After a week off (I was sick), Margaux and I return, as prophesied, to talk about Halt and Catch Fire.
Trevor: Not a lot of shows can pull off an episode like “A Connection is Made.” It strikes such a tonal balance that a lesser show would probably give a viewer whiplash. For much of its runtime, “Connection” is a very sweet episode, plotless and heavy on hanging out, and it’s a nice break from the tense narrative. There are lots of scenes that I would just describe as “nice,” i.e. the Joe/Haley stuff, or Donna and Joanie finding common ground. But it gets pretty heavy without sacrificing any of the emotionality from the first half. Obviously, since this is Halt and Catch Fire, I liked it a lot – how did you feel about it?
Margaux: Given the episode’s title, it was very emotional and honest, even if it wasn’t the subtle or plot focused. The sign of a good show is when you become emotionally invested not only in the character’s goal, but their day-to-day too. “A Connection Is Made” felt emotional and honest because you could picture yourself: getting demoted from a job, contemplating starting a family, even launching some fun rockets at the park.
Trevor: That rocket scene was so much fun. I didn’t take many notes cause I was just smiling. With such potentially volcanic personalities in the mix – Joe, Cameron, Gordon – it must have been tempting to go dark with that scene, so I appreciate the show just letting us see everyone have fun. And it helped narratively, too, because we got to see Joe taking an interest in Haley, which I think is the titular connection. And we got more of one of my favorite subplots, which is Gordon and his daughter just being nerds together.
Margaux: Yeah, but is it just me, or are you waiting for the other shoe to drop on this, “Katie is the greatest” thing? Even Gordon seems skeptical now.
Trevor: That’s an excellent point, and at times, yes, she does seem too good to be true. I think we’re both skeptical because HaCF wouldn’t cast an actress of Anna Chlumsky’s caliber just to use her as the love interest. And if this show has taught us anything, it’s that everyone is looking to screw over everyone else.
Margaux: And that all good things always implode sooner or later; whether it be relationships, companies, computers.
Trevor: There’s a concept (one which I’m sure you’ve heard of) called planned obsolescence, wherein something’s uselessness in the future is almost a design feature. No one would buy a new iPhone if they didn’t need to. It seems, sometimes, that the show takes the same approach to its storytelling; these people work in technology, a field where you run the constant risk of being left behind or forgotten. Gordon and Donna both spend time musing about the Symphonic, and are clearly worried about their legacies.
Margaux: This episode more openly played with the the idea of the kind of legacy Cameron and Donna might leave behind. First, Cameron finds that GeoCities fan site about her, and then later at her meeting Mystery Bangs, she alludes to Cameron’s cult like status among gamers. Donna, on the other hand, ends up hiring (and sleeping with) Rover’s new CTO who was a big fan of Mutiny when it first started. You can see the wave of nostalgia across Donna’s face when he asks her why she never tried to create another version of it.
I mean, it’s gotta be good foreshadowing that Cameron and Donna will make up and be friends again since Donna is the only one who has figured out Pilgrim so far, right?
Trevor: I certainly hope so, because I think in a lot of ways it was Donna and Cameron’s friendship (and the birth of Mutiny in season two) that launched this show into the stratosphere. I think it’s very telling that Donna has been to areas of Pilgrim that no one knows about; it shows just how well she understands Cameron’s psyche. Joe and Gordon know how to work together, but Cameron and Donna, I think, know each other on a deeper level. Donna doesn’t want to buy Cameron’s algorithm because she doesn’t want any part of Cameron in Rover – but Cameron just knows Donna too well.
Margaux: It was strange to see Donna out on Cameron’s land in full 9-to-5 drag; from a visual standpoint, they are in two, totally different worlds, but maybe there’s a way they can meet in the middle. Do you want to get into Gordon and Joe, or should be talk about how becoming a high-powered VC has turned Donna into an alcoholic?
Trevor: Donna’s drinking problem is something we’ve seen all season, but “Connection” hit it really hard. The DUI, yeah, that’s upsetting, but people get them in movies and TV (and life, I guess) all the time. What really killed me was her drunkenly telling Joanie, again, how fearless she was. It made me so sad for Joanie, to have this wonderful moment with her mom from earlier in the episode tainted by the fact that Donna doesn’t even seem to remember it.
Margaux: Exactly. Joanie is clearly angling to get out of the house as soon as she can with all her “year abroad” talk. Earlier in the episode, and really all the way leading up to Haley and Gordon’s argument, there was a lot of talk – on Gordon’s behalf – of Haley needing be a normal teenager and to spend time with her school friends. Now with her flunking out of classes and clearly not seeing a need to spend to with school friends, what’s Haley’s future at Comet going to look like going forward? It’s clearly a great fit for her and she’s obviously good at it. Is it worth trading adolescent milestones for that of an internet start up?
Trevor: That’s a great way to put it, and while we as viewers just want Haley to keep working at Comet, is it making her miss parts of her life? I feel like Haley was kind of the central character of this episode, especially with the revelation about her sexuality (Gordon’s realization, upon seeing Vanessa’s tattoos, was wonderfully done).
Margaux: Well, Joe tried to tell Gordon earlier, in his own way, when he said Haley was a lot like him. Sure, the single-minded stubbornness, but I caught the drift on the sexuality front too. Gordon’s heated monologue to Joe on what type of parent he’d be (bad was the gist of it) felt a little hypocritical. Joe and Cameron have done nothing but try to be good and positive presence in the Clark girls lives, while Gordon, on the other hand, continues to struggle in the face of being a disciplinary parent.
Trevor: For all the emotional nuances and intricacies we’re talking about, one would almost forget that this show was initially presented as Mad Men but with computers. It’s honestly unbelievable how much better this show has gotten, which I know is not a trenchant insight, but goddamn am I going to miss Halt and Catch Fire.
Margaux: We should talk about Bos and Diane. I thought – even though she was an asshole for the rest of the episode – Diane’s proposal was wonderfully sweet, “I know you’re expecting a big rock”, and think it’s great Bos decided to come clean about everything, but it kind felt like too little too late. What do you think? Follow up question: do you think Diane took out the whole situation on Donna by giving Rover to Tripp? It’s kind of ridiculous Diane keeps talking how she’s tired of holding Donna’s hand, when really, Donna just mistook Diane being a woman to also mean that Diane was also automatically on her side.
Trevor: I liked that scene because it was the greatest amount of actual acting that Annabeth Gish has gotten to do all season. And yes, Diane has a big-picture mentality and is always thinking in terms of causality: if this, then that. If she takes out her anger on Bos, he could have another heart attack. I think her words to Donna were unfair, and I think even Diane would agree with that, but characters on this show act rashly when pushed into a corner.
Margaux: Strong point. I guess the bigger question now is, will Donna go back after her forced vacation?
Trevor: My prediction is she ends up working with Cameron on whatever Cameron is doing. Those two deserve a happy ending. Would you like to talk stars?
Margaux: “A Connection is Made” makes a strong case for the bright futures ahead and the legacies that some will leave behind. I can’t believe there are only two more episodes until the 2-hour series finale. Going to miss our annual check in with these characters.
4/5
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