I’m late to the party, as usual, here. That’s almost always the case because my watching of streaming series is as slow as old-fashioned-once-a-week-and-off-the-schedule-for-weeks-at-a-time broadcast TV was and is.

I sometimes joke that I’ve still got to finish “The Sopranos,” which is true, and then I need to finish “True Blood” and “Breaking Bad” and watch “Bosch Legacy” and “Lincoln Lawyer” and …

So just as “For All Mankind” has been renewed by Apple TV+ for a fourth season, I’m deep into the first season.

I am, however, positively racing through it, because I am so fascinated and entertained by the show.

I’m a sucker for alternate history stories. “Motherland: Fort Salem,” airing on FreeForm and streaming on Hulu, is a prime example. “The Man in the High Castle” is another, although I’ve still got to finish that one. (Big surprise, huh?)

But “For All Mankind” is one that I can see at the top of my queue for a while now.

If you’ve read this far, you probably know the premise: In an alternate reality, the United States loses the race to the moon to the Soviets. What follows is a ramping up of the American space program, driven at first by Richard Nixon and then by President Ted Kennedy: American astronauts make repeated flights to the moon, eventually establishing a base there. Of course, the Soviets are just around the rim of the same crater.

There’s a lot of drama, both in space and back home among the astronauts and their families, and a generous mix of characters made up of historical figures recast – Armstrong, Aldrin, Deke Slayton and many others – and fictional figures.

There’s derring-do and the suspense that comes from waiting for a safe launch and return and for the wrinkles to be ironed out in space travel.

The space program isn’t the only thing that’s “alternate” in this reality and it’s fascinating to see where the writers take politics and technology and the strides made by women.

“For All Mankind” is an absorbing drama about human achievement driven – and sometimes compromised – by politics and national pride. I look forward to catching up and being ready for future seasons.

This image has given me nightmares.

Sure, I just tweeted it to make a joke, but this particular shot – and all of the 1961 thriller “The Innocents,” really – is a subtle but ultimately terrifying nightmare.

If you don’t know “The Innocents,” I won’t spoil it for you.

But you should see it.