Halt and Catch Fire

It’s one of the best made series on TV, in terms of writing, performance, and direction, but it rarely bothers with anything that would immediately call attention to itself.

Halt and Catch Fire--despite its frayed edges and a few humdrum subplots--has taken that mantra [“Good is the enemy of great”] to heart this year, approaching a status that reaches, and frequently surpasses, greatness.

During the first two years, Halt and Catch Fire has smoldered, sometimes frustratingly so, but has always been engaging, often thanks to the performances of Bishé and Davis. Judging by five episodes of season three, it looks like the show is finally catching fire.

The good news is that Halt and Catch Fire is a triumphant pilot with excellent writing, impressive acting and a noteworthy cinematic visual style. ... But ultimately that means nothing until we see the next episode. And the one after that. And the one after that. So take this early praise with that caveat.

There's a tentativeness to Halt's first hour--it doesn't end especially strongly--but overall, the drama has a mostly credible pilot and lead actors who will probably be able take the show in compelling directions.

The plot takes a few satisfyingly clever twists, some of them possibly even fact-based. The period touches seem well-observed, and the acting is fine throughout--with Pace a standout for the way he allows anger and doubt to be just barely visible below a calm, confident shell. Yet too often the writing lets the actors down.

At least in the one episode sent to critics--Halt doesn't offer up complicated, three-dimensional characters. Instead, we get versions of familiar types pulled from the character storage room by the writers.

This is such a great show! I watched it recently and really enjoyed the way the story was told through such great characters. Really strong cast too. Four seasons wasn't enough!

Wow what an amazing show. I didn't think I would care for the subject matter but I was wrong. The first season takes a little time to get into but after that it is superb. The final seasons were just spectacular. A top 10 show for me.

Halt and catch fire is TV's most underrated show, it's an incredible story-driven show which will keep you on the edge of your seat from the word-go despite having no gunplay, bombs, or any sort of violent scene or plot. Such a masterpiece of a show.

Hadn't heard anything about it? Neither had I. But I'm glad I stopped in. I binged it on netflix and it was well worth the time. At 4 seasons of 10 eps each season, it is pretty much a perfect length. There is enough to really get invested in and yet it ends at the top of it's craft and hasn't overstayed its welcome. It was totally overlooked by the masses (myself included) while airing on AMC but I think it has a perfect home on netflix. In binge form, I really appreciated the depth of character development and themes which I don't think I would have picked up on over the course of 4 years. While it may be set against the advent of personal computing and the internet, it ultimately becomes about connections between people, how they evolve and devolve, and the impacts we have on one another for better or worse. This show clearly gets better each season and each season gets better as it moves along. So as it entered its final grand act of the last 4 episodes of its last season, everything aligned for an incredibly moving and enlightening viewing experience I won't soon forget.

1983, la préhistoire de la micro-informatique… c’était un véritable petit chaudron un peu (peut-être) comme peut l’être l’avènement de la réalité gerbuelle incessamment sous peu bientôt… ou pas (du tout). La difficulté de créer et de lancer une nouvelle machine est bien rendue dans cette série, ce saut dans l’inconnu et ses ambitions démesurées, les défis et les sacrifices que cela ****, ça se passe à Dallas et justement, on se croirait dans « Dallas », ouais Dallas avec JR, Bobby et tutti quanti. Je me doute bien que les coups de putes, les entourloupes et les tours de passe-passe sont sûrement légion dans les entreprises américaines au taquet mais tout de même, les personnages de cette série sont tous dignes de jouer dans Dallas et non, ce n’est (vraiment) pas un compliment. Cela signifie qu’on sombre dans une caricature permanente du premier au dernier épisode (de la première saison en tout cas !) et qu’à cet égard Joe et Cameron remportent la palme ! Voir tous ces personnages se faire de telles saloperies puis se raccommoder et se taper dans le dos, coucher et découcher, sabrer le champagne et que sais-je encore, laisse pantois et fortement dubitatif. Cette écriture constamment outrée est proche du ridicule…Mais peut-être est-ce spécifique au Texas me direz-vous : au Texas, on est comme ça : on profère des menaces de mort dès qu’on hausse le ton et quand on n’aime pas ces ‘sales voitures japonaises’, on fait une fête entre nous et on file des coups de masse sur une Datsun ?! Chacun son tour. "On aime bien rigoler" ouais ouais (?!) mais on retient surtout que les gens de ce milieu sont tous des tarés et que les heures supp’ (non payées) les rendent fous. Ce n’est pas le réalisme mais la crédibilité qui prend de ce fait un coup sévère sur la tête. On a trop souvent l’impression d’assister à une thérapie de groupe de névropathes dans Halt and catch fire et ce n’est pas la seconde saison encore plus fatigante et caricaturale qui change la donne. Ces bandes de geeks complètement cons nous emmerdent décidément un peu trop, alors on fait un formatage rapide et on débranche !