The race to Mars is underway between NASA, the Soviets, and Helios. But a difficult choice needs to be made when one of the ships develops trouble.
Tropes:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dev starts to reveal his true colors when it becomes clear that Phoenix will not be the first to Mars. He overrides both Karen and Bill's sensible argument that their ship is better equipped for a rescue, calling for a vote by clearly calling on people who will support him.
- The Bus Came Back: Rolan Baranov, the Soviet defector from Season 2, is now a member of the Sojourner's crew, having obtained an American citizenship, established a family and embarked on a successful career within NASA with his aerospace engineering expertise.
- Call-Back: In Season 1 Ed (reluctantly) agrees to accept the help of a Soviet cosmonaut based on old nautical tradition regarding helping a ship in need. In this episode the nautical metaphors (and Ed's wish to repay the help he once received) come back in full swing.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: One of the astronauts outside of the Sojourner is trapped when Mars-94 crashes against the ship and slowly rolls over the point to which her line is tethered. It then proceeds to slowly roll over her, crushing her like a rolling pin.
- Democracy Is Flawed: Dev is really proud of the fact that Helios runs as a democracy where all the major decisions are put to a vote by the employees and even he just has a single vote. We find out how easily Dev can swing that vote to a result he wants. He makes sure that everyone in the room knows what his position on the issue is and then loyalty and/or fear makes the others publicly agree with him even if they internally disagree.
- Dramatic Irony: Jimmy Stevens encounters a washed-up Charles Bernitz, one of the "Moonrines", who postulates that there was a cover-up at Jamestown, and that his fellow "Moonrines" couldn't have died the ways they did, such as Vance Paulson being shot in the back of the head by a Cosmonaut. We know that there was a cover up but the events surrounding Paulson's death were reported truthfully.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Danny Stevens is displeased to see a Phoenix crewmember acting out scenes from Love in the Skies (the in-universe biopic about his parents).
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Kelly gets a message from a Mars-94 cosmonaut, warning her that his crew is about to attempt something dangerous. Moments later, the Soviets fire their engines in an attempt to reach Mars first, only for their reactor to go into meltdown.
- For Want Of A Nail: Kelly plays music on an iPod nearly a decade before they were actually introduced.
- Friendly Enemy: The NASA and Helios crews remain cordial and congratulate each other on their leads during the race. The Soviets, on the other hand, remain rude and standoffish even as Sojourner-1 comes to their rescue. However; Soviet rudeness is mostly a feature of their commander - the rank-and-file seem to be more willing to try and get a constructive working relationship going.
- Hope Spot: The Sojourner crew sees that Mars-94 is using the same fuel as them, and realizes that if they can tap their fuel tanks, they'll be able to get back into the race. Unfortunately, the Soviet engines misfire and damage both ships.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Ed has one while listening to the Sojourner's broadcast of "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)." While his crew initially laughs it off, he soon realizes what they're doing and that they're going to beat him to Mars. Joel Kinnamann "sells" it by having his goofy smile suddenly disappear while the others are still in a jocular mood. He knows NASA and Danielle Poole better than any other member of his crew...
- NASA realizes that Mars-94 is going to misfire and endanger Sojourner, but there's nothing they can do because of the communications delay.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: The Phoenix is far better equipped to deal with the problems that Mars-94 is having, with more life support, supplies, and the ability to use their lander as a ferry, so they don't even have to get too close. Furthermore, Ed's crew on the Phoenix is mostly ex-NASA, so they come from a work culture that emphasizes helping your fellow man over completing the mission. But Dev convinces most of the Helios ground crew that NASA should be the ones to save the Soviets, and not only overrides the on-the-spot command authority Dev promised to Ed, but sabotages their own ship with a bogus software update to activate the autopilot Ed specifically asked not to have installed.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When Helios votes to let NASA handle the rescue, Ed decides to go ahead anyway. Unfortunately, Dev had anticipated this and locked out the ship's computer.
- Shout-Out:
- As the Sojourner unfurls its solar sails, Kelly starts playing "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney.
- Ed jogs through Phoenix's centrifuge section, much like Dave did in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- The Phoenix crew quotes Aliens and Star Trek.
- Solar Sail: As it turns out, Sojourner was secretly equipped with one, which gives the ship a boost to take the lead in the race.
- Space Is an Ocean: The NASA crew has some fun with this as they use nautical lingo when they unfurl their solar sail.
- Tantrum Throwing: After realizing that NASA is going to beat Helios, Dev throws a computer monitor on the floor in rage.
- Tranquil Fury: Dev is clearly angry but tries to keep a composed face when the Phoenix's early lead is nullified by Sojourner's solar sail.
- Yes-Man: The Helios employees reveal themselves to be this, as they quickly take Dev's side either out of loyalty to him or fear they will be fired if they disagree.
