For All Mankind is finally on the verge of returning to Apple TV+ as part of the 2023 TV schedule, more than a year after the Season 3 finale ended back in August 2022 with a time jump and some Radiohead. Season 4 is bringing the story ahead to the 21st century, and viewers should expect some significant changes. In fact, members of the For All Mankind production team spoke with CinemaBlend about what's ahead, and part of Season 4 will be "almost 100% new."
Fans of one of the best Apple TV+ shows will see the story pick up in 2003, and the year is definitely going to be different in the For All Mankind universe than it was in real life two decades ago. While the space program was the focus of earlier seasons, the Happy Valley mission in Season 4 involves working to mine valuable asteroids. There will be tension on the base, and a lot has changed over the eight-year time jump.
I spoke with For All Mankind production designer Seth Reed, costume designer Esther Marquis, and NASA tech advisor Garrett Reisman at the Apple TV+ press day for Season 4. When asked how their roles evolved as the show enters the 21st century, Reed shared:
Well, first of all, I'll just tell you that you will see almost 100% new sets, so from a production designer's point of view, this is a fabulous experience. We're really building a new world. It's based on some things that we've seen in previous seasons, but we're really out there. Happy Valley has expanded now gigantically. We have new spaceships, and as you know, we're searching for asteroids that we can mine, which is based on real things that are happening that people are talking about right now.
For All Mankind entering the 21st century obviously brings the story much closer to present day, and Season 4 exploring the idea of mining asteroids has been discussed in real life. Of course, there's no sprawling Happy Valley on Mars in real life with the technology to feasibly mine asteroids, but more of what appears in Season 4 could seem familiar to Apple TV+ subscribers. As the production designer shared, the sets will be almost entirely new, including an expanded Happy Valley and some new spaceships.
That said, the big cliffhanger from the end of the third season was centered on Margo, who had to defect to the Soviet Union in the wake of the explosion that claimed the lives of two important characters. Seth Reed didn't drop all the details about what she's up to following the eight-year time jump, but the production designer's tease suggests fans should be intrigued:
That's not even to talk about Margo's side of the story, which I can only hint at, because you saw her at the end of Season 3 wake up in Moscow. So the world is going to grow and expand in every direction this season.
The glimpse of Margo's new reality in the Season 3 finale seemed a lot more drab and glum than her life in the U.S., but viewers only got to see a few moments of her in the Soviet Union (with Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place" playing to confirm a time jump) before the credits rolled in 2022.
Changes are coming in another form as well in Season 4. Costume designer Esther Marquis opened up about how wardrobe reflects the shifts that have happened in the For All Mankind universe in 2003, saying:
From a costuming point of view, it's actually quite delightful when you're expanding and creating characters that the audience is very familiar with. And when I say the word 'creating,' I'm meaning sort of transforming themselves. For want of a better description, aging [laughs], but these characters have all gone through major life changes, professionally and personally. So for me, the challenge was, and the interesting, exciting part, was developing further the look of those characters and sort of adding to their story.
The glimpses of Joel Kinnaman in the Season 4 trailer are certainly proof enough that the characters have physically aged since Season 3, but the life changes over the time jump could be much more important for the characters. Sadly, we already know one major cast member who won't be back as a series regular. There is one particular costume that the designer is excited about, and Esther Marquis commended NASA tech advisor Garrett Reisman for helping to make it happen. She said:
The other wonderful challenge is, of course, the new Season 4 spacesuit. It was an amazing process, and Garrett here, of course, was a very important collaborator. I was really happy with where we ended up with a design.
Fortunately, the wait to see the new spacesuit in action is nearly over. For All Mankind Season 4 premieres on Friday, November 10 with the first episode on Apple TV+. The streamer is releasing episodes weekly rather than all at once for viewers to binge-watch, and if the first three seasons and Apple's new drama Lessons in Chemistry are any example, that could be the best way to enjoy the new season.
