The joint Helios-Russia mission on Mars causes tensions on the Red Planet and back on Earth. Aleida continues to obsess over how the Russians got hold of NASA’s engine designs. Larry’s indiscretion costs him dearly in a routine hearing about NASA contracts. Jimmy’s new friends make a big gesture.

There’s a theme running throughout this episode which reflects that title in ways both literal and metaphorical. For all the talk of this show being a look into a Utopian alternative history, and all the improvements it does indeed make on our own reality, some things remain depressingly much the same as ever. Only, it’s easier to overlook the vagaries of human nature when you’re not occupying the White House or stuck on a planet millions of miles from home.

To that end, on little old Earth, Ellen has the small matter of her husband’s affair with another man having been leaked out to the Democrats, who choose to surprise Larry with this news during a trumped up hearing on NASA contracts on which they have nothing. In the moment, Larry chooses poorly, meaning that he and Ellen are forced into a confrontation where some home truths – including one fundamental one which escaped Ellen’s notice – are revealed. Bring it down, indeed…

On Mars, Danny is coping less and less well, hopped up on far too many ‘Go Pills’ and starting to let it impact his performance on the mission. Ed isn’t stupid, and can see not only that his number two is increasingly erratic, but also that he may have already cut the kid too much slack already. A confrontation between the two of them in the wake of Danny’s latest weird outburst is unbelievably tense, as you sense exactly what it is that Danny wants to say to his commander, but it’s not until later when things really start going south in a big way. I was worried that Danny’s obsession with Karen and his concurrent resentment of Ed would be a bad combination on a Mars mission, and, well, I seem to have had good reason.

At NASA, Aleida continues to worry away at the problem of who exactly leaked the engine designs to the Russians. A meeting with her estranged husband prompts her to go looking on a different track, and when she goes to Margo with her conclusions it sparks a massive row between them. Margo, herself struggling after Sergei is whisked away once again by his handlers (Margo’s influence no longer required as they look to work with Helios), handles the argument poorly, though with the absolute best of intentions. Time is ticking though, and it’s hard to see how NASA will survive in the current climate if their director gets found guilty of conspiring with the soviets.

As for Jimmy’s new friends, they manage to prompt him into taking a big risk on their behalf. It’s hard to watch Jimmy go down their conspiracist rabbit hole, convinced that the sacrifice his parents made and that we the audience witnessed was a simple hoax. It’s even harder to watch him torn between feelings of loyalty toward people who have never been anything but kind to him and his anger at an organisation he feels lied to him and betrayed his parents. Nonetheless, his friends do some ‘Bringing it Down’ of their own, which may or may not make him happier – it remains to be seen.

As is often the case with the show, we end on a massive cliffhanger amongst dramatic circumstances. It feels like maybe not everyone will get to walk away from this one, and indeed, the further we get, the more I wonder if there won’t be a whole new cast if and when we get to Season 4.

Verdict: Packed with tense energy and a raw emotion. 9/10

Greg D. Smith