When it comes to leaders both on Earth and in space, For All Mankind runs the gamut on skill level and capability. Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) for all the good that he’s done as a pilot and a captain, has definitely proven himself this season to be a questionable leader at points. Bringing Danny (Casey Johnson) on his ship and letting him stay on when he realized he was addicted to painkillers was definitely a low point, not to mention how he reacted when Dani (Krys Marshall) revealed that she had been assigned to the NASA mission to Mars.

But they’re not all Ed Baldwin, and this season we were introduced not only to a new face with Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) but also to what a ship looks like when Danielle Poole is finally behind the proverbial wheel. We caught up with Krys Marshall and Edi Gathegi about what it was like playing their characters in the face of disaster, especially being a part of or witnessing a disaster on Mars.

For All Mankind Krys Marshall
Credit: Apple TV+

For Krys Marshall, it was a process that didn’t come as naturally to her. Having played Dani as a sidekick character meant that stepping into the spotlight meant some serious reworking. She said:

“I think, even though as a performer, you’re taking your story from the script, I think the version of Danielle that I’d always played was more sidekick, more second fiddle. So that had really become ingrained in my bones. And this season, we really watch her galvanize who she is and really put on that cape of being the hero. I mean, really all hell breaks loose. [And it] keeps breaking loose! And Danielle continues to do what she’s got to do to get the job done.
“That’s what I love about her, it’s what I love about women, it’s what I love about women of color. It’s like, you guys can sit and bellyache and cry all you want to, but somebody’s momma gotta come in here and get this thing fixed. That part of the command, I found it along the way. I feel pretty good about where I got with it, but that took some getting used to, because for such a long time Danielle really was everyone’s advocate, was everyone’s cheerleader, but she didn’t really step into that power until this season.”

And on the flip side, on Earth, Dev Ayesa faced a shocking blow after the disaster on Mars. It offered us a deeper look into Dev and his motivations and Gathegi spoke about Dev’s low point but also figuring out a solution when no one else could. He said, about facing disaster as a humbling moment:

For All Mankind Shantel VanSanten Edi Gathegi
Credit: Apple TV+
“I can’t speak to what other billionaires do in these crisis moments or what the process is in terms of just compartmentalizing or working through it. I thought that it would be really interesting for Dev to be completely humbled. I thought it would be really interesting for Dev to allow it to rock him, to recalibrate, and then finally come up with a solution having been changed. To me, that was how I wanted those moments to play out.”

While it was a relief that Dev actually managed to save the day, sometimes viewers may forget that he isn’t just a billionaire but actually an engineer and scientist. When we commented on him being able to prove himself in that moment, he said:

“It’s funny about what you’re saying is, I agree with you. Sometimes, you have to see the person do the thing to buy it, because, up until then, what he has done was he’s discovered the thing that humanity needs the most, which is fusion – nuclear fusion. So, he’s created a company that’s game-changing. We should go in there with the utmost belief that this guy is a G, but it’s not until you actually see them. Problem solved. There you go. Okay, there it is. That’s why he is who he is.”

 

It’s up for debate how long Dev will be riding the high though as Karen (Shantel VanSanten) has replaced him on the Helios board after the incident on Mars. Will Dev be able to pull through and get Helios back? Or is it too little too late?

For All Mankind Season 3 Finale streams this Friday.

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