S02.E01: SETI

[Tara Ariano]

In the Season 2 opener, Cameron and Donna's fledgling gaming company, Mutiny, finds itself at a crossroads. Meanwhile, Joe and Gordon are reunited in the wake of Cardiff's sale.

[Primetimer]

That show about two dudes trying to build a computer returns, only now the dudes are ladies and the computer is a gaming company. Don't worry -- it's much better this way.

Read the story

[Yolapukka]

Bos! Is! Back!

 

I'm sure that his return is total fan-service and I'm very glad of it.

I liked how there was a bit of the shoe being on the other foot between Donna and Gordon, though it didn't feel right that she skipped out on what was supposed to be a special family evening. I hope we're not seeing him headed for a bit of a crack-up (a-gain) due to falling down a rabbit hole while he tries to come up with something good by tinkering in the garage and messing around with coke. It was very unsettling that he had no memory of that story his coworker was telling in the bar.

Love Donna. I like how she clearly does not want to put on the boss hat and neatly ducked around the possibility when Cameron seemed to be headed in the direction of asking her.

 

I'm guessing Cameron will want Bos to be their much needed boss.

 

Joe playing online with Cameron was creepy. Not to mention a little despicable since he'd just asked his girlfriend to marry him. I like her so far. She does have questionble taste in men though.

 

I like the crisper colours compared to last years muted palette. However, the overuse of the Dutch angle bugged me.

Edited June 1, 2015 by yuggapukka

[SonofaBiscuit]

Wow, Gordon's likability increased by like 100% from last season.  But why do I feel like he's one breakdown away from blowing that big fat Cardiff Electric check on something stupid?  Here's hoping that Gordon's nosebleed is just allergies like he said.  Nosebleeds are one of those things that are pretty harmless in real life but signal scary things like death and brain tumors on TV!

 

I hope that the guy selling stolen goods can't track Donna and Cameron down.  I could see him popping up at some point later this season.

 

Happy to see the guy that Cameron picked up from prison (can't remember his name).  I liked him last season and enjoyed the dynamic between him and Cameron.  I hope that this season focuses on Donna and Cameron because that story looks way more intriguing that watching Gordon be a sad-sack or Joe acting like a lunatic.

[Sakura12]

I figured Gordon's nose bleed was from the coke he was doing. They showed him pocket a vial from his desk. I think his storyline is going to be his drug problem.

 

It seems Cameron is rubbing off on Donna, she's stealing stolen tech. Lol. Now we just need Cameron to listen to Donna a bit more to really see this friendship/partnership grow. I also love that Donna wants to invent Instant Messaging or chat rooms, I suppose. I don't know which one came first. 

 

I'm glad that Joe is paying for his actions, not that he actually learned anything but he didn't get a win and I"m happy with that. 

[gingerhorsesnaps]

This was a really good season premiere. They set up a lot of really cool stuff, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season. 

 

Gordon has me slightly worried. I'm assuming a coke problem will be one of his main storylines this season. 

 

Loved, loved, loved Donna and Cameron working together. Drunk Donna was hilarious. 

[thuganomics85]

I'm pretty sure that a lot of the opening, when Donna was walking around in Mutiny, was all done in one take.  Pretty cool.

 

In some ways, this felt like they were rebooting a lot of things, and basically putting the characters in different situations and positions: mainly for the better, I think.  Certainly prefer Cameron and Donna getting to be the main focus, over Joe and Gordon.  Cameron can be bratty at times, but I at least understand what she wants to accomplish, and, of course, Donna is just awesome.  Hope those two can work out the kinks (and maybe not have to resort from stealing tech, even if it was from a untrustworthy guy who stole it himself), and become a powerhouse.  Like the idea about how Donna noticed their players sometimes just enjoy chatting with one another, and might expand into the chat-room business or something to that nature.

 

The nosebleed and Gordon apparently being on cocaine this past year, makes me think something bad is going to happen to him.  Figure that he actually was less annoying this time around, when all that happens.  Sounds like he is planning on using his money to just work from the garage.  I wonder what he'll think up of next?

