides of the political spectrum, the people involved in the space program find themselves trapped by these outside pressures, offering some biting social commentary. The events of For All Mankind Season 1 resonate better with American audiences, for obvious reasons, but the view into the Soviet world can be poignant as well.
One complaint about recent seasons of the parent series is that it tends to drag and brings in some soap opera subplots, and that is definitely true of the first season of Star City as well. For those who thought things progressed slowly in the fifth year of For All Mankind, you had better prepare yourself if you are going to start watching the new show. It can move at a glacial pace at times, and you certainly find yourself wanting more focus on the events in space. But I do find the storylines involving the surveillance state interesting as well as the development of the Irina Morozova character. This makes the show feel more like an espionage tale at times, and even though things move slowly, I rarely find the series boring.
As expected, they have assembled an excellent cast for the series, and this is very much an ensemble show. But standing out in their roles are Rhys Ifans as Sergei Korolev, Agnes O’Casey as Irina Morozova, Solly McLeod as the rash cosmonaut Sasha Polivanov, and Alice Englert as the first woman on the Moon, Anastasia Belikova. (Just out of curiosity, should we take offense that none of these people playing Russians are actually Russian?) It does get a bit difficult to keep up with all the characters, but each of the performers does a good job of making their role stand out.
I am five episodes into the series at this point and will certainly stick it out to the end. I can’t tell you that I have enjoyed this one as much as For All Mankind, but it delivers a good addition to the franchise, and it is interesting to see things from the Soviet side. This may be a slow-burn show, but it is worth a look as a decent sci-fi entry and a good continuation of the parent series.
What’s Next?
The season finale releases this week, and there is no word yet on whether this one will come back for a second year. It is actually one of the least-watched Apple TV originals according to data from Luminate (~600K views in its first ten days), but surprisingly, recent seasons of For All Mankind are not pulling in that many more viewers either (~800K views in the first ten days of its fifth season), and that one keeps getting renewed. Apple TV does tend to be supportive of its originals, so a second season could happen, but I don’t see this one sticking around nearly as long as the parent series.
Are you watching Star City and do you consider it a good addition to the For All Mankind franchise? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below.
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