2AT

Today it would not be anything to be blackmailed about, but in 1990-whatever? And for someone so shy and reserved as Hayley? I had friends who came out around that time and it was very difficult for them. I don’t think that Gordon or Donna would have a problem per se, but she might assume differently. I’m probably completely wrong, but that was my initial reaction to the restaurant/crying in the car scene. I’ll return to lurking...

Am I the only one who thinks that the source of the blackmail could be that Hayley is gay? Something about her interaction with the waitress in that scene in "Signal to Noise" when she skips class struck me as she might have a romantic interest. I just tried to go on the AMC app to review that episode and make sure that I am not totally crazy, but it's mysteriously not available to stream. Makes me think that there is a clue there.

There will be a season 4! http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/11/13241722/halt-and-catch-fire-fourth-season-amc-renewal

The world may be full of Donna's, but the highway of the business world is littered with Cameron roadkill. I have personally witnessed some genius people fall by the wayside because they could not keep the lights on, so to speak. The most famous example of this from history is Nicola Tesla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla. Along with hard work, you need genius and business sense, which could be one reason why the writers had the IPO fail. It was the combination of Cameron (genius) and Donna (business sense) that made Mutiny a success, which could not be replicated by the business side of things (Donna, Bos, Diane) alone. Now that I look back at it, they have been telegraphing that all season with everyone telling Donna and Cameron in all sorts of ways that they need each other. It seems like Gordon finally understood this as well, and was willing to give Joe another go. I think Gordon will end up working with Donna, who he recognizes to possess some of the same abilities as Joe. Wow, bagpipes for Ryan. To be honest, I felt more when Lev got gay bashed last season. It seems like Ryan was written to be "spectrum-esque" (hope I am not offending anyone, I have family all over the spectrum) but he just came off as unlikable and never fully realized as a character.

Besides a physical attraction, I also think that Diane likes the fact that Bos is "the new kid in school." If you are part of a certain type business or social circle, you tend to interact with the same people over and over again. After a while, everyone knows everything about you and you them - the rumors, gossip, ex-husbands, affairs, etc. Her slate is clean with Bos and I can see how someone could find that attractive. Cameron wanting to wait a year or two on the IPO is exactly like when I tell my 4-year old "later" when he's harassing me for Oreos. I have no intention of giving in, but I hope the concept of later satisfies him in the immediate while buying me enough time for him to either forget about the cookies, or move on to something else.

Please see below...

This season has shown both Donna AND Cameron lying to each other for the good of the company. Gordon knows the truth, but isn't Donna still under the impression that Joanie invited Jennifer to her party out of the goodness of her heart? Sure, Cameron's gamble paid off, but if we consider how damaging to a young girl's fragile psyche watching her rival get all the attention at her own birthday party could be, whose lie is worse? That's why I just can't get on the "Cameron betrayal" train. Cameron should be evolved enough to recognize that she hasn't exactly been honest with Donna either.

YES! I would LOVE a takeover of Mutiny! There is a difference between being a genius and being a visionary. Cameron, Gordon and apparently Ryan are geniuses that need visionaries like Donna and Joe for them to realize their potential. Just as Cameron could not recognize the potential of chat or the urgency of a streamlined payment system, Gordon could not recognize the potential of the anti-virus disk that he handed over to Joe. Cameron needs Donna and she need to stop taking her for granted.

I am having a really hard time working up the outrage or sense of betrayal that the writers are obviously going for to make me sympathize with Cameron. Sure, Donna is not perfect and she should have had the ovaries to tell Cameron not fire the Swap Meet guys herself (instead of hiding behind Diane), but she has had to make tough decisions without Cameron because Cameron CHOOSES to check-in and out of the Mutiny whenever she feels like. And when Cameron does check-in, it's nothing but micromanaging to the point of paralysis, tantrums because no one is worshiping her sacred coding and decision-making predicated upon a misplaced sense of identity. She continues to act like Mutiny is her's and her's alone with no respect to her partnership with Donna who, besides seemingly having to run the day-to-day operations, funded (with Gordon) the mainframe and kept Mutiny afloat during the lean years in Texas. Run Tom, run!

Joe and Cameron seem to be having the same problem. Once you take on a partner or take someone else's money or have people whose livelihood depends upon your actions and decisions (even more pressing in the case of the Mutiny staffers who picked up stakes and moved thousands of miles), your company is not YOUR company anymore. In the case of Cameron, she needs to stop expecting grown folks to cater tantrums and demands because she created Mutiny in her basement or wherever. And when she does find out that Donna lied she better not pull some "you betrayed me" nonsense because at least Donna didn't create secret backdoors so she could spy on customers, manipulate a child or cause unnecessary conflict and delays because she can't let go of a code she wrote all by herself. Just as she could argue that her end justified her means, so could Donna. In the case of Joe, and contrary to his pronouncement last week, he is not the company. He may be the founder and the face of it, but he has people to answer to as well. However, Joe was right to crush that jerk's hand and I hope that he and Ryan can come up with something that either satisfies the board or is an opportunity to walk away with something bigger on the horizon.

Joe is totally installing a virus with that free software - which I am sure that the not-so-free software update will fix.

Does anyone else feel like this show is gearing up for a "who shot/killed Randall" finale? Why am I still watching this show?

Wow, they are REACHING for something positive to say about this show. Someone at HBO must have forced the New York Post to run this after they posted news of Terance Winter leaving on Page Six last week... http://nypost.com/2016/04/14/why-hbos-vinyl-is-the-best-music-show-on-tv/

Winter, and Scorsese for that matter, keep recycling the same motiths for each project. I am encouraged by this fresh start.

Breaking news! Terrance Winter is out! http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/terence-winter-vinyl-quit-leaving-hbo-1201749342/ http://deadline.com/2016/04/vinyl-showrunner-terence-winter-exits-hbo-1201734449/