Back in Space with ‘Mankind,’ Michael Fassbender as a ‘Killer,’ Amateur 007s, PBS Salutes Veterans

One of the pleasures of this gripping alt-history drama about a never-ending space race is the montage of fictional headlines that opens every season, reminding us of what could have been—John Lennon playing the Super Bowl—while imagining a legacy of aggressive space exploration. Season 4 jumps ahead eight years to 2003, with astronaut commander Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman as a very gray fox) overseeing a risky mission to secure an asteroid for mining operations on the expanding Mars base of Happy Valley. Back on Earth, NASA’s new administrator (Daniel Stern) offers retired space legend Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) a new opportunity, while working-class folks like ex-oil rigger Miles (Toby Kebbell) look to the skies for job prospects, even if it means separation from family for years. By the end of the first hour, you’ll be willing to follow these characters anywhere.

Director David Fincher (Mindhunter) puts you inside the head of an assassin (played with grim detachment by Michael Fassbender) in a thriller that takes its sweet time getting started, then shifts into high gear when a hit goes sideways and this unnamed killer—using ’70s-era TV-friendly aliases like Howard Cunningham, Robert Hartley, Oscar Madison and Reuben Kincaid—goes on the run. He’s now a target as well as an instrument of revenge, and the action rarely lets up.

While we wait to learn who’ll take over from Daniel Craig as the movies’ next James Bond, a reality competition challenges nine teams to tap into their inner 007 in a global race to win a potential £1,000,000 prize. Brian Cox, freed from his Succession duties, takes on the sinister role of “The Controller,” pulling the strings as he leads the pairs through Bond-inspired stunts and physical tasks as they search for silver suitcases with puzzles to solve. Let’s hope there are breaks for martinis.

Kicking off the Veterans Day holiday weekend, Jon Stewart leads a tribute to service members in a star-studded fete that celebrates heroes past and present. Musical guests include country star Mickey Guyton, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Amanda Shires and Broadway’s Mandy Gonzalez. But the real celebs are the veterans, including Medal of Honor recipient and Green Beret Colonel Paris Davis, a Vietnam War veteran, and 90-year-old Korean War-era trailblazer Evelyn Kandel. The U.S. Army Field Band provides a rousing musical accompaniment.

In a deeply personal reflection on service during wartime, ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff returns to Iraq, where he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a roadside bombing in 2006 while reporting on the war-torn country. Woodruff reunites with Iraqis who helped save him alongside American troops, and the special also focuses on his post-recovery mission to ensure wounded veterans are never forgotten. The hour includes footage from this year’s Stand Up for Heroes event benefiting the Bob Woodruff Foundation, with performances by Josh Groban, Rita Wilson, Tracy Morgan, Jon Stewart and John Mellencamp.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• MeTV Remembers the M*A*S*H Finale (7/6c, MeTV): The nostalgia channel airs its annual Veterans Day salute to the wartime comedy’s record-setting series finale, which first aired 40 years ago in February 1983 to an audience topping 105 million. The three-hour showcase features exclusive interviews as well as the uncut finale.
• Everything Christmas (8/7c, Hallmark Channel): Roomies played by Katherine Barrell and Cindy Busby take a road trip to Yuletide Springs, where it’s Christmas year-round (not unlike a certain channel).
• Power Book IV: Force (8/7c, Starz): The Season 2 finale of the Power spinoff finds Tommy (Joseph Sikora) weighing what he’s willing to sacrifice to get revenge and achieve his goal of taking over Chicago’s drug trade.
• Dateline NBC (9/8c, NBC): Correspondent Andrea Canning leads a comprehensive update into the investigation of the Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island, New York in the aftermath of the arrest of Rex Heuermann.

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