S01.E06: Landfall

[LJonEarth]

A breakthrough by Cameron places her at odds with Gordon, leaving Joe to make a tough decision. Meanwhile, Hurricane Alicia spurs some personal revelations.

 

Shallow, but it's good to know that Joe and Cameron actually seem to have sexual chemistry. In the first episode, the sex between them just came across like desperation from the writers.

[Armchair Critic]

So what happens with the Cabbage Patch dolls? Did Gordon ditch them?

[HunterHunted]

Cameron's idea is decades ahead of its time. It will be a while before computers have the power to run OSs like this. I wish she could stop being such a petulant brat when she doesn't get her way.

Joe was somehow enigmatic, but finally showing the real Joe. I guess maybe because the episode didn't require him to do something contradictorily mysterious for plot purposes. This show is rootless and unfortunately relies too often on Joe as both protagonist and antagonist.

I assume Gordon left the dolls in the car.

Edited July 7, 2014 by HunterHunted

[LJonEarth]

This show is rootless and unfortunately relies too often on Joe as both protagonist and antagonist.

 

Yes. And now that we're 6 episodes in, I don't think it's necessary. They could have worked on making the stuff about the machine clearer and just stuck with making Joe a typical greed is good/womanizer (and/or manizer) and left it at that. We don't need the mystery and angst, especially from a non-programmer/non-engineer.

[Yolapukka]

Gordon was painful to watch in this episode. He just kept responding to the situations he found himself in with choices that were petty and small, showed no common sense or foresight and placed short term gain over long term consequences. I had to watch him through my fingers like it was scenes in a horror movie. It's not like he didn't have a valid concern about Cameron's timing.

 

 

I doubt his coincidental connection to the pedestrian who was electrocuted will ever be found out, but I think it's going to eat at him. 

 

 

Cameron's chat with Bosworth brought me joy. I like the tone between them. 

Edited July 7, 2014 by yuggapukka

[thuganomics85]

Joe interacting with Donna/Gordon's kids, kind of reminded me of whenever Dexter Morgan interacted with Rita's kids, and that's not exactly a compliment...

 

After enjoying the past two episodes, this was a bit of a step down for me.  I'm glad we finally got a glimpse of the real Joe, and the idea of Gordon (the present) vs. Cameron (the future) is intriguing, but I kind of found myself hating all three of the leads again.  Big difference was this time, Gordon was the worst.  Really, he is just pathetic to watch now.  He's clearly threatened and even jealous of Cameron, becomes an even bigger a-hole whenever people compliment him, and continues to suck rocks as a family man.  Of course, he would forget the cabbage patch doll.  And, of course, instead of just admitting it, he lies to Donna, and backs himself into a corner.  First, he easily gets scammed (really, dude?), and then he just steals two.  Oh, and all this time, Donna knew full well he lied.  Yeah, she deserves better.

 

Still, while on the right path, Cameron continues to go at things the wrong way.  When she should be calm but firm, she comes off instead over-aggressive and childish.  Also, still kind of naive.  Surprised that she was caught off guard, when John suggested that some might actually want her to fail.  Unlike Gordon, I do have some hope she'll grow out of this, but I have a feeling the more she becomes "the future", the more annoying she could get.

 

What was the significance of that dead lady Gordon found?  I'm sure the show was trying to say something (they loved their metaphors), but I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

[renatae]

I liked the further "character" development for Joe, even though it still seems he doesn't have much of one. I thought it was really interesting that after Cameron told him that he was like a thousand dollar suit with nothing inside, he modeled himself after the billboard model. Almost as if he's writing himself as we watch. That's probably why the show seems anchorless. Despite his drive, Joe seems to have little else going for him as a human.

 

It was interesting to see that at first, he was nasty with Gordon's kids, and then seemed to warm up to idea of entertaining them. He certainly thrives on being the center of attention, and it seems to fire up his creativity.

 

I think I like him a little better after he finally came clean with Cameron about his injuries, but I'm still not sure he told the truth. My only clue is that he didn't do anything with the explanation to embellish himself in any way. I always marvel at how Cameron can fight with Joe at night, yet in the morning, communicate her enthusiasm and ideas to him as if nothing happened. Despite the fact he is always trying to put her in her place at work, I think she is by far the more professional because I don't think it even occurs to her to use their relationship as a stepping stone; she's just enthusiastic about what she's doing and is all about furthering the project.

 

I also like Cameron better now that she isn't just a smartmouth on legs. When she first mentioned the "personalized" OS, all I could think of was that "Bob" UI. Anyone remember that? He was supposed to be like a guide and I think the opening screen was a house or a neighborhood. I think he also asked "What would you like to do?" It was really lame, so I gave it a couple tries and got rid of it. However, I think Cameron's idea is very ahead of it's time, and if she's correct that Gordon's ideas would mostly impress programmers, then she definitely has a more marketable idea.

 

Bosworth. I couldn't believe it when everyone wanted Bosworth to fire up the prototype. I never felt he was personable to anyone with the exception of Cameron, but maybe I missed it. He certainly was also more likeable in this episode and I, too, liked his interaction with Cameron. I think he will be the key to getting her idea off the ground.

