S03.E06: And She Was

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

Tensions rise over an offer to buy Mutiny; and Donna has a weekend alone, while Gordon and Cam bond over video games. Meanwhile, Joe has a standoff with the board.

[ketose]

When Joe wants to burn your company down, there's not much you can do about it. I kind of figured the board would remove Joe. His end game was pretty obvious when he found out about his fate right before the deposition.

It looks like you win the bet if you said Gordon wasn't talking to anyone on the HAM radio.

Cam totally put that ring on just before she went to see Joe.

[mjc570]

I don't know whether I liked this episode or not.  I was relieved when we finally saw the girls playing the video game when Donna came home - I figured they either wondered off or were kidnapped while Cam and Gordon were playing so intently, since it was a while since Gordon had sent them out to play.  That would have been quite a plot point, :)  Speaking of Gordon - why does he have to do his radio thing in the closet?  Wouldn't Donna allow him to use a corner of a room?  I know he said she didn't appreciate his ham hobby, but she has been pretty supportive of him.

That "little place" of Diane's sure looked pretty lived in for her to offer it to guests - I couldn't see that well, but wasn't that her medication?  It took me a while to understand that Donna had had a Cam hallucination. 

Things I didn't like - the alleged awesomeness of Ryan, the fact that Joe's board was so quick to pull the trigger on what may have been a lucrative deal, Diane and Bos's car sex (ugh).  I still don't understand why she is so hot for him, much as I like both Toby H. and his character. 

Things I  liked:  No Mutiny coder antics.  Joe going nuclear. 

[minamurray78]

Oh god Joe, again?

[Dowel Jones]

Wait, people did hallucinogenics back in the 80's?  Who knew?  Just kidding.

Since Macmillian Utilities is a software company, is Joe really competing if he begins to develop an ISP?  I'm aghast that anyone would agree to a FOUR YEAR non-compete clause.  In any case, the BOD is not going to be happy.  Not at all.  Gives me pause to wonder again about his health diagnosis.

$20,000,000 for a buyout?  Yeah, I'd find something else to do in a hurry.

I had a ham license in 1970 (novice class).  Even though I was mostly limited to code, I still remember hearing people talk on the airwaves and it was a lot clearer than Gordon and Cam.  Buy a good transceiver, Gordon.  Even if you are talking to the air.

That wasn't a flat screen tv, was it?  Just a big monitor, perhaps?  Gordon should have taken Donna aside and explained the truth about the old tv.  He's doing his best to hide an affliction that is going to crush him sooner than later.

I like Donna's negotiating skills.  You talk, I talk, we're both dead.  Deal?

[dubbel zout]

I think Gordon is in the closet because it gives him privacy and keeps the equipment relatively safe.

6 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I'm aghast that anyone would agree to a FOUR YEAR non-compete clause.

He also agreed to the Joe MacMillan clause (hee), so maybe he didn't read his contract too closely. Or else he was so desperate for funding that he didn't care.

6 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

That wasn't a flat screen tv, was it?  Just a big monitor, perhaps? 

I think it was a projection screen/TV. 

[thuganomics85]

I guess that is one way to dick over a company that is trying to overthrow you: just say that their entire foundation was built on someone else's idea!  At least Gordon will finally get his credit!

I don't see how much longer Mutiny is going to last, as long as Cameron and Donna are at each other's throats.  I will be really surprised if this season doesn't end with at least one of them leaving the company.  I'm not sure Diane or even Bos will be able to help mediate this.

Gordon and Cameron playing Super Mario was fun.  Well.... until Gordon suddenly collapsed.  This isn't good, Gordo!

Bos and Diane have now become a thing.

I can't tell if Joe really does see potential in Ryan, or if he's just using him for his own purposes.

[mcgett]

12 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

 I'm aghast that anyone would agree to a FOUR YEAR non-compete clause.  In any case, the BOD is not going to be happy.

I'm aghast that they actually said this as non-complete clauses are invalid in California.   This is one of the primary reasons why Silicon Valley companies have been so agile and successful as employees can easily move around or startup there own businesses without any worries about the old company.

[tvsoothesthespirit]

I really hope Boz isn't dying. Hopefully he's just experiencing some sort of post-midlife crisis.

I'm not usually on Cameron's side but I am firmly there in regards to the lie. Why Donna didn't just fess up when it became clear that Camden knew, I have no idea. Donna should probably get off the cross, try to get Mutiny to buy her out, poach a few good coders and do something of her own.  It seems like she's tired of being the supporting lady but can't quite make the leap. I would love it if Diane and Donna had an affair; I love it when Diane is on screen and I think she would be good for Donna.

I wonder when Gordon last went to the doctor. Texas, maybe?  I think he needs a return trip. Just logging your symptoms in a notebook isn't really going to provide any sort of relief.

[ketose]

1 hour ago, tvsoothesthespirit said:

I really hope Boz isn't dying. Hopefully he's just experiencing some sort of post-midlife crisis.

