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| How Failure Made ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Great | How Failure Made ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Great |
| (1 day later) | |
| I watched and loved “Halt and Catch Fire” for four seasons. But not until I watched Saturday’s series finale did I figure out what the show was about. | I watched and loved “Halt and Catch Fire” for four seasons. But not until I watched Saturday’s series finale did I figure out what the show was about. |
| In its first season, the AMC drama was about the personal-computer revolution of the early 1980s. Then it was about gaming and how the P.C. went from being a tool to an aspect of culture. Then it was about the social internet and online community. Then it was about the growth and commercialization of the World Wide Web in the mid 1990s. | In its first season, the AMC drama was about the personal-computer revolution of the early 1980s. Then it was about gaming and how the P.C. went from being a tool to an aspect of culture. Then it was about the social internet and online community. Then it was about the growth and commercialization of the World Wide Web in the mid 1990s. |
| But above all, “Halt and Catch Fire” was about failure. Which was part of what made the show a triumph. | But above all, “Halt and Catch Fire” was about failure. Which was part of what made the show a triumph. |
| In the Silicon Valley whose emergence the show chronicles, “fail fast, fail often” has become a glib entrepreneurial mantra. “Halt and Catch Fire” was more interested in failure as a condition of human growth. In its eyes, failure — chafing against limits — is painful and necessary. | In the Silicon Valley whose emergence the show chronicles, “fail fast, fail often” has become a glib entrepreneurial mantra. “Halt and Catch Fire” was more interested in failure as a condition of human growth. In its eyes, failure — chafing against limits — is painful and necessary. |
| It can even be, the series suggested, a form of art. In the show’s final season, Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis), a genius programmer who’s slightly too far ahead of her time, finished an adventure video game, “Pilgrim.” A critical magazine review destroyed it: the game was frustratingly hard, almost antagonistic. | It can even be, the series suggested, a form of art. In the show’s final season, Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis), a genius programmer who’s slightly too far ahead of her time, finished an adventure video game, “Pilgrim.” A critical magazine review destroyed it: the game was frustratingly hard, almost antagonistic. |
| Unlike “Doom” and “Mortal Kombat,” with their quick, bloody gratification, “Pilgrim” was enigmatic and difficult. Failure was a feature, not a bug. | Unlike “Doom” and “Mortal Kombat,” with their quick, bloody gratification, “Pilgrim” was enigmatic and difficult. Failure was a feature, not a bug. |
| That’s a tough sell, though, not only in gaming but in television, which may be one reason “Halt” never got the audience it deserved. | That’s a tough sell, though, not only in gaming but in television, which may be one reason “Halt” never got the audience it deserved. |
| Failure is an unusual subject for TV dramas, even dark or bittersweet ones. Don Draper of “Mad Men” nearly always got an ad inspiration when he needed one; Tony vanquished his enemies in “The Sopranos”; Coach Taylor’s teams won championships in “Friday Night Lights.” | Failure is an unusual subject for TV dramas, even dark or bittersweet ones. Don Draper of “Mad Men” nearly always got an ad inspiration when he needed one; Tony vanquished his enemies in “The Sopranos”; Coach Taylor’s teams won championships in “Friday Night Lights.” |
| “Halt and Catch Fire,” on the other hand, chronicled a chain of doomed ventures, beginning with one that was not only unsuccessful but, we eventually saw, had the wrong goal all along. | “Halt and Catch Fire,” on the other hand, chronicled a chain of doomed ventures, beginning with one that was not only unsuccessful but, we eventually saw, had the wrong goal all along. |
| [ Read an interview with the ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Showrunners. ] | [ Read an interview with the ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Showrunners. ] |
| Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace), a mystery man from back East, arrived in Texas with a scheme to maneuver a small electronics company into manufacturing an IBM PC rip off. The plan eventually drew in Cameron, as well as Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), an engineer whose dreams were crushed years before with the unsuccessful launch of a computer he designed with his wife, Donna (Kerry Bishé). | Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace), a mystery man from back East, arrived in Texas with a scheme to maneuver a small electronics company into manufacturing an IBM PC rip off. The plan eventually drew in Cameron, as well as Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), an engineer whose dreams were crushed years before with the unsuccessful launch of a computer he designed with his wife, Donna (Kerry Bishé). |
