How Apple TV’s 5-Part Mars Sci-Fi Series Is Mirroring Real-Life US History Addressed By For All Mankind Star

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for For All Mankind season 5, episode 6, “No Sudden Moves.”For All Mankind star Costa Ronin breaks down how the Apple TV science-fiction series mirrors real U.S. history.

The series was among the streaming platform’s first when it launched in 2019. Now in its fifth season, For All Mankind has become the longest-running of Apple TV’s sci-fi shows. Part of that longevity is due to the story structure, as each season takes place in a different decade in an alternate timeline where the space race did not stop. Season 1 is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s and season 5 is now in the 2010s.

Ronin plays Leonid “Lenya” Polivanov, a new character introduced in For All Mankind season 5 who is the governor of Mars. Season 5, episode 6, “No Sudden Moves” sees the citizens of the colonized Mars rebelling against their leadership. During the coup, Lenya is taken hostage. At one point, Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell) steps in and convinces that all hostages be freed, except for the governor.

ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley interviewed Ronin about Lenya’s role in the episode, including where his relationship now stands with President Jim Bragg (Randy Oglesby), whether Lenya agrees with Bragg cutting off aid to Mars, and how these events are rooted in the real history of the United States of America.

Mars’ Relationship With Earth Follows The Trajectory Of Colonial History

ScreenRant: At the end of the episode, we see the message from President Bragg to the citizens of Mars saying aid is going to be cut off entirely. Before I get your opinion on that side of things, I wonder if you could enlighten me as to what Lenya’s present relationship is with the President of the United States?

Costa Ronin: Mars is a colony. In the previous seasons, all the characters had a very clear allegiance, whether to the United States, the USSR, or Korea. There are a lot of players. This is the first season where the allegiance is becoming clear to Mars as a new entity. And so the relationship with the President of the United States, the relationship with the President of the USSR, as we know, Lenya’s plan is to become the next President of the USSR. So Mars is a temporary posting for him. So he’s trying to play his cards right, where after this position is done, after he comes back to the USSR, the relationship with other presidents and other PMs is a working relationship. So I’m fortunate enough to play the character who is not showing all his cards, who is still planting all these short-term and long-term seeds as well. He can’t really burn any bridges.

ScreenRant: On that note, though, of President Bragg cutting off aid to Mars, do you think that’s something that Lenya agrees with? Do you think it’s too extreme of a measure? And I guess beyond that too, how do you anticipate his response?

Costa Ronin: If you look at the history, that’s kind of the trajectory of any colony and any mother state. We open up a colony, we populate the colony, then the colony becomes too big, and they have rights, and they start to dictate back to the mother state about, “Okay, well, this is what we want, this is what we accept, this is what we don’t want, and we don’t accept.” And then the mother state decides, “Okay, well, we’re going to punish you. We’re going to cut off the aid. We’re going to send the troops. We’re going to do all these other things to keep you at bay.” And this is exactly what’s happening on Mars. It’s no different. It starts out as a colony. Now the aid is being cut off and now the colony has to figure out, “Okay, well, are we actually strong enough and big enough and smart enough to figure out how to find our own way of living, how to produce our own produce, how to manufacture our own things, how to make everything we need to make to live, and how much are we actually dependent on the mother states?” Because there’s eight of them that we really depend on.

ScreenRant: I appreciate that answer because I never looked at it from that perspective of it’s a modern example of a mother state and its colony, and the colony growing to a point where they do warrant their own rights, and they have their own different needs. And my primary example, because it was beaten into our heads in grade school, was America’s relationship with Britain. And it’s really fascinating to think about that slice of history and apply it to this show. So thank you for the enlightenment there.

Costa Ronin: If you look at it from that point of view, the whole idea of sons and daughters of Mars, do you see any parallels? Who knows?

For All Mankind releases new episodes on Fridays on Apple TV.