The NASA, Soviet, and Helios crew rush to set up their habitats on Mars.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Medicine: HIV/AIDS does not work that way. That was widely known among the medical community by that point in time in our timeline. Presumably the same is the case in the FAMK timeline. But in our timeline people with the kind of irrational fear / bigotry as displayed by Rolan definitely existed, so it is not unreasonable that a person with such views would exist in FAMK.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Kelly tells Alexei not to reveal their relationship to Ed, or else he'll throw him out an airlock and make it look like an accident.
- "Eureka!" Moment: As Ellen frets on the plight of gay soldiers, Larry realizes a soldier is to be kicked out when asked and made to answer if he was gay but if there's something preventing the question from being asked in the first place, it's a non-issue. Thus, he and Ellen quickly craft this timeline's version of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
- Gayngst: Tyler comes out as gay during a log entry, and everyone begins treating him differently, especially Rolan.
- Holiday Episode: The episode takes place around Thanksgiving. Ed brings some food and drinks from Helios for the NASA and Soviet crews to celebrate.
- In Spite of a Nail: After Will Tyler comes out while still being an active duty serviceman, President Wilson enacts an executive order that is essentially "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
- Literal-Minded: Alexei gets told by Kelly to tell Ed he doesn't even know his daughter. So he does. It does not go over well with either Kelly or Ed.
- Loose Lips: Larry's boyfriend can't help himself and brags to a friend about having sex with Larry in the Oval Office. Turns out his supposed "friend" is a journalist and he will leak the story.
- Missed Momentof Awesome: The implications and discussions of NASA allowing a non-American member to join their first Mars mission is completely ignored.
- Multinational Team: The NASA-Soviet mission is already one, but it is confirmed that one of the cosmonauts is actually from Cuba, which is part of the Soviet sphere of influence. NASA also has a former Soviet (the defector from Season 2) and a UK astronaut and Scotsman, Clarke Halladay in addition to the ethnic diversity that both the USSR and the USA contain anyway.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Unlike with NASA sending Jamestown habitation modules to Mars two years ahead of Sojourner-1 by using a Slingshot Maneuver around Venus, and Helios having repurposed the Polaris Hotel as part of the Phoenix in orbit around Mars and simply uses their MSAM Popeye to ferry its crew to-and-from the surface with, The Soviet Union had no such plans for additional support for their Cosmonauts beyond just sending them to Mars with two HABs' anchored to their Mars-94 rocket: which two episodes ago is now a derelict ship abandoned in the middle of space between Mars and Earth.
- Not Helping Your Case: Kelly and Alexei try to conceal their relationship when Ed visits. However, he doesn't take it well when Alexei claims he doesn't know Kelly despite having spent weeks with her in a confined space.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Larry hits upon the idea of what's this world's version of "Don't Ask, on't Tell," solving a problem of gays in the military and put the focus back on the Mars mission. When Ellen states the Joint Chiefs would never go for it, Larry points out that they can't fight an Executive Order from the Commander-In-Chief.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Danielle's decision to land the Sojourner during a dust storm won her the race against Helios but turned out to be a major mistake. The ship's engine was damaged, stranding it on Mars and forcing the NASA/Soviet crew to have to ask Helios for a ride home. Whether or not there's a court martial for recklessly endangering her crew and the mission is in Danielle's future is never mentioned, but given what kind of shenanigans FAMK main characters have gotten away with previously, it'd be a slap on the wrist at best. Granted, her superiors rushed the mission by two years with all the cut corners that came with it since they wanted to win the race that badly too; if there's blame to be cast, Danielle's quite low on the list.
- Ellen is bluntly told that if she doesn't come down hard on Tyler coming out, she's likely to lose major support of the Republican party, including at least 50 votes for her much-needed jobs bill. She's also aware of a possible backlash if she comes down too hard, which, as her VP warns her, means "the Democrats clean our clocks in '96."
- We ARE Struggling Together: The NASA and Soviet crews need to rely on each other to survive on Mars but there are serious tensions that quickly explode when the Soviet-Helios deal is exposed. Tyler's coming out ends up being a massive source of conflict for the NASA contingent.
- We Used to Be Friends: Tyler and Rolan's friendship dated back to when the two of them were hot racking (alternating sleeping shifts on the same bunk to save space) while assigned to Jamestown between Seasons 2 and 3. After Tyler publicly came out, Rolan begins avoiding physical contact out of paranoia of being infected with HIV, and even (unsuccessfully) requests Danielle reassign them to separate shifts.
- Wham Line: When the person Larry's fling had revealed his relationship to boards a taxi and tells the driver his destination: Dupont Circle, a neighborhood in D.C. full of embassies and think tanks.