| The get-rich-quick scheme didn’t pan out, but the coup de grâce came when Joe witnessed an unveiling of Apple’s Macintosh, whose graphic interface immediately made the IBM clone seem like a crude stone ax. His failure was not only of business but of imagination. The future was images, media, the ability to connect, and what ordinary people would do with it. | The get-rich-quick scheme didn’t pan out, but the coup de grâce came when Joe witnessed an unveiling of Apple’s Macintosh, whose graphic interface immediately made the IBM clone seem like a crude stone ax. His failure was not only of business but of imagination. The future was images, media, the ability to connect, and what ordinary people would do with it. |
| That emphasis shifted with the second season and, rewardingly, the character focus shifted with it. Donna and Cameron launched an online gaming company, Mutiny, in the process discovering — as they noticed the service’s chat rooms buzzing with activity — that Mutiny’s real product was community. | That emphasis shifted with the second season and, rewardingly, the character focus shifted with it. Donna and Cameron launched an online gaming company, Mutiny, in the process discovering — as they noticed the service’s chat rooms buzzing with activity — that Mutiny’s real product was community. |
| In the process, the series moved from an overfamiliar cable-drama dynamic — the flawed antihero and his effects on others — to a refreshing one: the challenges of different, brilliant, well-meaning personalities working in good faith to create something. Mutiny grew, moved to California and, by the end of the third season, acrimoniously broke up. | In the process, the series moved from an overfamiliar cable-drama dynamic — the flawed antihero and his effects on others — to a refreshing one: the challenges of different, brilliant, well-meaning personalities working in good faith to create something. Mutiny grew, moved to California and, by the end of the third season, acrimoniously broke up. |
| Part of the richness of “Halt” came from how it developed a quartet of central characters, each of whom has a distinct dynamic with each of the others. The series began with Joe chafing against Gordon. There were romantic relationships: Joe and Cameron, off and on (finally off), Gordon and Donna’s marriage and amicable divorce. | Part of the richness of “Halt” came from how it developed a quartet of central characters, each of whom has a distinct dynamic with each of the others. The series began with Joe chafing against Gordon. There were romantic relationships: Joe and Cameron, off and on (finally off), Gordon and Donna’s marriage and amicable divorce. |
| Ultimately the series centered on the work marriage — and work divorce — of Donna and Cameron. But the secondary connections were well-developed too: Gordon and Cameron, for instance, devout nerds who unwound together over video games. (Cameron even confessed to Gordon that, as much as she looked down on “Doom” and its carnage, “There’s something cathartic about it.”) | Ultimately the series centered on the work marriage — and work divorce — of Donna and Cameron. But the secondary connections were well-developed too: Gordon and Cameron, for instance, devout nerds who unwound together over video games. (Cameron even confessed to Gordon that, as much as she looked down on “Doom” and its carnage, “There’s something cathartic about it.”) |
| These characters were never more themselves than when geeking out, digging into the guts of machines. I’ve never seen a TV series convey as well as “Halt” did the pleasure of making a thing work. When the show killed off Gordon this last season (a breathtakingly executed passing reminiscent of the final run of “Six Feet Under”), it gave him a final victory fit for an engineer: repairing the office air conditioner with his own hands. | |
| Problem solving was the means through which these characters expressed themselves and admired one another’s minds. Donna and Cameron were estranged for most of the final series, but they connected through “Pilgrim”; Donna got a copy, wrestled raptly with it and managed to figure it out. Ms. Bishé, a wonderfully expressive actress, showed without words that Donna was really connecting with her lost friend. | Problem solving was the means through which these characters expressed themselves and admired one another’s minds. Donna and Cameron were estranged for most of the final series, but they connected through “Pilgrim”; Donna got a copy, wrestled raptly with it and managed to figure it out. Ms. Bishé, a wonderfully expressive actress, showed without words that Donna was really connecting with her lost friend. |
| “Halt” understood that computing was culture. This idea — that technology is self-expression — has been cheapened through decades of faux-utopian advertising, and it rings a little sad today, after we’ve seen that culture yield social-media pile-ons, presidential ragetweets and the Gamergate harassment of female game developers like Cameron. | “Halt” understood that computing was culture. This idea — that technology is self-expression — has been cheapened through decades of faux-utopian advertising, and it rings a little sad today, after we’ve seen that culture yield social-media pile-ons, presidential ragetweets and the Gamergate harassment of female game developers like Cameron. |
| But in its final season, “Halt” managed to convey a sincere nostalgia for the optimism of the early Web. Those crappy early HTML pages, with their corny cartoons and lists of links, were doors leading to endless other doors. | But in its final season, “Halt” managed to convey a sincere nostalgia for the optimism of the early Web. Those crappy early HTML pages, with their corny cartoons and lists of links, were doors leading to endless other doors. |