 

Gordon, for heaven's sake! I agree with yuggapukka, he was painful to watch! However, they had me so invested in his angst that it didn't occur to me at first to wonder how on earth he could just walk away from the dead guy, even though it was obvious he was dead. Not to mention, of course, his theft of the dolls.

 

What was the significance of that dead lady Gordon found?  I'm sure the show was trying to say something (they loved their metaphors), but I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

 

I am wondering the same. It does seem the scene was intended to be significant, although I'm wondering if only something else Gordon will live to regret.

Edited July 7, 2014 by renatae

[bosawks]

So, Gordon's a plant to destroy the world as we know it, right?  Because then maybe I could understand some of his choices..........

[attica]

I was worried Bosworth would hit on Cameron. I still haven't quelled the dread that it still might happen.

 

I very much liked how pretty the footage was of Joe battling the storm with flashlights. Nice camera angles, good lighting.

 

So, have CP dolls appreciated in value since then? I knew more than one person who bought them for that reason.

[qtpye]

Of course, he would forget the cabbage patch doll.  And, of course, instead of just admitting it, he lies to Donna, and backs himself into a corner.  First, he easily gets scammed (really, dude?), and then he just steals two.  Oh, and all this time, Donna knew full well he lied.  Yeah, she deserves better.

 

 

Not to mention inviting an obnoxious co worker/boss at almost the last minute to dinner and then ditching her for the pathetic attempt to get the dolls.  Of course Donna, (who I am starting to love) has everything ready and prepared for Joe.  She not only does not sweat the roof leaking and the storm... she is so wonderful, that soul less Joe now wants to make a connection with another human being and runs to Cameron (who up until now has just been a booty call to him).

 

I am going to stand on my shallow box for a second.  At least Cameron and Donna are beautiful women.  We hetero girls and gay guys literally have no eye candy on the show.  I know we are supposed to find Joe attractive, but I find him repulsive.  He is like a less appealing Nic Cage combined with a mannequin and that is not a good thing.  The best looking guy is Hunt and I still have no handle on his character's intentions, except that he is fascinated by the almost perfect Donna.  I am not proud of this rant.

 

We also have another instance where Joe should come off as "awesome guy"  (the first was when he smashed the car in the last episode) with the flashlights in the storm, but it just come off heavy handed and desperate.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Oh, Gordon, I'm not even going to feel bad for you when your wife cheats on you with her boss.  She deserves so much better than you.

 

We've now moved on from killing animals to killing people!  With all of that water and a live power line, I'm not sure how Gordon didn't get electrocuted, but whatever.  What kind of person could see someone dead in the street and just go about their day without calling the police or 911?  Yeah, there's nothing anyone can do for the dead guy but I'm sure his family would like to know that he's dead.  I hope nobody else gets electrocuted because Gordon failed to report the line being down.  God, these people are truly awful!

[dubbel zout]

Cameron's chat with Bosworth brought me joy. I like the tone between them.

 

Same here. I hope we see more of those two; Bosworth could be a decent mentor for Cameron.

 

I also liked the teams wanting Bosworth to turn on the prototype. It was a nice burn on Joe as well as acknowledging that Bosworth also has a stake in what happens.

 

a glimpse of the real Joe

When Joe told Cameron the real story of how he got the scars on his chest (yikes, and ouch) and she started kissing him, for some reason my mind immediately when to what Cameron would write in her diary (were she that type of girl): "…And that was the first night we made love." There was something so romance-novelish about that moment, and I don't mean that entirely as a compliment.

 

he modeled himself after the billboard model

I looked up when Miami Vice came on the air, and it was 1984, so we won't see Joe sockless and pushing up his ice-cream-colored jacket sleeves for a few more years.

 

I would really like to see Gordon not be so completely pathetic. I can accept that the botched Symphonic project broke him, but can the dude get a break every now and then? The prototype not immediately exploding when turned on isn't enough.

 

I really don't want Donna to have an affair. She can be tempted, but it's cheap drama.

 

Despite sounding as if I didn't like this episode, I did, and it felt like things have settled a bit. Everyone had a few layers to their characters for a change.

[annlaw78]

 

I doubt his coincidental connection to the pedestrian who was electrocuted will ever be found out, but I think it's going to eat at him.

Great -- is he going to get more mopey and sad-faced?  I really don't get how Donna tolerates him.  He has occasional "up" swings, but is generally just such a self-involved loser that he's tiresome even for the limited amount of time he's on the screen. 

 

 

Despite the fact he is always trying to put her in her place at work, I think she is by far the more professional because I don't think it even occurs to her to use their relationship as a stepping stone; she's just enthusiastic about what she's doing and is all about furthering the project.

From the previews of next week, I see the cycle is going to repeat, yet again, of Cameron and Joe's hooking-up, his saying Something Businessy at work, resulting in Cameron flipping out and going off in an unprofessional huff.  I don't think she'd pull that crap with Boz, so I think she does expect latitude from Joe given "their thing."  Joe's the dumby who's sleeping with a subordinate, though, so I'm fine he reaps what he's sowed. 

 

 

I really don't want Donna to have an affair. She can be tempted, but it's cheap drama.

I was worried Donna and Joe were headed that way.  "Hey, let's get you out of those wet clothes..."

