AppleTV+ For All Mankind S4 | When does the new season begin and what happened at the end of Season 3?

The fourth season of AppleTV+’s alternative-historical drama ‘For All Mankind’ returns this weekend. We once again follow the story of Ed Baldwin, who is dealing with the dissolution of his relationship and an injury he suffered during the Polaris expedition to Mars. The show continues to traverse between historical fact and fiction, exploring an alternate timeline where the space race between the United States and other countries continues to simmer, despite earlier successes.

For the unfamiliar, ‘For All Mankind’ is set in an alternate timeline that begins in 1969, when Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first person to land on the Moon. This outcome devastates morale at NASA but also catalyses a U.S. effort to catch up. The Soviet Union emphasizes diversity by including a woman in subsequent landings, forcing the United States to match pace, training women and minorities who were largely excluded from the initial decades of U.S. space exploration. 

Each subsequent season takes place 10 years later, with season two taking place in the 1980s, season three taking place in the 1990s, and as revealed in the season three finale and the new season taking place in the 2000s.

A consistent award nominee since its debut in 2019, the show previously scooped the Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Programming award at the 2021 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, while that same year the show earned the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Television Series. Joel Kinnaman, perhaps best known to audiences as either Col. Rick Flag from ‘The Suicide Squad’ films or as ‘Robocop’ has also been nominated for his acting role frequently, with his last nomination coming at the 2022 Saturn Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series.

But ahead of the start of Season 4, let’s remind ourselves what happened at the conclusion of Season 3, and the continued aftermath of the disaster that was the Polaris mission during the tail end of last season’s ‘For All Mankind.’

What happened at the end of Season 3 of ‘For All Mankind’?

By the end of ‘For All Mankind’ Season 3, the year is 1992. Karen and Ed have split up, and Karen is launching an orbital space hotel called Polaris with Sam Cleveland. Ed and Danielle attend Danny's wedding on Polaris with their new partners. Meanwhile, Ellen, who is now a senator, is running as the Republican nominee against Bill Clinton in the presidential election while the space race continues to Mars.

Molly, who is now completely blind, is in charge of the astronaut program and must choose between Ed and Danielle to lead the Mars expedition. Margo is head of NASA, and she and Sergei secretly assist each other with their respective space programs. Aleida is working on new rocket engines for the Mars mission and is notified by Margo that she will go to the Moon to oversee its development.

However, during the climax, debris from a failed North Korean rocket damages a thruster on Polaris, causing it to spin out of control and eventually disintegrate. In the evacuation attempt, Ed is injured and Sam is killed, but Danny manages to save Polaris by performing a spacewalk to shut off the damaged thruster. The season concludes with several character developments, including Kelly's pregnancy, political upheavals, and personal reconciliations among the characters.

Who is starring in ‘For All Mankind’ season 4?

• Joel Kinnaman as Edward "Ed" Baldwin
• Sarah Jones as Tracy Stevens
• Shantel VanSanten as Karen Baldwin
• Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson
• Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison
• Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb
• Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole
• Cynthy Wu as Kelly Baldwin
• Casey W. Johnson as Danny Stevens
• Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales
• Edi Gathegi as Dev Ayesa

When does ‘For All Mankind’ season 4 arrive on AppleTV+?

‘For All Mankind’ season 4 arrives on AppleTV+ on Friday November 10 2023.