(SeaPRwire) –
By: Silas Sterling
Spoilers for *Star City* Episode 4 and *For All Mankind* Season 1 ahead.
Apple’s marketing team has been leaning hard into “groundbreaking alternate history” for its Apple TV+ slate this year. But *Star City*’s latest twist isn’t just a creative choice. It’s a direct callback to a trick *For All Mankind* pulled two seasons back. Fans on Reddit and X have been flooding threads to break down every tiny parallel. No one expected Apple to tie its two biggest space dramas together so explicitly.
*Star City* is set in 1970, running parallel to *For All Mankind* Season 1. Its fourth episode, “Dark Forest,” drops a 1964 flashback. It reveals how cosmonaut Valya and his partner Tanya first met at a party. We learn Tanya has ties to anti-Soviet dissident groups. A Western spy uses that connection to blackmail Valya later in the episode. This mirrors the exact flashback structure of *For All Mankind* Season 1 Episode 3.
*For All Mankind*’s 1961 flashback focused on Tracy lying about her piloting skills. She joined NASA after the USSR put a woman on the moon. In *Star City*, Tanya isn’t a cosmonaut, but she cheats on Valya. She uses a double standard when she suspects he’s stepping out. The real twist comes with Anastasia Belikova. She’s a major *Star City* character, and she wasn’t the first choice for the moon mission. This detail adds layers to *For All Mankind*’s 1970 story pivots.
Fans have been binging both shows side-by-side to spot every parallel. They’ve noticed that Gordo and Tracy’s marriage tension mirrors Valya and Tanya’s current dysfunction. Even the spy blackmail subplot lines up across both universes. Both shows stream exclusively on Apple TV+, with new *Star City* episodes dropping every Friday. Apple hasn’t commented on the intentionality of the parallels, but fans don’t seem to care.
At the end of the day, Apple doesn’t care if the parallels are intentional. They’re giving fans a reason to stay subscribed for both shows. It’s a cheap trick to boost watch times. And no one’s complaining.
Author bio: Silas Sterling, veteran kernel contributor and editor-in-chief of an open-source security digest who covers geek media and tech culture weekly.