2016 will be remembered for many things, but in Dave's case it will always be the year he helped win the Olympic gold medal as a member of the USA men's basketball team in Rio. It wasn't easy, however, as his former Italian teammates stood in the way. Samantha's mom was up for re-election as governor, going up against the anti-immigrant Claude Carp who turned out to harbor a secret background. Samantha did her best to maintain order in the genetics labs, getting no help from her colleagues raising their son with plant genes in his DNA. Meanwhile, the dodos campaigned for a sanctuary for their species. In Las Vegas, Samantha encountered thieves staging a casino heist. Her only weapon? Her personal drone. Vince and Pam continued their contentious relationship at the dorm, joined by Feryl who immediately had designs on the former mouse. While all that was going on, Samantha, Dave and their friends continued their preparations for the Mars mission. Ming was the first of the group to actually experience spaceflight. At the end of 2016, the launch was a year away...