Margaux and I lament the lack of stags on this week’s Halt and Catch Fire.
Trevor: So I hate dream sequences. The flower growing in the circuit board was cool visually, but I can’t remember the last time I read a book or watched a movie or TV show and thought “Oh cool, a dream sequence.”
Margaux: Haha. About 15 seconds into the cold open I thought to myself, “it sure took them a while to kick things off with a dream sequence”. I agree that visually, it looked really cool. But other than that, it didn’t play too major a part throughout “Landfall.”
Trevor: I liked “Landfall” but it didn’t get off to a great start. Cameron telling Joe to be authentic wasn’t new information; that’s like Peggy telling Don to stop being mysterious. The standout part of the episode, for me, was Cameron. Mackenzie Davis was on fire last night.
Margaux: Ignoring every time she did start a petulant, child-like argument with Joe, encouraging him to have a “soul” got seriously grating for me. I don’t know if it’s AMC and the particular female characters they create but, they always tend to veer dangerously close to “nags” every fucking time. Cameron eventually stopped whining to everyone and actually showed some vulnerability herself with Bos, which I really loved. But my issue with Cameron’s character is that she ALWAYS has to be framed as “immature” or “erratic” before she can convincingly pull something off. It’s getting old. For me.
Trevor: That’s a fair point. I’ll admit, I do like her scenes with Bosworth better than with Joe or Gordon, because she always seems to let her guard down around him. They have a nice dynamic; he’s almost paternal, but never condescending. Toby Huss is great in the role.
So, to switch gears to Donna’s boss, “business trip”? That’s the oldest trick in the sex book.
Margaux: RIGHT?!?! All that talk about how Donna’s “everyone’s secret weapon” also made me seriously uncomfortable. I just kept yelling, DONNA – YOU IN DANGER GIRL. But SHE just kept smiling like an idiot at her boss who clearly wants to bang some sort of info outta her.
But Donna is not to be underestimated, I really loved the fucked up dinner party that never was with Joe, Donna, and no Gordon. Even though Donna seemingly changed Joe’s mind to keep the IOS simple, instead of Cameron’s Siri 1.0 – which really drove home the point that Donna IS smarter than Gordon, in way more ways than one. Not just in a “savin’ the day” capacity.
Too bad her adorable fuckin’ kids ruin it for her anyway. THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER HAVE KIDS.
Trevor: I was surprised by how good Joe was with her kids. But for some reason I got tense during the dinner party. When the girl asked “Where’s daddy?” why did Joe respond “Somewhere far away from here.” CREEPIEST RESPONSE EVER.
But it was good to see Joe and Donna respecting each other more, I like both characters and don’t want to see them at loggerheads all the time.
Margaux: Joe initially not being good with the Clark kids wasn’t entirely surprising, his reaction when they started playing with his hair was funny. But if there is one thing Joe loves, it’s being a crowd pleaser. His whole admittance to how he really got his scars was…surprising. Joe’s response to Cameron’s program “being good” means they’re…dating? Or he likes her program? A little from column A and B?
Trevor: I think it was just the connection. To me it was more than the program or the sex, I think Joe felt good finally opening up to someone. And Cameron gave him what he needed, which was someone to listen to him. That sounded less gay in my head.
Margaux: Well, Joe isn’t all the way opening up. His persona is made up of cologne ads and Henry Ford quotes. Still a thousand dollar suit, minus the tie. Joe looks like a total 80s douchebag with his unbuttoned dress shirt.
Trevor: Oh yeah, total Reaganaut. He looks like Patrick Bateman. Or the 80s guy from that one episode of Futurama.
Margaux: Can we talk about Gordon and his whole Cabbage Patch Doll debacle? I was really pleased when he smashed that window to steal the doll, after he’d been rightfully duped outta $80 on his first attempt to get his daughter’s birthday gift.
When Gordon was walking around in the hurricane with the Cabbage Patch Dolls, I had a terrible flashback to when I was a kid and left my Cabbage Patch Doll in the rain, her face melted off. Needless to say, I was more worried about Gordon’s kid being disappointed with the doll than Gordon seeing a dead guy in the middle of the street. Who looked WAY TOO much like Big Head from Silicon Valley.
Trevor: Doll with its face melting off? Do you write for American Horror Story? I liked Gordon’s subplot. Early on, I wrote “We know G ain’t getting that doll.” But I’m glad he did. And I’m really glad he threw a rock through a window to do it. Fuck that toy store. The dead guy was a nice touch, very surreal, almost like something that would happen on Mad Men.
Margaux: Dude, if I wrote for American Horror Story, do you think I’d still be talking to you about TV shows?
Anyway, if Halt and Catch Fire gets any weirder with Gordon (between the dead guy and flower dream sequence), I wouldn’t be surprised if a stag showed up to help him make the computer.
Trevor: Haha, because every show needs a goddamn stag. I’ll be surprised if one doesn’t show up on The Simpsons at this point.
Margaux: Every TV drama in 2014 NEEDS MORE STAG – DUH TREVOR.
Trevor: When I do my “best of” list at the end of the year, it’s going to be something something stag joke.
Stag party!
Okay I’m done.
Margaux: Everybody gets one, Spider-Man.
Star count?
Trevor: I was thinking four. “Landfall” was a solid episode, but still problematic. Halt and Catch Fire is capable of better, but everyone is still bringing their A-game. Any issues I find with the show tend to be with the writing or direction.
Margaux: “Landfall” had some good character moments – we didn’t even talk about Cameron angrily kissing Gordon in the middle of the bull pen for everyone to see.
But Halt and Catch Fire can’t help itself from falling into some of the TV drama tropes, which is where the problems come from. I’m happy to give “Landfall” four stars, it’s still working for me but I hope it continues to focus on characters instead weird, heady shit. We’ve got that aspect of TV covered.
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