Margaux and I talk a frustrating, depressing, but altogether satisfying Halt and Catch Fire.
Trevor: Man, I knew Jacob would turn out to be a fuckin’ weasel. Too bad, too, because Joe played it remarkably straight regarding the acquisition.
Margaux: And I really didn’t want Cameron’s “too punk to go corporate” speech to ever be validated because the more we reward this behavior, the more she’s likely to continue talking like a 15 year old who’s listened to the Sex Pistols for the first time. Cameron had so many eye roll worthy lines this episode, I’m starting to believe that we’re not supposed to like her because I don’t and cannot.
Trevor: She was really testing the audience’s goodwill this episode. The whole time she was giving her punk rock Spartacus speech, I really wanted Joe to chime in with the office specifics, just to shut her up in front of the Mutiny team. Really, as soon as she jumped up on the table I was eye rolling. But true to form for Halt and Catch Fire, this was still very well done and the show is doing a great job of turning us against Cameron. She’s just so fucking childish, and even when she turns the corner – like when she told Tom she’d decided to sell – it’s followed by a scene where she promises not to sell. (Granted, this is after Joe tells her that Jacob is going to screw them over, but let’s be real, was she ever going to sell to Jacob?)
Margaux: Jacob is an afterthought for Cameron, her choice not to sell is 100% founded in irrational feelings of days past with Joe. She let him have one her best ideas (her iOs for Giant) and he squandered it; Cameron is a vengeful bitch, she won’t let that happen a second time. Health insurance benefits and a five million dollar pay out be damn because FUCK THE MAN, MAN.
Trevor: I’M GONNA KEEP MY EMPLOYEES WORKING FOR STOCK OPTIONS IN A COMPANY I OWN 90% OF, GRR, UP THE PUNX!
But you’re right about Cameron being purely motivated by her feelings for Joe. There was a lot of focus on the past in “Working for the Clampdown,” from Sarah’s mistrust of both her and Joe, to Cameron being wary around Joe, even extending to Gordon’s brain damage-induced comment about the Giant and Donna’s extremely unsympathetic mother bringing up every embarrassing thing Gordon had ever done. The past refuses to let us go, no matter how hard we try to let go of it.
Margaux: Your True Detective-esque reflection is actually exemplified perfectly in a dinner scene between Jacob, Sarah, and Joe. Not only was it an awkward conversation because at any given moment, Joe and/or Sarah were talked about as if they weren’t sitting at the table. And Jacob all but called his daughter an indecisive flake for taking her past relationship out on Joe, when Jacob is the patient zero of doing that to Joe.
Trevor: You’re so right. That scene had one of my favorite lines from “Clampdown,” too, when Sarah chimed in with “Does anybody wanna know what I think?” Fuckin’ right, Sarah, they shouldn’t be talking about you like you’re not even there! I’m really enjoying the feminist bent of Halt and Catch Fire’s second season. And little touches like that almost make up for Cameron’s repeated temper tantrums. Almost.
Margaux: Even the way Cameron reacts to the news of Lev being in the hospital (“stupid pigs!”) makes you want to shake her like a British nanny. But despite the sadness in Lev’s storyline this week, meeting “George” in-person from the community chat room turned out to be hateful Catfishing, I was impressed and surprised that Halt and Catch Fire found a way to comment on current times without being all hashtag, social justice warrior about it.
Trevor: I was impressed by that too, and I came here locked and loaded with complaints about Lev. Then he was the victim of a hate crime, so now I feel bad. But Lev is kind of a progressive character, because he shows that gay people can be assholes too! It’s almost as if your sexual orientation has no bearing on who you are as a person. What a novel idea. Don’t get me wrong, though: I still feel bad for what happened to him. But that doesn’t change the fact that Lev is an asshole.
Margaux: Wait, why is Lev an asshole?
Trevor: The way he talks to people, the way he treats them. Let’s not forget that Lev was the one reading Bosworth’s letter to Cameron in an exaggerated Texas drawl.
Margaux: I don’t think Lev is more of an asshole than any of the other coders. If your team is lead by giant asshole (Cameron), you’ll have a bunch of asshole underlings working for you, duh.
Trevor: All right, fair point. Maybe I’m a homophobe and am just now realizing it. But I disliked Lev before it was revealed that he was gay (which remains one of HaCF’s best scenes from season two).
Let’s move on before I dig myself an even deeper hole. This is going to make for a hell of a blurb on the Blu-Ray. “Gay people are assholes!” – GAMbIT Magazine.
Margaux: Hahahahaha, assuming our reviews are read enough to ever get on a Blu-Ray, I truly hope they go with the above.
Anyway, onto to sadder matters, the Clarks are broken and painful to watch. It’s hard to tell how severe Gordon’s brain damage is when he’s sorta been…kooky his whole life. But I’m sure lapsing into thinking it was a year or two ago, and speaking to a group of people as such, is definitely a red flag. You know, excluding the obviously bad move bro moment of Gordon starting Clark Computers. Which is admirable, but considering what he knows about what’s going with him, dragging others into it seems unfair and selfish.
Trevor: I think it has more to do with him being in denial. If I can keep working, Gordon thinks, my brain will be saved. Which is pretty tragic, and I admire HaCF for challenging the audience into sympathizing with a man who cheated on his wife last week.
Margaux: You make good points. It’ll be interesting to see if/when Donna and Gordon will have a ‘reveal’ (her: abortion, him: cheating) episode, the fallout of their respective guilt has manifested interestingly enough as it is.
Trevor: Definitely. I’m looking forward to that episode. I mean, it’ll be devastating, but Scoot McNairy and Kerry Bishe are so goddamn good I know they’re going to act the hell out of that scene.
Margaux: They’re such a charming, fictional couple, it’s kind of annoying to know they’re not married in real life. Unfortunately, I can’t say as much for Tom and Cameron, whose relationship I will enjoy the shit out of when it implodes. Because that shit will. What was that lunch at Mutiny with him Mom all about? That was…strange. But oh so fuckin’ punk, amirite? Fuckin’ YOUTHS!
Trevor: Never mind, I think we have a new Blu-Ray blurb. “Fuckin’ YOUTHS!” – GAMbIT Magazine.
You wanna talk stars?
Margaux: Sure thing. I was going to go with four stars, but the unexpected way the plot resolved itself was very satisfying, so much so, it almost made me forget how obnoxious Cameron’s “up the punx” speech was. Almost. But to paraphrase Bos from last night, I’ll stop shining sun up the shows ass since it’ll only make ‘em itch, and give “Working for the Clampdown” four and half stars.
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