 

 

I am going to stand on my shallow box for a second.  At least Cameron and Donna are beautiful women.  We hetero girls and gay guys literally have no eye candy on the show.  I know we are supposed to find Joe attractive, but I find him repulsive.  He is like a less appealing Nic Cage combined with a mannequin and that is not a good thing.  The best looking guy is Hunt and I still have no handle on his character's intentions, except that he is fascinated by the almost perfect Donna.  I am not proud of this rant.

Ha!  I think Lee Pace is a good-looking dude, so I have no complaints about lack of eye candy.  His hair is so perfectly 80s -- it's like he's walked out of a vintage cologne ad, with all the short layers and product.  I wonder if he really is that much taller than all the other actors, or if they have him in lifts or standing on something.  Because I know he's tall, but neither of the actors who play Gordon or Boz even come up to his shoulders. 

Edited July 7, 2014 by annlaw78

[magdalene]

That was my favorite episode so far, I was fully engaged for it and I actually liked Joe for maybe the first time ever. What a great moment when he was modeling himself after the bill board model. Also good were his interactions with the children.

 

I don't know whether this is an unpopular opinion but I really dislike Gordon. He is a horrible husband and his wife could be doing so much better than him.

[annlaw78]

 

Joe was somehow enigmatic, but finally showing the real Joe. I guess maybe because the episode didn't require him to do something contradictorily mysterious for plot purposes. This show is rootless and unfortunately relies too often on Joe as both protagonist and antagonist.

Likely I'm a terrible person, but I actually like Joe, and find him much more protagonist than antagonist.  He has a dream (for whatever reasons), and a plan (sometimes wobbly) to execute it.  That he's not a straight-up good guy, and in fact resorts to some underhanded and manipulative things to realize that vision doesn't necessarily make him an antagonist or villain.  There's no one in the show for him to be working against, for one thing. 

Edited July 7, 2014 by annlaw78

[MisterEd]

Cardiff has bet everything on getting to the point of a working prototype. Now Cameron plays an Adventure text-based game and immediately concludes that their computer needs a personality! Gordon was right. Cameron is crazy as well as immature. Cardiff needs to have the design finalized and put into production so they can get out of the financial hole they are in.

 

I guess I just need to numb my brain and take this show as just what it is. It is just another silly melodrama. The problem with the plot is that everything seems contrived and manipulative. The writers are trying so hard to do this that it takes away from the enjoyment of the show.

 

BTW, I worked with microcomputers at home and at work during the time period of this show. The technical aspects of this show are a joke.

Edited July 7, 2014 by MisterEd

[bosawks]

I really don't want Donna to have an affair. She can be tempted, but it's cheap drama.

 

I would generally agree with this, but it's Gordon, so Donna could bang half of Texas and I'd be, "Good for her!"

Edited July 7, 2014 by bosawks

[ABay]

I hate Gordon. I was going to say more, but that's what it comes down to: I hate this character.

[dubbel zout]

I wonder if he really is that much taller than all the other actors

 

He is; he's 6'3". Mackenzie Davis is 5'10", and I wouldn't be surprised if her height was a big reason she got the part.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I hate Gordon. I was going to say more, but that's what it comes down to: I hate this character.

 

 

I used to like Gordon but he's just sooo useless.  I just thought that he was in a funk and this new project would be the match that lit a fire under him, but he remains pretty worthless.  He can't do anything right: he couldn't put the bird out of its misery, he forgot to pick the kids up after school, he screwed up the business meeting set up by his father-in-law, he forgot the Cabbage Patch doll, he invited Joe over to dinner at his house and didn't even attend, etc.  Donna may as well be a single parent because he basically contributes nothing to this marriage. 

[annlaw78]

 

He is; he's 6'3". Mackenzie Davis is 5'10", and I wouldn't be surprised if her height was a big reason she got the part.

6'3" isn't THAT tall, though.   Boz looks like child next to him!  It makes me chuckle when Boz talks of his glory days playing SMU football, becuase, really?

[scowl]

I guess I just need to numb my brain and take this show as just what it is. It is just another silly melodrama. The problem with the plot is that everything seems contrived and manipulative. The writers are trying so hard to do this that it takes away from the enjoyment of the show.

 

That makes two of us. My first job was to help get our application suite running on a completely new platform with a completely new operating system so we could ship in five months or the company would go out of business (the original hardware vendor had suddenly gone bankrupt). They were so desperate that they hired me right out of college so I completely relate to Cardiff's situation.

 

I hoped that this show would bring back those exciting memories of the beginning of my career but they're only bringing back bad memories of incompetent managers and idiot coworkers. 

[dubbel zout]

6'3" isn't THAT tall, though.

 

For men in Hollywood, it's enormous. Hee.

Edited July 7, 2014 by dubbel zout

[annlaw78]

 

For men in Hollywood, it's enormous. Hee.

True that! 

[ABay]

Does anyone remember Lie to Me? Tim Roth was the lead. One of his assistants was quite tall. Or so it seemed until I saw him guest starring on Castle and he looked about average. So everyone in LtM must've been wee little folk. The opposite happened with J. August Richards from Angel. He and the other actors seemed average because they were roughly the same height (or that's how I recall it) and then I saw JAR on another show and he looked enormous.

