T-minus 10 seconds until liftoff — of spoilers, that is — for Episodes 1 and 2 of “Star City.”
Is anyone else suddenly in the mood to go back and re-watch all of “For All Mankind” Season 1? “Star City” is only two episodes in, but the Apple TV spin-off/prequel has already done an incredible job of throwing us right back into the thick of the Cold War-set space race, a period of time taking place concurrently with the debut season of its parent show. In place of go-getter astronauts Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) and lovable best bud Gordo (Michael Dorman), however, we’re focused squarely on the exploits of a handful of Soviet cosmonauts and their struggles to constantly stay ahead of their American rivals.
Our new cast of characters feature an assortment of fascinating figures — including Alice Englert’s Anastasia Belikova, the first woman on the moon; Rhys Ifans’ unnamed Chief Designer; young Irina Morozova (Agnes O’Casey), one of the biggest villains in “For All Mankind;” and Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin), the ruthless head of the KGB — but one in particular is bound to ring bells among the most astute viewers of “Star City.” While the 1960s period setting would seem to minimize any overt references to “For All Mankind,” a closer look at cosmonaut Sasha Polivanov (played by Solly McLeod) suggests otherwise.
Anything about that surname stand out to you? Maybe not, since “Star City” doesn’t stop the show in its tracks to draw any parallels with its original series. But Season 5 recently introduced another Russian character, Leonid Polivanov (Costa Ronin), the embattled governor of Mars. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that the two may be father and son, adding a hidden (and fascinating) connection to “For All Mankind.”
Star City might be hiding a major For All Mankind character connection in plain sight
Apple TV
From one of the most unserious members of the cosmonaut crew in the 1960s to the governor of Mars decades in the future — that’s quite the legacy for two generations of the Polivanov family, presuming we’re correctly picking up what “Star City” appears to be putting down. This wouldn’t be the first instance of the spin-off sneaking in some major connective tissue to “For All Mankind,” to be fair. In addition to Anastasia and Irina, the supporting character Sergei Nikulov (Josef Davies) reappears in the parent series and plays a larger role in the upcoming action. That only makes us more inclined to believe that the reckless Sasha Polivanov is, in fact, the father of Governor Leonid Polivanov — the man unfortunately in charge when the Martian revolution rises up under his watch.
Does this theory pass the smell test? Well, the timeline matches up. Sasha appears to be in the prime of his life in the late-1960s setting of “Star City” and is established as a bachelor … up until his (secretly) arranged marriage to Anastasia under Soviet orders, of course. Presuming this bears actual fruit, any child of theirs born within the next decade or so could certainly grow up to become Leonid in “For All Mankind” Season 5, which is set in the 2010s. More intriguingly, what little we know of Leonid’s backstory suggests he was a cosmonaut himself before entering politics. Was he inspired to follow in his father Sasha’s footsteps? Will “Star City” eventually complicate his marriage with Anastasia by adding a rambunctious young Leonid to the mix?
New episodes of “Star City” stream on Apple TV every Friday.