| It’s the kind of magic that appeals to a teenager looking to discover the world and herself, which is where “Halt” found its final-season throughline. Gordon and Joe founded Comet, a web-portal company inspired by Gordon and Donna’s daughter Haley (Susanna Skaggs), who’d built a page of links she’d assembled herself. | It’s the kind of magic that appeals to a teenager looking to discover the world and herself, which is where “Halt” found its final-season throughline. Gordon and Joe founded Comet, a web-portal company inspired by Gordon and Donna’s daughter Haley (Susanna Skaggs), who’d built a page of links she’d assembled herself. |
| Their proto-Yahoo lost out to the actual Yahoo, which secured a key placement with the Web browser Netscape. (“Halt and Catch Fire” will surely be the only drama ever to convey a climactic plot turn with a slow camera push-in on a browser toolbar.) But the project gave Haley — a misfit at school coming to realize she was gay — a purpose, a peer group and an identity. | Their proto-Yahoo lost out to the actual Yahoo, which secured a key placement with the Web browser Netscape. (“Halt and Catch Fire” will surely be the only drama ever to convey a climactic plot turn with a slow camera push-in on a browser toolbar.) But the project gave Haley — a misfit at school coming to realize she was gay — a purpose, a peer group and an identity. |
| Failure, from this show’s perspective, is not the end; it’s how people level up. Late in the finale, Donna and Cameron met to reminisce, as Cameron was getting ready to leave town for a fresh start. They talked about working together again someday. Then the conversation shifted, and they began talking about their hypothetical company — “Phoenix”— in the past tense. | Failure, from this show’s perspective, is not the end; it’s how people level up. Late in the finale, Donna and Cameron met to reminisce, as Cameron was getting ready to leave town for a fresh start. They talked about working together again someday. Then the conversation shifted, and they began talking about their hypothetical company — “Phoenix”— in the past tense. |
| They traded lines, recounting Phoenix’s story, which was a lot like Mutiny’s: they started small, went public, partnered with a bigger firm, overextended, fought with each other and finally watched their company die. “But,” Cameron said, “it didn’t destroy us this time.” As they spoke, a neon “Phoenix” sign flickered to light on the wall behind them, then winked out. | They traded lines, recounting Phoenix’s story, which was a lot like Mutiny’s: they started small, went public, partnered with a bigger firm, overextended, fought with each other and finally watched their company die. “But,” Cameron said, “it didn’t destroy us this time.” As they spoke, a neon “Phoenix” sign flickered to light on the wall behind them, then winked out. |
| It was a remarkably staged scene, unusually theater-like for a series that operates in the language of cinematic realism. But it felt true to the moment — Donna and Cameron rediscovering their joy in each other’s imagination. | It was a remarkably staged scene, unusually theater-like for a series that operates in the language of cinematic realism. But it felt true to the moment — Donna and Cameron rediscovering their joy in each other’s imagination. |
| The final episode brought each characters to closure. Gordon, through a tape recording he made to calm himself down, spoke to Haley: “Feeling weird is how you know you’re still here.” The group’s mentor, John Bosworth (Toby Huss) eased into his golden years. And Joe, echoing his first appearance in the pilot, addressed a humanities class with the same words — “Let me start by asking a question” — but less arrogance. | The final episode brought each characters to closure. Gordon, through a tape recording he made to calm himself down, spoke to Haley: “Feeling weird is how you know you’re still here.” The group’s mentor, John Bosworth (Toby Huss) eased into his golden years. And Joe, echoing his first appearance in the pilot, addressed a humanities class with the same words — “Let me start by asking a question” — but less arrogance. |
| But for me, the true ending of “Halt and Catch Fire” came one scene earlier, as Donna prepared to see Cameron off over breakfast at a diner. As Donna waited to pay the bill and then, in a sequence beautifully composed by the director, Karyn Kusama, something struck her. She rushed out to the parking lot, found Cameron and — a moment as swoon-worthy as any last-minute declaration of love in a romcom — said those four little words: “I have an idea.” | But for me, the true ending of “Halt and Catch Fire” came one scene earlier, as Donna prepared to see Cameron off over breakfast at a diner. As Donna waited to pay the bill and then, in a sequence beautifully composed by the director, Karyn Kusama, something struck her. She rushed out to the parking lot, found Cameron and — a moment as swoon-worthy as any last-minute declaration of love in a romcom — said those four little words: “I have an idea.” |
| I love that we never find out what the idea is. It’s not the point. The point is the inspiration, the work, the act of creation. The idea will be whatever it is. It’ll probably end up a failure. It’ll be great. | I love that we never find out what the idea is. It’s not the point. The point is the inspiration, the work, the act of creation. The idea will be whatever it is. It’ll probably end up a failure. It’ll be great. |