 

I still find Joe to be my least favorite character (despite usually really liking Lee Pace), but at least they've tone down the Don Draper-ish persona he implored for the majority of the first season.  See's he got a new love interest, but we'll see if that last.  I do hope she goes somewhere good, since I really liked Aleksa Palladino on Boardwalk Empire 

and her dad is going to be played by fellow Boardwalk Empire actor, James Cromwell!

 

Glad Lev and Yo-Yo are still around.

 

John Bosworth!  Already out of prison!  Have to think Cameron wants him to join the company.  Can't wait!  Toby Huss is great at making the most of his screen time.

 

So far, so good.  I'm way more interested in the video game story-line and, again, Donna and Cameron.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Totally missed the part where Gordon took some coke from his desk.  Ugh, am I going to have to watch him become an addict and blow his Cardiff check on drugs and stupid luxuries?  Probably, yes.  I think that he's one of these people who isn't happy unless he's miserable.

[riverheightsnancy]

HATED IT. I guess that I will be in the minority of the 5 total people watching the show, but I loved season one, and absolutely hated this. Where was the moody grittiness? They "attempted" to retool the show by having characters tell us shit that happened after the end of season 1. SHOW US. I have been waiting for what happened to Joe on his walkabout. There was discussion that he may visit his mother (they dropped that). What happened to them because of the burned up computers? I wanted to see the emotion and fallout from that.  They show Joe BACK with Cameron (how the HELL did that happen?) and THEN 20 months later is in the forest with some new girl and is in love and all better now!? This guy is a classic con-man sociopath. I can accept that as the character, because we had other people who can be the "good" ones, Donna, Bos, maybe Cameron or Gordon (although, uh too neurotic). But, we need to retool Joe to be a hero now too?

 

I haven't eye rolled so much at a show in a long time. Personally, I accept reality TV as being staged, so I do not eyeroll, because that is my expectation, however, I thought that they would stay true to the characters and not try to make them be something they are not. I will stick with it, because I am really interested in the topic and it is my era while in college, but I was so disappointed about last night. I hope it was just a first episode hiccup. I think that it is interesting how Donna and Gordon's roles have completely reversed on each other. Will he become an early "Mr. Mom", by default and become jealous of Donna's success? I agree with others that Gordon's personality is "Debbie Downer". (I hope that they do not retool him too!) He does not know how to be happy. I hope they explore more than him just doing drugs. I would like it to be what stereotypic stay-at-home moms experience, while the husband is out moving and shakin' in the business world. 

[eelpout]

Ugh. As someone who lived it, no one said "lag" in the mid 80's about Compuserve, GEnie etc. like it was an Android phone. :p

 

I think they are missing the mark on what BBS' were, which were run for the most part by indviduals and not twenty people milling about in a house like a pre-Internet Facebook. Once more I'm saddened this show is looking back with too much of a 21st century lens.

[TC3200]

"too much 21st century lens" is a good description.    I want more on the technology, and less of a historically inaccurate soap opera.   Mad Men went too soap opera.  I was hoping for more tech in S1 of Halt.    Didn't get it.    Might not stay a fan through S2.

[kieyra]

Ugh. As someone who lived it, no one said "lag" in the mid 80's about Compuserve, GEnie etc. like it was an Android phone. :p

I think they are missing the mark on what BBS' were, which were run for the most part by indviduals and not twenty people milling about in a house like a pre-Internet Facebook. Once more I'm saddened this show is looking back with too much of a 21st century lens.

I was actually running a multi-line BBS (with games AND chat) in a similar group house, but it was a hobby, aside from occasional donations (there were pay for play BBSes but we weren't one of them). It was also about six years later. We would have talked about lag, but yeah, I don't think a service quite like that existed in 1985. (Right, we're in 1985?) I was on something sort of like it in the 1980s (Viewtron) but it had corporate backing.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viewtron

We also did some very shady crap to get hardware. Some of this stuff actually makes me uncomfortable to watch, heh.

Slightly more on topic, I'm not quite seeing the improvement Sepinwall promised, but I will give it more episodes. They are trying too hard to handwave season 1 away, and it's not coming off gracefully. I also don't like new Joe and unfortunately I had an instant, irrational hatred of his new fiancé. I don't remember feeling that way about the actress in Boardwalk Empire, so I don't think it's her. But I want that character OFF my screen and somehow I actually miss psycho Joe.