I'm not usually on Cameron's side but I am firmly there in regards to the lie. Why Donna didn't just fess up when it became clear that Camden knew, I have no idea. Donna should probably get off the cross, try to get Mutiny to buy her out, poach a few good coders and do something of her own.  It seems like she's tired of being the supporting lady but can't quite make the leap. I would love it if Diane and Donna had an affair; I love it when Diane is on screen and I think she would be good for Donna.

I wonder when Gordon last went to the doctor. Texas, maybe?  I think he needs a return trip. Just logging your symptoms in a notebook isn't really going to provide any sort of relief.

They've established that there isn't a whole lot of relief. Gordon said he was on medication. They can adjust it, but the condition is degenerative. I kind of wish the writers would ignore the whole disease thing instead of turning it into a death arc for Gordon.

[2AT]

42 minutes ago, tvsoothesthespirit said:

I'm not usually on Cameron's side but I am firmly there in regards to the lie. Why Donna didn't just fess up when it became clear that Camden knew, I have no idea. Donna should probably get off the cross, try to get Mutiny to buy her out, poach a few good coders and do something of her own.  It seems like she's tired of being the supporting lady but can't quite make the leap. I would love it if Diane and Donna had an affair; I love it when Diane is on screen and I think she would be good for Donna.

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

[tvsoothesthespirit]

Quote

Cameron should be evolved enough to recognize that she hasn't exactly been honest with Donna either.  

I totally agree. That's why I'm usually not on Cameron's side. I know Donna says she did it for the good of the company but I think her motives are that she just didn't want to deal with it. Everything is such a struggle with Cameron, I don't blame Donna for just trying to coast by on this one. My main thing was, why not fess up? You've been caught. I don't see it as the biggest betrayal of all betrayals. All in all, in my opinion, it's just a symptom that Donna needs to go out, get a project of her own, and be a boss.  She has my support!

[attica]

Lee Pace and Mackenzie Davis still have crazy chemistry.

[queenanne]

6 hours ago, attica said:

Lee Pace and Mackenzie Davis still have crazy chemistry.

I was just going to say, they commit to and sell it like Cameron and Joe are in love with each other.  I appreciate people going in with both feet, as it were.  

[AllyB]

I knew Cameron coming to talk maturely to Donna had to be Donna tripping. No way would Cameron ever act like that. What's especially grating about Cameron's current immaturity is that she's just found out about Gordon's illness. I know Gordon has said he's not dying but Cam isn't entirely stupid and she clearly knows that he's likely to have been denying the severity of what is happening to him. So she knows that Donna is dealing with a very, very sick husband who will need increasing levels of care until his very premature death. She knows she is keeping this reality from her two quite young children and that Donna will soon have to help her children deal with watching their father waste away and then grieve his death. But she shows absolutely no understanding of Donna's situation and can't for one second put herself in Donna's shoes and think that she just didn't have it in her to deal with Cameron's latest tantrum and lied in order to make one aspect of her life run a little bit smoother. She doesn't have to give Donna a total pass for lying the way she did but she could employ a little empathy and talk to her maturely so they could smooth out their working relationship for the future. But no, Cameron knows Donna's personal life is bordering on the hellishness it will soon be immersed in and her solution is to make work harder for her by clearing out her room at home and then just not showing up for work the next day (again) so Donna has to deal with the fallout (again). She really is a total tool.

My fantasy now is that Gordon becomes a gazillionaire now that he's been recognised as the inventor of McMillan Anti-Virus and Donna leaves Mutiny and sets up her own company with Diane as her financial advisor and friend. Cameron can either leave the show or we could see weekly updates of her running her company into the ground. She could be as detached from the show as Joe currently is and just pop up for a few scenes her and there for us to see her make terrible decisions, bugger off and avoid work whenever things get tough, invent genius code but it's all too late as her company failed while she was off ignoring reality. She'd eventually learn that her genius means nothing if she can't act like an adult or at least give someone else the power to act like the adult while she focusses on her craft (which is what she should be doing now with Donna). But it would be too late and she'd eventually find herself stuck in some coder monkey job while technology moves on without her and meanwhile Donna gets the respect she deserves while earning even more gazillions in her new company.

[Kel Varnsen]

What exactly was Joe's new business plan? Because it seemed like a super vague Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net type of thing where they were going to make money because the internet.

[qtpye]

9 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

What exactly was Joe's new business plan? Because it seemed like a super vague Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net type of thing where they were going to make money because the internet.

I do not know, but it would be awesome if Bill Gates and his goons came in the next episode and trashed everything to "buy him out".

[kieyra]

Quick shoutout to the soundtrack people. Mercy Street still guts me so hard I can't even listen to it anymore (over-indulged in it during my emo years), so it made the scene extra painful. 

[paramitch]

On 4/17/2017 at 9:52 PM, kieyra said:

Quick shoutout to the soundtrack people. Mercy Street still guts me so hard I can't even listen to it anymore (over-indulged in it during my emo years), so it made the scene extra painful. 

Oh, me too. The moment those opening strains started up, I went, "Oh, God, not Mercy Street, AGHGHGHHGHG" because of certain romantic associations I have with it even decades later. My poor little soul shriveled up but it was also happy (it's such a gorgeous song).