It's all about female empowerment this week on The Astronaut Wives Club Season 1 Episode 5.

Trudy's friend comes to visit with an important goal in mind: changing the rules for astronauts so that women will be allowed to go into space, too. But they'll need some extra support, and it turns out that isn't quite so easy.

While Trudy has been standing by Gordo's side pretending everything is fine with their marriage for the sake of his career, her dreams have been slipping away from her. From the start, she's expressed that she wants to be able to become an astronaut herself, and now her friend has exactly that chance.

Almost. Apparently, there's a rule in place that says astronauts must be trained test pilots, but that's not something women are allowed to do. Even though the research shows that women could actually do better in space than men, changing that rule is a battle.

Unfortunately John Glenn and Scott Carpenter basically blow it, insisting on the importance of being a test pilot.

Something this show has done well with so far is showing different types of couples and how gender roles affect the various relationships. For Trudy and Gordo, it's the traditional gender roles that have posed the biggest problem.

So for Gordo to tell the world that it was his wife who taught him to be a pilot? That's a very big move. And an important one.

Gordo sets a record, by the way, but it isn't long before someone breaks it. Why? Because the Russian's send a woman into space.

Rene continues to be a rock star, and she's probably still my favorite character on the show. She decides that she wants to get a writing job, and she isn't afraid to approach an editor to ask for exactly that. Naturally, this guy doesn't take her seriously at all, but says if she wants to prove herself, she can write him twenty sample articles.

Twenty.

And she does.

They are probably amazing, and from the way she describes them, they are definitely important. That's my favorite scene from this episode -- Rene presenting Butterfield with those twenty, thoughtful articles, only to tell him she no longer has any interest in working for a man like him.

Like I said, she's a rock star.

Sadly, her moment of triumph is overshadowed by the shocking news that comes next. A man comes in and announces that the president has been shot.

I've said before that The Astronaut Wives Club is like Mad Men meets Desperate Housewives, and I think that's definitely still the case. We saw the same thing on Mad Men with the president being shot and how that affected the characters on such a deep level.

I appreciate that The Astronaut Wives Club is tackling that too, though for these characters, it's even more personal.

What did you think of this week's episode of The Astronaut Wives Club? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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And don't miss The Astronaut Wives Club Season 1 Episode 6 next week!

Ashley Bissette Sumerel was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in September 2017. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.