As usual, Gordon is off in his own crazy show.

I don't require absolute technical accuracy because technically, things didn't start getting really interesting until the 90s. Not that much drama to be dredged from modems and XT clones, but at least they're trying.

Edited June 2, 2015 by kieyra

[ganesh]

If the focus is going to be on the women, I am so down. Mrs. Garrett is dope online handle. I don't like Gordon doing coke, but I assume this leads to him growing back his beard and doing better computer things.

I laughed at the ripping up of the check. All you need is the account number. Joe signed the contract. That money is his. He doesn't have to sue for it.

I liked that Gordon knew they made a lateral move and weren't innovating. This was a good opener.

[ketose]

I don't know about Gordon. He may get one of those TV diseases. In the preview

he was at a doctor's office.

 

I'm still waiting for a good Cameron take-down. She's too Mary Sue for my liking.

 

Props to Cardiff for telling Joe to pound sand. He (indirectly) got Bosworth in jail and liquidated a company that was perfectly good at selling IBM software.

[ganesh]

They can tell him off all they want, but they're contractually obligated to pay him. The guy was like, sue me if you want. Well, OK, but it's going to be a 5 minute case.

[kieyra]

They can tell him off all they want, but they're contractually obligated to pay him. The guy was like, sue me if you want. Well, OK, but it's going to be a 5 minute case.

 

Yeah, I read a recap/review of the episode that referred to some of these plot mechanics as 'perfunctory', and that's exactly how I feel. Yeah, I get it, they took away Joe's money to turn him back into a feral beast, but ... ripping up the check was silly. 

[apgold]

Joe's fiancee was the actress who played Angela Darmody on "Boardwalk Empire" in case anyone wonders where they've seen her before.  She seems like a stabilizing force in his life, but I don't see them making it to the altar.  Joe is too unpredictable.

 

I liked Donna and Cameron's "Thelma and Louise" moment stealing the IBM desktops from that fence. I hope they don't run into him again, he seems like bad news.

 

I don't mind that this show is viewed through the 21st century lens - not sure how else it can be viewed. 

 

I'm trying to figure out how much the $800K Gordon got would be worth 30 years(!) later. 

 

I liked the little moment when Joe and Gordon were in the elevator and Joe was so lost in his own world (or upset he didn't get his check) that Gordon had to push the button even though his arms were full of his stuff.

[tennisgurl]

I just binged the whole first season on Netflix, after hearing good things about the end of the first season, and the start of the second season, and I`m glad because I really loved this episode, and the seeming re-tool of the show. 

 

The Cameron and Donna show is, just as I imagined, great fun. And I like how they are rubbing off on each other. Hopefully more of Donna will rub off on Cameron, they need a boss. So now, we have John Bosworth back! Yeeehaw! Our favorite good ol boy has returned from the slammer. Great scene with Cameron picking him up. I hope she hires him as their new boss. Watching him try to carrel the programmers should be fun. 

 

Gordan is finally becoming likable, and now probably has a brain tumor or something. Figures. 

 

Of all the character interactions, I want to see Joe and Donna interact again. 

 

I like Joe`s fiance (hi Angela! Love you, but your taste in partners is still questionable) but I cant imagine it will last. Joe is too lost in his Joe world to really commit to anyone. 

 

This show kind of reminds me of an 80s, computer version of The Knick, in that they are both hyper stylized, music heavy period drama`s about the advancement of technology and innovation, and the creation of the modern age. With The Knick, its medical technology. Here, its computer technology. 

Edited June 2, 2015 by tennisgurl

[attica]

I was actually amped up at the end of the episode, eager for the next!

 

I'd like to throw some props at Toby Huss, who, with no lines at all, still managed to convey how Boss Bosworth is.

 

I wanna go out drinking with Donna. Right now.

[dubbel zout]

I'd like to throw some props at Toby Huss, who, with no lines at all, still managed to convey how Boss Bosworth is.

He brought so much energy to a short scene, and without words! I can't imagine Cameron not hiring Bos; he's probably professional Kryptonite for the time being. Plus, I can't see him wanting to work for an established company, anyway. I think he mostlly enjoyed the crazy ride Joe had him on at Cardiff.

