Since May 29, Apple TV has been simultaneously streaming the season 5 finale of For All Mankind and the first two episodes of Star City, its direct spin-off. Premiering at the Canneseries festival, this new series shares the same alternate history premise as its predecessor: what if it wasn't the Americans, but the Soviets who landed the first man on the moon? While For All Mankind followed the American reaction to this defeat, Star City takes viewers to the other side of the Iron Curtain, to the heart of Star City—inspired by the real cosmonaut training center for Yuri Gagarin, lost in the middle of a forest and closely guarded by the military. "Star City is a series you can watch without ever having seen For All Mankind," co-creators Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert revealed at Canneseries.
Soviet brutality, KGB paranoia, and cosmonauts under pressure
The series takes place in 1969 and intertwines the destinies of several characters. The chief designer of the space program, played by Rhys Ifans, is subject to the KGB's whims and forbidden from leaving the country. Rookie cosmonaut Anastasia, played by Alice Englert, discovers that her mission doesn't end once she returns to Earth. At the KGB's surveillance center, young Irina—a revelation in the role of actress Agnes O'Casey—proves herself under the orders of the terrifying chief, Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin). Filmed in Lithuania and in English, the series nevertheless offers a realistic immersion into the psychosis of the Cold War. Star City is also visually impressive: its production perfectly captures the brutalist architecture of the City, its colossal gray buildings, its dark corridors, its surveillance offices, all covered in seemingly endless snowfall. One episode per week will be released online until July 10.
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