For All Mankind Season 5: Young Heroes Echo Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

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Be warned, this article contains spoilers for Season 5, Episode 4 of For All Mankind, titled “Open Source.” The latest season of For All Mankind introduces a new generation of characters, reminiscent of the young cadets from Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but with a more positive dynamic. Episode 4 marks the beginning of the show’s story after the departure of Admiral Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman). The episode focuses on Ed’s daughter, Kelly Baldwin (Cynthy Wu), and grandson, Alex Poletov Baldwin (Sean Kaufman), as they navigate life a month after his passing.

The Apple TV+ series For All Mankind will conclude after its current fifth season. Additionally, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has one final season planned. While Star Trek: Starfleet Academy aimed to tell a new story about young cadets working to restore the United Federation of Planets in the 32nd century, it received mixed reactions from viewers.

Some passionate Star Trek fans relentlessly harassed the creators and actors of Starfleet Academy, and their negative campaign eventually led to the show’s cancellation. In contrast, For All Mankind has been adding young adult characters, who now play a major role in season 5, episode 4, without facing the same kind of backlash seen with Star Trek.

For All Mankind Quietly Turned Into Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

The latest episode of For All Mankind, titled “Open Source,” focuses on a new generation taking charge, both on Earth and Mars. Alex Baldwin starts working at Helios Aerospace as a tribute to his grandfather, but quickly uncovers a secret plan to fully automate Mars within five years, potentially leaving most of the Martian workforce jobless. He teams up with Lily Dale to expose this scheme to the public on both planets.

In the latest episode of For All Mankind season 5, we see the return of Avery Jarrett (Ines Asserson), Danny Stevens’ (Casey W. Johnson) daughter. Avery is determined to become a Marine and travel to the moon, but she’s struggling with the weight of her father’s past. Similar to Danny, Avery has a temper and raises concerns about her mental stability, echoing the issues that led to Danny’s suicide on Mars.

Both Alex and Avery have experienced mentors who guide them, much like cadets at Starfleet Academy in Star Trek. Alex was initially mentored by the founder of Helios before learning about Dev Ayesa’s scheme. Avery relies on Danielle Poole for guidance, similar to how Caleb Mir could turn to Chancellor Nahla Ake for help.

While both shows introduced younger characters, For All Mankind did so more subtly than Star Trek. Star Trek even created a whole new series focused on young cadets, which upset some longtime fans. For All Mankind didn’t take that approach; instead, it naturally integrated a new generation of characters into the main story of its fifth season.

For All Mankind Has Always Been About Creating New Generations Of Astronauts & Engineers

The Apple TV+ series For All Mankind imagines a world where the Soviet Union won the space race, landing on the moon before the United States in 1969. Over six decades, the show has followed multiple generations of characters, and season 2 began to focus on the children of the original cast. Notably, Danny Stevens and Kelly Baldwin, both now teenage astronauts, took on more prominent roles.

Aleida Rosales is a central character in For All Mankind, shown growing up throughout the series. We first meet her as a child, played by Olivia Trujillo in season 1, and later as an adult, portrayed by Coral Peña in season 2. Now in her fifties, Aleida is the CEO of Helios, and the show has effectively followed her life from childhood to adulthood.

Both of Gordo and Tracy Stevens’ sons have become antagonists in the show For All Mankind. Like Danny, Jimmy Stevens joined a terrorist group responsible for the bombing of the Johnson Space Center in the season 3 finale. This explosion tragically killed Jimmy, as well as Karen Baldwin and Molly Cobb.

Alex Poletov Baldwin, Avery Jarrett, and Lily Dale—the daughter of Miles Dale (played by Toby Kebbell)—are new characters being introduced to potentially lead For All Mankind through its sixth and final season.

The show For All Mankind has done a great job of showing its characters grow older naturally, and allowing new, younger characters to earn the respect of those who came before them. This approach has thankfully avoided the negative reaction that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy experienced.

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2026-04-18 15:08