[scowl]

Ugh. As someone who lived it, no one said "lag" in the mid 80's about Compuserve, GEnie etc. like it was an Android phone. :p

 

I think they are missing the mark on what BBS' were, which were run for the most part by indviduals and not twenty people milling about in a house like a pre-Internet Facebook. Once more I'm saddened this show is looking back with too much of a 21st century lens.

 

I agree. I was completely lost on what was supposed to be happening. So many things made no sense to me. Why the hell were they using stacks of PC's to support their online gaming product? That won't work. They need a real multi user mainframe like a VAX-750 and a modem bank with hundreds of phone lines, or they needed to lease time on someone else's mainframes. Then they wouldn't be fighting over 500K of memory.

 

Why were they working in a residential house? There was plenty of cheap commercial office space available almost everywhere thanks to the recession. These places had all the electricity and phone lines you could ever want! It looked like the show was just copying "The Social Network" and had no clue what software development looked like back then, or even now.

 

Also, there were no "Chinese knockoffs" of computers in the mid-80's. China had no non-military technological industry at that time and was struggling to get computers from the West. Even if they did exist you wouldn't have to "program in Chinese" to use them -- they're knockoffs! 

 

If they wanted to show real drama of the time, they could have made the place develop non-online games. These places routinely hired cheap kids straight out of high school promising that they would become the computer equivalent of rock stars. While there were a few rock stars who got rich developing amazing (at the time) games, most didn't have the skills to do proper software development so they burned out or went crazy from the pressure. 

[Hanahope]

Definitely had to laugh at the guy ripping up the check and telling Joe to sue him so he could pontificate in front of a jury.  Never going to happen, Joe would win summary judgment in a heartbeat.  I had to presume that at least one of the people at that meeting was a lawyer, who should have spoken up right away that Joe was still entitled to that money and it would be a waste to spend attorneys fees on something Joe was going to get no matter what.

 

I also don't recall using the term "lag" back in the mid-80s, but then I wasn't playing on-line computer games very much.  My recollection is that there were very few and only the more 'hard core' computer nerds played them, though some college friends showed them to me.  Certainly stand-alone computer games started coming out, I mostly remember them. 

 

I have been waiting for what happened to Joe on his walkabout. There was discussion that he may visit his mother (they dropped that). What happened to them because of the burned up computers? I wanted to see the emotion and fallout from that.  They show Joe BACK with Cameron (how the HELL did that happen?) and THEN 20 months later is in the forest with some new girl and is in love and all better now!?

 

So, I think what happened is that the scene with Joe and Cameron playing the game in the house was supposed to be back in the S1 era, when the two were together and they were building the Giant.  That was the house Cameron lived in with the coders.  The 20 months later was to show she still lived in the same house and now they are doing the Mutiny thing.

 

And then they show Joe, who is now with another woman and not Cameron.  That woman then explains her backstory with Joe and how/why she was in the observatory that Joe was heading towards at the end of S1.  The implication is that Joe somehow found out she was there and he wanted to reconnect.  Yes, it does seem to be a retcon of what he was doing in S1, but I presume the writers thought this was a better direction to continue Joe's story.

 

I agree that it does seem unanswered as to why Joe burned up the computers and what the fall-out was because of that (other than deducting the cost from Joe's 'share' of Cardiff).

[scowl]

So, I think what happened is that the scene with Joe and Cameron playing the game in the house was supposed to be back in the S1 era, when the two were together and they were building the Giant.  That was the house Cameron lived in with the coders.  The 20 months later was to show she still lived in the same house and now they are doing the Mutiny thing.

 

That explains the confusing jump in the timeline perfectly. I guess Cameron's hair was supposed to telegraph this but it went over my head.

[scrb]

What happened to Lee Pace?

 

Did that big fat guy playing Joe eat him?

[Yolapukka]

There was a bit of dialogue in the opening Cameron and Joe scenes about having a month to get ready for Comdex. So the jump wasn't even twenty months after the finale, but twenty months after the preceding fall, just around the time everything went to hell due to Cardiff's finances. I'm glad that they are now acknowledging time changes by using an onscreen title.

Edited June 2, 2015 by yuggapukka

[ABay]

I'm glad the focus has shifted to Donna and Cameron but I'm sad Gordon is still around. Just seeing his whiny face makes me want to punch it. Not in a fun, love to hate it kind of way.