 

Back tot he episode....still hate Gordon.

[John R]

I was excited by the pilot of this show.  The whole story of how reverse engineering the IBM-PC ROM/BIOS and how that creates modern open network computing is potentially exciting, I think.  Then innovation devolves into first practical laptop, issues of speed and size.  OK, I guess.  Now Cameron gets excited and runs into Gordon to tell him that, like her plush toy, computer OS needs a "personality," which will require an additional 384K of RAM.  I bought my first PC clone in 1986, 3 years after this show takes place, and it had a total of 256K RAM.  Maybe 3 years later I upgraded to 640K RAM, the MS-DOS upper limit at the time.  I was also under the impression that the company was under tremendous financial pressure to get a product out the door and start generating revenue.

 

For Cardiff to have a chance there would have to be intense synergy between the main players.  I thought that's where we were going in Episode One: Joe and Gordon and Cameron (and, presumably Donna) clicking together to create something great.  But all there is is conflict and yelling and drama between 3 childish people.  If I were a grunt working at Cardiff, I'd be looking for a better job at someplace like Burger King.  And Gordon's smashing the window for the doll and then ignoring the corpse.  It's like Landry the killer in Season 2 of Friday Night Lights.

 

Maybe I'll stick it out for the rest of the season.  But very disappointed.

[magdalene]

 

Likely I'm a terrible person, but I actually like Joe, and find him much more protagonist than antagonist.  He has a dream (for whatever reasons), and a plan (sometimes wobbly) to execute it.  That he's not a straight-up good guy, and in fact resorts to some underhanded and manipulative things to realize that vision doesn't necessarily make him an antagonist or villain.  There's no one in the show for him to be working against, for one thing.

I like him better now because as of this latest episode I feel I have a better handle on his character. I used to waffle back and forth between thinking him a sociopath or really screwed up. Now I am leaning towards really screwed up. I never saw him as the villain either.

 

I have put Pushing Up Daisies on my netflix queue to check out Lee Pace in something else. I find him quite attractive. I am used to Scandinavian and German guys and I like tall men. Most American actors are so short.

[kieyra]

It's hard for me to muster up even a decent critique. I was too busy laughing out loud at how preposterous most of the scenes were, especially almost everything relating to the hurricane. I was interested to note that Zack Whedon wrote this episode (or got writing credit for it), but it sadly didn't turn him into a name I'll be excited to see in the future. Cameron continues to be a different character every single week and it drives me nuts.

Also, this is a dumb thing to be irritated about when we had multiple adult men acting like walking around in a hurricane was a good idea, but did anyone really use "solve" as a noun 30 years ago? As in "what was the solve?". I know it gets used that way now, but I want to believe it's a recent linguistic aberration.

Also, attention television writers: "shit the bed" is officially a cliche. Please stop immediately.

Edited July 7, 2014 by kieyra

[magdalene]

Donna should divorce Gordon instead of having an affair, get child support and alimony and find a man who will appreciate her.  She is beautiful and smart and deserves a partner worthy of her.

[LJonEarth]

Also, attention television writers: "shit the bed" is officially a cliche. Please stop immediately.

 

Ah, but is it cliched for the early 1980s?

 

The only thing that would make the friendly computer vs deadlines thing makes sense is that Joe is just that ambitious and foolish and possibly susceptible to Cameron that he thinks he is.

 

When Joe told Cameron the real story of how he got the scars on his chest (yikes, and ouch) and she started kissing him, for some reason my mind immediately when to what Cameron would write in her diary (were she that type of girl): "…And that was the first night we made love." There was something so romance-novelish about that moment, and I don't mean that entirely as a compliment.

 

 

I got this too, just like I did last week. They've given us no reason to care about her emotional well-being. But I just kept thinking, "no, please don't fall for him." I'm not even sure I really believe that last story about his scars.

 

If this show isn't going to last, at least give us more shirtless Lee Pace scenes. I've always found him strangely attractive.

[kieyra]

 

Ah, but is it cliched for the early 1980s?

 

I don't know, I didn't enter the industry until the early 90s. We preferred 'screw the pooch'. 

 

(My jaw dropped when I, female and in my early 20s, heard my grizzled old boss say that phrase for the first time in my life.) 

 

But right now it's a real television writing cliche to have a male professional warn a (usually female) professional counterpart not to 'shit the bed', I guess because it somehow is felt to perfectly illustrate the high-stakes world of (insert white-collar profession here) and the potential humiliation thereof. I believe I've now seen it in Mad Men, House of Lies  (Don Cheadle to Kristen Bell) and now HACF. So we've spanned five decades or so. It's okay to retire that one. 

 

ETA: Lee Pace...if you think he looks tall now, remember how he looked next to Kristen Chenowith on House of Pies or whatever that show was called. I can't decide whether I find him attractive or not. I certainly don't mind his current tight-shirt aesthetic. And he made a pretty elf king. But his character is kind of loathsome.

