Sunday, July 23, 2017

Halt and Catch Fire 3.01

Valley of the Heart's Delight

It is 1986 and Mutiny has moved to San Francisco. They are getting ready to launch a new product. They just barely get it up and running in time for a reporter, who joins them for the launch party, to see it.

Donna and Cameron are still thick as thieves and running Mutiny. Cameron is living with Donna, Gordon, Joanie, and Hayley. Gordon feels underappreciated by his wife. He doesn't say that but that's the impression I get. I might be wrong. It might be that he just wants to do more than he currently does for Mutiny, which is maintain the mainframe.

The coders still work in one big room and spend a lot of time goofing off. I don't think I could work in an environment like that. It seems that some of the guys, and they are all guys, don't do anything other than goof off. On one level it seems like fun but it also feels kind of pointless and very chaotic. Ryan, a new addition to the team has some ideas about tightening up security on the network. He tries to explain them to Donna and Cameron. They brush him off and tell Boz to give him a raise, but that's not what he wants. He doesn't goof off with the others. He seems a little more serious minded.

It isn't until later in the episode that Cameron starts to rethink the security issue. By then it is a little too late. By then Ryan seems to have fallen under the thrall of Joe McMillen whose line of business is security. He took an idea that Gordon developed and told it for millions at the end of the previous season. Gordon hasn't forgotten that.

There is some family drama for Gordon and Donna. They have to go meet with the principal after Joanie gets into a fight with another girl. This leads to an interesting meeting with the other girl's mother. She is in the midst of divorce proceedings and seems very no nonsense. Based on what I'm seeing on IMBD it looks like she will be a recurring character throughout the season. It is unclear what role she will play.

There is also a minor earthquake. No serious damage occurs. I looked and there were no serious earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area in 1986 but that doesn't mean there can't be one on the show.

Things are developing slowly. This isn't an episode that I love. If this was my first exposure to the show then I might not come back for more. I'm not sure if I will stick with this season to the bitter end, which is 9 more episodes, but I'm in for now for at least a couple more.

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