Halt and Catch Fire: Season 1, Episode 4 "Close to the Metal"

Halt and Catch Fire: Season 1, Episode 4 "Close to the Metal"

June 22, 2014

“Close to the Metal” has a lot working for this episode. It’s an incredibly fun watch and I found this episode surprisingly relatable. I am sure this happened to everyone, but remember the sheer panic you had when you were working on a huge project school or work-related, but you fail to back it up. Yeah, that’s the main problem and I thought it was shot effectively. This episode also gives more to Kerry Bishe’s character, Donna. Donna gets chewed out at her Texas Instruments job, but she finds herself interwoven in the Cardiff storyline. Apparently, she really does not like Cameron (mutual feeling as Cameron wrecks the Clarks’ house as she babysits the kids) and Joe (she really gave him a smackdown). I wasn’t too sure of the family aspect of the Clarks in the pilot, but I admit the chemistry is there and I am becoming more interested in the family dynamics.

In this episode, Cameron fails to back up her data which makes Joe give her a lesson or two. Speaking of Joe, he decides to have a reporter, Ron Kane of the Wall Street Quarterly write a story about the PC clone. Kane, with all of his unimpressive attitude, decides the story is not newsworthy. But he discovers there may be something newsworthy about Cardiff in general. Donna and Gordon are having trouble balancing their work and home lives. Both are struggling with their jobs and both are on the verge of killing one another. Is their marriage going to survive? John Bosworth is having enough of Joe’s drama, so he wants to be the one to show Joe who truly is in charge.

This is a fast-paced episode that flowed very well. After last week’s lackluster episode, the writing is vastly improved. The characterization remains ripe as we get to know more about these characters. You think Joe has a temper, perhaps someone needs to rein in Cameron. Poor house and car that got wrecked! The ending surprised me. but I was all there for it. I will not go into specifics, but perhaps Joe deserved everything that happened.

My Grade: A-

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