The storytelling is smart and the worldbuilding world-beating, but it’s the characters’ deeply felt commitment to progress and each other that makes this come alive and soar to the stars.

For All Mankind remains ever ambitious with its fifth season, where the series makes the reflection off its alternate history mirror even stronger as the lives of everyday people get squeezed between the politicians of Mars fighting with the politicians of Earth.

Themes include the use of government propaganda on Earth to frame events on Mars in a negative light, also relevant to real-world current events. Science fiction is often at its best when it reflects the here-and-now, which “For All Mankind” has done from the start, contributing to the strength of the show’s dramatic storytelling.

Even when its narrative turns a tad staid, its profuse empathy carries the day.

Another great season of sci-fi as alternative history becomes alternative present, and reflects more of the reality we face, for better and for worse, in the world today.

It’s both understandable, given the sheer amount of things the show needs to seed for the audience, and a shame that the Season 5 premiere feels like a list of plot points needed checking off before diving into the real meat for the remaining nine episodes.

In its early run, FAM managed to intertwine its ambitious ideas and scope with the nitty-gritty of character development and relationships. Unfortunately, it slowly started to lose its grip on this. Season four, which was about how capitalism has ruined Mars, turned a little too soapy, with not as much concern for thrilling galactic adventures. Season five begins on a similar note.