For All Mankind Season 5 Gives Pulling a Gordo a Dark New Meaning

Alright, we need to talk about the latest episode of For All Mankind—and heads up, I’m about to spoil some major moments from Season 5, Episode 1 ('First Light'). Plus, this one touches on suicide, so read on accordingly.

The Big Picture: This show is mostly about blasting off into the future—humanity’s space race kicked into high gear, no time to linger on the past. But when For All Mankind actually stops to look back, you know it’s a big deal. The Season 5 premiere proves it: we get a callback to one of the show’s most brutal, pivotal deaths from way back in Season 2.

Weird Legacy: 'Pulling a Gordo' Isn’t as Noble as You’d Think

For anyone who needs a refresher: In 1983 (yeah, the show’s alternate timeline is wild), Gordon 'Gordo' Stevens (played by Michael Dorman) and his ex-wife Tracy (Sarah Jones) died saving everyone on the moon by fixing a busted nuclear reactor in, basically, tinfoil and duct tape. Yes, both of them knew they probably wouldn’t survive, and yes, everyone back on Earth got teary-eyed and built them a statue for their heroism.

Fast forward to Season 5, where we’re now in 2012. Apparently, Gordo’s sacrifice grew into legend—but not exactly in the way everyone, including Gordo himself, would have wanted. There’s a scene early in the premiere where Mars colonists find a dead body—no suit, just sprawled out in the Martian dust. Someone immediately suggests he 'pulled a Gordo.'

Here’s where it gets dark (and a little weird): In this world, 'pulling a Gordo' has become code for running out onto a planet’s surface without a suit… to end your own life. According to a character, 'We’ve had several suicides like this over the years. It’s a surface run. See how far you can get without a suit.'

Not exactly a Hall of Fame legacy. And there’s a twist: the Mars body didn’t actually kill himself, so now we’re looking at the first murder investigation on the Red Planet. Yep, For All Mankind just swerved into murder-mystery territory, and honestly, I’m here for it.

Why Gordo’s Death Still Stings

Gordo wasn’t exactly lovable when the series started. Cheated on Tracy, hit the bottle a little too hard, kind of a mess. The show likes its characters complicated—nobody’s all good, nobody’s all bad, and Gordo was right on the edge for most of his run. But his time stuck in Jamestown base really pushed him to rock bottom, and by the end? He’d cleaned up, patched up his life, and actually seemed sorry for the crappy stuff he’d put people through.

That’s what made his final act with Tracy even more gut-wrenching. They’d just finally gotten their act together as a couple, and then—boom, they’re both dead heroes. Compared to most TV character deaths, this one actually sticks with you. For All Mankind has never topped how it handled Gordo’s ending, and frankly, I doubt it ever will.

Cast That Matters

• Michael Dorman as Gordon 'Gordo' Stevens
• Sarah Jones as Tracy Stevens
• (And, for this Mars murder plot: a whole new cast of season-spanning astronauts and ground crew—no spoilers for the fresh faces just yet!)

Bottom line: I didn’t see 'pulling a Gordo' turning into Mars-slang for a tragic act, and if you ever need proof that For All Mankind knows how to dig deep into its own alternate-history, Season 5’s opener is it. Now we just get to see who the first Martian killer turns out to be.