After spending two seasons experimenting with the show’s different dynamics, AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire was finally able to find its right footing in the show’s third season. Despite showing a lot of potential from the time it was announced,Halt and Catch Fire was not completely successful in utilizing its various advantages including a rich, relatively unexplored setting and a competent cast. However, season three proved to be HCF’s best yet, flaunting consistency in quality throughout the season and featured some of the show’s best plotlines and character moments.
Season three begins six months after the events of HCF’s second season’s ending and found the main characters trying to make a name for themselves amidst the flourishing Information Technology industry in Silicon Valley, California during the late 80s. The plot followed Donna, Cameron, and Gordon trying to expand the business of their company, Mutiny, while Joe McMillan found himself on the quest to discovering the next big thing in technology. As the story progressed, the characters underwent transitions that put them at the verge of the world’s most revolutionary invention yet – the World Wide Web.
Lee Pace as Joe Macmillan – Halt and Catch Fire _ Season 3, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Tina Rowden/AMC
Before examining season three, it should be noted that Halt and Catch Fire was never a bad show. In fact, it was a great show that was confined to a niche following due to certain drawbacks in the writing. In the first two seasons, it often felt like the writers were uncertain about what they wanted the show to be – a character driven drama set during the tech-revolution or a story that explored how the tech-revolution came to be, using these characters as a conduit. Unlike the previous seasons which kept their best moments for the final two episodes, HCF’s third season was packed with twists and surprises throughout and moved at a much faster pace.
There was plenty to like about Halt and Catch Fire this year. An interesting characteristic of the show is how the writing seamlessly manages to place fictional characters into historically significant moments in the growth of the IT industry. Even better, they are portrayed as having had an influential role in that process without being exaggerated too much. One curious theme brought forward this season is the concerns regarding cyber security which was presented nicely. The show became much more enticing and rewarding towards the second half of the season as the season delved deeper into the power struggle between Cameron and Donna for Mutiny and the emotional consequences of Joe’s pursuit for innovation.
The writers did a splendid job of depicting the impact of the World Wide Web’s development in the characters’ lives. Joe’s attempt to tap into the Web’s potential alongside his new partner Ryan Ray(Manish Dayal) formed a major thread this season and was particularly interesting to see considering the different ways in which the internet is used today.Though very few, season three of HCF did have its issues. Some moments in the different character arcs in the show felt forced and hindered their development rather than strengthen it and certain plotlines were more dragged out than they should have been.
Kerry Bishé as Donna Noble(left) and Mackenzie Davis as Cameron Howe(right)
Yet, these drawbacks would remain unapparent to the less scrutinizing viewers in comparison to the show’s many impactful instances. Mackenzie Davis made full use of the time her character got under the spotlight. As a matter of fact, when you consider how the show started out, Cameron has had the best character arc in the show and is also the most fledged one. Cameron’s character and Lee Pace’s performance as Joe MacMillan are the two pillars on which Halt and Catch Fire’s glory rests. From his opening speech to the scene of Joe’s breakthrough at the end, Lee Pace’s performance remained impressively poignant and often makes you wonder what the show would be without Lee Pace in it.
To finish, Halt and Catch Fire’s third season was a spectacular run for the show that finally made it worthy of its title, which refers to a code that causes a computer’s processor to “catch fire”. Halt and Catch Fire will return for a fourth and final season, probably in 2017, which will see the end of Joe, Gordon, and Cameron’s journey through the different phases of the IT industry’s life cycle.
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