Apple TV's Star City Is a Cold War Drama Disguised as Sci-Fi

Apple TV has become a haven for science-fiction fans, offering overt sci-fi like Silo and Foundation alongside shows that hide their genre label such as Severance and For All Mankind. Its latest series, Star City, looks on the surface like a Cold War drama. Set in the For All Mankind universe where the Soviets reached the Moon first in 1969, Star City remains focused on the immediate aftermath of that victory.

Without the multi-year time jumps that drive later technological leaps in the parent series, it works with late-1960s technology and reads more like historical fiction than overt science fiction, even while it belongs to a sci-fi world. The spin-off is designed to function as a standalone project rather than lean on franchise branding.

Familiarity with For All Mankind can add context, but it is not required and in some cases knowing later arcs can spoil parts of Star City. The show introduces many new characters and original storylines instead of repeating the original show's formula.

Soviet Union

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