*Warning: This article contains full spoilers for the final episode of Star City.*
Until Star City, For All Mankind fans only caught a glimpse of the disquieting realities of living in the Soviet Union during the alternative space race.
Those snippets painted a clear albeit brief picture of life behind the Iron Curtain. But Apple TV’s new drama has immersed viewers in a desolate world of espionage, paranoia, lies, and defiant hope, all culminating in an intensely emotional finale that has us wondering where the second season will go – assuming there is one.
Episode 7, Plow Deep, unceremoniously confirmed the deaths of the Venera crew, while also jumping ahead to 1971. Yet, as Plow Deep draws to an end, For All Mankind fan-favourite, Sergei Nikulov (played by Josef Davies in Star City), makes a startling discovery: the Venera is still operational and on its way back to Earth, though the welfare of its crew remains unknown.
In the opening scenes of episode 8, The Wolves, it’s revealed that Sasha Polivanov (Solly McLeod) and Lakshmi Chadha (Priya Kansara) are still alive. But what of Valya Mironov (Adam Nagaitis)? His absence, made all the more potent by Sasha’s unwillingness to address it, poses questions that only multiply. Understandably, tensions among the crew are high, but Star City is faring no better.
While the survival of the Venera is cause for celebration for Sergei and the Chief Designer, the race is on to help the crew safely land outside of the Soviet Union. If they’re found on Russian soil, the consequences for their previous insubordination will be dire. Can Sasha and Lakshmi make it? Will Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) interfere? Will she get her comeuppance as Radimir Petrovsky (Felix Scott) moves in to remove her from Star City once and for all? It’s time to dive into the season finale of Star City.
Star City ending explained: Did the crew of the Venera survive?
Despite surviving the depressurisation of the ship by the ever-ruthless Colonel Raskova, the crew isn’t out of the woods yet – not even close. They’re acutely aware that, if they land on Soviet Union soil, they’ll be arrested and likely killed. However, without an updated trajectory from Ground Control, they’re unable to change their fate. That is, until Sergei and the Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans) lend their aid.
Risky though it is, especially with so many watchful eyes on Sergei, the pair devise a plan to help the Venera land in Finland. To inform the crew of this crucial change, Anastasia Belikova (Alice Englert), who’s still aboard the Salyut-1, must send a coded message to the ship. Although rare in Star City, luck is on her side, and she’s able to talk with Sasha. Consider this a happy moment in an otherwise fraught finale that’ll leave you in tears.
Naturally, the Venera’s imminent arrival back on Earth becomes known to Colonel Raskova and Petrovsky, with both determined to get one over on the other. Unfortunately for Petrovsky, he underestimates Colonel Raskova, with Star City’s "monstrous" antagonist stopping at nothing to get what she wants. Using the brutalisation of his beloved Chief Designer as an incentive to get Sergei to talk, Colonel Raskova learns of the Venera’s revised strategy and heads to the Finnish border.
After re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the Venera is struck by a missile, courtesy of Colonel Raskova, and knocked slightly off course. Thankfully, Sasha and Chadha survive, though Sasha notes it won’t be for long as they’re still 2 kilometres away from the border. It’s a considerable distance, especially as they’re struggling to reacclimatise to Earth’s gravity.
Meanwhile, back on the Salyut-1, Anastasia realises that the Venera has landed in the wrong location and that Sasha is in danger – she must act now or risk losing him again. Despite directly violating protocols, with the support of her Salyut-1 colleagues, she uses the re-entry capsule to return to Earth. With Star City none the wiser, she manages to make it, though with little time to spare. Still 20 metres from the border herself, Anatasia commandeers a local farmer’s truck, while Sasha and Chadha are in an agonisingly slow cat-and-mouse chase with Soviet soldiers.
As the Finnish border comes into sight, Chadha is shot by Russian soldiers. Exhausted, the pair looks set to be caught at the very last minute, then Anastasia shows up; she stops her truck directly in front of the advancing soldiers, momentarily halting their progress. Using herself as a distraction, she screams for Sasha to keep going while she’s arrested. Although Sasha does carry on, it’s only to ensure Chadha reaches the border. Once she’s safe, he walks back towards the Russian military to be detained alongside Anastasia.
Is Vayla dead?
Given his obvious absence, Valya’s death isn’t much of a surprise. And yet, the events that lead up to it are heart-wrenching.
Although the depressurisation didn’t kill them, the Venera doesn’t have enough fuel to return to Earth; the ship will fly past Venus and continue into space. The only way to avoid this is to use the fuel from the bathysphere to course correct the main ship. But to do that, someone must be aboard the bathysphere, essentially doomed to a one-way trip to Venus. Even though Sasha and Chadha fiercely protest the decision, Valya locks himself inside the bathysphere. As Sasha shouts, "Don’t do this", Valya asks Sasha to make sure Tanya is alright.
View Green Video on the source websiteSimultaneously, the Venera and the bathysphere begin their descents, with Valya subjected to intense heat upon his entry into Venus's atmosphere. He looks set to die there and then, but amazingly, he survives. His joy, and ours, is short-lived, though. As we know from earlier episodes, Venus is a deadly planet; travelling there is described as a "suicide mission". Upon landing, within a matter of minutes, the bathysphere is crushed by Venus’ intense gravity, leaving only crumpled metal behind. It’s an emotional end, one that clearly impacted Valya’s actor.
When interviewed by Radio Times, Nagaitis said, "This [Star City] is a dangerous place to live. He's protecting Tanya, and everything he does is with her in mind, and after a while, he realises ‘there's no escape for me, and if I have to die…’"
Pausing for a moment, the actor became tearful, adding: "If I have to die, that's what has to happen, because I love this person. It gets to a beautiful and poetic place where he ends up in space as far away as possible. It's one last gesture, and that's what we all hope to get, I think."
Are Sergei and the Chief Designer safe?
If you can call being arrested and sent to a gulag safe, then yes. But as we’ve seen throughout the series, the so-called justice of the Soviet Union is merciless.
Believing he’s just watched the Chief Designer be beaten nearly to death, Sergei is distraught, asking Irina how she can work with Colonel Raskova. Although he quickly learns that the Chief Designer is, in fact, safe, their reunion is bittersweet. Sergei cries in the Chief Designer’s arms as the two are taken away.
Did Tanya escape the Soviet Union?
While not the most pertinent question fans may have, Tanya’s fate is intriguing, for it reveals that Star City’s creators have written this finale with a second season in mind.
Now in France, we see Tanya living quite blissfully, though ignorant of the fact that she’s being followed by one of Colonel Raskova’s undercover agents. Evidently, we’ve only scratched the surface of Star City’s expansive lore, with its writers clearly banking on that second season. Let’s hope it comes, for there are many questions that still need answering.
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