AMC's Halt and Catch Fire

[jefferiestubes8]

I'm watching on Netflix season 1.
I am enjoying this story, directing, cinematography, music. It has some good art direction too.

 

[Push The Button]

The season two premiere was excellent, I'm so happy that AMC didn't give up on this show.

Spoiler: 1985

I liked Gordon better with the beard, it gave him character. Actually, Gordon is my least favorite character, and turning him into a cokehead makes me like him even less. Also, so true about computers like the 'Giant' ending up on the scrapheap of history, there were so many, half of which ended up in my basement, I think.

I'm loving the new dynamic between Cameron and Donna, and the Mutiny storyline has so much promise. Seeing those old Commodore 64's back in action warms my heart, it was the best computer that I ever owned next to my Macbook Pro.

As for Joe, I'm trying to figure out exactly how he is going to worm his way in and ruin everyone's lives again. It is only a matter of time.

 

[1001001]

The scene where Joe got his check ripped up was great. Summarized his entire first season in a few angry lines.

The Mutiny arc...we'll see. They've destroyed that house and now have a computer thief after them. I love the fact they're going to get the old boss to manage it. I liked him.

 

[Guy Gardener]

How much cocaine use did we see last year?

Almost none?

Judging from Gordon's nose, I'm thinking that anytime we couldn't see them on camera, there's a rolled up 10 spot up each of everyone's nostrills.

Oh.

The "producer/writer" wanted to brightlightsbigcity reglamorize Cocaine, but AMC was already taking so much shit about the meth in Breaking Bad that they vetoed the marching powder in seaosn one?

Shit.

We're just going to see the spiral, rock bottom and recovery, without all the first date Hijinks where Gordon and Cocaine fell in love.

How sad.

OH!

Flashbacks!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

That five-minute long single-take tracking shot set to Icicle Works Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly) to establish the two-year time jump to 1985 and the thriving chaos at Mutiny HQ was very impressive. The camera person and the two lead actresses especially deserve credit for carrying that bulk of difficulty in that scene so well. It's nice to see the technique used for something other than a fight/heavy action scene of some sort (Daredevil and Agents of SHIELD), and I'm glad to see it continue to gain popularity on TV shows ever since the epic tracking shot in episode four or five of True Detective where Rust went undercover with the biker gang.

There was a lot of set-up in this episode without a clear direction established yet, but hopefully that gets sorted out soon and we can see the main cast working toward a common goal. Things at Mutiny have reached a plateau with neither woman wanting to take on a managerial drudgery role (which seems destined to fall to the newly released from prison Bosworth) so they can continue enjoying the pats of the job they love. Gordon is flush with cash, hooked on coke (because it's the 80s), looking for a new special project, and taking on the reverse of the parental roles now the Donna is the busier one of the two. Joe is disenchanted and looking to burn bridges (or trucks full of computers) and move on from a new relationship just like he does with everything else, because he's a self-destructive narcissist. There are glimmers of self-improvement in his eye, but it's obvious his new relationship is not going to last.

This was a good start and I'm looking forward to seeing where the show will take us this season.

 

[Beagleman]

So glad they get Bosworth back he started out as a cliche pain-in-the-ass boss but grew to be one of my favourite characters.

 

[Push The Button]

Mutiny's startup screen reminds me of Quantumlink, which later became AOL.

Quantumlink was an early dialup graphical online service that ran on the Commodore 64, and that was sort of ahead of its time. Of course it was extremely slow, even with my state-of-the-art Avatex 1200 baud modem, which has me scratching my head a little over Mutiny's realtime tank game.

But, another good episode, and it is good to see Bosworth back in the mix.

 

[sojourner]

The whole "virtual modem" thing bugged me. How is that supposed to work exactly? Are people bringing their Commodores over to one house and making some kind of adhoc network to share the modem?

It was very much an "um, no." moment for anyone watching that works in IT.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It's a shame they had to resort to "computer magic." I appreciated that the show had a fairly realistic portrayal of contemporary computer technology, at least early on.

 

[sojourner]

I guess the writer was too busy retconning in the cocaine abuse.

 

[Push The Button]

The whole "virtual modem" thing bugged me. How is that supposed to work exactly? Are people bringing their Commodores over to one house and making some kind of adhoc network to share the modem?

It was very much an "um, no." moment for anyone watching that works in IT.

I'll have to watch the episode again, as I had trouble hearing some of the dialog on Sunday night, but is it possible the new "Tom Rendon" character also changed the code in the game itself to make the "ten users on one line" sharing possible?

I'm still having trouble with that arcade-style tank game, being able to move around obstacles and shoot at another user's tank in real time over noisy phone lines seems like a real stretch for 1985. I was into dialup BBSs back then, and 1200 baud was pretty much the best you were going to do, with most beginners having 300 baud modems because the 1200s were so expensive. 300 baud was painfully slow, even printing out a screen full of ASCII text to your display could take ten or twenty seconds.

 

[shapeshifter]

Favorite thing about this episode:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxidefcsjDc[/yt]

Extended version

 

[sojourner]

The whole "virtual modem" thing bugged me. How is that supposed to work exactly? Are people bringing their Commodores over to one house and making some kind of adhoc network to share the modem?

It was very much an "um, no." moment for anyone watching that works in IT.

I'll have to watch the episode again, as I had trouble hearing some of the dialog on Sunday night, but is it possible the new "Tom Rendon" character also changed the code in the game itself to make the "ten users on one line" sharing possible?

Yeah, it doesn't work that way. You still need some way for those users to actually dial in. Which as stated in dialog, they weren't. They were connected using a "shared virtual modem", i.e. - technobabble BS.

 

[Push The Button]

Episode 2x03 The Way In

Bosworth is becoming my favorite character.

Joe's storyline may be heading toward a fictionalized version of Ross Perot's EDS.

 

[auntiehill]

Finally caught up. Missing the sense of urgency that the last season had, but still enjoying the characters.

 

[Green Shirt]

^ Yes, the pacing seems more relaxed this season.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Finally just watched the second episode, it was fantastic. I think people forget how slow and deliberate the beginning of the first season was. They are obviously building too something, with Joe's Aha moment and Gordon's unleashing the first worm virus. I think this will be an real interesting season.

 

[sojourner]

Boz is definitely turning into the best character on the show.

Pretty sure those nerf guns aren't circa 1985.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I just watched it as well, is Cameron going to create Wolfenstein? I too think Boz is the best character. In the last episode, I felt he was building up to commit suicide. With give the car to his son and all. Still on the fence about that happening. I love Joe in full Miami Vice 1985 clothing. If it was a light blue jacket and pink undershirt, it would be even better. I loved the first person shooter look of the Nerf Gun battle, yeah those look like much later versions of the Nerf guns.

 

[sojourner]

Yep, according to a wiki I found, the first nerf projectile weapons weren't until 1989 and the dart type didn't debut until 92.