Left reeling by the launch of a rival, Mutiny takes measures to ensure its survival. Attempting to quell his paranoia, Gordon pays a price.
"Kali" is a very complicated episode of Halt and Catch Fire. It has a certain end goal that it needs to hit and does whatever it needs to do to explain getting to that point. Mutiny is dealing with its latest cataclysmic defeat. After the rousing success of the user picnic, the company took its most devastating blow yet with the launch of WestNet. They are scrambling to stay relevant against this competition. And yet, it's a struggle because Mutiny has been kicked off the server to make way for WestNet just so the new company can steal the already established community of users.It's a tricky story for the show to balance. It has to give the requisite amount of time explaining why Cameron and Donna simply can't sue Jacob and Jessie for stealing their intellectual property. The show does an okay job of explaining that in saying that the cost would be too high and the case would be difficult to prove because Mutiny was always changing as a business model. That essentially forced everyone to resort to different tactics in order to deal with this new threat. That agency gave a lot of the characters purpose in this hour. However, it didn't lead to urgency and chaos the same way that previous attacks on the Mutiny business model have this season.
With only $6,000 dollars in the company bank account, Donna and Cameron are largely just desperate to get money in order to rebuild the business as well as pay the loyal team of coders. That's what leads to the sale of Cameron and Tom's latest gaming creation - Extract and Defend. They spent so much time developing this new game. It was at the height of their flirtation when the two of them were able to come up with the concept. It was in their having fun together that they envisioned what was possible as a gaming system. It's just a two perspective shooter game. But they realized just how resourceful and groundbreaking such a game could be. It was during the picnic when they finally finished all of the coding. This latest attack forces the company to sell the game to another startup that is capable of developing it to its fullest potential. That is a devastating personal moment for Cameron - but a rousing successful for both Donna and Bos who were able to get the deal done and make $50,000 for the company.
It's also in that moment where the episode starts to get a little wonky. It was very peculiar when Cameron didn't say that she loved Tom in the last episode. He made his feelings known in a way that left him emotionally open. He recognized that they disagree over things but he still wanted to be in a relationship with her. She knew she could be self destructive and that that quality could rub people the wrong way. But her now saying that she has caused so much destruction and upheaval in this business operation doesn't seem like a strong enough reason for pushing the two of them apart. That scene felt like a break up even though Cameron (and somewhat the audience) didn't get confirmation until the very end.
That whole scene's entire purpose was to give the illusion that Cameron and Joe may be getting back together. Cameron had accepted that Joe had nothing to do with the WestNet deal and was willing to commit to him again knowing that they may be better together than they were this last year apart. It's a moment that was incredibly worrisome because the two never felt like a genuine pairing last season. They always felt like a couple of self-destructive people who tried to convince themselves that their relationship wasn't manipulative and destructive. Her anger towards Joe this season has been incredibly justified. It would seem like a waste if the two got back together again. They are different people now than they were before. But there's also a low likelihood of a relationship doing anything but collapsing yet again in the most destructive way possible.
Fortunately that's not what happened at all. It was a strong case of misdirection where the show wanted the audience to believe that she truly thinks she needs Joe again just to later reveal what the actual truth is. It's a narrative device that asks a lot of the audience. That Joe-Cameron kiss worried me until the later realization of what she had done made it all worth it. That moment came a few minutes later. So there was only a brief amount of time where the show had the possibility of going down a horrible path. In that time though, Joe actually stood up as Cameron's champion. He never spoke against his father-in-law and the new company. But he also made sure that Cameron got her due credit in a system that didn't want to give her anything. That was a moment that showed how much he genuinely cared about her. He has changed as a person. But he hasn't done enough to suggest that any kind of happiness with Cameron is a feasible goal. She simply used him in order to hack and destroy the WestNet system during their grand presentation to the tech industry.
It was a wonderful plan by Cameron. But it's also something that the show doesn't let her celebrate for too long. She and her team have successful saved their business. They have money and don't have to worry about the competition. They do still have to rebuild. But they've done it before and can do it again. But now, they will have to do it without Bos or Tom. They are two crucial members of this team. Both break the news to Cameron at the same time to devastating effect. The reveal with Bos had been coming. His son had suggested that a new job was open to him. And now, he has decided to take it given how short his time in business is left. He has a life that still needs some repairing but he wants to be able to spend that time with strong finances and a relationship with his family. That's understandable. With Tom though, he is leaving because he is upset with what has happened with his relationship. Cameron desperately wants to believe that he will come back to work in the morning. But there really isn't any certainty that Tom will return. Cameron did manipulate him. He has now reached his breaking point with her. That hurts. They were a much stronger couple than she ever was with Joe. And now, she has her business but she doesn't have any kind of personal love.
Some more thoughts:
- "Kali" was written by Jason Cahill and directed by Craig Zisk.
- Gordon spends a night in jail and then spends most of his day trapped in a parking garage because he can't remember where he parked his car. This story just gets more and more tragic. Though it still doesn't seem all that connected to the rest of the show in a meaningful way. Donna doesn't even know what's going on until the concluding moments where the doctor suggests some other kind of mental disease may also be at play.
- Sara doesn't believe that Joe was tricked by Cameron into getting that bug on WestNet's server. That leads to the end of that relationship. I can't say that I blame her even though the audience knows that Joe is actually telling the truth. She got a couple good dings at him though.
- Extract and Defend really isn't a good name for a game at all. It's a very smart idea by the new company to completely rebrand it.
- Skylar Astin really is great at playing a smug prick. It's nothing more than a one-dimensional character but he at least makes it an interesting adversary for Donna, Joe and Cameron to have.
