S02.E04: Play With Friends

[marys1000]

Donna has consistently been the most creative both with hardware and software and yet this consistently gets overlooked.  It really makes me mad.  That's why I think she should take her ideas and go home and get her husband to build her vision. 

[Jordan Baker]

I am thoroughly enjoying the show this season. I think each episode has been better than the last. This episode did so many things right:

 

-- Bos persuading the mother to start the subscription again. I half expected him to end up with a date, as well, given how smooth he was.

 

-- Cameron's reactions to chatting with Tom. I found that very genuine. I first used messaging in the '80s at work, and once people realized it could be for something other than "meeting in 10 minutes," you really did find how funny and interesting people could be.  There is (or perhaps was, in those days, and in the early days of the internet) a real intimacy about getting to know someone just through exchanges of text.

 

-- Gordon and Joe working together. I have always liked Gordon, and I'm not at all happy that he's ill. I also hope he doesn't get screwed by Joe's scheme.

 

-- Donna's pregnancy. I admit to being intrigued about where this is going. I also loved seeing the pregnancy kit from 1985.

 

Can't wait till Sunday night.

[Glory]

Did anyone else see that can of Coke and think to themselves, "NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE SERVER ROOM!"? What was that about Gordon? You should know better!

 

Gordon and Joe playing off one another is wildly entertaining. I've missed that. 

Edited June 26, 2015 by Glory

[scowl]

Not for nothing but Pole Position and Flight Simulator were not FPS's just FP's.

 

BattleZone is the first FPS I remember playing and that came out in about 1982. Since their original lineup contains a tank battle game, this would fit right in. Sure, it already existed by 1985 but since the show is constantly rewriting history, why not?

 

It only took me about five minutes to figure out what "FPS" and "FP" mean.

 

It would take Cameron months to write a 3D vector graphic game like Battlezone. The place I worked for wrote a similar vector graphics space game for the Apple II. It took us months of 100 hour weeks and the spaceships still looked like transparent paper airplanes. We were out of business about six months after it was released.

[zillabreeze]

 

I wonder if Gordon is going to go into business building custom computers.  When he was speaking with Joe, he mentioned something about wishing that people would just tell him what they wanted, because he's tired of trying to guess.  I really have no idea when customized computers became a thing, but if Cameron can invent the internet, Gordon can can be among the first to tailor computers to user's needs.

I told the dogs right then - "Gordon is founding Dell"

[2AT]

Super late to the party, as I just managed to catch this episode this morning. However, what I really like about this show is that even though I've spoiled myself by reading the recap and comments, I still manage to find fresh insight upon viewing.

Poor Joe! It looks like he was trying to go through the proper channels, but once he came to the realization that, as Jacob Wheeler's son-in-law, he would never be taken seriously, he fell back into his old "I'll show them," pattern self-sabotage. Since he seems to leave a path of destruction (flood/IBM & fire/Cardiff) upon leaving each company, I wonder what natural element he will use to bring down this one. Maybe lightening?

Of course as soon as Cameron opens herself up to the possibility of someone else Joe will reappear, because that is exactly how the universe works. I wonder if she will pass the test.

I love that Bos is back on the scene!

My disease of the week theory is that Gordon has cancer. I thought that it was sweet how Joe genuinely seemed concerned after he passed out.

I think that Donna is going to have an abortion. There have been too many career vs motherhood anvils on this show for me to ignore.

Edited June 28, 2015 by 2AT

[qtpye]

I think even Joe is beginning to realize that Gordon and Donna are the closest things he has to a friend.  Last year, I felt that Joe could be a sociopath.  This year he has appeared to mellow and mature.  However, I am sure as soon as I am lulled into a false sense of security about the character...he will do something horrible.

 

Does anyone wonder if Joe is still talking to his father?  I mean he comes from a wealthy family and probably does not need to worry about money, unless his father cut him off.

 

I am enjoying the season so far.

Edited June 28, 2015 by qtpye

[minamurray78]

I was completely caught off guard with Donna's pregnancy storyline, mostly 'cause I thought the writers were better than that. I should've known what it was when Cameron made her "trapped her with two kids" post.

Also Gordon´s health scare seems to be worst than a coke habit, let's hope it doesn't get too cheesy.

 

The technical aspects of what Joe's trying to do escape me, but is it really something that profitable? His father in law is making loads with oil, would he be interested in that?

And it picked my interest when that other employee made a remark about how Sarah would be through with Joe. I don't know whether he just meant to remark he would outlive Joe in the company, or if it was actually a dig at Sarah and the way she handles realtionships; we still don't know how her marriage went down.

[orza]

Joe's idea could be very profitable. At the very least it would defray the mainframe operating costs. The company has an expensive mainframe that is idle for 16 hours a day. Joe wants to sell computing time during the off hours to companies who need it but don't have their own mainframe. Web hosting companies offer something similar today. They sell shared or exclusive use of a server and data storage to people who want to run web sites and web applications but have no server of their own..

[Aprilshowers]

Just a few random thoughts. I am enjoying this season so much more than the first one. I don't mind LP's Joe being a little back-burned I trust where the writers are going with him. I am worried for Gordon though, at first I thought his problems were cocaine related but now not so sure. I also don't mind Donna being prego again, I'm sure they have something up there sleeve with that story line. I am up and down on Cameron I still find her a bit over emotional and whiny but I do see some strength there too, the actress is doing a great job and I can't totally hate the character at this point. Overall I love the dynamic with the girls and Joe/Gordon working together. It seems like the writing is tighter too. I'm willing to bet they retooled this show, and for me its working.

 

On to the next set of episodes...