Edited July 7, 2014 by kieyra

[larapu2000]

If Donna wants to have an affair with Cappie from Greek, girrrrrrrrrrrrl, go get it!  Gordon is the WORST.  The absolute WORST.  One thing I really like about IT people is their willingness to tackle challenges.  I feel like someone with Gordon's so called "vision" and "talent" that he wouldn't have responded to Cameron's idea with, "that's a great idea, let's start working on that for the next version."  Isn't the idea that you're never done developing kind of the whole POINT of modern computing?  Otherwise we'd still be clacking away on our Apple IIE's. (Isn't that what they were called?  LOL, I am tech-UNsavvy)

[88Keys]

I was excited by the pilot of this show.  The whole story of how reverse engineering the IBM-PC ROM/BIOS and how that creates modern open network computing is potentially exciting, I think.  Then innovation devolves into first practical laptop, issues of speed and size.  OK, I guess.  Now Cameron gets excited and runs into Gordon to tell him that, like her plush toy, computer OS needs a "personality," which will require an additional 384K of RAM.  I bought my first PC clone in 1986, 3 years after this show takes place, and it had a total of 256K RAM.  Maybe 3 years later I upgraded to 640K RAM, the MS-DOS upper limit at the time.  I was also under the impression that the company was under tremendous financial pressure to get a product out the door and start generating revenue.

 

For Cardiff to have a chance there would have to be intense synergy between the main players.  I thought that's where we were going in Episode One: Joe and Gordon and Cameron (and, presumably Donna) clicking together to create something great.  But all there is is conflict and yelling and drama between 3 childish people.  If I were a grunt working at Cardiff, I'd be looking for a better job at someplace like Burger King.  And Gordon's smashing the window for the doll and then ignoring the corpse.  It's like Landry the killer in Season 2 of Friday Night Lights.

 

Maybe I'll stick it out for the rest of the season.  But very disappointed.

 

This is, like, exactly the way I feel about this show.  I wanted it to be great, but so far, it's just not.  I completely forgot to watch last night, which is not a good sign.  Can someone please tell me how Joe got the scars?  Or at least what the current version is. 

[Jamoche]

Now Cameron gets excited and runs into Gordon to tell him that, like her plush toy, computer OS needs a "personality," which will require an additional 384K of RAM. I bought my first PC clone in 1986, 3 years after this show takes place, and it had a total of 256K RAM.  Maybe 3 years later I upgraded to 640K RAM, the MS-DOS upper limit at the time.  I was also under the impression that the company was under tremendous financial pressure to get a product out the door and start generating revenue.

I remember checking the back of Byte magazine for the RAM prices in 1984, because a significant percentage of the price of the 128K Mac was for the RAM, and I was waiting for the price to drop enough that I could afford one. Adding 384K in 1983 would, IIRC, triple the price of the computer.

 

 

Also, this is a dumb thing to be irritated about when we had multiple adult men acting like walking around in a hurricane was a good idea, but did anyone really use "solve" as a noun 30 years ago? As in "what was the solve?". I know it gets used that way now, but I want to believe it's a recent linguistic aberration.

Solve as a noun? No.

 

And (because I haven't managed to watch more than 5 minutes of this show) - hurricane? Seriously? Tell me that they went down to Houston for it, because you know what happens in Dallas when a hurricane hits the coast? We get rain a day or so later. Not even a thunderstorm; those come from the west.

[renatae]

From the previews of next week, I see the cycle is going to repeat, yet again, of Cameron and Joe's hooking-up, his saying Something Businessy at work, resulting in Cameron flipping out and going off in an unprofessional huff.  I don't think she'd pull that crap with Boz, so I think she does expect latitude from Joe given "their thing."  Joe's the dumby who's sleeping with a subordinate, though, so I'm fine he reaps what he's sowed.

 

 

It's probably true that she wouldn't pull that with Bosworth, but I think it's more that she sees Joe as somewhat of an equal, and Bosworth as a father figure. I think her tantrums are part of her childishness, and her desire to see the project blossom. For some reason, although she has plenty of character flaws, I don't think deviousness is one of them. I could be wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time!

Edited July 8, 2014 by renatae

[hincandenza]

Finally watched this last night.  I was also suuuuper high on my state's legal "edibles", so my reactions may not be normal. ;)

 

I enjoyed this episode; while still not great, the last two have been decent, and feel more driven and purposeful than the early episodes.  Plus, hey, they have a functioning prototype, so… yay!  At this point, with three to go, I suppose I’ll be tuning in for the remainder, quite certain these will be the series’ final episodes.  I will say, for all its flaws, the cinematography is at times fantastic in this show; some of the pans and cuts are really well done, and the soundtrack works well to give that nostalgic 80’s feel (for those of us who remember the 80’s, that is).

 

The actress who plays Donna is fantastic- not just her character, but some of her acting choices with her mouth and expressions is spot on.  I looked at her IMDB, and didn’t recognize a single film she’s done save “Argo”, where oddly she I guess played opposite Scoot McNairy as a husband/wife couple (I believe someone had pointed this out in an earlier episode thread).  In any case, she’s been a revelation in this show to me, so I hope she hooks on with a better series after this one is done.  Similarly, Cameron has seemed much more “real” the last two episodes than before, I’m sure largely because she isn’t acting against a literal stone wall like with the first few episodes.

