For All Mankind Season 5: Young Heroes Echo Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Published Apr 18, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

A vocal segment of Star Trek fans continually harassed Starfleet Academy and its cast, and this hate campaign was ultimately successful in scuttling the young adult-skewing series. Meanwhile, For All Mankind has also gradually introduced young adult characters, and they have taken center stage in For All Mankind season 5, episode 4, without the vitriol aimed at Star Trek.

For All Mankind Quietly Turned Into Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

For All Mankind's younger generation was the driving force of season 5, episode 4, on Earth and Mars. "Open Source" centers on Alex Baldwin taking a job at Helios Aerospace to honor his late grandfather. Alex soon discovers a hidden plot to automate Mars in 5 years, which will eliminate 95% of human jobs. With the help of Lily Dale (Ruby Cruz), Alex leaks the news to the people of both worlds.

Meanwhile, For All Mankind season 5, episode 4 reintroduces Avery Jarrett (Ines Asserson), the daughter of Danny Stevens (Casey W. Johnson). Avery wants to join the Marine Corps and go to the moon, but is haunted by the sins of her birth father. Like Danny, Avery has anger issues, and there's a fear that she could be mentally unbalanced as Danny became before he committed suicide on Mars.

Alex and Avery both have older mentors, like Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cadets. Before he discovered Dev Ayesa's (Edi Gathegi) secret plot, Alex was brought under the wing of Helios' founder. Similarly, Avery can turn to Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) for advice and support, just as Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) could come to Starfleet Academy's Chancellor Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) with his problems.

For All Mankind's shift towards young adult heroes was not as pronounced as Star Trek's, which launched an entire show about Starfleet Academy cadets that ignited ire in the franchise's aging fandom. For All Mankind didn't create a "NASA Academy" spinoff, for instance, and organically wove its younger generation to the forefront of For All Mankind season 5's narrative.

For All Mankind Has Always Been About Creating New Generations Of Astronauts & Engineers

For All Mankind takes place over six decades after the Russians beat the United States to the moon in 1969, and Apple TV's astronaut saga has introduced generations of characters all along. The children of For All Mankind's original cast began to become important in season 2, when Danny Stevens and Kelly Baldwin, who both became astronauts, were in their teens.

The most important child prodigy-turned-adult lead in For All Mankind is Aleida Rosales. Aleida was introduced as a young girl played by Olivia Trujillo in For All Mankind season 1, before the temperamental genius engineer returned as an adult in season 2, played by Coral Peña. For All Mankind essentially grew up with Aleida, who is now the CEO of Helios in her fifties.

The deceased sons of Gordo Stevens (Michael Dorman) and Tracy Stevens (Sarah Jones) have also been For All Mankind villains. Along with Danny, Jimmy Stevens (David Chandler) fell in with a terrorist group that bombed Johnson Space Center in For All Mankind season 3's finale. The bomb killed not just Jimmy, but Karen Baldwin (Shantel VanSanten) and Molly Cobb (Sonya Walger).

Alex Poletov Baldwin, Avery Jarrett, and Lily Dale, the daughter of Miles Dale (Toby Kebbell), are the latest generation of For All Mankind, who are being developed to carry the series into its sixth and final season.

For All Mankind has been excellent in organically aging its cast and letting younger characters prove their worth to their elders in a way that, fortunately, hasn't incited the hatred that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy did.