S10.E13: Halt And Catch Fire

[DittyDotDot]

15 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

So, I get that wifi can go through the computers, phones and the gps, but how does it operate a truck?  Yeah, I know, super ghost powers.

Most vehicles these days are controlled by a computer system. Since he had a built-in navigation system, I'm guessing it was a "smart" truck.

[The Companion]

On 2/10/2015 at 10:59 PM, catrox14 said:

Sigh. I really did not care for this episode. Yes it had an old skool s1 vibe, but jeez WTF was up with Dean.  Look I get they wanted Dean back to eating his crappy food, and drinking but seriously Dean was never gluttonous about food. Yes drinking too much yes... but not food.   Bleh ...that was weird and not even funny.

 

All of it seems so inconsistent with the Famine episode. Does Dean indulge in a healthy manner, or does he give into his uncontrollable urges? 

I guess they were going for: look at all this food you can choose from! I think it is a common reaction for new students to get one of everything. The problem is: 1. why are they acting like Dean has never been on a college campus before? and 2. Why is Dean acting like he doesn't know how to eat like a normal person? 

It was a weird choice.

On 2/10/2015 at 11:22 PM, Wynne88 said:

I absolutely loved the truck going off the bridge and straight into this season's title card.  That was gorgeous editing.

Yes. This was a highlight.

On 2/11/2015 at 1:29 AM, ItsABear said:

 

I was also a bit creeped out by Dean ogling the college girls.  He's what? 36 now?  It seemed creepy to me.  Maybe guys have a different view.  If it were a 36 year old woman ogling them, it would definitely be creepy.

 

Yes. It was gross and didn't feel in character to me. I felt ancient in law school next to all the college kids. Every so often they write Dean like a creepy horndog and I just don't get it. 

On 2/11/2015 at 6:19 AM, 2Old2BAFangirl said:

I'll be in the minority because I liked this episode well enough.  I've really been enjoying S10 for the most part and I think it has to do with the brothers behaving like brothers again. 

 

This was one of the things I really did like about the episode. It did feel a bit old school and despite the missteps, I did enjoy that we got some good relationship stuff.

On 2/12/2015 at 8:54 PM, rue721 said:

 

I agree, in that I also don't know why they decided to do a sorta/kinda spoof of decades old B-movies, but hey, for whatever reason I guess they did.

 

I don't think it's the worst concept they've ever come up with, though. I actually think it could have been fun. If they were trying to spoof 90s teen horror, it also at least makes *more* sense that they used the internet/computers as a boogeyman. I don't remember if ~technology~ was ever a MotW on Buffy, but if it wasn't, it might as well have been -- the concept fits right in imo. Throwing in all that stuff about how the 90s were a looooong time ago now and the leads on this show are ~old~ also makes some sense if they were trying to spoof 90s movies in this episode, imo.

 

My issue is more with the execution. I mean, I got that it was a rip off of those movies, but I didn't get that it was actually a spoof, because it wasn't funny and didn't seem at all self-aware. The tone was wrong and it wasn't clever enough. The best thing about those movies in the first place imo was that they were sort of satirical in their own right, like the B-movie horror version of Heathers. This episode didn't have any of that.

 

I actually wish they'd been able to go completely old school WB with this episode and have it feel like Buffy in the first half and Felicity in the second -- and I think that's actually what they were trying to do! But they couldn't actually get there, for whatever reason.

 

Totally agree. This has happened before, IMO. The writers have a concept and the director doesn't take it far enough to sell it. I couldn't tell if they were serious or not, which is a problem. Plus, there were just some really freaking weird lines. For example, wtf was up with the line about having bigger problems if she told someone? Was it a threat? Not a threat? Pretty sure the actor didn't know. 

I think the deaths needed to be bigger and more ridiculous to sell the spoof concept. The tone was just . . . off.

On 9/18/2016 at 8:16 PM, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I know, I know.  Weird, trivial stuff bugs me.  Probably more than it should.  :)  Probably more than the main "points" of the story.  lol.  Whatever.  I'm a simple kinda gal.

• Why did the guys call going to Iowa "the Midwest"?  Last time I checked, Kansas was "the Midwest" also.  
• Until more than half way through this ep, I thought maybe they were at an all girls college.  Then I finally saw a guy walk by in the back ground.  Oh...kay...
• I wasn't sure what was with all Dean's comments re: the college girls.  If it was supposed to be cute and funny, it wasn't.  He's a little old for them and it came off as skeevy.  If the older women (who were barely 10 years older than Sam) hitting on Sam in the Ask Jeeves ep were supposed to be seen as creepy and pathetic, then Dean drooling over women more than 10 years younger than him is creepy and pathetic also.  I know male writers probably don't see it as such, but they should.  Sauce for the goose, fellas.  
• Furthermore, I don't usually see Dean as creepy and pathetic so I don't like feeling as if I should, even if it was unintentional.  
• Whoa, Dean was eating a LOT this ep.  Dean normally eats a lot, but he was chowing down even more than usual.  And I know Dean is not usual because MOC, but compared to last ep - pendulum swing, much?  
• The " nothing ever really gets deleted from the internet." is not entirely, technically true.  It's only mostly true.  Wipe a  few servers, and one could easily delete things from the internet.  I'm not saying it would be easy.  I'm just saying it's possible...  :)
• No Sam.  We're not just a bunch of electrical impulses.  There is actually a good bit of scientific evidence that 'souls' have matter/weight.  
• The 'ghost in the machine" was a nice concept, in a way, but poorly explained.  Andrew was electrocuted near a cell tower so became a wi-fi ghost?  Not buying it.  
• WTF was with the college chick's derogatory remark about Gen X?  'scuse me, bitch?  Imma write that off as she was just a stupid bimbo.  Cause I know plenty of people her age who would still get the Steven King reference.   And for all of her alleged technological savvy-ness - she's still have to go to someone else (probably a Gen Xer) to fix her Mac.  
• Those tower speakers in Kyles room were wireless?  No freakin' way.

Um...so something good, cause I feel like I griped about this ep a lot:

• I liked that Dean was at least familiar with the country song about driving the deceased truck in their memory.  
• Dean and Delilah had some nice moments together.  
• The woman who played the widow, Corey, did a good job.  I felt very sorry for her, basically losing her husband twice.  

I'm not worried about Dean saying he's giving up looking for a cure, 'cause I know that will only last one or two eps at most.  

I think you covered it.

 

In the end, I didn't hate this episode, but I didn't love it either. There was some good stuff, but I felt like some of it just missed the mark. 

[Katy M]

24 minutes ago, The Companion said:

Yes. It was gross and didn't feel in character to me. I felt ancient in law school next to all the college kids. Every so often they write Dean like a creepy horndog and I just don't get it. 

It's totally in character. He was worried about which cheerleaders were legal in AFter School Special.  Yes, he was a few years younger then, but then again so were the girls.  

[The Companion]

16 minutes ago, Katy M said:

It's totally in character. He was worried about which cheerleaders were legal in AFter School Special.  Yes, he was a few years younger then, but then again so were the girls.  

Yeah, I guess I mean that that characterization seems inconsistent tom me when compared to most of his interactions with women. There is precedence for it, but I didn't like it in those cases either. Basically, I hate when they have him ogle teenagers and want them to cut it out?