 

Gordon remains- no, has become even more- loathsome.  That said, it’s clear the writers are really beating the “cracking under stress/drinking too much” drum, as his excessive drinking has been explicitly mentioned repeatedly at this point.  I think we’re supposed to see him as a broken man and a failure, either to drive a future plot point (Donna leaving him, the project failing, him quitting/being fired as "the old guard") or to make the inevitable failure of Cardiff all the more obvious in retrospect.  The show’s love of heavy-handed symbolism is sadly still around too.  As SonofaBiscuit points out, we’ve progressed in this series from killing animals to killing people, which sounds like the progression they say burgeoning serial killers go through (*koff* Joe *koff*).

 

Still, Gordon is totally right: while the “Microsoft BOB” idea sounds cute, and I can imagine a non-BOB UI similar to a normal command prompt that works easily (where a "room" is like a folder, and files are accessed in that room where you have "Adventure" commands like "show files" or "open file" or "run businessapp.exe") this absolutely isn’t the time to be innovative beyond what they’ve done.  Get the PC out there, start making actual money to recoup all these development costs and becoming a recognized player with a functional PC clone, and THEN blow everyone away when your next version, the “Cardiff IIe”, has this sweet text-based Clippy interface.  :)  It’s a shame that “visionary” Joe is now drinking the Kool-Aid, because he was right the first time about delaying that kind of innovation.

 

I had a sense of dread when Bosworth met with Cameron, and exhaled when it turned out to be a healthy conversation about workplace professionalism.  Something about him seeing her kiss Gordon, and then his reaction, had me worried he was thinking of her as the “easy” girl and was going to hit on her and then demand she put out for him because she has for everyone else (he'd think).  Thank god they didn’t go there, and Bosworth was just letting her know that as she becomes more of a leader, she needs to reign in some of her behavior.

 

In a similar sense of... well not dread since I dislike Gordon so much... during that whole storm sequence, which I couldn’t help but compare to the recent “Louis” episode about a storm hitting NYC, I was worried/expectant that we would get a surprising “The Ice Storm” style twist, and Gordon would die or be badly injured on his way home via accident or electrocution. 

 

They might go there still: maybe Gordon has a mental breakdown/can’t function anymore, and Donna- now deciding that Joe isn’t so bad after all, thanks to his heroics with the kids- will step in at Cardiff, after an embarrassing pass made at her by her current boss leaves her feeling unhappy at TI.  I'm not saying that will happen, but I could certainly see a staff of writers churning that out.

 

Hm, actually... forget Donna having an affair with her boss- or half the state of Texas... maybe Donna and YoYo should hook up!  Both seem like decent, competent, and mentally stable people, and it’s obvious YoYo has a doomed crush on Cameron that she isn’t even picking up on.  So let me be the first to start the "DoYo" ship. :)

 

 

 

ChristOnACracker: And Joe flailing around in the storm with the flashlights, etc., all those theatrics. What was that trying to emulate? Some movie? It seemed so familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

I had the same sense of familiarity; it visually reminded me of the Andy Dufresne triumphant overhead shot in the pouring rain, when he finally escapes the prison in “Shawshank Redemption”.

[GaT]

Borrrrrrrrrrrrrred.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I am going to stand on my shallow box for a second.  At least Cameron and Donna are beautiful women.  We hetero girls and gay guys literally have no eye candy on the show.  I know we are supposed to find Joe attractive, but I find him repulsive.  He is like a less appealing Nic Cage combined with a mannequin and that is not a good thing.  The best looking guy is Hunt and I still have no handle on his character's intentions, except that he is fascinated by the almost perfect Donna.  I am not proud of this rant.

 

I find Lee Pace (Joe) very attractive. There were a few moments in this ep where he was downright striking; while sitting on the couch talking to Donna. There was a sparkle in his eyes that's been missing before now. His character has been repulsing me, but this is the first episode where he's shown some spark of humanity. Ups the hotness factor considerably.

 

I had a sense of dread when Bosworth met with Cameron, and exhaled when it turned out to be a healthy conversation about workplace professionalism.  Something about him seeing her kiss Gordon, and then his reaction, had me worried he was thinking of her as the “easy” girl and was going to hit on her and then demand she put out for him because she has for everyone else (he'd think).  Thank god they didn’t go there, and Bosworth was just letting her know that as she becomes more of a leader, she needs to reign in some of her behavior.

 

In a similar sense of... well not dread since I dislike Gordon so much... during that whole storm sequence, which I couldn’t help but compare to the recent “Louis” episode about a storm hitting NYC, I was worried/expectant that we would get a surprising “The Ice Storm” style twist, and Gordon would die or be badly injured on his way home via accident or electrocution. 

 

Word to both statements. I felt the same unease watching both scenes for the same reasons. Super relieved Bos didn't put the moves on Cameron, as I'm trying not to hate the guy, but I still can't get over the dick move getting those cops to beat on Joe. Totally thought Gordon would get injured in the storm. I have no idea what to make of the dead body, either.

[renatae]

This is, like, exactly the way I feel about this show.  I wanted it to be great, but so far, it's just not.  I completely forgot to watch last night, which is not a good sign.  Can someone please tell me how Joe got the scars?  Or at least what the current version is. 

