Ellen is offered the job as the permanent NASA administrator to replace Thomas Paine, which would earn her spot in the white house cabinet. As Gordo returns to space, an altercation on the moon may spark a broader conflict. Ed and his team are told that Pathfinder will now carry weapons. Meanwhile Danny Stevens and Ed's wife Karen Baldwin consummate their mutual attraction.
Tropes
- Amicable Exes: Gordo and Tracy seem to be getting on just fine now that they're on the moon together.
- Elopement: Danny's desperate plea to run off with Karen.
- Love Confession: A twofer in this episode. Danny to Karen and Ellen to Pam. The former shuts it down entirely while the latter is left unconvinced.
- Also kind of like a two-and-a-half confession because Gordo almost immediately tells Tracy his intensions to win her back on the moon, which she takes in good humor. She even seems willing to let him try.
- Man on Fire: One of the cosmonauts burns to death after a bullet ignites the oxygen in his suit.
- May–December Romance: Danny Stevens begins an affair with Karen Baldwin. He's the same age as her deceased son.
- Poor Communication Kills: Helena is wracked with guilt when she realizes the Russians were going for a translation card to talk to the Americans, rather than weapons to shoot them.
- Shoot Him, He Has a Wallet!: What happens when the Soviets reach for their translation card and the Americans mistake their intentions for hostile.
- Sleeping with the Boss's Wife: Ed Baldwin holds the rank of Admiral in the US Navy, making him a superior officer of Danny, who is just at home for the summer from the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
- And considering that he's working at the Outpost which is owned by Karen, he literally sleeps with the boss herself.
