AMC's Halt and Catch Fire - Episode 1.01 "I/O"
The 1980s computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy as they chart the changing culture in Texas' Silicon Prairie.
Joe MacMillian basically spends this entire premiere forcing everyone's hand. He's spent a year away from the world doing who knows what and now he has emerged with a vision. And nothing is going to stop him from obtaining that vision. He's a mysterious but very confident figure. Gordon and Donna Clark, Cameron Howe and John Bosworth all have something to lose if this all goes south. Joe doesn't have that personal connection - and he's reaching for the stars. He's willing to take this risk and is able to get everyone necessary to go along for the ride.What I love most about this pilot is its ability to establish stakes in the simplest way possible. Gordon really is just sleepwalking through life when we first meet him. He's comfortable just laying his head down and doing whatever simple work the company wants from him. He's not motivated or excited about anything. His past project failed and now he's just depressed. He's distant from his family. Joe comes in and breathes some life back into his soul. This new project is what gets him back to doing the experimental work he's great at doing. But he also has a family. A family that needs him for support. This whole project could be disastrous for that union. His wife doesn't want him to risk that but ultimately she does go along with it. She too must realize that something big is here. But that doesn't lessen the threat to the Clark family any less.
With Cameron, her career could end before it even starts or she could be on the ground floor of something amazing. She's recruited to the project for legal reasons - meaning she'll be a huge component in the next episodes. But her first encounter with Joe leaves quite an impression. Surprisingly, it becomes sexual rather quickly. That adds a very interesting complication to their dynamic. I don't know if their love story is something I particularly want to see. But that one moment could fuel a ton of their future interactions.
For a large portion of this first episode, it seems as if John is just going to be the boss who isn't aware of what Joe and Gordon are doing and then is furious once the truth is exposed. He's reluctantly pulled into this project against his will - and that's exactly what Joe wanted. But then, he gets this one really impressive monologue where he talks about being at this company for 20 years and holding Joe personally responsible for any downfall that would result from such a venture. It's a wonderful moment that makes that character so much easier to care about.
I ultimately don't know where the series is going to go next. And yet, I'm really interesting in seeing what's next. These characters are intriguing and mysterious and brooding. It's a period piece about something that really hasn't been covered explicitly on television before. And that just excites me.
Some more thoughts:
- "I/O" was written by Chris Cantwell & Chris Rogers and directed by Juan José Campanella.
- What Halt and Catch Fire says about gender is very subtle and interesting. It's not at the forefront like on Mad Men but it is here. Cameron just doesn't look like the typical American woman. She's different and she's in a profession that's mostly male-oriented. Is she the only female in the class at the top of the hour? I think so. And when she first enters the company, all the other woman are secretaries and just happy gossiping to one another.
- Maggie Elizabeth Jones is playing Gordon's daughter and I couldn't be any happier.
- Joe: "Computers aren't the thing. They're the thing that gets us to the thing."