 

The latest version is that his mother was high and took him up to their roof, where he fell off, and I think he said he landed on a picket fence (ouch!) and was hospitalized for several months. This appeased Cameron, who felt he was telling the truth.

[kieyra]

Didn't he actually say he was hospitalized for two years?

 

Anyone know if that strained credulity or not?

 

I may be seeing this one through 2014 eyes, where they basically kick you out after 2 days unless you're in a coma. 

[annlaw78]

 

Didn't he actually say he was hospitalized for two years?

 

Anyone know if that strained credulity or not?

 

I may be seeing this one through 2014 eyes, where they basically kick you out after 2 days unless you're in a coma.

I don't recall the time he quoted.  He may have had some extensive grafting done if his skin was all scraped and razed by the fence.  In which case he could have spent the better part of a couple of years in and out of hospitals, because being in a sterile environment is important with skin grafts.   But, who knows.  I think the push for more outpatient procedures came about later.

 

 

It does seem the scene [where Gordon sees the dead woman on the street and just walks away] was intended to be significant, although I'm wondering if only something else Gordon will live to regret.

Whoever that person was (I thought it was a man), looked eerily like Joe, enough that I rewatched and paused to see if perhaps Gordon was just hallucinating something terrible befalling Joe. 

 

 

And Joe flailing around in the storm with the flashlights, etc., all those theatrics. What was that trying to emulate? Some movie? It seemed so familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

He reminded me of the Star Wars kid, though I doubt that was what they were going for!  I think Joe is supposed to be too cool to be geeking out over light sabers. 

 

 

And (because I haven't managed to watch more than 5 minutes of this show) - hurricane? Seriously? Tell me that they went down to Houston for it, because you know what happens in Dallas when a hurricane hits the coast? We get rain a day or so later. Not even a thunderstorm; those come from the west.

I think this was supposed to be Hurricane Alicia that hit in August 1983, and did affect as far inland as Dallas.  Even parts of Oklahoma and Missouri (and farther north) got rainfall from it.  I'm not sure why there's a run on Cabbage Patch Dolls in August, though...  But, yes, typically hurricanes in the Gulf don't have much impact on Dallas, Austin, etc.

 

 

It's probably true that she wouldn't pull that with Bosworth, but I think it's more that she sees Joe as somewhat of an equal, and Bosworth as a father figure. I think her tantrums are part of her childishness, and her desire to see the project blossom. For some reason, although she has plenty of character flaws, I don't think deviousness is one of them. I could be wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time!

That's the problem (and it's a problem of Joe's own creation, so he has to deal with it -- don't sleep with your subordinates, guy).  Joe's not her peer, he's her superior, technically.  And she's not mature enough to realize that though she is infinitely smarter and better at the tech side of things than Joe, in the business of making computers, it's not the tech people that run the business -- it's the business people.  And the business people (like Joe) have their own skill-set (right, Gordon?) and talents, and should be accorded some respect for that, even if they don't know the difference between GOSUB and GOTO.  But, it's hard to respect the business guy when he's showing up sad-puppy dog at your door for a late night hook-up. 

Edited July 8, 2014 by annlaw78

[dubbel zout]

Whoever that person was (I thought it was a man), looked eerily like Joe, enough that I rewatched and paused to see if perhaps Gordon was just hallucinating something terrible befalling Joe.

I thought Gordon was hallucinating as well, since he'd done it in the first scene of the ep.

[LJonEarth]

Not that I fully believe him, but even in 2014, I know of some people whose kids spent 2 years in and out of hospitals for multiple surgeries and complications for those surgeries. If Joe's family was wealthy and ill equipped to care for him - which it seems at least his mom may have been - I could seem him just staying.

I'd have to go back and watch, but I'm having a hard time squaring the type of man Joe's dad is, and the warnings multiple people have given about who Joe "really is" with this story about his manic pixie mom. Maybe two of those things work together, but all three? I'm not sure.

[Irishmaple]

I still mildly like this show.  It'll never be a favourite but I don't wince when it shows up on the PVR.  Joe has really grown on me and I enjoyed the reveal that he's a bit of a chameleon.  Cameron is right in that he really has very little personality of his own.  He gives what he needs to give in order to get what he wants.  I thought the desire for authenticity was a relatively new concept (post Oprah) so I found it odd that Cameron was looking for that.  I can see why Bosworth is popular with the troops because he's blunt and clear; Joe is opaque and enigmatic, which can be unsettling.  I felt some empathy for Joe when he was steeling himself to swing the bat, his ribs still so bruised he could barely move; I strained some ribs earlier in the spring and it was almost six weeks before I moved without pain.

 

I really liked how Joe gradually lightened up with Donna and her girls.  He was very manipulative at first, steering the kids into the tent and away from himself, but they seemed to grow on him.  For a few moments, I hoped I was watching a psychological thriller in which the cuckoo takes over the nest and Joe gradually evicts Gordon from his own life.  I don't like Gordon at all. 

 

I remember one of my sisters had a Cabbage Patch Kid; it was a pretty ugly doll but she adored it. 

Edited July 8, 2014 by Irishmaple

[kieyra]

 

I thought the desire for authenticity was a relatively new concept (post Oprah) so I found it odd that Cameron was looking for that.

