‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Episode 1.4 (6 out of 10) Created by Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers; Starring Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishé; Sundays on AMC
As this series progresses, it’s starting to look like the showrunners can’t handle more than one character arc per episode. So far—and this episode is no exception—we’ve seen lots of development between Gordon and Donna, and their relationship is becoming one of my favorite parts of the show. It’s also been interesting to watch the character of John Bosworth develop. He’s still very much a Texan, tobacky-chewin’ kind of businessman, but the entrepreneurial conflict that is taking place between him and Joe has been fun to watch. Speaking of Joe, he and Cameron don’t seem to be getting much love as the series progresses. Their characters started out with a bit of intrigue to them, but they’ve slowly become pigeonholed as “mysterious huckster” and “socially-awkward genius” respectively, making them feel more one dimensional than they deserve.
Tonight’s drama revolved around a double whammy of a problem. First, Cameron discovers that all of the code she’d been writing for the past three days has been deleted due to an unfortunate power surge. Second, a reporter from Wall Street Quarterly is present when the meltdown ensues. This is where we see how Gordon and Donna make a great—albeit emotionally strained—team. Despite Donna’s ability to fix the problem, the fact remains that the two of them have a family to maintain. I think Donna is one of the strongest characters on the show, and Kerry Bishé gives her just the right amount of badass. However, this makes me question where I stand regarding Gordon. There’s something endearing about his persistent dedication to his dreams, but he’s starting to come across as too detached—especially when it comes to his family. With Donna showing up to fix this problem at Cardiff while keeping their household in order, it’s tough to see what Gordon is bringing to his role as a father and as an engineer.
Outside of the crisis zone, the power struggle between Bosworth and MacMillan has been escalating. After having to explain why Louise Lutherford wouldn’t finance Cardiff’s new operation to Cardiff himself, John’s authority in the company is in question. The fact that this conversation takes place while Cardiff’s ranch hands put down an injured horse offers a striking, but heavy-handed metaphor about Bosworth’s current situation. So, how does a man who is in danger of letting MacMillan make him into an obsolete relic even the odds? Why, have the local cops pull his enemy over and beat him half to death, that’s how. Things might be escalating a little too quickly between MacMillan and Bosworth—if MacMillan is going to launch a worthy counter-attack, he’ll have to come close to murdering Bosworth, and I don’t think that’s going to fly.
Despite feeling MacMillan’s pain as he limps off with Bosworth in the last scenes of the episode, I’m having a tough time with his character. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare Joe MacMillan to Don Draper, but I feel like the show is kind of veering him in that direction. He’s got the same ambition and foresight that Draper has, but the show hasn’t done a great job at making him a redeemable guy in the way that “Mad Men” has done with Draper. Even when he brings Cameron a sandwich while she’s sulking on the roof, it still feels like he’s got some hidden agenda. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if he’s going to be one of the primary characters, we have to like him.
Once again, I was most disappointed with how tonight’s episode handled Cameron. The show set her up for some great moments—most notably the scenes in which she and Donna are thrown together—but they ended up giving her the most obvious responses to the conflicts that come her way. Gordon and Donna called her white trash? Why, then she’s going to steal their keys and attempt to vandalize their home. I thought the scenes where Cameron was babysitting the Clark’s children had some potential, but they ended on a bit of a sour note with her attempt at breaking and entering.
The show’s hitting a point where I’m not sure where it’s going. I like the crisscrossing storylines, but I find myself wishing they were a bit more complex. So far, it’s Gordon’s and Donna’s show, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but they’ve got some interesting material to mine for in Joe and Cameron that I hope will take place in the near future.