What Happened To Danny In For All Mankind

Publish date: 2023-11-21

For All Mankind's showrunners previously confirmed Danny Stevens was written out of the series, but his fate has now been revealed in season 4.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for For All Mankind, season 4, episode 5, "Goldilocks."

Summary

Danny Stevens was exiled to a North Korean spaceship as punishment for the catastrophic mission failure he caused in For All Mankind season 3.
In For All Mankind season 4, episode 5, it is revealed that Danny died on Mars, found by Ed and Danielle in his spacesuit.
Showrunners decided to write out Danny's character in season 4 to focus on the new storyline involving everyday workers in space, but tease that his exile may be explored further in a future episode.

Exactly what happened to troubled astronaut Danny Stevens (Casey W. Johnson) between For All Mankindseasons 3 and 4 has been one of the show's underlying mysteries. As For All Mankind season 4 picked up the story of the space race in the show's alternate 21st century, Danny was conspicuous by his absence. The son of legendary astronauts Gordo (Michael Dorman) and Tracy Stevens (Sarah Jones), Danny was in a crisis due to substance abuse issues, the loss of his parents, and the fallout from his affair with Karen Baldwin (Shantel VanSanten) during season 3. Events came to a head when he caused a catastrophic mission failure which resulted in the loss of several lives on Mars.

Danny's brother, Jimmy Stevens (David Chandler) also had a rough time in For All Mankind season 3. His grief over the loss of his parents, and his sympathies for the social inequality and mass unemployment on Earth led to him falling in with the homeland terrorist organization behind the Johnson Space Center bombing. The time jump montage in For All Mankind season 4, episode 1, revealed that Jimmy had made a plea bargain and that, in 2003, he is still serving his 12-year prison sentence for his part in the attack. Now, FAM season 4, episode 5 finally updates viewers on what happened to his brother Danny.

How Many Episodes For All Mankind Season 4 Has Left (& When The Finale Releases)

AppleTV+'s alternative history drama For All Mankind brings the space race into the 21st century in season 4, and here's how many episodes to expect.

Danny Was Exiled On Mars In For All Mankind Season 3

After the catastrophic drilling disaster that killed several of their colleagues in For All Mankind season 3, Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) and Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) had to decide how they would punish Danny. The decision was therefore made to exile Danny to the now-abandoned North Korean spaceship, effectively a prison for his crime of manslaughter. Danny was in a bad way when he was exiled, wracked with guilt, and, presumably, still dealing with the withdrawal symptoms from his medication. It's unclear exactly what happened next, but For All Mankind season 4, episode 1, "Glasnost" does provide some clues.

Firstly, during the montage of For All Mankind's alternate history changes, the newspaper photograph that showed the returning Martian astronauts did not feature Danny. When Danielle appeared in the season 4 opener, she was at a birthday party for Danny's daughter, Avery. While putting away dishes, Danielle saw a photo of Danny and looked uncomfortable. Later, on returning to NASA, she had a heart-to-heart with Will Tyler (Robert Bailey Jr.) who assured her that nobody blamed her for what happened to Danny. When Danielle returned to Mars, she was forced to finally confront what happened to Danny Stevens in For All Mankind.

For All Mankind Season 4 Reveals Danny Died On Mars

For All Mankind season 4, episode 5, "Goldilocks" featured several flashbacks to life on Mars in the immediate aftermath of the season 3 finale. The flashback scenes revealed that Danny remained in exile, cut off from the rest of the crew until his death. It was Ed and Danielle who found Danny's dead body sitting in his spacesuit, looking out across the horizon. It's unclear if Danny took a walk outside and deliberately let his oxygen supply run out, or if his body had finally succumbed to the dwindling food supplies and drug withdrawal. Either way, it was a tragic ending for the troubled astronaut.

Why Danny Was Written Out Of For All Mankind Season 4

Showrunners Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi explained Danny's For All Mankind season 4 exit in an interview with TV Line. While Wolpert and Nedivi enjoyed working with actor Casey W. Johnson, they felt that it was time to end Danny's story. Having covered so much ground in the life of the troubled astronaut, they wondered if there was anything left to say, especially against the backdrop of season 4's storyline. Rather than focusing solely on NASA, Helios, and Roscosmos, For All Mankind season 4 is turning its focus to the first everyday workers in space, and it was felt that Danny didn't necessarily fit into that story.

However, it has been teased that the mystery of exactly what happened to Danny during his exile to the North Korean spaceship may be solved in a future episode. Danielle's guilt over it will play a key role in her season 4 arc. It will also be interesting to see how it affects her relationship with Ed Baldwin when they're reunited on Mars. While Danny Stevens may be gone from For All Mankind season 4, it's very clear that he's not been forgotten by the writers or the characters.

For All Mankind season 4 streams Fridays on AppleTV+.