 

They aren't even really trying for, ahem, authenticity when it comes to the dialogue. See: "What was the solve?"

 

Pretty soon Cameron's going to be telling someone "I feel like I lack a sense of agency as an employee of Cardiff." Or possibly screaming "YOLO!!!"

 

This also seems like a good spot for me to mention that I'm annoyed by the fact that Cameron's muse for coding is penis. This character is obviously fully conceived and implemented by a guy.

Edited July 8, 2014 by kieyra

[scowl]

I remember checking the back of Byte magazine for the RAM prices in 1984, because a significant percentage of the price of the 128K Mac was for the RAM, and I was waiting for the price to drop enough that I could afford one. Adding 384K in 1983 would, IIRC, triple the price of the computer.

 

Cameron (out of naivety of course) shouldn't have gone to someone and "demanded" memory for something she hadn't even written yet (and 384K???). In fact the show's view of this idea is completely screwed up from getting the technical terms wrong as usual (she's not changing the operating system; she's developing a replacement command line shell) to the idea that people want their computers to adapt and become their best friends. Her example made me laugh. Cameron, when I wanted to run Word Star, I just typed "WORDSTAR" at the DOS prompt. 

 

I assume this is the show's way of telling us, again and again, that Cameron just wants to be loved. Even a computer or a raggedy stuffed animal will do. Or she can keep on fucking her boss and see where that leads her.

 

Her confessional about why she liked computers surprised me in that I didn't believe it. I would think Cameron liked computers because they're more reliable and predictable than the people in her life. 

[NutmegsDad]

When she first mentioned the "personalized" OS, all I could think of was that "Bob" UI. Anyone remember that? He was supposed to be like a guide and I think the opening screen was a house or a neighborhood. I think he also asked "What would you like to do?" It was really lame, so I gave it a couple tries and got rid of it. However, I think Cameron's idea is very ahead of it's time, and if she's correct that Gordon's ideas would mostly impress programmers, then she definitely has a more marketable idea.

 

She's 30 years ahead. With search engines and the Internet, she described Siri.

 

Gordon is descending into madness at a rapid pace.  John better schedule another asswhupping with his cop friends on him.

 

However, we screamed "NOOOOOOO!" when Donna gave Joe that 'lingering look'. If anyone is going to have  an affair with her, it should be Cameron. :)

[annlaw78]

 

This also seems like a good spot for me to mention that I'm annoyed by the fact that Cameron's muse for coding is penis.

Me, too.  The trope of "woman's extraordinary gift for X is fuelled by her insatiable sex drive" is tiresome, and, at least from my anecdotal experience studying with/working with extraordinarily intelligent and skilled women, only found in fiction.  See, also, Carrie Matheson, DI Stella Gibson, the lead character from Black Box.  I could find more examples, but I need sex before I can think properly. 

 

 

Her example made me laugh. Cameron, when I wanted to run Word Star, I just typed "WORDSTAR" at the DOS prompt.

To be fair, I always found DOS very intimidating, as compared with the friendly, clickable icons on Apple products.  I was a kid in the early days of home computing, so maybe it's not a very fair assessment.  But I think there was probably a big chunk of the adult population that found it a bit confusing, too. 

Edited July 8, 2014 by annlaw78

[LJonEarth]

I also like Cameron better now that she isn't just a smartmouth on legs. When she first mentioned the "personalized" OS, all I could think of was that "Bob" UI. Anyone remember that? He was supposed to be like a guide and I think the opening screen was a house or a neighborhood. I think he also asked "What would you like to do?" It was really lame, so I gave it a couple tries and got rid of it. However, I think Cameron's idea is very ahead of it's time, and if she's correct that Gordon's ideas would mostly impress programmers, then she definitely has a more marketable idea.

 

When I saw her work, I imagined that the answers to "What would you like to do?" being infinite. Wouldn't you need a whole lot of programming time, a ton of computing power, and a large database of responses, since the internet is not real thing at this point, to return the correct response? That is, like everyone else has said, is this not Siri or Watson? Did this Bob system have limited (i.e. multiple choice) or guided responses, or was it open ended?

 

Forgive me, I only program when forced to program, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

[hincandenza]

Actually, not to rathole on this, but I'm thinking that you could make a DOS replacement shell that had more "natural language" commands, where instead of "dir" you can type "look", and get back "You see a room with 6 doors, each with their own sign, as well as 13 books lying on a table. Perhaps you'd like to take a closer look?". "Read sign" or "read all signs", etc. Instead of "cd somedir" you type "enter room" (where every directory is a 'room', where data files are books and executables are objects or amulets of power or whatever). "You see a machine in this room called 'Wordstar', what would you like to do?" "Run wordstar" or "turn on wordstar", etc.

In other words, the "Adventure" style text experience as a more user friendly shell, similar to what MS Bob did try but without the graphical overhead. I think if done well, it's barely more memory than the existing CLI, but feels more "personal"; it's just extending the existing DOS command set, to support a wider variety of user-friendly commands... perhaps even to help transition a new user into eventually typing the "real" commands as faster.

That said, it's a cool idea way ahead of its time, but with unknown return on investment and exceptionally high development costs. Shelve it for v2 and move on with shipping a product.