Halt and Catch Fire

Perhaps the best show on television.

I found myself a new favourite among TV series. Exceedingly strong performances from the whole cast, a gripping, dynamic plot, and script and direction that will have you laughing aloud before hunkering at the edge of your seat.

As TV goes, I honestly don’t think it gets much better than this. The character of Joe MacMillan is just unrivalled in complexity and depth. Lee Pace is beyond magnetic in the role, he’s electric, and the writers recognise that and use it beautifully. The storylines are broad, sweeping and powerful, skipping triviality in favour of weighty topics that shaped the computing world and the world we live today. The casting is spot on, the acting stupendous.

I only hope that AMC top brass realise that this is shaping into one of the best TV series to have graced our screens. Watch it; laugh, weep and fist pump. This is one of a kind.

An interpretation of the ending + the meaning of the series as a whole * * * SPOILERS AHEAD * * *

It was about Joe all along. Profound conclusion to a transcendental experience 10*++

At first glance this series seems to be about the world of tech. It takes place during an exciting time in the evolution of this field and it gives us a glimpse into the background of that era, even if it is a fictitious account. But this is in fact the story and evolution of Joe McMillan. The force of nature which stirs the lives of everyone he touches. His immense will power is going to move all the main characters from their trajectory and into his orbit. (He also has a secret which he initially doesn't know himself, and none of the others really understand either. He's a man who grows by every step and doesn't go back but only forward).

We meet Joe as a man with a controversial and mysterious past who chases after the future. At the beginning of the series he is the embodiment of the American "can do" attitude. He first gives Gordon the motivation to outdo himself. He hijacks a whole company to face IBM head on. Then he recruits the aimless whizz kid Cameron. All with the goal to create the greatest portable computer ever built. Bosworth and Donna are collateral damage, but end up orbiting Joe nonetheless.

After the completion of the Giant computer Joe takes off unsatisfied leaving Gordon behind. Joe feels he had compromised too much for a mediocre result and also cannot entertain the thought of sharing leadership of the company. In addition due to his actions he can't profit financially from this experience. His fiancee also leaves him around this time. Joe needs to pause and reflect. He still feels the hunger. After Cameron's virus sabotage of his server endeavor, he builds a rotten empire on the stolen anti-virus idea from Gordon and becomes famous. The embodiment of the American dream.

He is however trapped in a golden cage of servitude and guilt. He understands...

This is an unusual show. It is conspicuously missing the stuff of a typical drama (ie: shoot-outs, nudity, car chases). In place of hyperdrama are the deepest and best characters in a TV series. The recount of the origin of personal computing is fictional and a mild abstraction from the real one so you won't learn much about personal computing history but you will absolutely learn about the type of people, the drive it took, and the social environment that built the digital lives we have today. If you have an attention span, this is a perfect series. I gave it a 100% rating and I stand by that.