Plans to leave Mars are complicated by a new issue. Ellen encounters a point of no return. Aleida brings Bill up to speed.
- Allohistorical Allusion: Ellen and Larry discuss claiming executive privilege over the tapes, or even erasing the incriminating audio and claiming technical failurenote , or releasing redacted transcripts. Their discussion implies that Nixon's Watergate scandal in this timeline did not lead to the public discovery of the recording system, as he was voted out of office in 1972.
- Blackmail: Democratic Leader Dick Durbin uses the secret recordings in the Oval Office to threaten Ellen to sign his bill which will cut funding to NASA.
- Chekhov's Gun: Earlier in the season, it was mentioned that North Korea would be launching a probe at Mars. Danielle and Grigory travel to the landing site so that they can retrieve a module for the MSAM.
- Cliffhanger Copout: The previous episode ended on a cliffhanger with Kuznetsov and Mayakovsky revealing that they know Kelly is pregnant and not sure how to handle the situation before they inform Moscow of the development. This episode skips forward five months and Kelly is now visibly pregnant and, presumably, any drama regarding her pregnancy has long since passed.
- Cutting Corners: When the docking guidance system from the Helios lander is wrecked, it is discovered that it cannot be replaced. The Helios team brought a spare but left it in orbit. The NASA ship was supposed to have its own system but it the project was shelved due to the accelerated schedule.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Because Nick died in the rockslide, he is identified in the incident report as the operator who caused the accident.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Aleida has this reaction after Bill brings the FBI into the situation regarding Margo, storming out of the Outpost after saying he's "fucking dead" to her.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- In one of the few pre-Red Moon differences, Durbin says that the recording system was installed by JFK, when in real life it was installed by Johnson.
- Durbin mentions Lee Atwater helping Ellen in her campaign, including some shady moves against Bill Clinton. This indicates that in this world, Atwater did not die in 1991 of a brain tumor, although it's still heavily implied in an earlier episode that he did die. Maybe Durbin referred to the senatorial campaign of Ellen in a Texas that in Our Time Line still had a democratic governor
as late as the early 1990s (i.e. just a few months before this episode is set) and whose defeat at the hands of one G.W.Bush took quite a bit of dirty campaign tricks. It is quite conceivable that - at least as far as Durbin is concerned - Ellen's rise to Texas senator was not as squeaky-clean as fans of her character would like.
- Friendship Moment: The strained relationship between Rolan Baranov and Will Tyler, which had seen signs of getting better during the rescue mission for Ed and Danny is finally acknowledged to have been restored when Rolan goes to Will and says he is "proud to have him as a friend" and hugs him (making clear that his panic at "catching HIV" is no longer there) when President Wilson announces the Presidential Medal of Freedom being awarded to Will.
- Hypocrisy Nod: Invoked by Durbin when Ellen protests his shady moves to cut funding to NASA and he fires back he knows full well how she had Karl Rove and Lee Atwater doing things like making it sound as if Bill Clinton had a love-child and smearing those against her just so she could look better.
- I Reject Your Reality: Despite the board laying it out just how bad the company is, especially after the landslide, Dev acts as if his plan to colonize Mars is not only feasible but just what everyone needs. He also brushes off Karen telling him selling to NASA is the best move as his refusal to face the reality he's lost this battle leads to his downfall.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Ellen realizes that she is fighting a losing battle and rather than throw Larry under the bus, she decides to come out as gay on public television and let the US public decide whether they are ready for a gay President.
- More Expendable Than You: Downplayed. With the three teams combined, Danielle and Grigory's roles have been greatly diminished. They are commanders and pilots without a ship to command or pilot. When Ed volunteers to go and retrieve the parts from the North Korean probe, he is deemed too vital as the primary pilot of the lander. Everyone else has tasks vital to the survival of the base so Danielle and Grigory volunteer to go on the retrieval mission since they are the ones without any other vital tasks.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Due to the rushed schedule and the en-route hijinks of the Russians as well as the rough landing of the NASA ship, there is currently one ship capable of reaching Mars orbit from the surface - and it was heavily damaged by the landslide. So that ship (Helios's MSAM, Popeye) is currently also incapable of reaching Mars orbit. And without reaching Mars orbit, there is no way of accessing Phoenix and its resources including earthlike rotational gravity. That is why the saying goes "If you have one, you have none".
- Oh, Crap!: Danny's expression is screaming this when he learns the incident report on the landslide has come through, potentially outing him as causing the destruction of the drill.
- Race Against the Clock: Due to the lack of resources to even ensure a safe delivery - let alone deal with even minor complications - on the Martian surface and the unknown risks of radiation and reduced gravity,note the astronauts are working to get Kelly back up to Phoenix within a month so that she can give birth in Earth gravity.
- The Reveal: A North Korean astronaut is revealed to be on Mars. How did he get there and more importantly, when? Stay tuned for episode 10...
- Room Full of Crazy: Aledia acknowledges her garage of evidence on Margo looks like this. It's why she needs an outside eye just to see if her String Theory is in her head or actually onto something.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Sure, he's doing better. But that doesn't change the fact that Danny still caused the landslide on Mars. This is stressed by a Helios board member who explains that the company is now open to getting sued and their stock price is also declining.
- In addition, the Helios board is far less open to Dev's lofty optimistic plans for a permanent settlement, considering how much money they've sunk into this mission and how little they've gotten out of it. This leads the board to say they will be shifting back to their core business of mining helium-3 on the moon, since that is at least a safe, steady, and stable source of revenue.
- The astronauts are on the clock to get the MSAM working again to get Kelly up to the Phoenix, to ensure the best chances of both her and the baby making it. There are only the supplies on Mars that they brought for the drilling mission or which happened to be in the NASA or Helios habs (and which haven't been destroyed) - no one thought to bring medical supplies to ensure a safe birth under literally unprecedented conditions - to say nothing of unforeseen complications.
- The US economy is in turmoil since the transition to new sources of energy was not accompanied by a corresponding retraining of workers in the diminished oil and gas industries. Unemployment is high and public opinion is turning against the costly space missions.
- Take a Third Option: Ellen is forced to either sign a bill that will cripple the Mars program or allow Larry to be charged with perjury and get herself impeached. Larry suggests to instead hold a conference where he will come out, absolving Ellen of the decision. However, Ellen later takes over the conference and uses it to come out herself.
- Time Skip: The episode takes place five months after the events of the landslide that buried the MSAM.
- Wham Shot: Danielle and Grigory arrive at the North Korean probe...and find a footprint, even though none of the NASA, Soviet, or Helios crews have been there. And given that Mars (unlike the moon) has enough of an atmosphere to at least somewhat erode footprints over time and this one is crystal-clear, it is a fresh one. Oops.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: At the end of Episode 8, when the two remaining Soviet cosmonauts on the moon discuss Kelly's pregnancy, there is an ominous "You Know What To Do" line. This is never brought up again, not even with a throwaway callback-line. Instead the Soviet doc is a genuinely sweet and nice man who cares for his patient and the unborn.