[fastiller]

That explains the confusing jump in the timeline perfectly. I guess Cameron's hair was supposed to telegraph this but it went over my head.

 

There was a Title Card between the C/J game playing and the later scene that said "20 months later".  The shot was still on the front of the house; it was right after Joe left, briefcase in hand.

[Cramps]

The game playing in the beginning was confusing. I now realize that they were just trying to set up some backstory for this season's plot that they didn't know they needed to set up last season. Ironically, I don't think they actually needed to. Joe could have gotten into gaming on his own now that he has nothing to do.

This show kind of reminds me of an 80s, computer version of The Knick, in that they are both hyper stylized, music heavy period drama`s about the advancement of technology and innovation, and the creation of the modern age. With The Knick, its medical technology. Here, its computer technology.

It's so interesting that you say that, as these are probably my two favorite shows that almost no one else I know is watching.

[tennisgurl]

 

It's so interesting that you say that, as these are probably my two favorite shows that almost no one else I know is watching.

We`re in the same boat! I love both those shows, and find them so interesting, but not only are they underrated, but no one I know watches them! I always associate them with each other.

[scowl]

I watched it a third time and I can't believe I missed the "20 months later" title in that transition (two times!). Only the sunlight on the front of the house changed so it looked more like "later that afternoon" to me. 

 

I also noticed that they did have hundreds of phone lines coming into the house so good production detail there.

 

I found it somewhat less confusing this time although doing this business in a residential house is still the stupidest thing I can imagine. Are we supposed to think that Cameron started this as a little business and it expanded beyond what she expected, but she doesn't have the sense to move it into a commercial building? Or that she likes a bunch of nerds destroying her house?

[dubbel zout]

Or that she likes a bunch of nerds destroying her house?

IIRC, it's not her house technically; she was renting a room from one of the other nerds.

[Dowel Jones]

Never going to happen, Joe would win summary judgment in a heartbeat.

 

What I got from that scene was that Cardiff was threatening Joe that he would disclose information to the police about the arson, or some other illegal activity that Joe participated in.  Maybe he had evidence, maybe it was a bluff, but the implication was "You might get the money but you won't see it until you get out of jail".

[scowl]

IIRC, it's not her house technically; she was renting a room from one of the other nerds.

 

The place I live is my house, even if I'm renting a room! I would not live someplace with a guy running around with a circular saw.

[Jamoche]

Ugh. As someone who lived it, no one said "lag" in the mid 80's about Compuserve, GEnie etc. like it was an Android phone. :p

Especially since you were paying by the minute. I had software for Compuserve that would log in and get all the updates to my groups in a batch so I could read them offline. 

[CherryMalotte]

...Donna and Cameron's "Thelma and Louise" moment stealing the IBM desktops from that fence. I hope they don't run into him again, he seems like bad news.

 

Yeah he is bad news, that's Rat Boy from Sons of Anarchy.  Or maybe Rat Boy's dad.  

 

I enjoyed the episode, but need to settle in for a few more.  I think no matter what level of normalcy Joe may want, he's still hardwired differently and will never be a married 2.5 kid kinda guy.  I don't see that relationship going anywhere.  

[DrSpaceman]

I figured Gordon's nose bleed was from the coke he was doing. They showed him pocket a vial from his desk. I think his storyline is going to be his drug problem.

 

It seems Cameron is rubbing off on Donna, she's stealing stolen tech. Lol. Now we just need Cameron to listen to Donna a bit more to really see this friendship/partnership grow. I also love that Donna wants to invent Instant Messaging or chat rooms, I suppose. I don't know which one came first. 

 

I'm glad that Joe is paying for his actions, not that he actually learned anything but he didn't get a win and I"m happy with that. 

 

 

I missed the coke somehow, but that makes sense. 

 

In my opinion, the less Joe the better.  I enjoyed this episode much more than most of last seasons episodes and I think he is why.  He did not have as much of a role in this one as last season.  I have written before about how they tried to make him into the likeable but very flawed protagonist, much like some of the great shows of the past decade such as Don Draper on Mad Men, and really they have just failed in that regard in terms of the likeable part.  The less of him, I think the better the show becomes. 

