In the wake of Mad Men‘s mid-season finale, Margaux and I turn our attention to AMC’s new show Halt and Catch Fire.
Margaux: I’ll admit it, I tuned into Halt and Catch Fire with fairly low expectation. Like, Low Winter Sun: The Wire Revisited, low. But by episodes end, not only was I impressed with how much Don Draper Lee Pace channeled as Joe MacMillan and that for a show set in Texas in the 80s, it was quite compelling.
Trevor: I agree. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I haven’t been able to get that damn Eurythmics song out of my head since AMC started running promos for the show.
I thought Pace was great, and I caught definite echoes of Mad Men. To use Halt and Catch Fire’s own term, it was almost like it was trying to reverse-engineer AMC’s flagship show. And I can’t think of anywhere more boring than Texas, unless it’s Texas in the 1980s, so the show should be applauded for making it so interesting. But for any program that drops phrases like “BIOS,” “hexadecimal coding,” etc, well they pretty much have to make it interesting.
Margaux: And despite a lot of IBM tech lingo, that I don’t understand verus say, Silicon Valley where I get it too much, it was nice to be a little lost and allow the characters to show you what they can do. I loved that for all his dick-swagger, I mean he bangs the female lead Cameron BEFORE the opening credits, MacMillian didn’t buck at the 4-day bro-down of reverse engineering the computer. Even though, on the surface, he presents himself as one hell of a smooth operator (that’s an 80s song, right?).
Trevor: I liked that too; he’s not afraid of the nitty-gritty, and he actually knows a thing or two about computers. What did you think of Gordon? I’ve always been a fan of Scoot McNairy, he was so good in Killing Them Softly.
Margaux: The main reason I tuned in was because of the cast. I really like Scoot McNairy’s take on Gordon Clark, though I feel his wife’s character could use some more work besides “long suffering spouse.” For a guy that has every reason to take MacMillan up on his offer of going up against IBM and later, forcing Cardiff Electric’s hand, I appreciated that Clark might be a semi-alcoholic, misunderstood genius but he doesn’t have his head that far up his ass. He was extremely charming, especially when they went to “interview” Cameron at the end. Even his under-the-breath-muttering is adorable.
Trevor: I hope Donna gets more of an identity as well, because I like Kerry Bishe and I don’t want to watch her and Gordon fight all season. I did like that she encouraged him to build the computer, though; that kind of reversal isn’t unprecedented, but it was smart of HaCF to put Donna in Gordon’s corner early. How could you not be? Gordon is the kind of guy who will go see Return of the Jedi and then suggest going home to watch the other two Star Wars movies. That sounds like a fun night.
Margaux: I was happy to see Donna encourage Gordon at the end too because when we first meet her, I wrote in my notes: “Skylar? UGH.” And I must give credit where it’s due, even though we’ve yet to see what Donna will do going forward (she did create the Symphonic with Gordon, way back when and attempts to fix that goddamn Speak N’ Spell), I think it’s great that they have female characters from the on-set. Watching Silicon Valley directly after HaCF all I could think was: WADDUP COCK FEST.
Trevor: Yeah, and that budding romance between Monica and Richard felt shoehorned-in. But I digress.
I do think that Donna will be involved in some way with whatever Joe, Gordon, and Cameron are building. For some reason I dig that she works in computers too. With the lack of any real outsiders (i.e. people not in the tech industry), I think HaCF can be more or less hermetically sealed, and that will lend itself well to narrative momentum and hopefully result in a minimum of lame subplots. But if Donna or Cameron starts shoplifting, I am OUT.
Margaux: Haha, fair enough. My only hang-up is, and going back to the Clarke family seeing Return of the Jedi, how in the hell (in the pre-check-in age) does Joe know where Gordon is. I mean that is some commitment to light stalking to stroke someone’s ego who you were referring to as “A-16” (Gordon’s parking spot number) just a day or two ago. Obviously, there is more than meets the eye with Joe. Who is he, Archer? Disappearing for a year only to re-appear at Cardiff to fuck over a bunch of Good Ole Boys from Texas…is Gordon like, his scapegoat?
Trevor: Yeah, I wasn’t sure how Joe managed to find the Clarks, AND buy popcorn AND roll his jacket sleeves up. 80s as fuck. But, like Don Draper, he has a mysterious past. I think we’re supposed to take his appearance at the theater on face value: this guy’s tenacious, and if he wants to talk to you, he’s gonna talk to you. But maybe it’s a small town; Donna said they were going to the movies, and if that’s the only theater and it’s playing one movie, it’d be pretty easy to find someone.
(I can’t believe this is what we’re getting hung up on, haha.)
Margaux: Let’s just say, I’m not committed to anything ever enough to get off my ass long enough to figure it out. Color me in awe of his tenacity.
I was happy to see Toby Huss, ya know Artie from Pete and Pete, being towered over by Pace. He doesn’t budge though, even though Pace is pretty intimidating in his 80s regalia. I think he’s already made a friend-enemy in the office. Congrats!
Trevor: I know Huss more from his work on King of the Hill (I didn’t like Pete and Pete, because I’m not a retard). I liked his brief – very brief – moment of vulnerability with Pace. “You’re gonna put me in a corner in my own house?” He’s pissed, but also surprised and a little scared. That’s a lot to convey in a few words, but Huss has, what? Two decades or so of character acting experience? He’s a good choice for Bosworth.
And yes, Pace is oddly intimidating in a Patrick Bateman way.
Margaux: It’s hard to draw any long-term conclusions about what’s to come on the show, though the ominous IBM lawyers that shuffle in, in their horribly, itchy looking suits probably isn’t too great a sign.
Trevor: “Ominous” is a good word. Looking at Joe, Gordon, and Cameron, you could almost hear them gulp. An army of lawyers usually isn’t good.
So, star count? I’m leaning towards four – “I/O” was good, but the show is still finding its footing, and pilot episodes are notoriously hard to review.
Margaux: Inclined to give it four stars as well. I think for a pilot, it was a strong start but can they maintain it? We have the pleasure of finding out.
About Author
