Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for For All Mankind Season 5 Episode 9.
With just one episode before the finale, For All Mankind finally delivered the most important moment of Season 5. In “Sons and Daughters,” the long-awaited Baldwin-Stevens reunion finally takes place, as Alex Baldwin (Sean Kaufman) and Avery Jarrett (Ines Asserson) meet in the most unlikely circumstances. As M6 forces storm Happy Valley, the two find themselves on opposing sides without knowing who each other really is, but with a common goal of saving Marcus Haskell (Barrett Carnahan), setting the stage for the Season 5 finale and raising the stakes for both of them.
’For All Mankind’ Season 5 Positions Alex Baldwin and Avery Jarrett on Opposing Sides
This meeting is brilliantly staged in Episode 9, as Alex is on his mission to get medical supplies from Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) at the Helios headquarters, while Avery and Haskell search for Marsies during the storming of Happy Valley. As both of them navigate the bowels of the station, the dark and winding hallways make the perfect setting for them to be both taken out of their element and completely caught up in the tension of the moment.
‘For All Mankind’ Star Promises a “Tense and Fraught” Finale for the Apple TV Sci-Fi Drama
Mireille Enos breaks down that tense scene in Episode 8 and what to expect in the future.
Season 5 has been setting up their meeting from the start, and has taken the time to show how different these two characters are from each other. Alex is the wunderkid of Happy Valley, reliable, responsible, and loved by all, while Avery is a loose cannon who struggles to fit in anywhere she goes. Alex represents the “good guys” from Happy Valley, while Avery fights for the “bad guys” from Earth who want to keep colonizing it. The twist here is that, in the moment, Alex is the unsteady one, while Avery remains collected. It’s Alex who shoots Haskell, his best friend and the one Marsie among the M6 forces; he does it unknowingly, of course, but still. Avery has the sense not to shoot him back, prioritizing helping her fallen colleague instead of instant retaliation.
Alex and Avery’s Meeting Represents an Important Reunion for ‘For All Mankind’
For All Mankind Season 5 has introduced a roster of great new characters, though Alex and Avery are undoubtedly the most important, representing the series’ generational storytelling. Everything begins with Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) and Gordo Stevens (Michael Dorman), who are best friends back in the 1960s, establishing a complex relationship between their families that lasts for decades.
This connection reaches a breaking point in the 1990s, with the death of Danny Stevens (Casey W. Johnson), Gordo’s son and Avery’s biological father, and Jimmy Stevens’ (David Chandler) role in the attack on NASA that kills Karen Baldwin (Shantel VanSanten). The Baldwins go on to continue their glorious history as explorers and settlers on Mars, while the Stevens name falls from grace. Avery herself doesn’t use it anymore, although she is Danny’s daughter through and through.
Now, in 2012, there is no camaraderie between the families anymore, nor forbidden romances, only the damage each clan has inflicted on the other, which now includes Alex shooting Haskell. The reunion also flips For All Mankind‘s generational storyline on its head. Alex’s mistake with Haskell marks a major failure for the Baldwin family after generations of Stevens making messy decisions.
Alex and Avery’s Meeting Sets up Big Personal Stakes in ‘For All Mankind’s Season 5 Finale
For All Mankind Season 5 reaches its end next week, with expectations then turning to the new spin-off, Star City, as well as Season 6, which has already been confirmed to be the show’s last. How Alex and Avery’s dynamic unfolds will likely define the final season, and there couldn’t be a better place for all that to unfold than Helios, under Dev’s watchful eye. The space tycoon has his own interests regarding the Happy Valley-M6 controversy, but he also has stakes in how Alex and Avery relate to each other.
Dev has known the Baldwins since the 1990s and has become a sort of father figure to Alex, providing him with counsel and insight whenever required and giving him his first job at Helios. Their relationship has been strained in recent months, but that didn’t stop Alex from taking Haskell to Helios instead of the med bay when he needed help. While Dev’s arc in Season 5 has been somewhat controversial so far, considering his siding with the M6, his knowledge of both the Baldwin and Stevens families may be the deciding factor that informs the very future of Mars.