 

The Donna Cameron story is much more interesting to me than the others right now. 

 

Overall I like the direction the show is going, much more promising than I expected at the end of last season.  And I am glad to see the stupid "no bosses" concept fail pretty quickly. 

[Kel Varnsen]

They can tell him off all they want, but they're contractually obligated to pay him. The guy was like, sue me if you want. Well, OK, but it's going to be a 5 minute case.

Not only that but all I could think about was that the new owner's might want to think twice about buying, if there was a major lawsuit looming from one of the former shareholders. And if there was a lawsuit, would Joe sue old man cardiff or the new company owners?

 

Also I really need to know if Bos had to kill fity men while he was in prison.

[Kel Varnsen]

Also speaking of the coke, in the scene where Donna was getting ready for work and couldn't find her keys Gordon was rambling like crazy at rapid speed. Are we supposed to assume he was high at the time?

[qtpye]

I think Lee Pace is a talented quirky actor, but I am glad they are not trying to shoehorn him into eighties Don Draper.  This really needs to be an ensemble show and the ladies were killing it with their late night computer heist.

 

Edited June 7, 2015 by qtpye

[allonsyalice]

 

I'm trying to figure out how much the $800K Gordon got would be worth 30 years(!) later. 

 

 

FWIW, I just popped it into an online calculator and I got  "In 2014, the relative value of $800,000.00 from 1981 ranges from $1,790,000.00 to $4,340,000.00." (Data was not avaliable from 2015 and I couldn't figure out what year this show is truely taking place in, so.) 

[Capricasix]

"Whisper to a Scream" and "The Old Man Down the Road" take me straight back to age 14/15...(not that I necessarily want to remember my teenage years!)

[DangerousMinds]

I was amused and somewhat shocked that I recognized "Whisper to a Scream" after just the first 2 or 3 notes. Name that tune, here I come!

[RustbeltWriter]

It was nice to see get get his comeuppance for burning the truck. Too often some grand gesture like that is swept aside as a personality quirk in these shows and it never rings true. It was cool to see Nathan tear up that check and tell Joe to sue him so they can explain the fire to a jury. It's not that I don't like Joe, but in that situation he was kind of a jerk.

[ganesh]

As we've said though, it's silly because they already signed the contract. There's nothing to explain, unless Nathan is suing to block payment because of the fire. 

As we've said though, it's silly because they already signed the contract. There's nothing to explain, unless Nathan is suing to block payment because of the fire. 

[Glade]

That opening scene between Joe and Cameron totally made it look like Joe went back to working at Cardiff and got back together with Cameron after burning the truck, but then left a second time...which doesn't make any sense at all. That it's a flashback does make sense, but the placement of it is still off imo.  And yes, he absolutely deserved his share (minus the cost of the first shipment.) That stunt was ridiculous, and I don't think first season Joe would have blinked at it--he would have gotten the money no matter what.

[ToxicUnicorn]

This was not what I expected at all.  I don't mind a time jump, but the entire tone of the series changed.  I liked the dark, tense, underdog  feel of Season 1.  My familiy lived through those times, and the pressure in that show felt very true to life.

 

I also feel out of step with most of the comments here.  I liked watching Gordon in Season 1.  No, I didn't like him, but he felt real.  At the same time, I wasn't as big a fan of Donna last season as most.  I liked that she was bright and held a job, which was unusual, but she seemed a bit unreal for me.  (Cameron was completely unreal to me, but I took that as dramatic license.)  I don't mind Donna coming to the fore this season, but I wish Gordon had more to do with the current events.

 

I do love Bosworth getting out of jail, though.  He is the only truly rootable character there.  Well, maybe Yo yo as well.

 

I have been waiting for what happened to Joe on his walkabout. There was discussion that he may visit his mother (they dropped that). What happened to them because of the burned up computers? I wanted to see the emotion and fallout from that.  They show Joe BACK with Cameron (how the HELL did that happen?) and THEN 20 months later is in the forest with some new girl and is in love and all better now!?

Right.  Whatever they plan to have Joe do this season, I think they should have given us a lot  more to explain what happened after he imploded last season.  His new situation is simply unbelievable --- and not very interesting.