‘Star City’ Finale’s Biggest Twist Explained as Creators Tease the Final Chapter of ‘For All Mankind’

The latest chapter in Apple TV’s space drama universe delivered one of its biggest surprises yet when ‘Star City’ revealed the truth behind the mysterious Venus mission. After making viewers believe the mission had ended in disaster, the series revealed that the cosmonauts had somehow survived, creating one of the season’s most emotional and unexpected moments.

In a new interview with Collider, creators Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert explained that the twist was planned from the beginning and was always meant to challenge the audience’s expectations. The duo, who also helped create ‘For All Mankind,’ said the idea was to make viewers believe the mission was lost before revealing that there was still hope.

Wolpert explained that the team first focused on the emotional impact of the story before working out the scientific details behind the survival. “We knew that we wanted to have that. We started with the drama of it, and we knew that we wanted it to be a moment of, ‘This mission is lost, and these characters we loved are gone,’ and then a reveal later that they survived, and so we backed into the science from that.”

The creators worked with scientific advisers to find a realistic explanation for how the crew could survive the explosion. According to Wolpert, the timing of the depressurization played a major role because the lack of oxygen could have prevented the fire from spreading.

“The oxygen was quite low in the craft itself and was being pulled out of the craft still, and so the fire actually would have been sucked out,” Wolpert explained. “It would have singed them, it would have had an initial burst, and then been sucked out the same way the air was being sucked out.”

The Venus mission also led to one of the show’s most emotional moments when Valya Mironov, played by Adam Nagaitis, made a major sacrifice to help Sasha Polivanov and Lakshmi Chadha survive. The creators said the scene was designed to capture both the tragedy and the wonder of space exploration.

Ben Nedivi explained that Venus was always an important destination for the story because of the Soviet Union’s real-life history with missions to the planet. However, the harsh conditions of Venus meant that any landing would come with a huge cost.

“The reality of Venus is that you can’t survive on the surface,” Nedivi said. He added that the team wanted to create a moment where someone could technically become the first person to reach Venus, even if only briefly.

Wolpert praised actor Adam Nagaitis for bringing the scene to life, saying his performance showed both fear and excitement. “You see the victory on his face when he first looks out and sees that, and he just laughs, and you feel this sense of achievement from him.”

The creators also discussed another major part of the season: the relationship between Sasha and Anastasia. Their unexpected romance became one of the show’s emotional highlights, especially as both characters learned to trust and sacrifice for each other.

Wolpert said Sasha’s decision in the finale showed how much he had changed. “He’s a guy who’s really very self-interested in the beginning of the season when we meet him, and he learns to open himself up and be vulnerable, and learns to sacrifice for others over the course of the season.”

Nedivi added that their relationship represented one of the things he enjoys most about television storytelling. “If I told you what was going to happen to these two in Episode 1, you would never believe me. Then, by Episode 8, you understand, you’re with them, and you totally believe that they would make these sacrifices.”

The creators also talked about how ‘Star City’ connects to ‘For All Mankind.’ While fans have noticed many references between the two shows, Wolpert said they are careful not to force connections and instead focus on meaningful character moments.

“We’re just very conscious of not chasing the events of the other show,” he said. The goal, according to the creators, is to explore smaller moments that add new meaning to the larger universe.

With ‘Star City’ expanding the story behind the Soviet space program and the final season of ‘For All Mankind’ approaching, fans still have plenty to look forward to. Nedivi teased that the ending of the original series will continue the tradition of using music to mark major changes in the timeline, but he refused to reveal what song will close the story.

For now, both shows continue building a larger history of space exploration filled with ambition, sacrifice, and the human stories behind some of the biggest missions ever imagined.

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