AMC - Halt and Catch Fire

I also really enjoyed S1 for the same reasons as trishyb but Joe's actions are hard to believe. They strike a much better balance with him in later seasons

If you see him as an outsized sketch of what he’s trying to be, season one works better

Only made it through S4E8 tonight, will finish up tomorrow. I'd been expecting a "get the band back together" turn, because all ensemble shows do it, but I wasn't expecting the catalyst.

I can't be the only one who noticed the weird circular light thing that was happening throughout most of the season, whether it was the sun coming through a window or someone holding a flashlight, always from a head-on angle. Gonna have to read up on that.

Good ending.

Ok yeah, S1 E1 was a big no go. We're gonna jump to S2 and see how that goes.

S1 has its virtues, but you can probs get by with reading a synopsis somewhere. I worry you'll not benefit from a deeper understanding of the characters, though.

Definitely don’t skip the first season IMO. It’s worth it! Maybe the first four or five episodes are stinkers but the second half of the season is fun, the comdex episode is the first really good one, and it sets up the character dynamics for the later seasons.

but there’s a scene early in s1 where joe’s on a rooftop in the rain and tears his shirt off and starts screaming, and I was definitely like, oy, this show can *never* be good

Maybe zoom forward to the comdex one if you have to

I don't think that would fly with my wife, she was left cold by the set up and the convoluted reverse-engineering/copyright loophole thing (even if based on real events). And the initial market/tech landscape of IBM, hardware vs software, etc was not explained very clearly. It didn't bother me, but I can see how it would come off as "computers computers computers".

Comdex one is second to last in S1?

If her problem with the show is "computers computers computers," this may have to be a show you watch solo.

Ha fair enough, tbh I was hoping it didn't matter in the same way Mad Men wasn't made for people who care about the advertising industry.

i don't remember most of the show being computers computers computers. i think that's mostly s1.

the show becomes much more of a character drama as it goes on

Excellent

Yeah, the industry is still what it revolves around, but it gets more backgrounded over time. The details I had the most trouble following involved all the various buyouts, mergers and general vc stuff.

Yeah, to my mind it's mostly a show both about a specific set of characters and more broadly about the conflicts between creativity and commerce.

I think it may have come off as heavy-handed, but the way things circle back with Cameron and Donna at the end to make explicit how women in this male-heavy industry sometimes frustrate and sabotage each other

S1 got better as it went on but I’m about halfway through S2 and realizing it’s just a soap opera with some lipstick on. The various relationship temptations and transgressions and moral and ethical failings seem really familiar. Not sure what I expect from a tv show, probably too much.

Halfway through Season 3 and enjoying it very much, apart from Joe's 'selling' monologues (that got old very quickly) but the music is impossibly manicured and nerdy, it's kinda annoying, like some 40-year-old music supervisor's wet dream.

By all accounts at least 20 mins of each episode should be devoted to Cameron in her local record store shooting the shit with the employees about Big Drill Car seven inches.

the music supervision worked on me. I geeked out so hard at "pink turns to blue"

I was down from the beginning when they played Really Red. A few seasons later having Joe go to the Stark club to dance to Bronski Beat and Viscious Pink, a+ music supervision.

I also loved the soundtrack choices. In fact, discovered a few great songs through watching

Just finished watching this today. Some thoughts:

- This has maybe my favorite opening-credits sequence/music of any show. It just gets me so EXCITED and it's also really funny that the whole thing is a dramatic rendering of an LED switching on. It seems to fit the show's tone less as time goes on, though, especially in S4, where the characters are so much more grounded.

- Which reminds me: it really is kind of incredible what a *different* show it is by S4 compared to where it started. At points the last season maybe a bit too soap-y, but the characters are all so great I didn't mind it so much.

- I like the music choices too, but I agree they do get a bit "wanna hear some of my records?" And some of them are just way too on-the-nose, especially ending the finale with Solisbury Hill, which actually kinda worked, but still.

- This show could easily have sucked without such good performances. I can't pick a favorite character or actor, but the way Scoot McNairy portrays Gordon's arc from catatonia to mania to fear to eventual equanimity was really personally affecting.

- Watching this brought up a lot of my own anxieties about life and whether I am spending it wisely. I have this strong desire to *create something* the way the characters in this show do, but I still haven't really figured out what that means yet. And it can really gnaw on me sometimes. But I'm feeling motivated to pick back up some projects that I'd put aside for a while.

Yeah the opening sequence is great. It bugged me for a while because it sounded like a ripoff of a specific Trentemøller song until I found out the theme song was actually... Trentemøller

It bears a strong resemblance to "Still on Fire," but I figure artists are quite welcome to steal from themselves

Since it’s the last day of the year I finally want to settle something.

Joe MacMillan was killed in an isolated Y2K incident that caused an elevator he was in to fall 48 stories.

He was the only casualty of the 2000 computer bug and became famous worldwide.

Happy New Year.

— Christopher Cantwell (@ifyoucantwell) December 31, 2020

typical!

Guess I can blame JK Rowling for this, right?

just finished watching the whole series. fantastic show, very sad to see it end. A+ acting, hope all the leads get new roles as worthy as the characters they played here.

lee pace didn't just play joe mcmillan, he IS joe mcmillan

VAXXED pic.twitter.com/gdtSb0TncT

— Lee Pace (@leepace) May 16, 2021

IDK, I can't really picture Joe rocking camo

just re-watched the whole thing ... awesome the second time through. knowing the key plot points deepens the experience. rip gordon.

The first episode is hilarious and bad - the computer nerd who isn't just uncool but is a loser and deadbeat dad, the stupendously hot and cool and rebellious and talented female coder, and the glengarry salesmen - who gets to fuck the coder. But we stuck with it and yeah it gets better. Midway through S2 now, still good but seems to be trying a bit too hard to generate suspense - the legendary engineer just happens to write a devastating virus by accident? The games company that goes two years without even coming up with a single idea for a new game? And I don't quite get the timeshare idea, the mainframe is only available out of office hours so how can they use it during the day?

The scene in the first season where Lee Pace stands on the office roof, rips his shirt off, and screams into the rain, is really one of the worst things ever filmed (topless Lee Pace aside). It’s amazing how good it got later on.

when i re-watched with the family we started at S1E7 (at the LV convention) since the first eps were pretty ropy. really is amazing how good the show became.