In which Margaux and I are very frustrated by a good show.
Trevor: Lots of computer lingo in “Close to the Metal.” My head was spinning. I know this is something for which we’ve praised Halt and Catch Fire in the past, but at a certain point I was content to just get the gist of the episode. But then again, I’m kinda stupid. What did you think?
Margaux: The computer talk got in the way, at times, in last night’s episode, but they still managed to sneak in more of Joe’s motivation and reward tactics in the midst of it all but wasn’t cutting it for me. There were points in “Close to the Metal” that I got a little tired of it and just wanted to know where it was the shit all of this going, like they were stalling in getting to the second act.
Trevor: I know, all the promos for this episode showed the BIOS getting wiped, so there wasn’t a ton of tension leading up to it. But it’s ironic that as soon as Joe torched IBM’s BIOS (which I thought was a great scene), Cardiff’s took a shit.
Good performances last night, but narratively it felt like treading water. Obviously, every show has its equivalent of “case of the week” episodes, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Margaux: Knowing how much Joe likes to jerk his own ego, wouldn’t be surprised if he inspired himself to fuck-up Cameron’s BIOS when he lit IBM’s BIOS on fire.
Either way, I agree with you, “case of the week” defense or not – this episode almost felt passive aggressive. Like they know the audience wants, so they keep dropping more hints to keep up interest but you can only that for so long. Especially when you are a freshman show, you’ve gotta keep topping yourself or else you might end up Low Winter Sun-ing it.
Trevor: I will never get tired of the vitriol you still have towards that show.
To me, the best thing to come out of “Close to the Metal” was Donna. We’ve been wanting more for Kerry Bishe since the pilot, and HaCF was smart in giving us more, but doing so in increments before we got a Donna-Cameron bottle episode or some shit.
I like that Donna doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit – not Gordon’s, not Cameron’s, and especially not Joe’s. What I DIDN’T like was her eleventh-hour transformation into a sitcom wife. Why was she so mad that Gordon used her maiden name? “You think I’m my mother?” Come on, Donna, and come on, Halt and Catch Fire – you’re both better than that.
Margaux: I think Gordon and Donna’s relationship in general is one the strongest things Halt and Catch Fire has going for itself. And found myself wondering if labeling Cameron as the BIOS brains might of been a misnomer cause, yeah, Suzanne Fairchild saved the day.
Seriously, what a thing to get pissed about. I laughed out loud when Gordon awkwardly responded. I thought, if anything, get mad they’re not giving you credit for your work. But hey, there’s also getting angry with Gordon for not being as wholly offended as she was when Joe confessed he purposefully messed with the computer for some PR.
“Did it work?”
Trevor: And that’s a much better thing to get mad about! When someone sabotages their BIOS and you have to spend all day fixing it – screwing yourself at your own job and leaving your girls in the care of a college student in riot grrl overalls in the process – the response you want from your husband is “Wow, what a dick” and not “Did it work?”
Margaux: Which makes him a little too much like Joe, at least to Donna, and its the impression I was left with.
Speaking of that reporter, it wasn’t all that surprising that Joe had to pull strings to get him in Cardiff’s office. It’s like, everytime Joe launches into a speech about “innovation” and “other people clamoring for their product” automatically dismiss it as bullshit. By and large, the reporter didn’t add a whole lot but, I did enjoy Toby Huss telling him, “get out of my office before I punch you in the face”. Seriously dude.
Trevor: That reporter was such a dickbag. But I never got the sense that he was more than a minor obstacle. His original angle on the story seemed misguided too. What’s your headline? “Medium-size software company from Texas tries to make a PC and goes belly-up”? You’re trying to get a promotion based on what, schadenfreude? I’m pretty misanthropic on my best days, but even I wouldn’t be excited to read that. “Oh cool, 5,000 words about people with families losing their jobs!” No wonder nobody reads Wall Street Quarterly.
Margaux: No matter what the piece ends up being, Gordon and Joe are of the belief that “any press is good press.” They’re not gonna read the 5,000 word sad-sack write up, but they’ll probably frame it.
But it does seem like Cardiff have very many allies left out there in the Silicon Prairie. Getting the cops called on you to get gay bashed isn’t the most welcoming sign in the world.
Trevor: Yeah, let’s talk about the assault. In my notes I wondered if Bosworth sicced the cops on Joe, as a way to teach him a lesson in pecking order. Even Nathan Cardiff is wondering who’s in charge. And before you dismiss the idea, it was Bosworth – not Gordon or Cameron – who came to the station to get Joe, and Bosworth did seem really chummy with that cop. And he made a reference to baseball, a sport that uses bats not unlike the batons that Joe was beaten with. What do you think, am I way off base? I huff a lot of paint.
Margaux: Your “off base” pun aside, I do agree with you. When Joe first got pulled over and beat up, I thought, Lulu and Nathan Cardiff had cooked something up. But when Bosworth showed up to the station to get Joe, he didn’t even bother to even really acknowledge Joe – it was like he expected him to be there. And, if you remember, when Bosworth catches up with Nathan Cardiff, they were watching a horse get taken out back and shot. So like, ominous foreshadowing.
Trevor: First of all, I loved that ranch setting. Very nice change of location for a show about computers.
Bosworth is showing a lot more depth and dimension than I expected out of him at first. Toby Huss is doing good work. The whole cast is doing good work, but this episode was frustrating. Which is baffling, because it comes from Breaking Bad vet Johan Renck.
Margaux: If I had to see another show, set in a white “communal space work space,” I was gonna throw my TV out.
You and me both. We’ve been pretty hard on “Close to the Metal,” but there were some good points. Namely the performances. Joe’s brief meeting with Cameron on the roof was a nicely vulnerable moment for both of them.
Margaux: I’d forgotten entirely about that moment, probably got up to get ice cream or something. Cameron wore on my nerves last night, until she (stupidly) steals Donna’s keys and drives to the Clark abode. I thought their very recently fired neighbor showing up with a shotgun in hand was hilarious and also, Texas. But I really liked the opening shot of Gordon pulling out of his driveway in the morning, his Spike Jones-looking neighbor, standing on his lawn in his robe. I jotted down in my notes, “confirmed: it’ll get super awkward if you ever have to fire your neighbor.”
Trevor: Haha yeah, Gordon’s gonna be eating the awko taco a lot. Weirdly enough, neighbor Ben finding Cameron in the Clark house was one of my favorite parts of the episode. “This asshole may have fired me, but there’s no way I’m gonna let someone break into his house.” I thought it was kinda nice.
Margaux: It was sweet and a little shocking at the same time, counterbalanced my building rage against Cameron for her series of dumbass decisions. She did great work last night trying to dispel those slut/trash rumors. Not.
Trevor: Cameron was frustrating, but she stuck the landing somewhat by going back to work at episode’s end.
Margaux: I mean, did you really think she, A. had somewhere better to be? and B. was it ever a question she wasn’t?
Trevor: Okay, let’s talk star count. “Close to the Metal” was a frustrating episode occasionally buoyed by solid performances. But since it was more or less a narrative placeholder, I’m inclined to go three, maybe three and a half.
Margaux: I’m willing to give the three and half stars, if only because HaCF focusing a lot of energy on Donna’s character was refreshing.
Trevor: Okay, I can live with that. We were wondering how she’d be involved with the PC project, and I guess the answer is “by saving everyone’s asses, probably multiple times.”
Margaux: You can sense things are coming to an end for Donna at T.I. and it’d make sense for her to transition to Cardiff, she is smarter than Gordon afterall…
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